Fish and Cherries Productions

The following was viewed at a special screening and was in no way obtained illegally.

Serenity 2: Still Flying was a massive breath of fresh wittiness as Joss and the Firefly cast reunited for another trip into the Verse. Admittedly, the recasting of Jayne as Chris Hemsworth was a little jarring at first, but considering Adam Baldwin’s involvement in starting the #GamerGate scandal and Whedon’s own feminist views, it’s easy to see how conflicts would have forced a change. Also, Chris’ Southern drawl is quite convincing once you stop asking yourself when Thor ever spent time in the sticks. On the subject of returning faces, however, not only do Wash and Sheppard Book return in a brilliant scene where River is forced confront her own tortured psyche, but in the form of Adelei Niska, coming right off of the Firefly series to provide a chilling antagonist.

What’s really amazing is that after all these years, the cast still feels so natural together and can work off each other so well. There’s a scene involving Mal, Zoe, Simon, two angry clients, and a coffee maker that I won’t dare spoil. In lesser hands, this scene would have fallen flat, but the actors and Whedon’s writing work so well together that the entire audience, myself included, were rolling in the aisles. That said, it is a Whedon film and even though we were all prepared to get our hearts stabbed, nothing could have prepared us for who died here. If you played the Red Wedding scene from Game of Thrones twenty-seven times in a row, it still wouldn’t compare to the emotional gut wrench that scene provided. Suffice to say, this comes highly recommended. Fans will surely get a kick out of it, but newcomers will not only find it accessible, but incredibly engaging. Buy your tickets soon when it comes out because I’ll bet my life that they’ll sell out fast. It’s funny, some people at the special screening remarked how they weren’t sure that people would be interested in this universe continuing, that it was too old for people to latch onto. But it’s like Kaylee says in a line that’s sure to be famous on release, “The ship keeps stalling, but she’ll never stop flying.”

Waitress can definitely be described as a good movie, but that doesn’t get across how uncomfortable the experience is. Throughout the movie, you’re taken on an emotional roller coaster of a woman dealing with a pregnancy from an abusive husband. You’re made to feel all of those emotions that she does and not all of those are pretty. One big plus for this feature is that all of the characters, especially the male ones, are three-dimensional. However, three-dimensional doesn’t necessarily mean they’re likable, especially in the case of the husband Earl, who has an incredibly disturbed psyche. However, the ending is incredibly sweet and will make all the bitterness before completely worth it and is satisfying to boot. If you have emotional triggers linked to abuse or adultery, approach this movie with caution. But if you do watch it, and most of you should, then have some pie on standby because this movie will definitely make you crave pie.