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<FONT FACE="Verdana"><B>This week at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre-<BR>
<BR>
<I>Kenworthy Film Society</I> presents<BR>
</B><FONT COLOR="#800000"><H2>Serenity (PG-13)<BR>
</H2></FONT><B>Friday, December 16<BR>
7:00 PM<BR>
Saturday & Sunday, December 17 & 18<BR>
4:15 & 7:00 PM<BR>
</B>$5/Adult; $2 child 12 or younger<BR>
KFS passes accepted for Sunday showings<BR>
<B>(see Review below)<BR>
* * *<BR>
</B><BR>
Coming in January: The Squid & the Whale, Paradise Now, Oliver Twist<BR>
<BR>
Check KPAC’s web site for dates & times. <FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U>http://www.kenworthy.org<BR>
<BR>
</U></FONT><B>Regular Movie prices</B>: $5 adult, $2 child 12 or younger <BR>
KFS passes accepted year-round for Sunday movies!<BR>
<B>* * *<BR>
<BR>
This week’s review-<BR>
<BR>
</B><FONT COLOR="#800000"><H2>Serenity<BR>
</H2></FONT><BR>
Directed by Joss Whedon<BR>
Running Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes<BR>
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references<BR>
<BR>
<B><I><U>As reviewed by Scott Rosenberg writing for the San Francisco Examiner<BR>
</U></I></B><BR>
"Serenity" is a tough film to review. It's based on a short-lived, but much-beloved, cult television show, "Firefly," created by Joss Whedon, the man behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Although the series was canceled pretty quickly, its DVD release acquired a huge following, big enough to convince a movie studio to continue the story on the big screen.<BR>
<BR>
So, right from the beginning, a vast majority of the movie-going public has never seen "Firefly," let alone knows what it is. In effect, this is like trying to review "Return of The Jedi" for someone who's not only never seen "Star Wars" or "Empire Strikes Back," but doesn't even know who Darth Vader is.<BR>
<BR>
Thankfully, Whedon wasn't arrogant (or stupid) enough to shun those folks who missed the show, as "Serenity" the film stands well on its own.<BR>
<BR>
Nathan Fillion returns as Malcolm Reynolds, a paint-by-numbers science fiction hero in the vein of Han Solo. Mal captains Serenity, a transport ship that's outfitted with a ragtag crew who fly under the radar of The Alliance, an all-encompassing group that controls the universe, kind of like the Federation in "Star Trek" — only evil.<BR>
<BR>
As you may have guessed by now, "Serenity" borrows a lot from other sci-fi films.<BR>
<BR>
In the beginning of the television show, Mal and company (the entire television cast returns for the big-screen version) picked up a few travelers, including Simon Tam (Sean Maher), a cocky doctor, and his young sister, River (Summer Glau). Those two prove to be more than the entire crew bargained for, as River ends up being sought after by The Alliance, which is just the sort of attention that the crew tries to avoid.<BR>
<BR>
For you longtime fans, "Serenity" is going to answer some of your questions, most notably the origin of River — explaining why she's able to do what she does. After the long, long wait, the explanation is a worthy payoff.<BR>
<BR>
If there's one thing Whedon is adept at, it's creating compelling characters and writing fun stories. And that's exactly what you'll find in "Serenity."<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<B><I><U>As reviewed by Sean Axmaker writing for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer<BR>
</U></I></B><BR>
Whedon's years in TV have helped him hone a clean, efficient, entertaining style grounded in character and camaraderie. <BR>
<BR>
The film's strength is compelling character relationships and Whedon's trademark dialogue, a smarter version of the clichéd action-movie barrage of wisecrack under fire, only better executed, laden in personality, and enriched with evocative western colloquialisms of a frontier culture. <BR>
<BR>
The characters may ride spaceships and fire lasers, but this is a true frontier western, set in the wake of a polarizing civil war and driven by heroes for whom family and community are synonymous. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<B><I><U>As reviewed by Sam Adams writing for the Philadelphia City Paper<BR>
</U></I></B><BR>
Joss Whedon's big-screen sequel to his space-cowboy show Firefly takes half its length to start cooking, but once it does, look out: More than mere genre twiddling, it's a full-blown head spinner with a gut-sock subtext. <BR>
<BR>
Toning down the TV series' oater affectations (no horses, fewer dusty outposts), Serenity taps the Western at its source with a story of renegade ex-revolutionaries whose idealism hasn't quite been stamped out. <BR>
<BR>
Skippered by Mal Reynolds, who in earlier years would have come to Casablanca for the waters, Serenity's crew is a raggedy bunch, to say nothing of their cargo: a traumatized psychic whose brain holds untapped government secrets. <BR>
<BR>
The shadowy alliance of worlds, whose badness is asserted rather than explained, bring in Chewitel Ejiofor's ruthless bounty hunter, a chilly fanatic who believes in the promise of "a better world" and doesn't care what he has to do in this one. <BR>
<BR>
That's right: It's pragmatic ideologues versus disillusioned democrats, with the free flow of information (assisted by tech geek David Krumholtz) as the Holy Grail. The knowing humor Whedon trademarked on Buffy is here in abundance, but it falls away as the movie moves into its increasingly dark and resonant second half. <BR>
<BR>
Serenity's suggestions about government treachery and the "somnambulant public" are as scandalous as anything since Spartan, and if the assertion that information is all it takes to topple tyrannies might seem a tad naîve, you're so shaken it feels like a lifeline. <BR>
<BR>
In Whedon's world, the greatest threat to the republic isn't war but apathy, and if it takes a pinch of willful self-delusion to muster the will to fight, so be it.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<I>Film reviews researched and edited by Peter Haggart<BR>
</I><B>* * *<BR>
</B> <BR>
<B><I>Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre<BR>
</I>508 S. Main Street, Moscow, Idaho<BR>
</B>208-882-4127<BR>
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<FONT COLOR="#0000FF"><U>http://www.kenworthy.org<BR>
<BR>
</U></FONT>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR>
PAMELA PALMER, <B>Volunteer<BR>
</B>Mailto:ppalmer@moscow.com<BR>
Film and Events Committee <BR>
Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre<BR>
<BR>
http://www.kenworthy.org<BR>
To speak with a KPAC staff member, <BR>
call (208) 882-4127<BR>
Mailto:kpac@moscow.com<BR>
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