Regular Life

I just got back (last night) from the Serenity DVD release party.

These fans tend to wear t-shirts and other things related to the show instead of dressing like the characters themselves. That fits with my tendencies just fine, but doesn’t make for entertaining photos. Sorry to disappoint anybody with Star Trek convention images running through their heads. No aliens in this universe. No pointy ears. No bony foreheads. You want green blood, go somewhere else.

The theater was packed and the folks were friendly. Except for one young lady sitting alone in a corner, everybody had at least one buddy along for the ride. Recalling how it feels to attend social events alone, I made it a point to say hi and ask how she was doing. She smiled and her eyes lit up a bit as she told me she was doing great.

A group of about 8-10 people celebrated a 39th birthday party, with one of my favorites — pineapple upside-down cake. Only my wife’s Italian Cream Cake is better. A guy in front of us had a Mudslide that looked very good, and all draft beer was $2.50 (a usual Tuesday night price there). I personally had tea, but ordering alcoholic drinks in a movie theater? Now that’s entertainment.

The birthday boy won the door-prize Cunning Hat. I suspected the fix was in.

We found out not long after getting there that rather than watching the film, we would watch a projection of the DVD. It turned out okay, but the image was very contrasty, making details disappear at both brightness extremes. Besides that, the DVD looked very good projected onto a full-size movie screen.

Judging from some of the reactions during the movie, I would say that at least 10 of the people had never seen it. Just like the first time I saw it, I came away feeling that I had just seen a very good movie. Where most flicks of that genre (if it has one) have the characters say either very little or a lot of nothing, Serenity gives them meaningful words, with each sentence doing a little more to develop their characters. It has more laugh-out-loud parts than most comedies I’ve seen in the past five years, yet it retains its dark tone while advancing the storyline. The action sequences never seem silly or forced. Overdone? Sure. What fun is it watching a realistic fight scene? Another nice touch that sets it apart? There is no sound in space — ever.

Fandone.com and Keith’s Comics were there as fans, but also to sell goods related to Serenity, “Firefly,” and other Joss Whedon creations. Keith sponsored the event and fandone.com provided some of the goodie bag prizes.

Enough of that for now. Next post: more Regular Life.

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