Press And Blog Mentions, Etc.

[CulturePulp]

"mlerules" laments the looming end of F@tM:

Quite pleased to turn on LJ-less L to Firefly. We've caught up now w/what they're showing at the theatre for the Freebie Tuesday nights. Just one (1) more Tuesday of episodes 'til the Freebie Serenity showing on Tu, 9/4/07, at which time the fun ends. (*sniff*)

And F@tM Web bard Chris Walsh throws down:

In honor of tomorrow night's edition of Firefly at the Mission, I will make a prediction:

If you are not in love with River by the end of "Objects in Space," then you have no soul.

[CulturePulp]

It is Chris Walsh, our chronicler, who alone can tell thee of Week 8's saga:

Firefly at the Mission Week Eight: Something penultimate about this one

Weather smiled on us again. Technical issues, erm, frowned at us, or were pointing at us and laughing or something. Anyway, the wait for Firefly at the Mission wound up being longer Tuesday night. I think and hope many more people than I thought it was worth it.

Knocked Up (fun, if not exactly what I was in the mood for) wound up starting late before our penultimate Firefly at the Mission soiree, thus making Firefly’s “Objects in Space” (one of the action-heavy episodes, and simultaneously the most thoughtful and philosophical hour of Firefly that Joss And Co. produced) start late. At least the weather was smiling at us. Or at least smirking a half-smile. And our mood dampened not; we seemed feisty this time. I was assisted by A) the iced chai I’d had before reaching the theatre and B) the Firefly Kolsch I was sipping. Finally even I (to borrow Eric Idle’s phrase “merely an amateur drinker”) enjoyed a show with an adult beverage! If the laughs from near the right side of the screen were especially loud, that may have been why…

Somewhere near capacity – with a turnout that made some of the early-arrivers worry that people thought this was the free Serenity-the-movie screening, which it wasn’t, that’s next week – is what the theatre was. Yes, the grammar works there, if somewhat Yodashly. (“Yeah, that’s a word…now…”) And we were celebrating our geekiness; actually overheard in the lobby: “It’s not a real Sonic Screwdriver.” Meanwhile, the tireless (Viso-fueled? asks this member of the Emerson Army) street team from the radio stations put up the AM 970 and KUFO banners, starting to install a KUFO banner upside down (making KUFO look kind of like, oh, you can figure that out) before catching the mistake. The fan-made music played again, including that more up-tempo female-vocal version of the Firefly theme song, which I now think of as “Firefly theme, Season Three (’cause Fox would’ve wanted a jauntier opening…had it, of course, kept the gorram show on the air).”

The music also made me, someone with little exposure to filk so far, wonder: does anyone do punk-filk?

Our feisty side showed when the trivia contest, being for the winning of much swag from Dark Horse, Things From Another World and even Joss Whedon himself, began. I think Mike Russell’s question “What’s depicted in the shadow play in ‘Heart of Gold’?” got the answer “The Kama Sutra!”

Then Cort and Fatboy chided each other on video over how to introduce this last episode, and then-then “Objects in Space” played to its appreciative audience.

One of the many things I love about the episode is how River’s solution to the Jubal Early problem is a solution only she, among the ship’s whole crew, would’ve thought up. I also love how Early uses philosophy and psychology to his twisted advantage, messing with the minds and feelings of our heroes until he’s out-thought by those same heroes. And oh, that was earned applause when River gently announced throughout the ship “You’re talking to Serenity – and Serenity is very unhappy.” It showed the steely, protective side of our favorite psychic in the ’Verse, a side only glimpsed before. Good stuff.

And then we got to watch River go nuts, at least in quotes (“go nuts” – there, like that) as the Surprise Content of last night’s show immediately followed the episode. The River Tam Sessions, originally placed online in 2005 and finally collected for American DVD owners in the new Serenity DVD (waiting for me at a downtown store! I get it Thursday! Woo hoo!), kicked off the second half of the screening. Russell had edited together a smorgasbord of Firefly and Serenity bonus material, including what he described as “an absolutely horrible Fox commercial for Firefly (seriously – it’s horrible),” showing a show nigh-unrecognizable even to Browncoats. (So Fox didn’t figure out how to sell Firefly, like how Warner Bros. couldn’t figure out how to sell The Iron Giant. Seriously; remember what the studio-affiliated trailers were in front of the dark and PG-rated Iron Giant? The ultra-G-rated two-fer A Dog of Flanders and Pokemon: The Movie! Yes, unfortunately, I remember this…) Seriously, the Fruity Oaty Bars commercial made more sense. Which we also saw. Along with gag reels, behind-the-scenes stuff, excerpts of Firefly fan-films, and even Adam Baldwin singing “The Hero of Canton” with at least a touch of Frank Sinatra in his voice.

And then, with a shot of Captain Mal’s bare ass (you know which shot I’m talking about), the screening ended. And this rather limp-but-happy Firefly appreciater joined those chuckling masses that were leaving the Mission, and walked and, eventually, taxied back home because he’d missed almost all of the last busses to his neighborhood.

Next week: a movie for free…the same movie many of us watched in June while raising TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for charity, so it’s a movie that’s done good in a way that, oh, Transformers likely never will. We can be proud of that.

As usual, there are hotlinks in his actual post.

[CulturePulp]

Chris Walsh told me in an e-mail, "YOU CAN HAS 'SERENITY' PREEVYU":

This time it's Serenity at the Mission...

Things I know are true (for, to steal from Terry Pratchett, a certain value of "true"):

* William Shatner needs to do a cover version of Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping." ("I, get...KNOCKED-DOWN! But *I*...get-up-a...GAIN. You are nev-ER...gonna. Get, Me, Down...")

* We're all naked under our clothes.

* Wikipedia has an entry on vomiting.

* The song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" was written for the early Disney cartoon Three Little Pigs, released in May 1933. It was thus the first Disney earworm.

* The Mission Theatre, once more as this summer closes, will close the Firefly at the Mission screening series on Tuesday night by showing, for free, Serenity, the Big Damn Movie itself. (Here's the official McMenamin's page for proof!) It's scheduled to show at 10 p.m. Like last week, it'll be preceded by Knocked Up (so anyone who comes early and buys a ticket for Knocked Up can see Alan Tudyk in a TV exec's suit). And, again, Serenity is free.

* Dogs are fuzzy! Raven speaks truth, yo.

As usual, the original linked post is buttressed with hotlinks.

[sadimac]

"Dogs are fuzzy!"?
I imagine there's a link in the original post that clarifies that. I mean, they are, but...

[CulturePulp]

Brian Moon offers a detailed rundown of the joys and disappointments of the final evening:

Tuesday night last I attended Firefly at the Mission for the last time.

At least until they do it again.

Even though the show didn't start until 10:00 PM, I got there at 8:30 PM, because experience has taught me that Portland fans of "Firefly" bring new meaning to the word "fan". And, sure enough, for this final night, even at 8:30 the line was long, stretching around the corner almost to the rear of the building...

Thanks for the memories, everyone.

Just as I didn't want Firefly to end, just as I didn't want these showings to end, I don't want this night to end.

There's a lot more in the original post -- including a first-person account of the vicissitudes of the ever-longer-and-more-brutal trivia contest....

[CulturePulp]

Jenny Rebecca loves Joss Whedon:

Last night was the last episode of "Firefly" at the Mission. Actually, the series finale was a movie called "Serenity".

I have to admit, when "Firefly" came out, I wasn't a fan. Space cowboys? I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Later when the movie came out, I really enjoyed it, and bought the series on DVD. Yet it still didn't click. This summer it clicked.

I went to almost every episode this summer, and fell in love with the characters, the episodes, the villains, everything. It was incredibly well written. If you have never seen an episode, or if you did, but it was lost to you the first time, try again. It's worth it.

I'm going to miss my Tuesday night t.v. screenings, and the friends I made because of them.

[CulturePulp]

He teased it, and then he teased it again -- and now Chris Walsh finally presents his detailed report on the final night of "Firefly at the Mission":

Serenity. We found it.

It’s simple: we made something good happen.

Hearing from Mike Russell plus Cort and Fatboy about what went into making this summer’s “Firefly at the Mission” a reality was…an education. A willing venue and a willing fandom worked together over…well, a while (I’m unclear on the timeline) to let Firefly join the ranks of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twin Peaks, The Prisoner, Arrested Development and others as TV shows shown by the McMenamin’s theatres. Still, it would’ve been a little anticlimactic after that work if so many of us hadn’t responded and attended. Fortunately, many of us did. The chance came, and 200 to 300 (or more) people a week jumped at it.

We deserve to be proud of that.

And Russell, Cort, Fatboy, Rick Emerson, the Mission Theatre staff, the Dark Horse Comics people, and the Things From Another World people all deserve more applause. Really! Just be walking down the street and start applauding! It’ll help Keep Portland Weird!

On Tuesday night we concluded “Firefly at the Mission” with the “and then everything went to Hell” episode of Firefly, a.k.a. the 2005 movie Serenity. Joss Whedon successfully fought for his chance to wrap up his science fiction Western, and then used that chance to take more chances…and not just go “Rocks fall, everybody dies,” though I think Whedon is perverse enough that he may sometimes consider endings like that. The result wasn’t for everybody (my parents admitted they made it through only about 10 minutes of the film when they tried it on HBO), but it’s a movie that’s special to increasing numbers of people. Just as Firefly is special to evermore people.

The weather seemed iffy that afternoon – the skies seemed to be saying “drizzle? Mmmmmmm…possible”– but the night stayed dry, keeping our waiting time comfortable. By the time I hit SE McLaughlin headed north towards the Mission, clouds had parted enough to let a sliver of dusk-light outline the West Hills. At the same time I was driving, some people had already queued near the Mission’s doors; some others were already inside, watching Knocked Up. People were still doing so when I parked and reached the start of the line. More plastic lawn chairs this time. I kind of wished that someone had brought a hammock; that would’ve been waiting in style. I joined the line, read, and listened to the murmuring hubbub (the susurrus! That’s a great word!) of the other waiting people. Not too loud, not too quiet; it was comfortable, especially for a non-bar-hopping, non-club-going person like me.

When we could enter, the entering at least started smoothly, and seemed to keep going smoothly. The food-and-drink line also went smoothly. We can be a well-behaved fandom. We didn’t hit capacity this time – how crowded was the balcony? I didn’t see it – but, again, we were close. We had drinks, snacks, food and attitude. And love. Geek love. The sort of love that led to one guy and I in the food line discussing the battle to make the new Battlestar Galactica both good and appointment viewing (“SciFi needed that show to be a hit,” I said; “I don’t think Fox needed Firefly to be one”), and how the Alliance goons were like the Psi Corps from Babylon 5, just clumsier. “The Psi Corps are better at covering their tracks,” he said.

Then the pre-movie festivities started, with Mike Russell being joined (finally!) by radio guys Cort and Fatboy; the two DJs had pretaped the last 2 ½ hours of their KUFO show so they could be at the Mission for at least one screening. They willingly became Russell’s swag-schleppers, running prizes to people who’d properly answered the trivia questions.

This time we had a record 20 questions, thought not all were asked. This number was due to the sheer number of items Dark Horse and TFAW (that needs to be a sound effect in a Dark Horse comic: “TFAW!”) and others had provided. One local knitter donated not only a couple of Jayne caps, but (and I thought this was adorable) a Jayne cellphone cozy. (Hey, a goal: someone here should try making Kaylee’s shindig dress…) It took long enough to answer everything and give away prizes that I started to wonder if holding the trivia contest outside before the event would be a better idea. It likely wouldn’t. (Mike Russell had the likely more workable idea of doing trivia after a showing.) I personally liked the trivia that in Whedon’s first draft of Serenity, the Operative had a name, Jude…apparently referring to both Judas and the Beatles song “Hey Jude.” (At least, I’ve seen enough signs that Whedon is a Beatles fan to think that.) Then I found there was a connection between Firefly and High School Musical, when someone answered that question with enthusiasm. “Ah, and the fandoms meet…” I said to myself, portentously.

“Have you noticed yet? I can’t stump them?” Russell pondered from the stage halfway through the contest.

He also noted that Tuesday night was the second wedding anniversary of a couple in the audience. (The husband’s present to his wife: all sorts of Joss Whedon-penned comic books, some obscure, filling in gaps in her collection and gladifying her. Think someone would say “gladify” in the Firefly ’Verse? I think so.) The announcement was greeted with cheers and applause and the couple standing up in the balcony and being the center of attention.

Cort and Fatboy made short work of their introduction. They mentioned not spoiling stuff. Being perverse, I started to wish they’d given fake spoilers – didn’t you guys love the Far Side references? Or the lucha libre wrestling? Or the planet of dancing ants? Or the threesome with _____, _____, and _____ (fill in the blanks with the characters of your choice)? But I’m not the trained public speaker. They are.

Then the end began.

A film print (as the Mission’s manager had hoped, though I’m sure there was a Serenity DVD on the premises just in case) began to unspool, complete with lens adjustment as the Universal Pictures logo played. And we once again saw the rescue of River, the Operative, the rough landing on Lilac, the Reavers, the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial, River showing her kung-fu is strong…and that’s just the first half-hour. I better appreciated the subtleties of the film (watch Inara’s face as she meets the Operative) and reinforced my belief (sort of expressed before) that Joss Whedon is going to be a very interesting director.

Then…the end ended. The film finished, and we began to point all of ourselves towards our homes. Before leaving, I met Russell’s friend and colleague, artist/animator S.W. “Conch” Conser (who also appeared in this Culture Pulp comic, by the way), and learned he knows how to react to people who think he looks like Willem Dafoe. And that he would love to write a Serenity Tales comic about Shepherd Book’s past, one of the big unanswered questions of Firefly.

We don’t know all the answers, but we can speculate. Whedon doesn’t mind. We can watch the series, view the movie, recreate its props, recite its dialogue, make fan films, appreciate the cast and crew (and hope co-creator Tim Minear can have a hit on TV again)…and, perhaps, if all goes well, gather at a theatre-pub again to watch the series on the big screen again.

The Forces That Be will try to see if that can, well, Be again.

Nothing’s firm yet, but the people who made “Firefly at the Mission” happen want to see it return. Hope for that. I quote Fatboy: “I still wish I'd gotten to see the actual SHOW on the big screen: The episodes you were watching got ripped straight from my own DVD set, but I’ve never seen them broadcast on a 30 foot screen. Hopefully by the time we do this AGAIN…we'll be able to work it out so we're not overloud floating heads telling bad jokes before the screening; we'll be in-person schlumpy yahoos telling bad jokes before the screening.” That’s partly because he likes the fandom’s camaraderie and rapport: “I talked to some really cool people there, like I always do when surrounded by Browncoats and Whedonites. I remember long conversations about DOG GROOMING, of all things, with 10 people, when I was standing on-line for one of the Serenity pre-screenings in Portland a couple Marchs ago. Conversations are pretty contagious in line for Firefly, it seems.”

But for now, we can get to bed at our usual times Tuesday nights. And that’s its own kind of good.

As usual, there are hotlinks in Walsh's original post.

Thanks so much for doing these, Chris.

[The One True b!X]

Scott Allie mentions the showings.

http://www.darkhorse.com/zones/buffy/editor.php

And, and mentions some guy named "Mike Russell" too.