Serenity
No, I didn't see it.
Written at 11:34 Edinburgh Time
I ran into my friend Virginia a few days ago, completely by accident. I walked into the Filmhouse Café to see if Shane was around, but he wasn't, and then I locked eyes with this woman and it was Ginnie. The odd thing was that a few days before I'd tried to call her, using an old number I had for her. It was her birthday; at least I got to wish her a happy belated. A total surprise - I thought I'd lost track of her forever. So then I saw her on the street yesterday, walking with someone who turned out to be Jason Biggs, an actor appearing in a film called Guy X she was repping. She ended up giving me tickets to see the flick, and to go to the afterparty. Neat. Something that's not theatre.
So I rushed home, cleaned up a bit, and headed off to the Cineworld. Got there in time to walk in, sit down, read a bit, then the film started. It was pretty good - odd, nicely shot, well acted. Lots of stuff in Greenland, cold & snow, which is right up my alley. Some of the desolate landscapes were beautiful. Who knows if anyone else would feel the same way, but I love that sort of thing. Craggy rocks and thin grass. Wisps of snow between them.
I walk out of the theatre to find mobs of people standing around, cameras flashing, the whole bit. It's the cast of Serenity, and it's the world premiere at 9:30 that night.
Now, I LOVE Firefly, the series the film is based on. In many ways I think Joss Whedon sort of saved SciFi television, and I've been lending the series on DVD to anyone I can think of who appreciates the genre. Pretty much anyone I lend it to loves it. Every episode. Then of course they all say the same thing: "Who was the idiot who cancelled this show?"
So there they all were, being amazingly gracious, signing autographs and such. Being mobbed, but quite humanely. I would have loved to meet them, but the fact is, I'm not going to do that, to rush up and try to get into that kind of a group. So whatever, I watched. Caught sight of Shane standing with Jewel Staite and almost called out his name, but decided against it. At one point Adam Baldwin walked the lineup, high-fiving all the fans, causing no end of whooping. It was amazing, they all seemed so genuinely happy to be there. And boy oh boy is Summer Glau good lookin' in real life.
So then I walk to the Guy X afterparty, in a gymnasium at Edinburgh Academy. Busy, late 70's/early 80's music. LOTS of people smoking on the stairs. Some girl wearing wee angel wings, for some reason. Chatted with Ginnie on the stairs, met a couple of other people from Tartan Films, the company she's working for now. I had a conversation about Korean films with a women who works for Tartan's USA division. Then I figure, I've got a 10:30 show, I should split and head home. As I'm leaving, I run into Shane and a woman named Clea, who I recognized as being the woman walking with Adam Baldwin as he got the queue whooping. I said that I'd seen her there, and that I was a huge fan. So she said "What are you doing here then?"
"If I had a ticket, I wouldn't be."
So we talked for a bit about the film, how happy the festival was to have the film premiere here, how happy the cast was to be here, how they all were asking "Do you think it's going to do okay here? Will it be big enough?", and shared our love of all things Whedonesque. It was a lovely unexpected geek bonding moment.
Walked away from the afterparty, and I felt oddly happy. But it was happiness once-removed. I was, strangely enough, happy for Joss Whedon and the Serenity crew, happy that the film they'd laboured over, that fans from all over the world had supported and loved, was finally coming to light. That they were welcomed with this kind of reception, their screenings selling out in no time, an added one selling out just as quickly. If they had any doubts about the love and affection people had for them, I hope they've been dispelled. Good on ya, Browncoats.
Written at 11:34 Edinburgh Time
I ran into my friend Virginia a few days ago, completely by accident. I walked into the Filmhouse Café to see if Shane was around, but he wasn't, and then I locked eyes with this woman and it was Ginnie. The odd thing was that a few days before I'd tried to call her, using an old number I had for her. It was her birthday; at least I got to wish her a happy belated. A total surprise - I thought I'd lost track of her forever. So then I saw her on the street yesterday, walking with someone who turned out to be Jason Biggs, an actor appearing in a film called Guy X she was repping. She ended up giving me tickets to see the flick, and to go to the afterparty. Neat. Something that's not theatre.
So I rushed home, cleaned up a bit, and headed off to the Cineworld. Got there in time to walk in, sit down, read a bit, then the film started. It was pretty good - odd, nicely shot, well acted. Lots of stuff in Greenland, cold & snow, which is right up my alley. Some of the desolate landscapes were beautiful. Who knows if anyone else would feel the same way, but I love that sort of thing. Craggy rocks and thin grass. Wisps of snow between them.
I walk out of the theatre to find mobs of people standing around, cameras flashing, the whole bit. It's the cast of Serenity, and it's the world premiere at 9:30 that night.
Now, I LOVE Firefly, the series the film is based on. In many ways I think Joss Whedon sort of saved SciFi television, and I've been lending the series on DVD to anyone I can think of who appreciates the genre. Pretty much anyone I lend it to loves it. Every episode. Then of course they all say the same thing: "Who was the idiot who cancelled this show?"
So there they all were, being amazingly gracious, signing autographs and such. Being mobbed, but quite humanely. I would have loved to meet them, but the fact is, I'm not going to do that, to rush up and try to get into that kind of a group. So whatever, I watched. Caught sight of Shane standing with Jewel Staite and almost called out his name, but decided against it. At one point Adam Baldwin walked the lineup, high-fiving all the fans, causing no end of whooping. It was amazing, they all seemed so genuinely happy to be there. And boy oh boy is Summer Glau good lookin' in real life.
So then I walk to the Guy X afterparty, in a gymnasium at Edinburgh Academy. Busy, late 70's/early 80's music. LOTS of people smoking on the stairs. Some girl wearing wee angel wings, for some reason. Chatted with Ginnie on the stairs, met a couple of other people from Tartan Films, the company she's working for now. I had a conversation about Korean films with a women who works for Tartan's USA division. Then I figure, I've got a 10:30 show, I should split and head home. As I'm leaving, I run into Shane and a woman named Clea, who I recognized as being the woman walking with Adam Baldwin as he got the queue whooping. I said that I'd seen her there, and that I was a huge fan. So she said "What are you doing here then?"
"If I had a ticket, I wouldn't be."
So we talked for a bit about the film, how happy the festival was to have the film premiere here, how happy the cast was to be here, how they all were asking "Do you think it's going to do okay here? Will it be big enough?", and shared our love of all things Whedonesque. It was a lovely unexpected geek bonding moment.
Walked away from the afterparty, and I felt oddly happy. But it was happiness once-removed. I was, strangely enough, happy for Joss Whedon and the Serenity crew, happy that the film they'd laboured over, that fans from all over the world had supported and loved, was finally coming to light. That they were welcomed with this kind of reception, their screenings selling out in no time, an added one selling out just as quickly. If they had any doubts about the love and affection people had for them, I hope they've been dispelled. Good on ya, Browncoats.