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In advance of its pending national opening, the movie Serenity<\/em><\/a> has become the subject of an internet experiment. As I mentioned here<\/a>, the marketers of the movie have invited bloggers to a limited number of screenings. I signed up, as did who the heck knows just how many others.<\/p>\n The marketers responded, and at least one potential blog-screening participant, Steve H. at Hog on Ice<\/a>, was chagrined<\/a>.<\/p>\n The more I think about it, the more I think I should blow off the bloggers-only screening of the movie Serenity.<\/p>\n It’s nice to be treated like a professional writer, and to be given a seat at a free showing of a movie. But that isn’t what’s happening here.<\/p>\n The confirmation email I got from Grace Hill Media says I have to show up 45 minutes before the movie, find a Universal rep, produce the email showing that I’m part of the “Blogger Bonanza,” and see if they want to give me a seat. And I have to do this on a Tuesday night, after driving over 20 miles through rush-hour traffic.<\/p>\n That’s not how you treat someone you respect. They’re hoping I’ll write a review which will be seen by a few thousand people, hundreds of whom will presumably buy tickets after reading what I write. In other words, they’re hoping I’ll provide a service that will benefit them economically. In return, I’m entitled to a guaranteed seat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Certainly, Steve has some valid points here. Nevertheless, as did Rick Blaine, in this case I understand the point of view of both the hound and the fox. In a campaign seeking attention from bloggers, Steve has to be considered one of the big guns, having passed the one million mark for hits on his SiteMeter. Still, the Serenity<\/em> marketers are treading their way through unexplored territory. Perhaps a scattershot welcoming of the blogosphere is the best way to build a groundswell of publicity, or maybe targeting particular large bloggers is the better route. Who knows?<\/p>\n As for myself, I’ve once before been to a no-guarantee screening, for a late-’90s movie that I cannot recall (I can only remember being glad I had only stood in line at a co-worker’s urging rather than actually spending money on the drivel). I will comply with the marketing requirements, if only because I’m a sci-fi buff (goodness knows I’ve pimped out Battlestar Galactica<\/a> enough on this blog). Actually, I’m intrigued by both this marketing concept and this movie. The required synopsis is as follows:<\/p>\n Joss Whedon, the Oscar\u00c2\u00ae – and Emmy – nominated writer\/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family \u00e2\u20ac\u201csquabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I have not seen a single episode of Firefly<\/em>, upon which this movie is based. I will be taking with me to the screening a co-worker who is a fan of the series for feedback from an insider’s perspective. Expect a spoiler-free review here tomorrow or Wednesday. If the blogger screeing is bungled and I don’t catch the flick, expect some vitriol instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In advance of its pending national opening, the movie Serenity has become the subject of an internet experiment. As I mentioned here, the marketers of the movie have invited bloggers to a limited number of screenings. I signed up, as did who the heck knows just how many others. The marketers responded, and at least […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogosphere","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}