Maybe you've seen the cool poster in your cinema ...
Maybe you've seen the intriging ad on your television ...
Maybe you've heard the excellent word of mouth ...
Or maybe I'm dreaming all those things.
But whether you're aware it's coming or not, here's what you need to know: after "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" were done and dusted, Joss Whedon created another TV series called "Firefly".
Fox TV (may their name be forever cursed) cancelled this new series after only eleven episodes were screened, but it was clear to everyone else that the show was GREAT. Along came Universal (all praise upon them), who offered Joss some loose change (ie. about $40M) to make a movie based on the concept.
And thus was born ... SERENITY. A movie which opens THIS. VERY. THURSDAY.
Now, it's not critical that you've seen "Firefly", but if you're interested, the DVD box is available at your local DVD store. If you want to go buy it right now, that's fine, the rest of us can wait ... hmmm ... mmm ... ho-hum ... la-de-dum ... good grief, this could take forever ... idiot! what was I thinking??? ... *sigh*
Anyway, while they're gone, I'll assume that I'm speaking with the people who've already seen it all (isn't it great? God, I love it SO MUCH) or who just aren't sure (and that's cool, I can respect your caution). What I want to say to all of you (and the others when they get back) is simply GO SEE SERENITY THIS WEEKEND.
Here's a wee Q&A to elaborate upon my message ...
Q. "Mark, I'd love to, but I'm too busy over the next few weeks"
A. NO, GO SEE SERENITY THIS WEEKEND
Q. "I'll see it next week, but this weekend I'm donating a spleen to my African foster-child"
A. NO, GO SEE SERENITY THIS WEEKEND
Q. "Shouldn't I watch Firefly first?"
A. NOT NECESSARILY, GO SEE SERENITY THIS WEEKEND
Q. "But Buffy went all silly and I'm not sure I trust Joss anymore"
A. POINT TAKEN, BUT GO SEE SERENITY THIS WEEKEND
Q. "Mark, I'm a free-thinking adult who doesn't take kindly to being told what to do"
A. SHUT UP AND GO SEE SERENITY THIS WEEKEND
Seriously, people, a film lives or dies on the strength of its opening weekend. Joss loves his movie and so do the Femme & I (yes, we've seen it ... twice ... it's WONDERFUL). He wants to make lots of little sequels, and we want to help him. A big opening weekend vindicates Universal's decision to let him make Serenity, and keeps the kind of funny-scary-thrilling-aching stories that only Joss can tell coming our way.
SERENITY. Written & directed by Joss Whedon.
"It's about how much you can take, how much you can have taken from you ... before you have to turn around and fight" - JW.
It's funny, too.
I'm sure you'll love it. And thank me for posting this rant.
And maybe, in time, even forgive me for telling you to shut up.
Sorry.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Old OLD ARRGGGGHHHHH ... *sigh*
Yes yes, 37 now. Had the quiet weekend I needed, with just the right amounts of walking around Lake Daylesford, tapping away on the computer, balancing the Lad above my head and scintillating Grand Final action. Not enough Femme though (like there can ever be enough Femme).
Incidentally, 37 is fine. It is NOT FORTY. Therefore it is fine.
A thing from last week ... I forgot to mention that my mate Rene Zandveld's episode of Last Man Standing aired on Channel 7 last Tuesday. It was 'his' in the sense that he wrote it, all those excellent words and gags. As a gunslinging writer for a network TV series he got the plot supplied to him, but he had to bring the whole thing to life and I think he did an incredible job. We also had the pleasure of watching it with him (he hadn't seen it in advance), so we scored the live, spontaneous DVD-style commentary in the ad breaks, too. Great guy, great evening.
See, I didn't mention Marieke. Argh, damn.
Tales from the weekend ...
One special birthday treat was a bottle of Laphroaig scotch whisky, which was quickly followed by membership into the Friends of Laphroaig online community. I now own a small peaty plot of land on the Isle of Islay, Scotland, to go along with my 750ml (now about 710ml) of the finest drink in all the world.
Whisky. Does it sound wanky? The people I observe these days just seem to drink beer, wine or fruity vodka. I get physically repulsed toward the end of a second beer, even looking at wine (either red or white) makes me utterly nauseous, and ... fruity vodka?! Come on. But drinking has to be done, dammit.
Out on a team dinner about two months ago, I randomly picked whisky from the menu. Lo and behold, it tasted GREAT. There were only mild side-effects, no hangover, and I could sit on a $7 glass for well over an hour. Is this not BLISS??
Whisky's a perfect drink to nurture when you're writing, too. One glass lasts the whole night, it sits well beside a string of coffees, and even fuses nicely with chocolate. A bottle can last for months and months (I'm yet to test this, but assume there's a chance). And whether you spend $30 or $75, it's got to be cheaper than beer or wine.
So, wanky it may be, but I've found my booze. That ye may also be so canny, lads and lasses!
ps. sorry for recycling my reply to you, Maybanana!
Incidentally, 37 is fine. It is NOT FORTY. Therefore it is fine.
A thing from last week ... I forgot to mention that my mate Rene Zandveld's episode of Last Man Standing aired on Channel 7 last Tuesday. It was 'his' in the sense that he wrote it, all those excellent words and gags. As a gunslinging writer for a network TV series he got the plot supplied to him, but he had to bring the whole thing to life and I think he did an incredible job. We also had the pleasure of watching it with him (he hadn't seen it in advance), so we scored the live, spontaneous DVD-style commentary in the ad breaks, too. Great guy, great evening.
See, I didn't mention Marieke. Argh, damn.
Tales from the weekend ...
One special birthday treat was a bottle of Laphroaig scotch whisky, which was quickly followed by membership into the Friends of Laphroaig online community. I now own a small peaty plot of land on the Isle of Islay, Scotland, to go along with my 750ml (now about 710ml) of the finest drink in all the world.
Whisky. Does it sound wanky? The people I observe these days just seem to drink beer, wine or fruity vodka. I get physically repulsed toward the end of a second beer, even looking at wine (either red or white) makes me utterly nauseous, and ... fruity vodka?! Come on. But drinking has to be done, dammit.
Out on a team dinner about two months ago, I randomly picked whisky from the menu. Lo and behold, it tasted GREAT. There were only mild side-effects, no hangover, and I could sit on a $7 glass for well over an hour. Is this not BLISS??
Whisky's a perfect drink to nurture when you're writing, too. One glass lasts the whole night, it sits well beside a string of coffees, and even fuses nicely with chocolate. A bottle can last for months and months (I'm yet to test this, but assume there's a chance). And whether you spend $30 or $75, it's got to be cheaper than beer or wine.
So, wanky it may be, but I've found my booze. That ye may also be so canny, lads and lasses!
ps. sorry for recycling my reply to you, Maybanana!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Meeting & Fleeting
So much for my exclusive revelations of Jossean genius in this little blog. Part One of the complete transcript of his Melbourne Q & A is available at the Australian Serenity website, and it's virtually verbatim. Of course, don't go there if you haven't seen the film, it's a SPOILER UNIVERSE. But if you have, go to the "I've Seen Serenity" thread in the forums.
Yes, I'm still basking in post-Joss afterglow. Good grief.
In other news:
* according to (hopefully) reliable sources, Tanya Donelly is pregnant. Yay, Tan!
* vale Sainters, when will your time come?
* Desolation Jones 3 ... frigging fantastic
In my last post I mentioned my encounter with Neil Gaiman. I posted the following tale on my website, but do you have the time to go wandering the internet? I don't think so ...
Monday, 18th July 2005
Neil where I stood
Tonight, Neil Gaiman was in Melbourne and I was lucky enough to attend his talkerama at the State Library of Victoria. Neil, as you probably know, is a "writer and storyteller" (his words) of extraordinary repute. He's written the comics that made comics readable, novels and children's books that have won dozens of awards, and TV episodes, film scripts and (presumably) shopping lists of profound wit and imagination, too. He is a Great.
Listening to him recount his career was glorious and savage. So much direction, bravery, dedication and synchronicity. He deserves everything he has, and he does what he does brilliantly and graciously. I was seeing/hearing a great writer, but more importantly I was experiencing a living conduit.
Neil is at the hub of many universes. He talked about Terry Pratchett, Roger Avery and his years of interviewing, and he answered questions about Tori Amos, Alice Cooper and Doctor Who. Personally, his links to Douglas Adams (who he interviewed as a lad) and his English comic-writing contemporaries speak the loudest, but he's everywhere, in everything, at the hub. It's almost incomprehensible. I'm not mentioning much about his writing because his writing doesn't do much for me. But the man's station is profound.
Chamali, my companion for the evening, and I lined up for almost two hours to get his autograph and say hi. I asked a question which got away from me:
"Neil, magic. In an interview Kevin Smith called you, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison the three European gods of comic writing. Alan has his magic, Grant has his Chaos Magic, I was just wondering what magic means to you?"
Yep, I think that's what I asked. Only faster than you can imagine, and in gibberish.
Neil, to his credit, answered me politely. He said something like this:
"Alan hit forty and had his mid-life crisis. Grant's always been like that. Maybe I'll turn fifty and make a change (I can't remember his exact words, but you get the gist). I still remember Alan calling me up and declaring (in Alan's deep voice) 'Neil, I'm becoming a warlock' (very amusing this was). But, you see, Alan has his beard, and Neil has his shaved head, and there's nothing else left. All I do is try to be myself."
No, it's not the answer I wanted, but I didn't ask the question I wanted, either. I think I was trying to say "You write about a magical universe, just like Alan and Grant, but they're writing about what they believe in. What do you believe in?" This still might have imploded, but at least I wouldn't have scored the twee 'be yourself' platitude. I don't know why I cared about Neil's personal feelings about magic but I did, and do. Maybe I still deeply wonder about motivation and faith, and what gets a successful writer out of their bedroom.
Despite the general thrill of the evening, and the delightfulness of Chamali's company, I felt a little flat on the way home. I was utterly dehydrated ten minutes into the evening, and halfway home, waiting for a tram or bus at my very familiar Alfred Hospital stop, I thought I was going to collapse. Then, to my amazement, I was drinking. There, next to the stop, was a drinking fountain, and there I was, drinking from it. I've been at this stop hundreds of times and never seen the fountain. Tonight I didn't see it. But I drank from it.
Everything ...
Yes, I'm still basking in post-Joss afterglow. Good grief.
In other news:
* according to (hopefully) reliable sources, Tanya Donelly is pregnant. Yay, Tan!
* vale Sainters, when will your time come?
* Desolation Jones 3 ... frigging fantastic
In my last post I mentioned my encounter with Neil Gaiman. I posted the following tale on my website, but do you have the time to go wandering the internet? I don't think so ...
Monday, 18th July 2005
Neil where I stood
Tonight, Neil Gaiman was in Melbourne and I was lucky enough to attend his talkerama at the State Library of Victoria. Neil, as you probably know, is a "writer and storyteller" (his words) of extraordinary repute. He's written the comics that made comics readable, novels and children's books that have won dozens of awards, and TV episodes, film scripts and (presumably) shopping lists of profound wit and imagination, too. He is a Great.
Listening to him recount his career was glorious and savage. So much direction, bravery, dedication and synchronicity. He deserves everything he has, and he does what he does brilliantly and graciously. I was seeing/hearing a great writer, but more importantly I was experiencing a living conduit.
Neil is at the hub of many universes. He talked about Terry Pratchett, Roger Avery and his years of interviewing, and he answered questions about Tori Amos, Alice Cooper and Doctor Who. Personally, his links to Douglas Adams (who he interviewed as a lad) and his English comic-writing contemporaries speak the loudest, but he's everywhere, in everything, at the hub. It's almost incomprehensible. I'm not mentioning much about his writing because his writing doesn't do much for me. But the man's station is profound.
Chamali, my companion for the evening, and I lined up for almost two hours to get his autograph and say hi. I asked a question which got away from me:
"Neil, magic. In an interview Kevin Smith called you, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison the three European gods of comic writing. Alan has his magic, Grant has his Chaos Magic, I was just wondering what magic means to you?"
Yep, I think that's what I asked. Only faster than you can imagine, and in gibberish.
Neil, to his credit, answered me politely. He said something like this:
"Alan hit forty and had his mid-life crisis. Grant's always been like that. Maybe I'll turn fifty and make a change (I can't remember his exact words, but you get the gist). I still remember Alan calling me up and declaring (in Alan's deep voice) 'Neil, I'm becoming a warlock' (very amusing this was). But, you see, Alan has his beard, and Neil has his shaved head, and there's nothing else left. All I do is try to be myself."
No, it's not the answer I wanted, but I didn't ask the question I wanted, either. I think I was trying to say "You write about a magical universe, just like Alan and Grant, but they're writing about what they believe in. What do you believe in?" This still might have imploded, but at least I wouldn't have scored the twee 'be yourself' platitude. I don't know why I cared about Neil's personal feelings about magic but I did, and do. Maybe I still deeply wonder about motivation and faith, and what gets a successful writer out of their bedroom.
Despite the general thrill of the evening, and the delightfulness of Chamali's company, I felt a little flat on the way home. I was utterly dehydrated ten minutes into the evening, and halfway home, waiting for a tram or bus at my very familiar Alfred Hospital stop, I thought I was going to collapse. Then, to my amazement, I was drinking. There, next to the stop, was a drinking fountain, and there I was, drinking from it. I've been at this stop hundreds of times and never seen the fountain. Tonight I didn't see it. But I drank from it.
Everything ...
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Who's the Joss
By now you know the score. Joss Whedon, creator of the TV series Buffy, Angel and Firefly, has been in Australia the last three days promoting his debut movie Serenity.
Aside from the following commitments -
Rove Live - Network Ten - live-to-air on Tuesday, September 13
Sunrise - Network Seven - live-to-air on Tuesday, September 13
The Movie Show (SBS-TV)
Showtime (Foxtel/Austar)
Music Max - with Chit Chat
MTV
Radio National, Breakfast with Fran Kelly - Monday, September 12
Radio Triple J, Jay and the Doctor (breakfast show)
ABC 702 with Sarah McDonald - to air on Monday, September 12
Radio 774 with Richard Stubbs
Radio 3RRR with Rob Jan
Radio 92.9FM, Perth with Bernie, Luke & Sal (breakfast)
Radio Adelaide
Fresh-FM, Adelaide
Radio 4ZZZ Movie Show
Fbi 94.5FM
Radio 2SER-FM
… and a million print interviews
- he also made time for Q & A sessions at two preview screenings of the new movie.
My femme and I were at last night's Melbourne screening. We are lucky, lucky people. Yes, there's a lot of gushing over Joss woven through the fabric of the internet. Many of his fans insist he is god, which you'd normally assume is an exaggeration arising from their over-identification and under-achievement.
After spending almost ninety minutes in his presense, I'd say these people are on the right track. He is fucking ace.
To set the scene, our tickets had a start time of 8:30pm but at 8:30pm there was still a queue stretching a mile from the cinema. The film started about forty minutes late, once everyone's mobile phones and cameras were safely stashed by security - we knew the drill from the preview screening at the Jam Factory, so we travelled light. The crowd was diverse in culture and age, with clearly more women than men. It seemed to be a broader cross-section than the earlier preview, which was all kids, and there were significantly fewer blue hands.
Second time around the film was, I'm delighted to say, even better. Without wanting to unduly influence you, there's a richness and poetry to the dialogue that only increases with familiarity. It's thematically tight, visually rich and makes you laugh/cry in all the right places. I love the film. Except for tiny little bits that need tweaking, but that's a story for another day.
After the film, as tears were swept away and the full majesty of the moment descended upon us, the head of Universal International Pictures (Australia) came out and said a few words. Then, without significant ado, Joss strode down the aisle and into our hearts.
First item of business was the delivery of presents from our local Browncoats chapter - an akubra and a box of unseen goodies (hopefully not more Australiana ...please, dear god). He wore the hat graciously, but mercifully it didn't stay on his head long.
Then he took his seat, centre stage up the front, for a full hour of diverse questions and strange, insightful, hilarious, fascinating and perverse answers. I spent the whole time writing, and plan to share some of the exchanges with you all ... but not today. And as much of the discussion contains spoilers for the movie, some bits will remain upspoken until Sept 29. General Jossy bits may pop up in future posts here - they're happily up my sleeve for now. No, we didn't ask any questions. We've thought of some great ones this morning ... damn damn damn. I did yell out a few things, though, so I feel 'heard'.
At 12:05am, after the questions were done, the queue formed for the autograph session. Can you believe that this man, who was on Sunrise at 8:50am, was still going strong so many hours later? From his comments and itinery, it's clear he'd hardly slept in days. Despite the late hour and hundreds of people waiting their turn, he was all smiles. They obviously breed 'em tough in Hollywood.
Anyway, at this point we were lucky again. My femme snuck up the front before security locked us in our seats, and as part of the first row of signaturees, she got to him by 12:25am. He was, as you would expect by now, still witty, charming and enthusiastic.
Should I have left her alone with him? Depends if she flies off to LA without me in the next week or two.
Do I regret not waiting my turn and getting to shake his hand myself? I was sitting up the front, we made eye-contact from time to time, I'm happy. After my ordeal with Neil Gaiman, I'm thinking of censoring myself from the talent.
And so we left him there, in a near-full cinema swirling with love and admiration. We felt good. We FEEL good. This is the way we dream our inspibhff cc hjgh7, (thanks, little one) ... the way we dream our inspirational heroes will leave us feeling.
He's the manmjhhbgvvbvgbghy (that's my boy's word, I was just going to say he's the man).
We know how lucky we were.
Aside from the following commitments -
Rove Live - Network Ten - live-to-air on Tuesday, September 13
Sunrise - Network Seven - live-to-air on Tuesday, September 13
The Movie Show (SBS-TV)
Showtime (Foxtel/Austar)
Music Max - with Chit Chat
MTV
Radio National, Breakfast with Fran Kelly - Monday, September 12
Radio Triple J, Jay and the Doctor (breakfast show)
ABC 702 with Sarah McDonald - to air on Monday, September 12
Radio 774 with Richard Stubbs
Radio 3RRR with Rob Jan
Radio 92.9FM, Perth with Bernie, Luke & Sal (breakfast)
Radio Adelaide
Fresh-FM, Adelaide
Radio 4ZZZ Movie Show
Fbi 94.5FM
Radio 2SER-FM
… and a million print interviews
- he also made time for Q & A sessions at two preview screenings of the new movie.
My femme and I were at last night's Melbourne screening. We are lucky, lucky people. Yes, there's a lot of gushing over Joss woven through the fabric of the internet. Many of his fans insist he is god, which you'd normally assume is an exaggeration arising from their over-identification and under-achievement.
After spending almost ninety minutes in his presense, I'd say these people are on the right track. He is fucking ace.
To set the scene, our tickets had a start time of 8:30pm but at 8:30pm there was still a queue stretching a mile from the cinema. The film started about forty minutes late, once everyone's mobile phones and cameras were safely stashed by security - we knew the drill from the preview screening at the Jam Factory, so we travelled light. The crowd was diverse in culture and age, with clearly more women than men. It seemed to be a broader cross-section than the earlier preview, which was all kids, and there were significantly fewer blue hands.
Second time around the film was, I'm delighted to say, even better. Without wanting to unduly influence you, there's a richness and poetry to the dialogue that only increases with familiarity. It's thematically tight, visually rich and makes you laugh/cry in all the right places. I love the film. Except for tiny little bits that need tweaking, but that's a story for another day.
After the film, as tears were swept away and the full majesty of the moment descended upon us, the head of Universal International Pictures (Australia) came out and said a few words. Then, without significant ado, Joss strode down the aisle and into our hearts.
First item of business was the delivery of presents from our local Browncoats chapter - an akubra and a box of unseen goodies (hopefully not more Australiana ...please, dear god). He wore the hat graciously, but mercifully it didn't stay on his head long.
Then he took his seat, centre stage up the front, for a full hour of diverse questions and strange, insightful, hilarious, fascinating and perverse answers. I spent the whole time writing, and plan to share some of the exchanges with you all ... but not today. And as much of the discussion contains spoilers for the movie, some bits will remain upspoken until Sept 29. General Jossy bits may pop up in future posts here - they're happily up my sleeve for now. No, we didn't ask any questions. We've thought of some great ones this morning ... damn damn damn. I did yell out a few things, though, so I feel 'heard'.
At 12:05am, after the questions were done, the queue formed for the autograph session. Can you believe that this man, who was on Sunrise at 8:50am, was still going strong so many hours later? From his comments and itinery, it's clear he'd hardly slept in days. Despite the late hour and hundreds of people waiting their turn, he was all smiles. They obviously breed 'em tough in Hollywood.
Anyway, at this point we were lucky again. My femme snuck up the front before security locked us in our seats, and as part of the first row of signaturees, she got to him by 12:25am. He was, as you would expect by now, still witty, charming and enthusiastic.
Should I have left her alone with him? Depends if she flies off to LA without me in the next week or two.
Do I regret not waiting my turn and getting to shake his hand myself? I was sitting up the front, we made eye-contact from time to time, I'm happy. After my ordeal with Neil Gaiman, I'm thinking of censoring myself from the talent.
And so we left him there, in a near-full cinema swirling with love and admiration. We felt good. We FEEL good. This is the way we dream our inspibhff cc hjgh7, (thanks, little one) ... the way we dream our inspirational heroes will leave us feeling.
He's the manmjhhbgvvbvgbghy (that's my boy's word, I was just going to say he's the man).
We know how lucky we were.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Sliding and Diving
Hello Blogfans,
My how quickly things change. Two weeks ago I had a sporadic web journal on my obscure little website, http://www.urbanmythic.com. Now I suddenly have a livejournal, and this blogspot journal, too.
Why, you ask? Originally I just wanted to send a comment to Warren Ellis over at The Engine. Today I needed to send a hi to Ms Fits. And thus blogs are born.
Not sure which one I'll warm to.
Just playing for now.
My how quickly things change. Two weeks ago I had a sporadic web journal on my obscure little website, http://www.urbanmythic.com. Now I suddenly have a livejournal, and this blogspot journal, too.
Why, you ask? Originally I just wanted to send a comment to Warren Ellis over at The Engine. Today I needed to send a hi to Ms Fits. And thus blogs are born.
Not sure which one I'll warm to.
Just playing for now.
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