aly-5

As my mother used to say, "The man can read the phone book and I would be satisfied." A truly masterful performance for all involved. I did not even know this existed until recently and I sat to watch it in one sitting. Joely Richardson and Bean exuded the passion which was present, even more than in the books. And I loved Shirley Anne Field's Mrs. Bolton. It appeared as though she truly wanted Connie's happiness, or perhaps she just wished to have the master under her thumb, but either way, it was a stellar performance.

And Sean Bean...Oh, my. I have followed his career since seeing the Sharpe's episodes and in everything he is in, he takes the part and makes it his own. A simply wonderful effort and a beautifully touching love story.

Some shows do not transfer well from small screen to big. However, Joss Whedon's Serenity stood on it's own. A gritty no-nonsense crew with enough flash backs to allow the novice viewer time to play catch up. ***Spoilers***

Inara (Morena Baccarin) has returned to the Companion Training House, Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) is residing on Haven and River (Summer Glau) is deteriorating, though she has glimmers of lucidity, enough so Mal (Nathan Fillion) can take her on raiding missions to use as a water witch to divine the liars from the truth tellers. I did like how they fleshed out the story more, showing how Simon (Sean Maher) was able to escape with River from the Alliance facility. They had more budget for sceneries (expanding the views in the ship), better CGI, etc.

The story of how the Reavers came to be was well told by Sarah Paulson as an Alliance- uniformed hologram, explaining how they added "Pax" - G-32 paxilon hydrochlorate to the air processors to cause docility in the inhabitants of the world. Trouble is, they became so submissive that they just laid down and died. Except for the 10% who had an adverse reaction to the Pax and went ape crazy, becoming the cannibalistic Reavers.

There was an antagonist (of course) The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) not as psychotic as Jubal Early (Richard Brooks), but intent and focused on his cause of getting River back. The shocker of the movie is that they kill Zoe's husband, Wash (Alan Tudyk) off. Impaled by a harpoon. It was a death on par with Kate in NCIS. Unexpected and, I suppose, necessary. Oh and, they killed off Book.

If you've never seen Firefly, you will be lost. You need to buy/rent the short season to get up to speed or you will be sitting there wondering where the hell Buffy is. Just cause it's Joss Whedon, doesn't mean that it's all the same. The problem is, Firefly was only on for a year, three years ago. 13 episodes, kept alive by the thousands of DVDs sent to the troops in Iraq and by fans of Joss here in the states and around the world. But, somehow, he'll have to keep the fans satisfied and I am wondering how he will accomplish it. I never saw any of his BTVS, though fell in love with Firefly due to the Old West aura and dialog being coupled with space.

In Serenity, the dialog is crisp, the actors retain their wonderful camaraderie, the cinematography more TV-like than movie-like and finally, finally, Simon grows a set and gets jiggy with Kaylee. Now that there is no more Star Wars or Star Trek coming down the pike (well, SW TV program at some point), we have Battlestar Galactica to satisfy our cravings. I suppose at some point, we will have another Serenity movie, but the viewing audiences are a fickle lot and I don't think they'll settle for a movie every two or three years. I hope they make lots of money on the movie, but I still have to confess, I liked the immediate satisfaction of a weekly show. I have a feeling the phrase, "I aim to misbehave" will become a suitable catch- phrase for many. I'll see it again, just to see if I missed anything. But it didn't make me catch my breath like "Batman Begins" did nor make me wait impatiently for the next episode like BSG does. (Damn if it's not on now again until January!!) I hope that they will be able to sustain the interest for Serenity and not just have this to cap a series that was taken off too soon. Like Farscape was (the bastards). I have to say that the special effects were clumsy, choppy and looked cut-rate.

I wish it would be put back on television.

Excellent acting and well written. One of those shows that you can't wait until the next episode and even more credible than "24" which, I have to say, this past year got a little out there. It's great and well worth your time.

Wentworth Miller brings a stoic dignity to the role, earnest and steadfast. Dominic Purcell is wonderful as his brother on the cusp of needing to believe his brother will help him. Peter Stormare is creepy as only he can be. And Stacy Keech is refreshing as an atypically concerned prison warden. Nick Santora and Paul Scheuring's writing is spot on and intriguing, leaving you wishing that this was a novel so that the pages could be turned faster. I would encourage any who have the fortitude to watch this show. Pure gold.

While not the same imagery as Toy Story, it proves that Pixar has

no lack of imagination when it comes to producing quality movies.

Their computer rendering gets better with each picture and the

story lines are humorously child-like while being a delight for

adults. The nuances in the textures in the movie were stunning.

Hurray for Pixar. Keep up the excellent quality of workmanship.

After reading the critics comments about this movie, I almost didn't go to see it. Thank goodness, I have stopped counting on critics to determine my viewing. This movie was wonderfully done. It shows the age of innocence when the men who went to war still believed in the greatness of America and exemplified the dreams and hopes of the country.

One of the complaints I heard was that the movie sounded too much like a 1940's movie. Yes, there was a reason for that. Perhaps because it took place during the 1940s and they wanted us to remember how life was back then.

Of the interviews given by survivors of the attack, nearly all had declared how true to life this movie was. That they could remember the sounds of the bombs as they exploded, the screams and cries of the sailors who were far from ready to embark on a war, let alone have their very ships blown out from beneath them.

The language, the actions, the hopes and expectations were authentically reflected in this movie. I can see this will become a classic in the coming years.

Saving Private Ryan showed the abject horror of the Second World War. Pearl Harbor gave us a glimpse of the innocence and, perhaps the overt optimism, which was felt during this time. If anyone criticizes this movie for being too formulaic, perhaps they need to see the movies of the fifties and sixties made about WWII, From Here to Eternity, South Pacific and others. I feel this will be a classic.

I have read that Tom Hanks watches raw NASA films for relaxation. If that is true, he took a project which could have been underachieved and nurtured it to be crafted as true as it possibly could have been. You can see the careful consideration given to each facet of this production as well as get an idea that everyone involved had captured the spirit of the mini-series.

It shows the well and not-so-well known sides of the astronauts and their families. The acting is superb and the footage is well integrated into the series. One that has become a standard for how a mini-series/documentary should be produced.

Spectacular scenery, wonderful acting and a gripping story that made you want even more. But only from the original cast and from the original book. Gus and Call made the perfect team. Understated and yet princely. I was captivated and watched the whole of the DVD in one sitting. One of the best Westerns ever