If you're like me, you're probably having a hard time explaining to yourself exactly why it is you still even take the time to TiVo Battlestar Galactica much less watch it at its ultimate nerd time slot of 10:00pm Friday night.
It's ok, you really aren't to blame. If anyone should have fingers pointed at them, it should be at Ron Moore. Executive Producer and claimed "writer" of the series, anyone who stepped out of their "Starbuck is so hot" bubble could see that the series has shifted from a principle Emmy-deserving action/drama powerhouse that could have revitalized the Sci-Fi channel to a withering dying soap opera full of staling characters, dead-end plot devices and a painful drag across 22 episodes to answer one rather moot question. Ramming the question of who the fifth cyclon is was more important than looking into their souls and asking themselves if they could actually write well enough to have a fifth season.
When BSG first invaded television sets, it packed a powerful punch because it incorporated a very important formula for not only geeks, but other people to appreciate. It's not a closely guarded recipe either. It incorporates action, mixed with drama and moving characterization that syncs with plot device after plot device. The more reoccurring themes, the deeper the story.
Plus it was really fun, and kind of trendy to say frak.
At first, Moore and team nailed this. Humanity was dealt the ultimate low blow and audience sympathized with the external and internal threats and problems. This in itself was a rich accomplishment, because for science fictions, the hardest and most integral part of a show's success is its ability to suspend disbelief. As long as a situation can be explained thanks to some futuristic device/instrument life can continue on.
Episodes like the initial mini-series, the face off with the "Scar" "33 Minutes" are gripping episodes because they reach out on the brink of despair and pull you back through. Successful battles won, but never the war. It was the anti-Lost. The question wasn't a will we be found, the answer was frak yes.
Somewhere after the second season, this formula was thrown to the curb. Maybe some writers who weren't given the credit they deserved where tossed out, or maybe someone was having a bad family crisis with a nagging wife. Who knows. There was plenty of ammunition to use in writing stories. Hell, they were wandering a universe.
Instead, the drama relationships changed more inconsistently between the cylons and humans, humans and humans and then cylons and cylons so poorly that major themes were just thrown right out the window. It just destroyed the series for me. So below is my bulletin style list of reasons why BSG hit the chopping block.
1. This was a Science Fiction Action/Drama. When one episode doesn't have at least more than 30 seconds of space action, (and showing the Galactica before panning in doesn't count) then this show is missing its core audience of Last Starfighter fans. It just becomes a drama. Keep the strengths strong.
2. You can't restructure characters allegiances so willy nilly. Cylons were the reason humanity was on the run. Why the hell are they best friends now? No matter how the plot breaks down, this is the unacceptable portion. Symbolism of humanity's compassion be damned.
3. Season 3's terraforming should never have happened. Again, you took out the space action element and treated it as if it was a ground version of Babylon 5. The show's premise was finding a new home, if you are going to make them build one, you're television show is over. The only saving grace of season 3 is the rescue.
4. You're core audience is mostly atheists and scientists who enjoy selective things, why incorporate so much God? I've heard the stories and the rumors, but again, action dramas don't need to be so heavily mystified in symbolism.
5. When you're show becomes predictable like, "the baby isn't yours," or "I have cancer and I'm dying. But then I'm not and then I am." stop recruiting top talent from days of our lives.
6. The political element of the show gets way to much on-camera time. When did this become West Wing? The results are predictable and campy. Adama gets his Admiral way or Roslyn pleads with the apparent irrational remaining citizens and all ends well. Action/Drama. I'll just keep saying it.
7.The Final Five. I don't even know where to begin. Granted, I don't know the direction that the final episodes are headed, but as a denouement they have been raised to such a pedestal that whatever their significance, it won't measure up. Take Roslyn's aide being one, she was a minor character that arrived late in the series and her sudden revelation and upgrade to major player in the series just screamed, "I'm an actress whose sleeping with someone high up on the production team."
8. And lastly, going back to the Soap Opera reference. When you're show reaches the same kind of controversy among tv questions such as "Who shot JR?" It's really time to reevaluate how you do business. Maybe take a clue and bring on Joss Wedon and some Firefly production guys to help show you how to make a proper show.
Good luck. For frack's sake, you'll need it.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Wackness
It is seldom that a movie grabs you in such a way that you not only find yourself comparing your life after the protagonist’s, but that you feel compelled and inspired to change yourself from within. Let alone write a review. The Wackness accomplishes that and so much more.
To be honest, the last film that captivated me in such a way was Tatum’s The Fall out last spring. After reading that sentence I kind of appreciated the oxymoron in it.
Josh Peck of Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh stardom plays a high school graduate who drug deals saving up cash during the last summer of his youth before he has to assimilate into modern society.
Along his way, he ends up finding Dr. Squires, played by the amazing Ben Kingsley who transitions from a buyer to a therapist for the angst-ridden and often depressed Peck. Set in 1994, the two attempt to merge lifestyles and transition similar experiences of their own respective culture. Think Pink Floyd versus Biggie Fresh.
Everything goes according to plan until the very diagnosis Peck practices falls onto Stephanie, the step-daughter of his psychologist. From there, relationships become convoluted and paradigms begin switching as we see how each of these characters live out there summer days.
Two of the most notable aspects of this film are the imagery and the dialogue. Most scenes fall reminiscent of something seen in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which blend and bleed seamlessly from drug use to just afflictions of the soul and mind. It is subtle changes like these that make a movie shine.
The dialogue is top-tier as Kingsley repeatedly delivers line after line of inspirational wordage that drives home to the actors and viewers heart alike. Peck is something of rough diamond in this movie. Playing his character accurately, it’s great to see him breaking out into his own spot light. If I were to find a comparison for Peck’s talent, I would say he is a fledgling Ben Foster, lacking the spit and polish of Hollywood, but possessing the ability to deliver home pure emotion. Plus where else are you going to see Method Man with a Jamaican accent or Mary-Kate Olsen as a drugged up hippie?
It’s always rewarding to see a film emerge that at its heart is trying to tell a story first and foremost. Only when shirking Hollywood’s need for campy and predictable endings and avoiding overloading a film with A-list actors to bump ticket sales can you truly find a film as enjoyable and as inspiring as The Wackness. It deserves the accolades that will go to other “mainstream” contenders which is a shame, because anything less for this film is wack.
To be honest, the last film that captivated me in such a way was Tatum’s The Fall out last spring. After reading that sentence I kind of appreciated the oxymoron in it.
Josh Peck of Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh stardom plays a high school graduate who drug deals saving up cash during the last summer of his youth before he has to assimilate into modern society.
Along his way, he ends up finding Dr. Squires, played by the amazing Ben Kingsley who transitions from a buyer to a therapist for the angst-ridden and often depressed Peck. Set in 1994, the two attempt to merge lifestyles and transition similar experiences of their own respective culture. Think Pink Floyd versus Biggie Fresh.
Everything goes according to plan until the very diagnosis Peck practices falls onto Stephanie, the step-daughter of his psychologist. From there, relationships become convoluted and paradigms begin switching as we see how each of these characters live out there summer days.
Two of the most notable aspects of this film are the imagery and the dialogue. Most scenes fall reminiscent of something seen in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which blend and bleed seamlessly from drug use to just afflictions of the soul and mind. It is subtle changes like these that make a movie shine.
The dialogue is top-tier as Kingsley repeatedly delivers line after line of inspirational wordage that drives home to the actors and viewers heart alike. Peck is something of rough diamond in this movie. Playing his character accurately, it’s great to see him breaking out into his own spot light. If I were to find a comparison for Peck’s talent, I would say he is a fledgling Ben Foster, lacking the spit and polish of Hollywood, but possessing the ability to deliver home pure emotion. Plus where else are you going to see Method Man with a Jamaican accent or Mary-Kate Olsen as a drugged up hippie?
It’s always rewarding to see a film emerge that at its heart is trying to tell a story first and foremost. Only when shirking Hollywood’s need for campy and predictable endings and avoiding overloading a film with A-list actors to bump ticket sales can you truly find a film as enjoyable and as inspiring as The Wackness. It deserves the accolades that will go to other “mainstream” contenders which is a shame, because anything less for this film is wack.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
He said what now?
One of my biggest pet peeves about any job is the comparable difference between time paid and time spent. Unless I volunteer, any mention of my company's name should involve paying me.
So it annoys me to no end when I wake up on my day off to find a text message from my boss saying, "Call me. I have questions and I'm NOT HAPPY." Nothing sours my experience for the rest of the day like a good berating from the next rung up the ladder.
The insult to injury here is the hypocrisy. I got chewed out just 40 minutes ago because we overran our labor. The reason we did this is because the manager already mentioned left EARLY so we scrambled for coverage and I wasn't going to make someone split their shift across hours just to cover it. The final result? I went OVER by 35 minutes.
Furthermore, he lectured me about scheduling and all these proper procedures, a talk that not only should I have been paid for, but not on my day off so that it didn't ruin the rest of my weekend. Yell at me on Monday so that way I can look at the time clock and mention that you always come in an hour earlier than you need to so you can leave early and not deal with customers. Talk about blindsiding.
And don't fucking use CAPS in a text message before 12 pm. It's just not professional.
So it annoys me to no end when I wake up on my day off to find a text message from my boss saying, "Call me. I have questions and I'm NOT HAPPY." Nothing sours my experience for the rest of the day like a good berating from the next rung up the ladder.
The insult to injury here is the hypocrisy. I got chewed out just 40 minutes ago because we overran our labor. The reason we did this is because the manager already mentioned left EARLY so we scrambled for coverage and I wasn't going to make someone split their shift across hours just to cover it. The final result? I went OVER by 35 minutes.
Furthermore, he lectured me about scheduling and all these proper procedures, a talk that not only should I have been paid for, but not on my day off so that it didn't ruin the rest of my weekend. Yell at me on Monday so that way I can look at the time clock and mention that you always come in an hour earlier than you need to so you can leave early and not deal with customers. Talk about blindsiding.
And don't fucking use CAPS in a text message before 12 pm. It's just not professional.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
My Name is Jerk
Recently, I was down at the Nuart Theatre in Santa Monica watching the debut of My Name is Bruce, the new quasi-indie film from actor Bruce Campbell of the Evil Dead and Spider-man franchises.
It goes without saying that before I was in the theatre I was already pumped due in fact because of some silly fanboy desire for all things Bruce Campbell for quite sometime. I think at one point he was one of two people I wanted to meet on my MySpace page. Ahhh... myspace.
The movie was a parody on the public glorification of Bruce Campbell as the "King of B-movies." Our hero, Campbell, fines himself at the end of the road, questioning his validity as an actor. In particular Campbell shines a light on the notion that glamor is a word only used for actors while on the screen.
Bruce's agent, played by the venerable talent of Ted Raimi, promises him a birthday surprise. But when a boy in a small town unleashes an evil supernatural force and comes to Campbell for saving, the actor mistakes the cry for help as a staged event to relive the "glory days."
The film has several great moments, reveling in past moments of Campbell's career and parodying several others. The acting isn't top-notch, but it is the typical kind of engagement one would find in a film that could be surmised as something for the fans. Raimi himself shines in it portraying several characters throughout the film that on any other script wouldn't have made sense, but shined nevertheless.
Overall the movie was a huge success. I enjoyed it, and anyone who has enjoyed but one Bruce-film (hell even just his Old spice commercials) can appreciate the style of humor and content this film slaps on the table. I'd recommend buying the DVD when it hits shelves in late February-March. It was a great joint venture by Dark Horse Comics and their is talk of more similar style films to come in the future from the fledgling movie company.
That being said, I do have to make a side note. As it was the initial screening of the film, Bruce made a special guest appearance for Q & A after the screening. Several actors were also present including Ted, Ellen Sandweiss (best known as the girl raped by the tree in Evil Dead) and others.
However, for as farcical as Bruce might come off in his abrasiveness towards fans in the movie, it shone right through in the Q & A. In his defense, there were some morons there asking the unavoidable questions about Evil Dead 4 and Bubba Ho-tep 2, to what kind of music the actor was listening to. Each question was received with a mocking asinine answer back. Some valid questions about production, cost, sequencing ended up being treated the same.
Sure this is just something personal, but when fans come to see you, especially for a heralded appearance, promote something other than being a jerk. After all, you're an actor.
It goes without saying that before I was in the theatre I was already pumped due in fact because of some silly fanboy desire for all things Bruce Campbell for quite sometime. I think at one point he was one of two people I wanted to meet on my MySpace page. Ahhh... myspace.
The movie was a parody on the public glorification of Bruce Campbell as the "King of B-movies." Our hero, Campbell, fines himself at the end of the road, questioning his validity as an actor. In particular Campbell shines a light on the notion that glamor is a word only used for actors while on the screen.
Bruce's agent, played by the venerable talent of Ted Raimi, promises him a birthday surprise. But when a boy in a small town unleashes an evil supernatural force and comes to Campbell for saving, the actor mistakes the cry for help as a staged event to relive the "glory days."
The film has several great moments, reveling in past moments of Campbell's career and parodying several others. The acting isn't top-notch, but it is the typical kind of engagement one would find in a film that could be surmised as something for the fans. Raimi himself shines in it portraying several characters throughout the film that on any other script wouldn't have made sense, but shined nevertheless.
Overall the movie was a huge success. I enjoyed it, and anyone who has enjoyed but one Bruce-film (hell even just his Old spice commercials) can appreciate the style of humor and content this film slaps on the table. I'd recommend buying the DVD when it hits shelves in late February-March. It was a great joint venture by Dark Horse Comics and their is talk of more similar style films to come in the future from the fledgling movie company.
That being said, I do have to make a side note. As it was the initial screening of the film, Bruce made a special guest appearance for Q & A after the screening. Several actors were also present including Ted, Ellen Sandweiss (best known as the girl raped by the tree in Evil Dead) and others.
However, for as farcical as Bruce might come off in his abrasiveness towards fans in the movie, it shone right through in the Q & A. In his defense, there were some morons there asking the unavoidable questions about Evil Dead 4 and Bubba Ho-tep 2, to what kind of music the actor was listening to. Each question was received with a mocking asinine answer back. Some valid questions about production, cost, sequencing ended up being treated the same.
Sure this is just something personal, but when fans come to see you, especially for a heralded appearance, promote something other than being a jerk. After all, you're an actor.
Friday, January 2, 2009
A New Process
In an attempt to write more everyday, I had an ephinany today. I needed time to be left alone to write and a place where I can get to some my higher levels of thinking. So I combined the two and only one answer spoke to me.
The bathroom.
See, back in the day I used to write some god awful crap. I enjoyed blasting away at stereotypes and dropping bombs on issues that seemed trivial but with enough emphasis could just move you.
Granted, a lot of the time people wanted to plug me up and keep me from being heard, but any press is good press.
So from now on, with the blessing that is my cellphone I'm going to be unleashing small, daily chunks of worthless banter to seep out to society. Enjoy it as much as I will.
P.S. enjoy counting all the bathroom analogies in the text above.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Hit the lights on the way out.
So 2008 is dead and buried and here we are, a fresh new year.
While the ball might have dropped, I can't help but spend the first day of the "future" reflecting on the past. 2008 was one hell of a whirlwind. Like any other year, it had its ups and downs. I think the trick is to count the tallied marks to see if it was more up or down. Truth be told, I'm not going to count them.
You see for the first time, I'm not looking back trying to wade through the events of last year and try to rediscover if it was a good one for me. I'm taking the moments that stick out like pillars in time and making sure I remember their lessons, albeit positive or negative.
Life's best analogy is water. It flows, changing its direction and shape randomly, never knowing itself where it's been or where it's going.
Did I make mistakes in 2008? God yes. Am I learning to not make them again, you better believe it. Are there things that I do or don't regret? Of course, but I'm a bit wiser, a lot stronger, and more ready for 2009.
So bring it on.
While the ball might have dropped, I can't help but spend the first day of the "future" reflecting on the past. 2008 was one hell of a whirlwind. Like any other year, it had its ups and downs. I think the trick is to count the tallied marks to see if it was more up or down. Truth be told, I'm not going to count them.
You see for the first time, I'm not looking back trying to wade through the events of last year and try to rediscover if it was a good one for me. I'm taking the moments that stick out like pillars in time and making sure I remember their lessons, albeit positive or negative.
Life's best analogy is water. It flows, changing its direction and shape randomly, never knowing itself where it's been or where it's going.
Did I make mistakes in 2008? God yes. Am I learning to not make them again, you better believe it. Are there things that I do or don't regret? Of course, but I'm a bit wiser, a lot stronger, and more ready for 2009.
So bring it on.
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