The first time i saw this movie was about three years ago and I pretty much hated it. I was told that without the context of the Syfy show Firefly on which it’s based, it probably wasn’t as good. So this spring when Nathan started watching episodes of Firefly on Netflix Instant Play, i wasn’t very interested at first. However, unlike Stargate which failed to interest me even after several chances, the show soon drew me in and Nathan and i finished up the one and only season together in no time. Afterward we watched Serenity, which was SO MUCH BETTER the second time.

So then a couple weeks ago i heard via twitter about this event called Can’t Stop the Serenity. There are a lot of Firefly fans out there (called “browncoats”) whose love for the series has only been fueled by the fact that it was canceled so early on and by their hopes that it might be revived again some day. These fans get together once a year in quite a few different cities around the world to watch Serenity on the big screen. I figured the event would probably be a nerdfest and thus a pretty awesome time. I had no idea.

First there was a costume contest which we missed and which we realized once we got there that we probably could have won if we’d dressed up. There were door prizes which included Anime box sets, chopsticks-and-pocky combinations and Firefly fanclub memorabilia. We won some fake Firefly universe currency – w00t! There was a showing of Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, which we discovered is a short musical starring Neil Patrick Harris that was directed by Joss Whedon, the same guy who did Firefly (and a lot of other stuff, it turns out). That was pretty enjoyable. And then, of course, there was Serenity. (Which was STILL BETTER the third time around.)

But besides all of the delightful nerdery, there was a really good cause for all of this. I knew that the proceeds were going to be donated to a charity, but i was excited to learn that Equality Now is an organization that essentially fights against the things i hate the most in this world: rape, domestic violence, reproductive rights violations, trafficking, female genital mutilation, and gender discrimination. Unfortunately, i didn’t learn about this until after the silent auction had ended or i probably would have ponied up at least fifty bucks for a graphic novel to benefit this organization right then and there. (I can still donate, of course, but i won’t get a sweet comic book out of it.)

The main aim of Equality Now is to facilitate awareness about the atrocities being committed against women every day all over the world. It upsets me enough that i find it hard to write about, but this is something i think is really important so please check out their website and be sure to like them on facebook!

So nerdy sci-fi love + proceeds going to a great cause = a really awesome event that i’m already planning to attend again next year. And with that, i’ve just destroyed whatever “cool points” i may have gained with my big bro by drinking IPAs with him over the past couple of weeks.

Gotta love that the creator was inspired by one of my favorite movies.

I loved everything about it, from the double entendre title to the meaning it has because of current events. It’s about a man (played by George Clooney) who travels for a living and helps companies downsize by firing their employees for them. He calls the sky his home and gives seminars on how not to be tied down by possessions or even relationships. He likes people and is good at firing them with a firm but understanding hand, yet doesn’t want to commit himself to any one person or place.

For parts of the movie, they actually interviewed real people who had lost their jobs and recorded their thoughts on the matter. It made me think back to when i lost my first job a year and a half ago and how the awkward conversation with my boss quickly dwindled down to nothing, and how in a state of shock i had to pack my things and go. I remembered going to the grocery store that night looking for a pint of ben & jerry’s for consolation and just standing there, looking at the ice cream, crying. Because your future isn’t in that pint, it’s – well – up in the air.

So i identified with the movie in that way, and i also happen to be a sucker for a movie that reminds you that the important thing in life is the people you love. If you’re a fan of It’s A Wonderful Life, The Family Man, Garden State, etc., you’ll probably enjoy this one, too.

First of all, we didn’t get through all 50 IMDB picks. We got up to about #36, but we didn’t go perfectly in order and the list is always fluctuating. We also skipped the ones we had already seen. I didn’t enjoy any of them very much except for To Kill a Mockingbird and Alien. I really liked Alien. And it was then that i realized that my love of sci-fi extends far beyond Star Wars, and i was a little bit ashamed.

Speaking of sci-fi (or is it syfy now?), my favorite movie that we watched this year was Metropolis, a silent sci-fi made in 1927. It’s weird and awesome and it’s amazing what they dreamed up and brought to life way back then. The acting is so interesting, and you realize that you’re viewing an artifact when the missing bits of film are filled in with text summaries. Wonderful.

We saw Avatar and District 9 recently, and we discovered that the two movies actually share some plot elements, which explains why so many people are comparing them. Avatar is of course spectacular, and the story isn’t bad (even if it is kindof a recycled Pocahontas). The aliens looked cartooney in the previews, but we found that they didn’t feel that way when we watched the movie. It was better than i was expecting, and while it’s not one of my new favorite movies, i definitely recommend seeing it, and in theaters (*and* in 3-D if you can stomach paying that much for one movie). District 9, on the other hand, is gritty and gory and I’m still not entirely sure whether i liked it or not. I don’t think i did, that’s not the kind of movie i tend to like (we both really hated Taxi Driver, by the way).

I thought The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Gran Torino were both overrated. Coraline and Up are both fun and worth watching. The Hangover was funny, and so was Bruno. Harry Potter and the… Whatever It Was This Year and Angels and Demons were entertaining, as anyone could have guessed. And i must say i found Twilight and New Moon to be pretty entertaining as well. They’re really fun to laugh at (sparkly vampires? werewolves running around in cutoffs??), and it’s also just fun to wonder if Bella will ever become a vampire?! (DO NOT tell me.) A lot of young women adore the Twilight saga, and i’ve discovered that a slew of others abhor it just because the former group loves it, which i think is a lot more retarded than being obsessed with it. Like what you like, don’t dislike something just to be “different”.

Slumdog Millionaire and Milk are really genuinely good movies, so if you’re looking for actually *good* stuff and not just entertainment, those are the only ones i watched this year that i can recommend.

And finally, because i can’t possibly mention the remaining fifty-or-so movies we saw in 2009, i’d like to award Worst Movie I Watched This Year to: Henry Poole is Here. If you didn’t already think Luke Wilson a douchebag for his AT&T commercials, go ahead and watch this movie and join the rest of us.

On Friday we saw The Invention of Lying. I was really excited to see this film because i came up with the idea of an alternate universe where people haven’t evolved the ability to lie a couple of years ago. I contemplated writing some sort of script or book about it, but that sort of thing takes far too much patience for me and it never happened. Thankfully, someone else had the very same idea and turned it into a movie.

I loved the part about religion, of course. Surprisingly, i hadn’t even thought of that aspect of a world without lying. In the movie, there is no religion until the main character invents the lie, and subsequently tells a big fib about what happens after death. Everyone is overjoyed to hear that you go to the most wonderful place you can think of after death. It makes plenty of sense that they would be. But when the main character goes on to describe the “man in the sky” who decides whether we go to that good place or instead to a bad place, the headlines read “finally, a reason to be good.”

I don’t understand this bit. In a world with no lying, everyone would have to own up to the bad things they did immediately, and face the consequences right away as well. Wouldn’t there be plenty of reasons to be good in a world like that?

Anyway. Onward.

The characters were terribly flat. Apparently “no lying” also means “disclose everything” and nobody really has a personality to speak of. The chemistry between the two main characters wasn’t believable at all. The complete lack of graphic design in this universe rather confused me, considering that the fashion was plenty imaginative, and the characters are able to dream up images and talk about them. I decided back when i came up with this idea that there would still be acting and art if there was no lying. I feel like the movie hinted at the fact that life without lies would just be colorless and unhappy, but i think they could have explored the possibilities so much more deeply. The Invention of Lying is ultimately just another romantic comedy, and i think it could have been so much more.

On Saturday we watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which is one of Hayao Miyazaki’s oldest films. It’s older than i am, in fact. I think i first saw Princess Mononoke almost exactly ten years ago, which makes me feel slightly old. I read a few of the Nausicaa graphic novels not long after that, so the film has been a long time coming for me – especially since i never got to the end of the story. This movie was more similar to PM than Miyazaki’s other works, and i enjoyed it immensely. I think it’s now my second-favorite. If you like Miyazaki, post-apocalyptic stuff and/or really imaginative stories, watch this one for sure.

Finally, last night we saw Where The Wild Things Are. Knowing that the book is very short, i expected a lot of embellishment on the story. There was indeed much added action, and yet the plot was almost as simple as that of the original book. I thought it was funny at times and spectacular at others and imaginative through and through, but the wild things had strangely human personalities – and stupid ones at that. I felt like i was watching a childish drama play out among a group of trashy white people. Nothing was resolved at the end. Really, the movie took the book and added a bunch of loose ends to it. The most important thing was the way Max learned and changed while he was away from home – or at least, we can assume that he changed his ways upon returning. The film felt awkward at times, but it was definitely entertaining and somewhat thought-provoking, so i give it a thumbs-up.

And i believe that brings the total number of movies i’ve seen so far this year to forty-seven.

**SPOILERS!**

Nathan and i went to see “Bruno” last Friday. To give you an idea of how outlandish the film is, suffice it to say that they were actually checking each person’s ID at the theater entrance. It’s more suggestive than actually graphic, but its contents are enough to turn the stomach of any red-blooded straight man. Which actually makes it all the more hilarious to the female audience, in my opinion. See it while it’s new in theaters, ladies, and listen for the men’s reactions.

I actually thought the naked fight scene in “Borat” was a little over the top when i saw that movie. However, it was used to present a contrast to the American way of life and to of course garner a reaction from passers-by, making it a doubly humorous scene for the movie audience. “Bruno” is composed almost entirely of this sort of awkward physical confrontation, and the film is a little less brilliant than “Borat” for that reason. It still manages, however, to take a telling glimpse at the dark underbelly of our country, even if, as Anthony Lane of The New Yorker points out, the chosen targets are proverbial fish in a barrel. It’s by no means challenging to expose the homophobia of the South, the bigotry of the Church, the phoniness of so-called “psychics” and the vacuity of Hollywood, but oh my god is it funny to watch.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s brilliance does shine through at moments. I was amazed to hear professional PR consultants talk about how hot the issue of “Dafor” is, and agree that it’s, like, near Iraq and stuff. I had to collect my jaw from off the floor after hearing a woman agree to make her thirty-pound daughter lose ten pounds in a week if it meant she’d get a modeling gig. I laughed at the delightful irony as Paula Abdul agreed to sit on the back of a latino man and then proceed to discuss her humanitarian efforts. “Bruno” may be more gruesome and less witty than “Borat,” but it was definitely the most hilarious movie i’ve seen in a long time.

Seeing each other every-other day just isn’t cutting it for us anymore, so Nathan and i went out again last night. We went to see Religulous, which was nothing if not entertaining.

Commedian Bill Maher says it’s time for we who doubt to speak up about it, so i suppose i’ll go ahead and voice my opinion on the film.

First of all, I’m pretty certain this film isn’t going to change anyone’s mind about what they believe. Religion is deep-seated, and I haven’t come across any particular creative work yet that i think could single-handedly change a person’s entire outlook on life. Atheists and Agnostics generally seem to think that the way they see things is so obviously correct that they fail to open anyone’s eyes by really exploring and working out the questions. Secular works tend instead to tout a certain point of view as fact the same way religion does.

This particular documentary, being conducted by a commedian, is certainly entertaining for those of us who already understand where he’s coming from, but i think the way the questions were asked was moreso poking fun at people than really trying to understand what they believe and why. He interviewed people who seem to take their religion to the extreme–Televangelists, the self-proclaimed reincarnation of Christ, a man who helps homosexuals become heterosexual (and although he was himself gay once does not believe that anyone is inherently gay), a man who portrays Jesus at a theme park in Israel, etc. I’d be interested in hearing more from the theologians and the average people on the street.

I’d love to see this movie turned into a television series, because i think that Maher made a good point in the end–that religion is really the cause of most of the death and destruction in the world–but didn’t illustrate that point thoroughly enough. It was a fun film that came to a sobering conclusion, and it seemed slightly disjointed. I see the connection, but it wasn’t really shown to me. The idea that people must be skeptical of religious ideas because of the tragedy that we really create or allow to be created in the name of God reminded me of Sam Harris’s book The End of Faith, of which i’ve only read a couple chapters. It’s a heavy topic, but horribly important.

Interesting points raised by the movie:

• Most people agree that the gospels of Mormonism and Scientology are ridiculous. God is a human being who lives on another planet..? There are aliens inside all of us called Thetans?? But we accept the stories of Christianity whole-heartedly: A virgin birth. Rising from the dead. Talking snakes and burning bushes. Aren’t those equally ridiculous?
• The story of Christ is older than Christ. It bears striking similarity to the stories of prophets of older religions. I’d never heard this before. A carpenter born on the 25th of December to a virgin performed miracles, had twelve apostles, was killed and then rose from the dead. Nope, not Jesus Christ, but an ancient Egyptian myth.
• Atheism is a luxury. When you’re in real peril–hiding in a foxhole, for example–you reach out for whatever gives you comfort, and in almost all cases that is God, in one form or another. A higher power. We who have little to fear may have the luxury of not clinging to something greater than ourselves. I’ve noticed this lately, but never heard it put quite this way. It makes sense.

Personally, i’ve seen and heard plenty that paints religion in general as being pretty much ridiculous. I agree with it, and apparently about 16% of people now agree with it. But i still feel like part of a very small minority that thinks that the idea of God or a great spirit or a higher power of any sort is probably also ridiculous. I want to hear people talk about the root of this thing, which is God. Is it really only fear that drives people to believe?