Tag: Battlestar Galactica (Page 3 of 6)

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

October 26, 2009 /

“Battlestar Galactica” is the gift that keeps on giving. First, we learned that its prequel/spinoff, “Caprica,” will debut on Syfy in 2010, and this Tuesday “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” hits the shelves. It’s a 110-minute look at the planning, execution and aftermath of the Cylon attack on the colonies, completely from the Cylon point of view.

The film’s timeline spans from about two weeks before the attacks all the way through the initiation of the human-Cylon truce. It revolves around two copies of Number One that develop two very different perspectives. The original plan was to annihilate the human race completely, but when that plan fails, “Brother Cavil” orchestrates a Plan B as part of the fleet, interacting with and directing Leoben, Doral, Boomer, a couple of Sixes and a Four. The film re-visits a few key moments of the series, including the initial attacks, Boomer’s failed assassination attempt and subsequent murder, as well as Kara’s visit, incarceration, escape and return to Caprica.

The story jumps ahead and around, and it takes a good understanding of the “Battlestar Galactica” mythology to keep up. Newbies who are considering jumping into the series should not — I repeat SHOULD NOT — start with “The Plan,” for three major reasons: 1) this was meant as an epilogue, not a prologue, 2) it could be extremely confusing, and 3) there are way too many secrets that would be revealed in one fell swoop. Don’t do it.

Since the Number Ones really came up with the plan, Dean Stockwell sees a ton of screen time and carries it beautifully. It’s interesting to watch the embedded Cylons, sleeper agents and Final Five interact when only the embedded Cylons really know what’s going on. They try to manipulate the humans and Final Five, with varying degrees of success. The straight-to-DVD version is uncensored so there is some gratuitous nudity and a sex scene. It’s so gratuitous that it feels completely out of place.

Qualms aside, “The Plan” is a compelling look at a big part of the series run and is a must-watch for those fans who want to see some of their old friends once again.

In addition to filmmaker commentary, special features include a featurette that follows director Edward James-Olmos around for a day, a series of interviews with the actors who play the key Cylons, a behind-the-scenes look at the planning and execution of the special effects behind the Cylon attack on the colonies, and a featurette that explores some of the visual effects added during post-production of “The Plan.”

Click here to buy “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” on DVD
Click here to buy “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” on Blu-ray

Battlestar Galactica, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs, TV Sci-Fi

Slipping off for the weekend

August 21, 2009 /

A few last minute items as the the inglourious weekend gets seriously underway.

* If the movie world had a “Friday news dump” the way they do in D.C., the news that Martin Scorsese’s Dennis Lehane adaptation, “Shutter Island,” has been moved from November of ’09 to February of ’10 might be so handled. No such luck for Paramount as Nikki Finke, Anne Thompson and Screenrant and pretty much every two-bit blogger on the ‘net, including me, has something to say. This is not the first promising film to be so switched. “The Wolf Man” was also shunted by Universal from the traditionally good-movie rich fall to the less auspicious late winter.

Finances are obviously at the root, but speculation is rife on how the move might have been influenced by the Academy’s recent switch to ten awards annually. In any case, I tend to buy at least two of Nikki Finke’s reasons — a simple delay to spread out the financial cost of marketing the film around during tough economic times (perhaps with the hope of a better 2010) and the fact that star Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn’t have been able to promote the film this autumn. Considering they had people already fairly worked about the film, it’s a definite sign of some fragility, I’d say.

* Will the Twitter effect make movies better? Is it even real? Michael Sragow has a decent, yet frustrating, article on the ongoing topic. (H/t Anne Thompson.)

* After making one deal to direct an extremely ill-advised possible “Battlestar Galatica” re-reboot, Bryan Singer has also signed on to do a remake of John Boorman’s King Arthur epic, “Excalibur.” I love John Boorman’s work in general and also tales of chivalry and swordplay, yet I kind of hate (or at least can’t sit through) the original film, which many love but I find unspeakably turgid. So, I guess I’m open-minded about what Singer will do with it. Can almost only be an improvement for me. Of course, neither of these films may ever actually happen. Bryan Singer’s next film is expected to be “Jack, the Giant Killer.”

An interesting note about the 1962 movie version of the fairy tale (one no one ever bothered to tell me…I always thought it was another name for “Jack and the Beanstalk”). Many musicals have had their songs removed to be released in non-musical versions over the years, this is one of the very few where a producer attempted to turn it into a musical after the fact.

* And because everyone else is giving it to you, I might as well also serve up the trailer for Michael Moore’s new “Capitalism: A Love Story.” It made me laugh but of Christopher Campbell, whose favorite words lately seem to be “dated” and “derivative” (but not “delightful” or “delovely”) and his crew of usual suspects mostly think it disappoints. Do these guys ever like anything? Campbell never seems to. In comments, JoblessInTampa has some choice words for the Eastern film geek elites on the issue of being out-of-step.

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A few things I missed

August 14, 2009 /

* You’ve probably heard it elsewhere by now, but Bryan Singer has been signed to do a “Battlestar Galactica” movie, though of course it’s still very preliminary. I hope it stays that way.

The show will apparently not be related to the recently wrapped, broadly acclaimed TV series, but will be a complete redo of some sort or another and original producer Glen Larson is involved.  That Universal would want to do another reboot on such a recently and brilliantly rebooted property makes absolutely no sense to me at all and shows a real failure of imagination. Moreover, if the idea is to return to something more like the original, I have only one question: Why? One of the things that makes the new series so remarkable is how worthless its original was.

A few years back, I took a fresh look at the first few episodes after dismissing it in my younger geek years and, sorry, the show was three times as bad as I remembered. It was nothing more than a listless knock-off of “Star Wars” with an addition of some surprisingly blatant rightwing agitprop and all the poor characterization and infantile plotting that made seventies television that vast wasteland that it really was back then, with a few exceptions. There is nothing to be nostalgic for here and most modern viewers only know the new show in any case. Bryan Singer’s a smart guy and I just don’t get this.

* Speaking of Singer, his sometime writing partner Christopher McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”) has been signed to do the next Wolverine flick.

* In other superhero related news, we are back at the start of it all with some new litigation which returns some of the control of Superman to the estates of his creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. It may dramatically speed up, or slow down, production of upcoming Superman projects since the ruling goes into effect in 2013 and Warners might want to keep more money for itself by starting sooner rather than later. Regardless, as someone who remembers the “creators’ rights” movement in the comic book world of the late eighties and nineties, I have to think the good guys won here.

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Action Movies, Battlestar Galactica, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Please, won’t you lend a television critic a hand?

June 4, 2009 /

The Television Critics Association has officially begun the gearing-up process for its 25th annual awards, which will honor the finest work of the 2008-09 season as selected by the association’s 200-plus member critics and journalists. One of those members is yours truly, and I figured I’d see what the readers of Premium Hollywood had to say about the nominations and who they’d like to see win the various categories. I’ll have to submit my votes by June 10th, but since the winners won’t be announced until August 1st (the ceremony takes place at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa in Pasadena, CA, with Chelsea Handler opening the ceremony), so speak up quickly. There are a couple of things I’m on the fence about, and I’d be interested to hear your thoughts before I make my final selections.

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR

* “Battlestar Galactica” (SciFi Channel)
* “Lost” (ABC)
* “Mad Men” (AMC)
* “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
* “The Shield” (FX)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY

* “30 Rock” (NBC)
* “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
* “The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
* “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS)
* “The Office” (NBC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

* “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
* “Friday Night Lights” (NBC/DirecTV)
* “Lost” (ABC)
* “Mad Men” (AMC)
* “The Shield” (FX)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT MOVIES, MINI-SERIES AND SPECIALS

* Summer Olympic Coverage (NBC)
* “24: Redemption” (Fox)
* “Generation Kill” (HBO)
* “Grey Gardens” (HBO)
* “Taking Chance” (HBO)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR

“Fringe” (Fox)
“The Mentalist” (CBS)
“No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” (HBO)
“True Blood” (HBO)
“United States of Tara” (Showtime)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY

* Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”)
* Steve Carell (“The Office”)
* Tina Fey (“30 Rock”)
* Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”)
* Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA

* Glenn Close (“Damages”)
* Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”)
* Walton Goggins (“The Shield”)
* Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”)
* Hugh Laurie (“House”)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING

* “Camp Rock” (The Disney Channel)
* “The Electric Company” (PBS)
* “Nick News” (Nickelodeon)
* “Sid the Science Kid” (PBS)
* “Yo Gabba Gabba” (Nickelodeon)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION

* “60 Minutes” (CBS)
* “The Alzheimer’s Project” (HBO)
* “Frontline” (PBS)
* “The Rachel Maddow Show” (MSNBC)
* “We Shall Remain” (PBS)

HERITAGE AWARD

* “ER” (NBC)
* “M*A*S*H” (CBS)
* “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
* “The Shield” (FX)
* “Star Trek” (NBC)

24, Battlestar Galactica, External Entertainment, External TV, Friday Night Lights, Lost, News, Saturday Night Live, TCA Press Tour, The Office, The Shield, TV, TV Action, TV Cartoons, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Reality, TV Sci-Fi

First impressions of “Caprica”

May 12, 2009 /

The two-hour pilot of “Caprica” debuted on DVD and digital download late last month and I finally found the time to watch it. Regular readers might be wondering why a huge “Battlestar Galactica” fan like myself would wait so long. Well, I’m not really sure. Maybe the “BG” finale was still a little to raw in my mind. Maybe there was too much other good television grabbing my attention. Or maybe I just couldn’t find the right time to watch it.

While I’m certainly excited about Ronald D. Moore’s next project, I can’t help but be a little leery of a prequel. “Caprica” has the same challenge that the “Star Wars” prequels had: Everyone knows how it turns out. The question is whether or not the history is compelling enough to outweigh the certainty of the story’s outcome. In the world of “Star Wars,” fans were clamoring for a better understanding of how Anakin Skywalker actually became Darth Vader. The transition was mentioned several times over the course of Episodes Four, Five and Six, and it became almost inevitable that there would eventually be a series of prequels to explain just how Anakin turned to the dark side.

Were there any “Battlestar Galactica” fans clamoring for a prequel? I’m sure there were a few, but I hadn’t even considered the prospect until I heard that “Caprica” was already in development. How interested are we in seeing how Cylons were developed? Personally, I’d rather get a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes scheming that led up to the Cylon invasion.

That said, there’s no doubt that “Caprica” is two strong hours of television.

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Battlestar Galactica, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

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