Serenity (a movie review). Totally off topic and not related to the usual activity of my blog or podcast: Well-known bloggers of all stripes were invited to see the new movie Serenity for free with an entourage of however many tickets they could give away, if they would only review the movie. This was Universal's unique marketing plan. Get lots of reviews on the web, as opposed to lots of TV advertising. Well, I didn't get asked (of course) and I had no free screening, and I didn't take a crowd of 200, but I did see the movie both last night (opening night) and tonight and so I'll do a little review here, like the "big important guys" got to do. Let me pretend a little! Here it is:

"Serenity" is a movie set approximately 500 years in the future. It's not really a science fiction movie except for 3 things: Space ships, yes. The future, yes. A new solar system, yes. Otherwise, there are no aliens, no leotardy sci-fi movie uniforms and future-y stuff, and no robots. In fact, it looks like a movie about the frontier, which is it. The frontier of the future, after earth is gone. There is just a Captain (Malcolm Reynolds) on a ship of decent people who happen to be bandits, robbers, mercenaries and fugitives. The setting is: Earth has been destroyed ("used up"), a dictatorship rules the universe (the Alliance) and tells everyone it knows what's best for it and then proceeds to do a lot of Big Brother type stuff. All that is backstory. Our Captain of the ship, which is named "Serenity" (after the war battle of Serenity Valley) and his crew go in search of work, free-lance style. Usually under the radar and often illegal. (Many years prior, there was a war for independence from the Alliance and the Captain fought on the losing side with his first mate, Zoe.) His crew is comprised of Zoe and her husband, Wash, the pilot, along with people he picked up here and there - and includes two fugitives from the law. One of them, a girl, is a psychic, and wanted by the dictatorship known as the Alliance because they tampered with her mind. Tampered with it to the point of making her very valuable to them.

The movie is essentially a massive hunt by the evil government operative for the two fugitives, especially the girl, known as River. In the meanwhile, our Captain Mal finds out what the secret of River's knowledge really is, what it means, and what secret the evil Alliance government is hiding. It's big, and it's something that the Captain feels needs to be made public. That threatens the Alliance even more. In fact, part of the movie is a commentary on politics and evil governments and what absolute power can do both to individuals and to groups. But that part is not overt at all.

The movie has non-stop action, a story full of heart, passion and soulfullness. They even quote poetry, but not often. The crew is full of fears, phobias, flaws and they all have their own problems, yet they share the sense of righteousness of the Captain, though he sometimes has to remind them. All of this story passes with incredible wit, great acting, lots of tension, and often very funny laugh-out-loud lines. The dialogue is intelligent and never boring. And as a bonus, the cast is exceptionally good-looking - or pretty, as the Captain would say.

And if you get confused and have no idea who these people are, there is a backup DVD set you can buy waiting in the wings. But you won't need it to enjoy the movie. The show was on TV a whole 11 episodes. Fox carelessly showed it completely out of order and preempted it for baseball and whatever, every other week or so. As a result, the series, called "Firefly", did poorly in the ratings, but Joss Whedon (of Buffy fame) managed to get most of his story told in this movie. The parts that aren't told, well, we need sequels for that. If everyone who reads this sees the movie there is a good possibility there will be a sequel or two, and then we all live happily ever after. The End.
By linaya@charter.net.

A Wild and Somewhat Political Ride!. It's the weekend! Time to drop all your worries about terrorism, Karl Rove, and the scariest man in the U.S. - (take your pick, DeLay? Bush? Ann Coulter?) - and stop dwelling on global warming and natural disasters. Relax! Go to a movie theater, buy some popcorn, settle into a nice comfy seat, and watch the best movie in theaters right now (and probably in the last five years), yes, Serenity. If you are curious but don't want to drop your hard-earned cash on something you aren't sure of, watch this nine-minute freebie video of Serenity from Universal. Disable pop-up blockers first, and not all browsers are supported, so check the requirements. I had to use Safari, if you have a Mac. PCs also supported of course. (And thanks for the heads up on this to one of my listeners, it's much appreciated!)

Here is the video. Enjoy! (Then please go see the movie, thank you kindly.)

By linaya@charter.net.

Citizen Against Lies #85 -- (enhanced mpeg version) Dave Rabbit Interview Part 2. This is the enhanced mpegversion of my interview with Dave Rabbit, part 2 with the same audio as the  mp3 version.  Dave Rabbit is the Vietnam war era's secret identity pirate radio broadcaster out of Saigon. In this episode, he talks freely about the war, his role in it, Radio First Termer Iraq, music, projects in the works and the Iraq war.  He also talks about his recent experience in Iraq, answers some questions from my fellow progressive podcasters, and reveals his favorite war movie!  After a few hours, I still don't know his true identity!  Make sure you listen to part 1 so you know what's going on in this one. The back story is very interesting and  it's also rather involved.   This is not just another  interview.  Dave Rabbit is a true icon and somewhat of a cult hero of free speech lovers everywhere.
This interview is uncensored and reflects the views of Dave Rabbit, not necessarily those of myself, and listener discretion is advised!  Here is the link to the enhanced version.
Enhanced version here.

Music:  'White Room' by Cream, a snip of "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' by Donovan and "Wild Thing" by the Troggs. 

By Shelly L., proud liberal progressive citizen!.

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Citizen Against Lies
http://www.podcastalley.com/one_vote2.php?pod_id=9137
Thank you.

By Shelly L..

Citizen Against Lies #97 -- A Grand Plan.

The podcast known as Citizen Against Lies is on vacation, possibly a very long one.   The reasons are many, not the least of which is that I need to get back to my real work.   Also -- the political situation in the US has not changed except for the worse since I started this podcast!

Meanwhile check out my smaller and more basic podcast known as Political Inversion at politicalinversion.com 

 

 

Music:  1)  King for a Day, Faith No More,  2)  Economic Slavery, NEU World Order

By Shelly.