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Firefly Movie Gets The Green Light
An anonymous reader writes "According to FireflyFans.net and Ain't It Cool News, Universal has greenlit production of 'Serenity,' the motion picture based on Joss Whedon's cancelled TV series 'Firefly.' Both sites point to an article from Variety that says the film will start production in June, and be ready for release in 2005." The informative Whedonesque weblog is also monitoring developments regarding this much-deserved resurrection.
While a movie would be nice, I would rather have the series returen. Firefly was one of the few shows I've watched that I really like and made it a point to watch, instead of just watching it if it was on like most other shows.
I recently picked up the box set to check out the series, and this is great news...I was surprised how good the series was and perplexed as to why such a show was canceled.
I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'll be driving around and the theme song comes into my mind - "burn the land, boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Josh Whedon is a genius. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly were all wonderful shows. Firefly and Angel were both cancelled way to early.. but especially Firefly. Only one season? I guess Americans are too hung up on shows like Fear Factor, Survivor, American Idol, and any other show that uses very childish antics to develop a fan base. I for one hope that Josh Whedon will continue with wonderful writing, concepts, and work - maybe people will catch on and see what we have seen for years (A brilliant mind in an industry full of flakes.)
"Snatching defeat from the mouth of victory on a daily basis."
And when you finish with 'F's lets move on to 'G'.
I'll start: G Vs E (aka Good Vs Evil)
oh screw it all, and bring back Brimstone. Why John Glover wasn't tapped to play the first of the fallen in the atrocity know as "Constantine" I'll never understand.
So i'm veering off topic, sue me. I'm just thankful they didn't call CSI something like "Forensic Investigators"
Hopefully he's improved on his big-screen capabilities since the original Buffy and Alien 4. Ick.
Actually tho, seeing how he much time he's taken in perfecting the series runs he's had, I have little doubt that Serenity will be spectacular. I just hope that he's able to work within a 2 hour movie. His best plots have taken seasons to develop, much less a few hours.
-9mm-
Why is it there's going to be a Firefly film, but still no Babylon 5 movie?
Bush: He's Liberal in all the wrong ways.
Who said the movies gonna be 90 minutes. Thankfully hollywoods lengthening movies a bit on average latley. Cant remember last movie i saw in theaters that was shorter than two hours. Not that i expect much of the average american attention span, but the most sucessfull (imho) movies of the past 3 years have all been well over 3 hours. :p
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
Its like they say "come here viewers come check out this great new series!" then they go "SUCKERS !! haha no show for you !!".
I'm pretty sure that's actually the thought process they go though. Good call.
In case you couldn't guess from the URL of my website -- I'm bitter too. Firefly rocks. Futurama rocks. Family guy rocks. Fox sucks.
Random and weird software I've written.
This is great news. Note that it is Universal now, not Fox, so there really could be another series at the end of the trail here.
Since the DVD set came out, I have introduced the series to a dozen 'Fly newbies, all of whom are as swept away as I was. It's just too fanastic a program to let it go, and no maybe (just maybe?) we won't have to.
Shiny!
When you watch the movie, keep an eye out for a bigger role for the Blue Sun corporation. The series merely hinted at their role, but I think we can expect to see Blue Sun emerging as the bad guys, rather than the Alliance.
The hints? In the original episodes, watch at how River reacts to anything with the Blue Sun logo on it - Jayne's shirt, labels on cans, and so on.
"They've canceled the show but we're still here. What does that make us?" "Big Damn Junkies, Sir!" "Ain't we just"
Alan Tudyk, who plays Wash, reportedly stole the Big Red Button that was used during the episode "Out of Gas", and left it with Joss, telling him to "hit it when his miracle arrived" and they would all return.
It was Mandarin, except for one part when the engine breaks down and the ship broadcasts a warning that oxygen's low, check life support etc. That was Cantonese spoken fluently. I assume they just asked someone Chinese to say what they wanted "in Chinese" and that person just assumed Cantonese (which is fairly prevalent in North America).
The inconsistency bugged me a bit, but I was happy to actually understand what was being said for once (I only know a little Mandarin, and it was butchered so badly that the only one I could make out was mei-mei).
Interestingly enough, Jayne's actor seemed to speak Mandarin a bit better than everyone else. In the DVD extras he talks about it a bit, and I assume he practiced it more.
"But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
Yeah, she was amazingly hot. On the DVD, they point out that Whedon, in his infinite wisdom, told her that she could be on the show, but she would have to gain 20 pounds so she would look like a real human. Bless the man.
I always hear that, but noone ever gives any numbers? Did you pull that "fact" out of your ass, or can you give me any prove for that claim? I'm pretty sure any StarTrek show is far more expensive. Still the FX look worse. The planet sceneries sometimes look like in the classic series.
In a report about the Wolfram and Hart Revue a girl writes how she met Ron Glass: "I asked him about the movie (slated for 2005! Squee!), and he said he could not "officially" say that he was going to be in it. And then he smiled."
Firefly appeals to the libertarian in all of us.
Software Wars
You're not alone: Here's an interesting rant on the topic
Has some hard facts, and some informed opinions on the flaws of the system.
Hopefully he's improved on his big-screen capabilities since the original Buffy and Alien 4. Ick
:)
If you knew the background you would know that they are not him. He was just a little guy who should shut up then. In interviews he has pretty much indicated that Donald Sutherland was an arrogant prick who though he was gods gift to the universe and who readily changed the script ("Improved" it Sorbo style) (which is probably why he never accepted improvisation on the TV series), and the director didn't see it Joss's way either and wanted to improve it etc. Same thing with resurection:
"("I asked the director, "Can you just explain to me why he's doing this? Why is he going for this gun?" And the editor, who was French, turned to me and said, with a little leer on his face, [adopts gravelly, smarmy, French-accented voice] "Because eets een the screept." And I actually went and dented the bathroom stall with my puddly little fist. I have never been angrier. But it's the classic, "When something goes wrong, you assume the writers a dork. And that's painful."
But now, not only does he write, he also directs, and his buddy Chris Buchanan is one of the executive producers - I'd say its a safe bet that this time he has much more control. Of course not ultimate, because universal is paying and could demand scenes with half nake showgirls twirling their tassles - one can only hope they stay away and let Whedon win them that Oscar we know he is capable of
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
There's also the circulating conspiracy-theory that "sci-fi shows in general, are under the gun, because, demographically, their viewers are more likely to watch on a commercial-skipping PVR."
They're being repaced with cheaper sitcoms, or reality shows.
Good riddance, I say. The McDonaldization of science fiction entertainment has been a mixed bag. I'd rather be honest and pay for DVD sets, and fill my bookcase with them, and my spare time watching them. Fewer episodes of greater quality, perhaps not constrained by the limitations imposed by the 1-hour TV show format (commercial breaks - Monster Of The Week - 22 episodes per year - milktoast politically correct inoffensive content, etc).
Then I could cancel my cable entirely.
It was said that Tivo was going to eventually destroy television as we know it. Maybe to be replaced by something better.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
I remember reading just the opposite: that Firefly was being produced on a relative shoestring. And to me, the sets generally looked like someone was doing a good job with very little money - making good use of the plain grey industrial texture of the ship interiors, for instance.
;) All in all, it had the character of a film school project done exceedingly well on a medium-low budget. Which is probably why I liked it. So the question might be whether the film, with an undoubtedly bigger budget, will be able to maintain that feeling.
The CGI was pretty good, but not expensive-looking (which is as it should be - when I notice the cool nifty CGI, it's not doing its job). Mostly it made good use of the pseudo-handheld cam idea (also seen more recently in BG2003 - I've heard it first appeared in Space: Above and Beyond). That allows you to skimp on expensive (and often pointless) detail and make up for it in convincing motion. Some people hate that effect, of course, but it worked for me.
And of course they saved money on sound effects in the space scenes (thus gaining dramatic tension for free).
(Stargate is another series that looks a lot more expensive than it really is, and one which I like in a manner similar to Firefly).