Surreal week comes to an end
As you may have noticed there has not been much on here from me for the last 5 or so days; thought Jon P and Gnotalex did a very job keeping the content up. I have done my annual trek to the Tory Party conference to cover it for various outlets. Of course, due to bad timing the rocker that is me had to go to a creative industry meet und greet last night (John Haithwaite came along as well as part of the band contingent…) John and I went along to chat to a few people interested in our doing some hired gun song-writing for them…but more about that later.
On our ride to conference to and fro; John Harrison was kind enough to allow me to listen to some review material in the form of the live Testament CD, Stretch Armstrong and an Iron Maiden tribute CD. We also listened to a few recent review CDs including the new BLS and Jaded Heart CDs. This meant, of course, that I was able to use the 4+ hour drive to do some useful listening.
Read more Comments are off for this postSurreal week links
Tim’s British round-up has some interesting reading, as does the latest BOMS.
The Anglosphere lot have a new blog and has Edelman has posted the results of this blogger survey.
The Bonfire up over a very cat obsessed blogger’s place and there is lots of good stuff over at Technogypsy as its hosts COTV this week.
The Carnival of the Dogs is up for the week in all its barking glory; as in the Carnival of Cordite. If you are interested there are new issues off Ovi and First Post.
And as there is always the Chelsea Girls for those ladies in the audience who think they can be the next Spice girl.
Comments are off for this postPost-conf silly quiz
What Common Breed of Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Via: Those dogs at Silent Running.
1 commentReview of Serenity
As promised, here are my thoughts about the Joss Whedeon film, Serenity, based on the now-defunct TV series Firefly. I watched it last night in the big multi-screen cinema in Fulham and enjoyed the film a great deal, with one or two reservations.
What is to like? I liked the continuing focus on plot, character and humour over clever-dick technology. I liked the fact that one did not have to have followed the original television series to enjoy the film, although in my judgement it does help to have seen the series first. I thought the standard of acting throughout was first class, with especially good performances from Nathan Fillion, who plays the skipper, Mal, and Jewell Staite, who plays Kaylee (I have developed rather a crush on her). The villains were suitably villainous and the film continues to carry that anti-authortarian, anti-state vibe that explains why so many libertarians have loved the shows.
Okay, the nit-picks. It is a highly violent film. Maybe it is because so many aspects of the TV plots get compressed into the film, but one of the results is that the pace is very high and the violence and the noise is overpowering at times. (My fiancee spent much of the time covering her eyes). Perhaps it is a side of old age creeping in, but did the movie have to be so bloody? (It has a Cert 15 rating). I also think that some of the aspects of the film would have gone over movie-watchers’ heads had they not seen the television shows.
Overall, the film gets a 8 out of 10 rating from me. It is not the best film I have ever seen (Apollo 13 and Bullitt rank as the tops for me) but it is nevertheless a very good 2 hours+ entertainment. I hope that the success of the film encourages Whedon to have another crack at continuing Firefly, or if not, that the fine bunch of actors in this movie go on to other things. I particularly like Nathan Fillion, who looks like an Ayn Rand hero with a wonderfully dry sense of humour, like Clint Eastwood or Spencer Tracy in their pomp.
Crossposted on: Blogcritics.
Update: You may legally see the first 9 minutes of Serenity. Found via Dean
Update II: Not everyone appreciates the ethos of Firefly or Serenity. Would it surprise you they prefer Star Trek?
Update III: On the other hand Catallarchy goes Serenity crazy.
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