Phlogiston

The O’Reilly Network has an An Interview with David Heinemeier Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails online.

Well, this is a bit of a change in pace from my usual geeky ramblings, but this article—Rotterdam Architecture Biennale Review—was pointed out to me (by the author, no less) and I found it really interesting. The theme of the biennale was how water had played a role (and could go on to) in the architecture and civil engineering traditions of Holland, and of other countries and cities around the world. This should appeal to architecture geeks (Jonathan! Pay attention, I’m talking about you) and the actual architects (Hi Stephanie!) out there.

I grew up in Berkshire and London, and the Thames has always had a significance for me. (Maybe that’s something that draws me to Eliot.) It’s always seemed exceedingly odd to me that Edinburgh doesn’t have a river running through the middle of it. I know there is the sea, and the docks at Leith, but the absence of a river is heightened by the fact that there is a volcanic ravine exactly where a river ought to be, and it’s still somehow startling to me to look down and see a railway line there instead.

I saw Serenity on Wednesday evening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It was AMAZING! More on the film itself below.

It’s been a shiny week for me all round:

I didn’t have tickets for the Monday night gala premiere, but I went anyway to see the whole red carpet thang. Joss Whedon (writer/director), Chris Buchanan (executive producer), Morena Baccarin (Inara), Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Operative), Nathan Fillion (Mal), Summer Glau (River), Sean Maher (Simon), Jewel Staite (Kaylee), and Gina Torres (Zoe) were all there. The actors in particular looked incredibly glamorous: they’re all striking looking on screen, but in the flesh they’re even more so. Unfortunately I couldn’t get close enough to any of them to speak to them or get anything signed, but I was pleased to see them. Denise Docherty has a gallery of photos online of the premiere—check out the very first picture, in the lower left hand side of the image you can just see me trying to peer over everyone else. (That must be the best photo of my left eyebrow I’ve ever seen!)

Tuesday I had tickets to see the Reel Life: Joss Whedon event. This was basically an hour long interview with Joss, with a half hour Q+A session. I was bitterly dissappointed I wasn’t picked to ask something as I was really interested to hear Joss’s answer to my question [at the end of this post if you’re interested], but Joss was witty, interesting, and most of the questions were good. Many of you will be pleased to know that he confirmed that he is indeed working hard to make the Spike TV movie happen. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable hour and a half.

Wednesday lunchtime there was a signing at HMV on Princes Street. Adam, Morena, Summer, Joss, Nathan and Gina were there and I took along my Firefly boxset which they all signed. I even managed to exchange a few words with them. I told Adam how much I enjoyed The Inside and how dissappointed I was that it didn’t get picked up or even have all thirteen episodes air. He looked pretty pissed off (not with me, I hope) but said it was definitely coming out on DVD. I spoke to Morena and Summer together, I asked them whether they had had a chance to see anything of Edinburgh or the Festival, and they both looked disappointed and said no, it had been work, work, work. (That’s such a shame, as most of the Edinburgh International Film Festival has taken place this year at Cineworld, an ugly multiplex in one of the ugliest parts of town. If that’s all they’ve seen of Edinburgh they’re going to have a very wrong impression of what the city is like.) I told Summer that that was a real shame, as the International Festival was one of the main events, if not the main event, in the modern dance and ballet calendar in the UK. She then looked really upset she hadn’t been able to see anything but really pleased that someone was interested in talking about what she was interested in (she used to be a ballerina). Joss and Nathan were busy sharing a joke with each other so I didn’t say anything to them, but when Gina signed my boxset I said “Thank you so much”, and she looked up and said quite forcefully, “No, thank you so very much”. That was really nice.

Wednesday evening was the film itself. It’s incredible. The opening floored me. It begins with a total sci-fi cliche, voice over exposition, but then Joss completely turns the cliche on its head, not once but twice, pulling the rug right out from underneath you. It’s a breathtakingly clever opening at the end of which you have all the important backstory. Next comes an equally impressive scene in which the camera moves in one take through Serenity and we have snatches of conversation between each of the crew which perfectly introduces the ensemble cast. Genius. From then on in the pacing is astoundng. It never lets up once, and by the end of the film I felt exhausted. None of the big action set pieces (of which there are many) feel like set pieces, but instead just seem like a seamless part of the story. The film is funny, moving, touching, exciting, scary and heart-breaking.

If you don’t believe me, here is what the Telegraph had to say about it:

For sheer, joyful entertainment, though, there’s no question as to this festival’s hottest ticket: the world première of Joss Whedon’s Serenity. A science fiction western based on Whedon’s cult television series Firefly, it picks up where the series left off, pitting Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his rogue crew of small-time rebels against the military might of a superpower called The Alliance. Between them lies the mystery of River Tam (Summer Glau), a psychic assassin who holds the key to the future of the universe.

As the man responsible for Buffy The Vampire Slayer, perhaps only Whedon could conceive of a science fiction western—and pull it off with such élan. His command of form and playful delight in extending it serve him well again here; Serenity delivers all the thrills, spills and eye-popping explosions one could demand of a big studio blockbuster.

A complex ensemble piece without major stars, it has characters to care about, a keenly political intelligence, and some of the most cracking banter since Howard Hawks was in his prime. It deserves to be a huge hit when it’s released next month.

I was particularly thrilled when he said “some of the most cracking banter since Howard Hawks was in his prime”, as that is exactly how I feel about Joss’ writing. The Scotsman also has an excellent review.

The cast and crew weren’t at Wednesday evening’s screening as they had scattered across the country to attend the various preview screenings taking place, but as I’d seen them twice already (and Joss three times) that didn’t bother me in the least.

The event I was pissed off to miss was that apparently on Sunday night they were all out on the town, and ended up in The Last Drop (not the best pub, but open late and prominently positioned on The Grassmarket) boozing it up until the wee hours of the morning. I wish I’d known. It’s ten minutes walk from my flat and I would have loved to have bought them all a drink.

This is a long post, but I’d like to add two extra things. First, what I’d like to see if there are sequels, and second, what I wanted to ask Joss.

Serenity has plenty of humour, but fundamentally it is a very dark film. I have no complaints about that, but I think it would be a mistake for a second movie to be equally dark. I’d love to see a caper movie for the second, high on action and high on laughs. Sort of an Italian Job set in space, and hopefully involving the Guild of Companions (first so that Inara has a bigger storyline this time, second because I’d love to see the return of Saffron, and third because Inara’s back story still hasn’t been explained, whilst River’s and Book’s (reading between the lines) are in Serenity). Such a film could flesh out so much more of the Firefly/Serenity universe, the criminal elements, life on the frontier, and the Blue Sun corporation. A third film could then return to the dark, with perhaps an ultimate confrontation with the Alliance.

Lastly, this is what I wanted to ask Joss: “Firefly was in many ways saved by DVD sales. Tim Minnear’s [Firefly’s co-executive producer] subsequent two shows [Wonderfalls and The Inside] have also faired badly on network TV, but Tim now says he’s happy to be given money to produce shows that basically go straight to DVD. The Global Frequency pilot [Joss is a huge Warren Ellis fan] was leaked on the internet and caused such an enormously favourable response that it was even reported in the mainstream press (”The Greatest TV Show You’ll Never See”), prompting show runner John Rogers to publicly debate whether Global Frequency could continue without network involvement, either straight to DVD or by internet distribution. Can quality genre TV be made without the networks? Should it? Will it?”

It. Rocks. That is all.