serenity Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Their engines whine; their walls creak. These spaceships may look like antiques from the future, but many pack more punch under the hood than they let on. Never judge a book by its cover, and never judge a spaceship by its rust-holes and sputtering warp drive. What space-faring rattletraps make the cut in our top five list of "hunk of junk" spaceships?


5. EAGLE V from Spaceballs

The most impressive thing about the Eagle V is its amazingly pristine (and retro-hideous) 1973 Winnebago chassis. Piloted by Captain Lone Starr and his Mawg co-pilot, Barf, the Eagle V is a ship-for-hire last seen crash landing on the surface of MoonaVega. I would say it was last seen on the recent Spaceballs cartoon series, but that would imply that people actually watched it.

FEATURES: Interior shag carpeting, perfect for camping.

DRAWBACKS: Screen door, chemical toilet, small fuel tank.


4. THUNDER ROAD from The Explorers


The only ship on this list named after a Bruce Springsteen song, this is the vessel that carried Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson into outer space where they made first contact with a rubbery alien who could lip-sync to "Yakety Yak". Higher forms of intelligence, indeed. This bold trio built a craptacular capsule out of a rusty tilt-a-whirl, a garbage can, a busted TV, and Charles Foster Kane's sled, and somehow, not only managed to get it into space without imminent death, but impressed Dick Miller in the process. The vast loneliness of space caused so much psychological damage amongst the children that Phoenix OD'ed years later, Presson went off-the-grid, and Ethan Hawke married Uma Thurman.

FEATURES: Bubble-based technology provides the ship with its own oxygen supply.

DRAWBACKS: Bubble-based technology does not prevent the ship from sinking into the ocean at the end of the film.


Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

Now that J.J. Abrams has reinvented, and especially, reinvigorated Star Trek for an all new generation of fake-pointy-eared fans, it would be unfair to let the filmmaker simply take time off to garden or crochet, much less celebrate the film's projected $72 million opening weekend. Especially since there are just so many other franchises and film series that deserve – or perhaps more accurately – need his golden touch. As such, we've thoughtfully assembled a short list of franchises that Abrams could and should take over, tackle, and reboot. And while we tailored our selections to suit the filmmaker's writing and directing strengths, we encourage you to leave your comments and suggestions which films and franchises you think might be better suited to Abrams' cinematic style.

In no particular order:

We're not talking about a remake or a sequel to the great 2005 film. But even as Joss Whedon was explaining why movies made from DC comics suck won't work, his secret minions at NASA were cooking up a complicated scheme to launch Serenity back into space. Fans of the Firefly TV series and the follow-up movie version hold a special place in their heart for the battered cargo vessel Serenity, beloved home to Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his band of smugglers. When the film didn't perform up to box office expectations, it appeared that Serenity had flown for the last time.

Until NASA asked for the public's help in naming the International Space Station's Node 3, which is "a connecting module and its cupola." (Space nerds, feel free to explain in the comments.) As the very alert Sarah Jaffe at Newsarama pointed out, NASA states: "The name should reflect the spirit of exploration and cooperation embodied by the space station, and follow in the tradition set by Node 1- Unity- and Node 2- Harmony." Their choices include Earthrise, Legacy, Venture, and ... Serenity!

As of this afternoon, when I voted, Serenity was leading with 86% of the vote. I'd say it's no contest, but you never know when secret fans of Earthrise, Legacy, or Venture will come out the woodwork, so I encourage you to head over there now and cast your vote. (No registration or other identifying information required.) Let NASA -- and Universal Studios -- know that you want to see Serenity fly in space.

To borrow a plea from Frank Costanza : "Serenity now!"

The original title of the post over on The Toy Zone is '20 Classic Films Recreated in LEGO', but when you have stuff like Serenity, The Ring, The Life Aquatic and Men in Black -- well, do we really consider those to be classic films? I sure don't, but that doesn't mean they're bad movies ... just not classics. Casablanca, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey ... I give you those. But the rest? Eh. Nevertheless, they have up scenes from 20 "popular" films recreated in LEGO and some of them are pretty damn cool -- like the one above which recreates one of the opening scenes from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

We snagged a few of our favorites for the gallery below, so check them out and let us know which ones you like the best. Personally, for me it's a tie between Star Wars, Alien, Casablanca and The Ring (I never thought a LEGO image would creep me out, but there you have it -- creepy indeed). Enjoy.

There are a few classic films that I simply refused to rent while growing up, specifically for the reason that I knew I should see them for the first time on a big screen. Of these, I managed to see both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner in a theater, while others, such as Lawrence of Arabia and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, were on television too often to ignore them on the small screen first. One film that I'm still dying to see in a theater is Terrence Malick's Badlands. A few years ago I actually went to a special screening of the film in Connecticut, but it was disappointingly (understatement) projected from a DVD copy. Then two months ago it played one show at NYC's IFC Center, but I had to miss it for another engagement.

Last week Entertainment Weekly presented an article/photo gallery titled "23 Movies You'd Like to See on the Big Screen," which lists these kinds of films (there's actually many more than 23 cited), most of which should ONLY be seen on the big screen, as they were originally meant to be. The list includes obvious epic choices like 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, Gone With the Wind, The Greatest Show on Earth and The Ten Commandments, as well as other classics, like Malick's Days of Heaven, Casablanca, Once Upon a Time in the West, Star Wars, High Society, Halloween, Singin' in the Rain, To Kill a Mockingbird, Psycho, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Searchers, Stagecoach and The French Connection.

Wow, I didn't even know there were THAT many. Holy crapola! The fine folks over at Rotten Tomatoes are currently counting down the top 50 TV adaptations of all time, in honor of both Get Smart and Sex and the City. Before we mention a few, here's how they played it: "... these movies are remakes of TV series (i.e. Starsky and Hutch), mini-series (Pennies from Heaven), or sketches (The Blues Brothers). We've also included big-screen adaptations that utilize the series' principal cast members (the Star Trek movies, the Adam West Batman). We've omitted films that, despite having TV incarnations, are derived from other sources (thus, no Superman), but have included others (like The Addams Family) that are best remembered as TV shows." In other words ... they mean business.

Down toward the bottom, you have films like Strangers with Candy, The Rugrats Movie, Josie and the Pussycats and The Naked Gun 2 1/2. I won't reveal their number one pick, but the top ten includes memorable favorites like The Simpsons Movie, The Fugitive ("You find this man!"), Serenity and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

I'm just impressed they managed to throw together 50 half-decent TV-to-Movie adaptations. That, in and of itself, has to be worth some sort of Emmy nod (or would it be an Oscar nod?). Check out the entire list over at Rotten Tomatoes ... and let us know your favorites below.

This week's Sex and the City movie is hardly the first cinematic continuation of a TV show, but there really haven't been that many. Usually when we think of film adaptations of TV series, we're thinking of remakes. But there are a few movies that pick up where their respective show ends, whether as a resuming story, a prequel or something totally random and barely connected.

And of course, we keep hearing about other possible series-to-film resumptions: Lost, 24 and Arrested Development movies have all been discussed, and they may indeed happen. So, while there isn't a long list of predecessors to model their transitions on, I've compiled seven titles that did it right in some way or another. Hopefully, for the sake of the fans of Carrie and co., Sex and the City will be enough of a success to make number eight.


Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

People may enjoy the second installment best, but this is the one that started the film franchise, officially reigniting a series that had been canceled ten years prior. Though the original show had its share of fans, enough to eventually get this film produced, it wasn't initially considered a success. And interestingly enough, neither was the movie thought of as a complete hit, despite its $80 million gross and the fact that it spawned another ten film installments (and additional series).

In the event that an Arrested Development movie gets made, it could be seen as similar to Star Trek, since the TV show was initially a failure yet it has gained a larger following since its cancellation, enough to call for production of a feature follow-up. However, there's also a good chance that it will also be a failure on the big screen, like was Serenity, the cinematic continuation of the TV series Firefly.
tion more than simply an adaptation.

In a little while I'll set off for the theater to watch Sex and the City. I've never seen more than a minute of the HBO show, and everything that I've heard about it has seemed vaguely repulsive. I don't know who the characters are, what they're known for doing or not doing, what story arcs fans are expecting to pop up or get resolved, or what's supposed to surprise me. In short: I am not part of Sex and the City's target audience. Were it not for an obligation to keep up with major cinematic developments, I'd probably skip the film. But as it stands, and though I'm committed to sitting through it, I can't help but wonder: is there any point in my watching it?

This won't the first time I've watched a movie based on a show without ever having seen the source material. Mission: Impossible, Charlie's Angels, Miami Vice, Starsky & Hutch -- I went into all of them cold, but none were made specifically for fans of the program and meant to be a continuation of same. The closest I've come to watching a movie like that without having seen the show is, I think, Joss Whedon's Serenity. I liked it well enough, though I'm sure I was nonplussed by things that would have delighted a fan of Firefly.

Like most people on the internet, we at Cinematical love lists. I love them so much that I wish I could write about everyone I read, but unfortunately there are too many geeks out there making up too many lists, and not enough love to go round (can't you see this is the land of confusion .... ). But since another thing we love around here is Star Wars -- not just the movies but also the fans, the debates, the complaints, etc. -- I figured that these four lists were worth sharing. Because they all mention something related to George Lucas' popular universe. Three of the lists also reference a lot of Star Trek, but with J.J. Abrams rebooting the franchise and all, I think Trekkies have enough love right now. Meanwhile, the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars occurred this year, and we still had to read about things like the Harry Potter franchise out-grossing the Star Wars series and Serenity beating out Star Wars as a best sci-fi film poll. So, thanks to the people at Fark.com, who love lists even more than we do, here are four movie-related lists that give some appropriate props:

• First we have the Times' countdown of the 40 most memorable aliens. Unfortunately, the only Star Wars aliens listed are at #32 and #26, and they're the Ewoks and Max Rebo, respectively. Considering most of the characters in the series can be considered aliens, this is harsh, but since I'm one of the few Ewok fans out there, I appreciate the gesture. Even if ALF is higher up on the list than they are. At least they're still better than the Coneheads. Anyway the top ten here is full of other significant movie aliens, including the arachnids of Starship Troopers, E.T., the Transformers, Superman, The Blob, The Thing and, at the top spot, God.
  
• Next there's Kunochan.com's countdown of the top twenty starship captains. Once again, Star Wars doesn't get the #1, but it's understandable that Star Trek's most famous captains get the first two slots. At #3, though, is Han Solo. However, the list's author does point out that he had to put a Star Wars character in the top five to avoid having his house firebombed. I don't mind the disingenuous comment; Solo deserves to be higher up than Captain Janeway and the dude from Firefly/Serenity. Down the line at #11 we've also got Grand Moff Tarkin.

The ever-lovable, wonder-writer/director Joss Whedon needs to get a few projects on the go. After running himself ragged with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, he brought the world a small helping of Firefly, a pretty kick-arse movie adaptation Serenity, almost made Wonder Woman, and continued the story of the slayers in comic form. Having handed over the reigns on that, what's left to do? It's not like Veronica Mars is still around for him to guest on! Well, he's still working on his supernatural Goners script after getting a bunch of studio notes, but Whedon never takes it easy, so it's not a surprise that after reviving his first beloved series, there's rumors of a Serenity 2.

Oh yes, the Browncoats might come back -- not necessarily to the big screen, but to DVD. While the film's box office didn't live up to expectations, it has, unsurprisingly, had a heck of a stint on disc. Moviehole recently chatted with Alan Tudyk (Wash), and he said: "They had to put [the new DVD] out because they've been selling out of the other one, and so Universal's like 'So, let's do another one.' And now... there's now a chance there's going to be another movie." Well, this is just about the most solid Whedon rumor you can get. While he always has a million potential projects swimming in his head, it's big news if the studios can see an audience and get interested in the idea.

So, does this make you giggle with schoolgirl-like glee? If so, keep picking up those DVDs and we might just see Serenity fly again! But heck, they could even keep the ship docked the entire time and show a lot of Summer Glau butt-kicking. Who wouldn't be up for more of that!?