This is an awesome interview. This young lady has a huge role to play in the future of humanity. We know how it ends, but she will determine how it begins.
Alessandra Torresani Gets Inside Caprica Prime Cylon
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Sunday, January 24, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Reviewed - Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, Lots of Hype - Little Punch
I planned and waited with great anticipation for the television premiere of Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
. It wasn't long into the two-hour movie that I realized this was nothing more than a minor recap with minimal new footage. With the Caprica
television premiere scheduled in 12 days, there was strong anticipation "The Plan" would hold lots of good teasers. Having already viewed the Caprica pilot episode at syfy.com, there's certainly allot of missing history to be revealed.
But "The Plan" did little more than show a story we have already been presented. Of the two hour episode, there was less than 45 minutes of new footage, shot specifically for the movie. The rest was borrowed from the series, or pulled from the archived of "deleted" scenes.
The movie opens with the brothers Cavil being put into the airlock on Galactica, 256 days after the attacks on the colonies. The scene then fades back in time to 2 weeks before the attacks. They replay how Baltar is tricked into compromising Caprica's defenses, but with the back story with Cavil and Six planning strategy.
I had just watched several video clips at syfy.com which Eddie Olmos makes direct correlation between BSG and Blade Runner. He also says that after we see "The Plan" we will have to go out and buy the entire BSG series, including the mini-series, on Blu-ray. I think he overstated his case just a tad. I have no desire to see "Blade Runner", and there was nothing in "The Plan" to compel me to watch the whole series from start to finish. But I'm just one fan, and one very loud critic...
One thing that is not so clear is where the Final Five are. They show brief clips of them in the "tank", and apparently Cavil has erased their memories or done something so they do not know who they really are. Cavil knows who the other 11 Cylon models are from square one, including the Final Five. I find it odd that he would never let "the cat out of the bag" during the series, when it could have done so much to undermine the Colonials fight.
What's more is how Ellen was giving sexual favors to Cavil (to buy Saul's freedom) during the occupation of New Caprica, and he knew she was one of the Final Five (and she didn't).
They did a good job of showing how their perfect plan to exterminate all humans (Cavil referred to humans as a cockroach infestation) fell apart at every seam.
- Boomer failed to kill Commander Adama.
- Six failed to discredit Baltar.
- Leoben studied Kara so closely he fell in love with her.
- Simon fell in love, got married and had children. He later committed suicide instead of blowing up the ship to kill his family and many others.
- Doral was a putz who wore ugly suits fashioned moe for the original BSG, but did manage to blow him self up, but really didn't do allot of damage.
- Boomer also would not plant the bomb that would deplete the water supply (Cavil planted it); but she later found allot of water to replace it.
- Anders found himself as the leader of the resistence on Caprica then a maverick of unconventional warfare on Galactica.
- Saul and Tyrol remained true to their uniform in spite of their Cylon heritage.
- Tory had served as the assistant to the president was torn, and managed to kill - Cally, but nothing more.
- As for Ellen, she was always the happy-go-lucky flirt with a drink in one hand and a man on her shoulder.
The main thing in this movie is Cavil's mad obsession with destroying humanity, even when the other models were backing down. For example when he asked Boomer to kill Commander Adama. She pressed him with the mercy of her human emotions, telling him the humans are no longer a threat. And when she failed to kill Adama by shooting him twice in the chest, he asked why she didn't shoot him in the head. She said she couldn't do it (she couldn't make herself do it).
One of my favorite characters throughout the series and again in "The Plan" was the hybrid. It's difficult to know whether her scenes were hard or easy to do while sitting in a whirlpool, up to her neck on water, spouting off random techno-babble gibberish with little or no change in tone or inflection.
"The Plan
" ends where it started, on day 256 with the brothers Cavil being shoved out the airlock on Galactica. They are full of hate and rage, anticipating the arriving at download city on the resurrection ship to begin their rampage all over again.
Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
Accokeek Computers
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The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
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. It wasn't long into the two-hour movie that I realized this was nothing more than a minor recap with minimal new footage. With the Caprica television premiere scheduled in 12 days, there was strong anticipation "The Plan" would hold lots of good teasers. Having already viewed the Caprica pilot episode at syfy.com, there's certainly allot of missing history to be revealed.But "The Plan" did little more than show a story we have already been presented. Of the two hour episode, there was less than 45 minutes of new footage, shot specifically for the movie. The rest was borrowed from the series, or pulled from the archived of "deleted" scenes.
The movie opens with the brothers Cavil being put into the airlock on Galactica, 256 days after the attacks on the colonies. The scene then fades back in time to 2 weeks before the attacks. They replay how Baltar is tricked into compromising Caprica's defenses, but with the back story with Cavil and Six planning strategy.
I had just watched several video clips at syfy.com which Eddie Olmos makes direct correlation between BSG and Blade Runner. He also says that after we see "The Plan" we will have to go out and buy the entire BSG series, including the mini-series, on Blu-ray. I think he overstated his case just a tad. I have no desire to see "Blade Runner", and there was nothing in "The Plan" to compel me to watch the whole series from start to finish. But I'm just one fan, and one very loud critic...
One thing that is not so clear is where the Final Five are. They show brief clips of them in the "tank", and apparently Cavil has erased their memories or done something so they do not know who they really are. Cavil knows who the other 11 Cylon models are from square one, including the Final Five. I find it odd that he would never let "the cat out of the bag" during the series, when it could have done so much to undermine the Colonials fight.
What's more is how Ellen was giving sexual favors to Cavil (to buy Saul's freedom) during the occupation of New Caprica, and he knew she was one of the Final Five (and she didn't).
They did a good job of showing how their perfect plan to exterminate all humans (Cavil referred to humans as a cockroach infestation) fell apart at every seam.
- Boomer failed to kill Commander Adama.
- Six failed to discredit Baltar.
- Leoben studied Kara so closely he fell in love with her.
- Simon fell in love, got married and had children. He later committed suicide instead of blowing up the ship to kill his family and many others.
- Doral was a putz who wore ugly suits fashioned moe for the original BSG, but did manage to blow him self up, but really didn't do allot of damage.
- Boomer also would not plant the bomb that would deplete the water supply (Cavil planted it); but she later found allot of water to replace it.
- Anders found himself as the leader of the resistence on Caprica then a maverick of unconventional warfare on Galactica.
- Saul and Tyrol remained true to their uniform in spite of their Cylon heritage.
- Tory had served as the assistant to the president was torn, and managed to kill - Cally, but nothing more.
- As for Ellen, she was always the happy-go-lucky flirt with a drink in one hand and a man on her shoulder.
The main thing in this movie is Cavil's mad obsession with destroying humanity, even when the other models were backing down. For example when he asked Boomer to kill Commander Adama. She pressed him with the mercy of her human emotions, telling him the humans are no longer a threat. And when she failed to kill Adama by shooting him twice in the chest, he asked why she didn't shoot him in the head. She said she couldn't do it (she couldn't make herself do it).
One of my favorite characters throughout the series and again in "The Plan" was the hybrid. It's difficult to know whether her scenes were hard or easy to do while sitting in a whirlpool, up to her neck on water, spouting off random techno-babble gibberish with little or no change in tone or inflection.
"The Plan
" ends where it started, on day 256 with the brothers Cavil being shoved out the airlock on Galactica. They are full of hate and rage, anticipating the arriving at download city on the resurrection ship to begin their rampage all over again.Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
Accokeek Computers
Mamas Best Recipes
The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
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Friday, January 8, 2010
Comment on "2010 Prediction: The Year of the Paid Subscription "
Source link http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/techtonicshifts/archive/2010/01/08/2010-prediction-the-year-of-the-paid-subscription.aspx?GT1=43002
This Newsweek article is all assuming that people will simply fork out the money for any online content. They are wrong. Just because it's free now, and a provider decides to charge doesn't mean they will be successful at profiting. It is likely the content providers will spend any profits chasing down every swingin' pirate on the planet. The mere idea that someone can copyright or own information once it's on the open air waves is beyond stupidity.
While there is a certain percentage that will ante up with their credit card to pay for what is free now, most of us will not. We'll simply get by without it. Don't misunderstand, I like Hulu, but I'm not paying for it. We're already paying a kings ransom for our cable or satellite television, our broadband internet connection, and our wireless phones. Do these content providers live with theirs heads in the sand? Maybe. Do they not know the perilous times we live in, many of us no longer have usable credit cards? I'm sure they do, and are experiencing the same financial woes as the rest of us.
If Hulu and others want to start charging, let them. We'll shop somewhere else for free. My guess is within 5 years, they'll be out of business or back to FREE content with content-based advertising to pay the bills. If they hold their breath waiting for me to subscribe they will be out of business much sooner.
Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
Accokeek Computers
Mamas Best Recipes
The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
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This Newsweek article is all assuming that people will simply fork out the money for any online content. They are wrong. Just because it's free now, and a provider decides to charge doesn't mean they will be successful at profiting. It is likely the content providers will spend any profits chasing down every swingin' pirate on the planet. The mere idea that someone can copyright or own information once it's on the open air waves is beyond stupidity.
While there is a certain percentage that will ante up with their credit card to pay for what is free now, most of us will not. We'll simply get by without it. Don't misunderstand, I like Hulu, but I'm not paying for it. We're already paying a kings ransom for our cable or satellite television, our broadband internet connection, and our wireless phones. Do these content providers live with theirs heads in the sand? Maybe. Do they not know the perilous times we live in, many of us no longer have usable credit cards? I'm sure they do, and are experiencing the same financial woes as the rest of us.
If Hulu and others want to start charging, let them. We'll shop somewhere else for free. My guess is within 5 years, they'll be out of business or back to FREE content with content-based advertising to pay the bills. If they hold their breath waiting for me to subscribe they will be out of business much sooner.
Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
Accokeek Computers
Mamas Best Recipes
The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
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Sunday, December 6, 2009
Is ABC becoming the new SCI-FI Channel?
I guess the handwriting was on the wall when SCI-FI channel changed their name to SyFy in July 2009. As a critic of science fiction, I find myslef watching the Syfy channel less and less. Why you might ask? They're simply not offering things that peak my interest. More than that, most of their prime-time shows are NOT science fiction in nature, not even a stretch.
Some years ago, when The Nashville Network (TNN) became The National Network, it's attempt to shed it's country music origins. TNN later became SPIKE, and their programming only got worse. They should have changed their name to TNA (T & A). Back to Syfy.
ABC, on the other hand, has at least four popular science fiction shows. On Tuesday night there's "V". Akin to it's 1984 predecessor, V is about Visitors from another world that came to Earth with the announcement "we are your friends".
On Thursday night there's "Flash Forward". This show is one of my favorites. It's set in Los Angeles in present time. One day the whole planet "blacked out" for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. During that time, everyone experienced 2 minutes and 17 seconds of their future from April 29th 2010. The show does an excellent job of intertwining the personal lives, realities, and investigation into the "flash forward". "Lost" is coming back in the Spring of 2010.
Another series that aired on ABC, but has not returned is "Defying Gravity". It's about an interplanetary space mission set in 2051. It's also intertwines the personal lives of the astronauts, their families, the politics of the time, and the journey through space which is set to last 6 years. The science fiction elements to this are elusive, but there are forces at work behind the scenes pulling the strings. The rumor was that ABC canceled Defying Gravity after 6 episodes. That's simply not true. ABC does not own nor produce Defying Gravity, which is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and produced by a conglomerate consisting of Fox, BBC, and Canadian TV, and others. The official story was that ABC needed the Sunday Night 10PM slot for something else. In all Defying Gravity aired 13 episodes, just not on ABC.
Let's see what Syfy has on their primetime lineup.
Monday - Ghost Whisperer. While ghosts and the like are not my thing, Ghost Whisperer is a popular science fiction show both in re-runs (on ION) and new episodes (CBS).
Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday - Something between Scare Tactics, Ghost Hunters, and Destination Truth (where's the science fiction?)
Friday - This is the closest this channel comes to redeeming itself. Sanctuary is "fair". Stargate: Universe is totally off the grid. They went way too deep and way off the beaten path. They need to taken a big step back and look at their ancestors, look at the beginning of the Stargate SG1 and evaluate where they're going. Stargate: Universe is a one season show in my book.
Saturday - is all about death and destruction, horror, and all the ugly sci-fi stuff. Sunday too for the most part.
During the weekday, Syfy does have some good all day marathons. But they have this misguided notion that people really like "ECW" and James Bond movies.
I think the network is still limping from the loss of popular shows such as Battlestar Galactica and Stargate. Meanwhile other networks are giving them a run for their money, such as ABC and CBS. NBC has Heroes and Chuck. Fox has always been a contender in the sci-fi world, their big show is Fringe. Fringe is currently my favorite science fiction show. The USA Network has Psych. Ironically, the main character in Psych is not psychic at all, but he has an almost a supernatural ability for attention-to-detail. CBS also has "NCIS", one the top-rated shows this decade, which is also doing very well in reruns on the USA Network and ION. It's not classified science fiction, but I think it's close. Gibbs has to psychic. He knows stuff he could not have found out otherwise. And there are frequent references to his "knowing" things, like if an agent has been killed or died.
We can only hope that new shows (maybe Caprica) will pick Syfy out of the basement. There's also the return of Eureka and Warehouse 13, and shows Syfy does not produce Dr. Who and Primeval.
Eureka and Warehouse 13 are OK, but not big hits. Dr. Who is really not intersting. Primeval, on the other hand, I used to watch on BBC America. I think the trail has gone cold on it too though.
Do you suppose Syfy is being forced to air non-science fiction shows because they are part of the NBC-Universal conglomerate? Will Syfy turn out like SPIKE, a smathering of crap that has turned away from it's roots, and the many fans that tuned in and made it what it WAS? Will NBC Universal's overtake by Comcast make things better or worse?
Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
Accokeek Computers
Mamas Best Recipes
The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
Simple Opportunities
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Some years ago, when The Nashville Network (TNN) became The National Network, it's attempt to shed it's country music origins. TNN later became SPIKE, and their programming only got worse. They should have changed their name to TNA (T & A). Back to Syfy.
ABC, on the other hand, has at least four popular science fiction shows. On Tuesday night there's "V". Akin to it's 1984 predecessor, V is about Visitors from another world that came to Earth with the announcement "we are your friends".
On Thursday night there's "Flash Forward". This show is one of my favorites. It's set in Los Angeles in present time. One day the whole planet "blacked out" for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. During that time, everyone experienced 2 minutes and 17 seconds of their future from April 29th 2010. The show does an excellent job of intertwining the personal lives, realities, and investigation into the "flash forward". "Lost" is coming back in the Spring of 2010.
Another series that aired on ABC, but has not returned is "Defying Gravity". It's about an interplanetary space mission set in 2051. It's also intertwines the personal lives of the astronauts, their families, the politics of the time, and the journey through space which is set to last 6 years. The science fiction elements to this are elusive, but there are forces at work behind the scenes pulling the strings. The rumor was that ABC canceled Defying Gravity after 6 episodes. That's simply not true. ABC does not own nor produce Defying Gravity, which is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and produced by a conglomerate consisting of Fox, BBC, and Canadian TV, and others. The official story was that ABC needed the Sunday Night 10PM slot for something else. In all Defying Gravity aired 13 episodes, just not on ABC.
Let's see what Syfy has on their primetime lineup.
Monday - Ghost Whisperer. While ghosts and the like are not my thing, Ghost Whisperer is a popular science fiction show both in re-runs (on ION) and new episodes (CBS).
Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday - Something between Scare Tactics, Ghost Hunters, and Destination Truth (where's the science fiction?)
Friday - This is the closest this channel comes to redeeming itself. Sanctuary is "fair". Stargate: Universe is totally off the grid. They went way too deep and way off the beaten path. They need to taken a big step back and look at their ancestors, look at the beginning of the Stargate SG1 and evaluate where they're going. Stargate: Universe is a one season show in my book.
Saturday - is all about death and destruction, horror, and all the ugly sci-fi stuff. Sunday too for the most part.
During the weekday, Syfy does have some good all day marathons. But they have this misguided notion that people really like "ECW" and James Bond movies.
I think the network is still limping from the loss of popular shows such as Battlestar Galactica and Stargate. Meanwhile other networks are giving them a run for their money, such as ABC and CBS. NBC has Heroes and Chuck. Fox has always been a contender in the sci-fi world, their big show is Fringe. Fringe is currently my favorite science fiction show. The USA Network has Psych. Ironically, the main character in Psych is not psychic at all, but he has an almost a supernatural ability for attention-to-detail. CBS also has "NCIS", one the top-rated shows this decade, which is also doing very well in reruns on the USA Network and ION. It's not classified science fiction, but I think it's close. Gibbs has to psychic. He knows stuff he could not have found out otherwise. And there are frequent references to his "knowing" things, like if an agent has been killed or died.
We can only hope that new shows (maybe Caprica) will pick Syfy out of the basement. There's also the return of Eureka and Warehouse 13, and shows Syfy does not produce Dr. Who and Primeval.
Eureka and Warehouse 13 are OK, but not big hits. Dr. Who is really not intersting. Primeval, on the other hand, I used to watch on BBC America. I think the trail has gone cold on it too though.
Do you suppose Syfy is being forced to air non-science fiction shows because they are part of the NBC-Universal conglomerate? Will Syfy turn out like SPIKE, a smathering of crap that has turned away from it's roots, and the many fans that tuned in and made it what it WAS? Will NBC Universal's overtake by Comcast make things better or worse?
Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
Accokeek Computers
Mamas Best Recipes
The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Counting Down Our Favorite Sci-Fi Movie Babes, Past & Present
I think they need to expand the list, as you can read in the article comments. Many good names were left off. They have poll at the bottom of the list, be sure to cast your vote.
Counting Down Our Favorite Sci-Fi Movie Babes, Past & Present
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Counting Down Our Favorite Sci-Fi Movie Babes, Past & Present
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Sunday, June 21, 2009
Fox announces Fringe, Dollhouse return dates
I don't think this is a big surprise for all of us Fringe and Dollhouse fans. Since Battlestar Galactica left the airwaves, Fringe took over as the best Science Fiction show on Television. As for Dollhouse, I watch it because I like to see that chick from Tru Calling, Eliza Dushku. Of note, which is not mentioned here. When Fringe returns on September 17th, the filming will be done in Vancouver, BC. While the show is set in Boston, Season 1 was filmed in New York City. Apparently, a tax break the studio was receiving has run out. Hence, production is being moved to Hollywood North.
Fox announces Fringe, Dollhouse return dates
Regards
John Crawford
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The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
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Fox announces Fringe, Dollhouse return dates
Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
Accokeek Computers
Mamas Best Recipes
The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
Simple Opportunities
Add to Technorati Favorites
Warp Drive Engine Could Suck Earth Into Black Hole: Discovery News
'Battlestar Galactica: The Plan' just released new trailer - see it here - incredible
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Star Trek: Don't Let The Name Fool You
In all fairness, this is a great film. Just not a good Star Trek film. It's a great story with action, comedy, special effects, and good acting. They did a fairly good job of finding likenesses of the crew. All through the movie it felt like I was watching a well made Trek parody on Saturday Night Live or MadTV.
The movie is riddled with historical Trek verbiage and nostalgia. They broke ALL the Trek rules. From the very beginning, the story exits from the chronicles that began in 1965. Kirk is a bad boy growing up. Spock is sexually involved with Uhura. Vulcan is destroyed, Romulus is destroyed. Ambassador Spoke meets and co-exists with his younger self. Spocks Mother (played by Winona Ryder) is killed when Vulcan is destroyed.
Towards the end, I was anxiously awaiting for the "miracle", "the turn back the clock", to put things back to where they re supposed to be. That never happened. The credits rolled and I went home disappointed.
Remarkably it has performed very well at the box office, approaching $200 million. What's not to like, right? I went to see the movie the weekend it opened, on May 9th. It was a Saturday 4:00PM matinee. I really expected there to be long lines and hoards of people waiting. Instead, I walked right up to the ticket counter, and then proceeded to the viewing room. It was dark and the movie had already started. I took a seat in the back, there was only one person in the row. After the movie was over, and the lights came on, there wasn't more than 15 people in the audience, all with disappointed looks on their faces.Right now Gene Roddenberry and his late wife are turning over in their graves. It's blasphemy I say. They must have paid Leonard Nimoy a bundle of money to come out of retirement to do this film (and to do Fringe). I hate to think of what will happen in the sequels. Maybe they should bring Scott Bakula on-board, he has considerable experience "putting things right that once went wrong". This irony would have fit perfectly into J.J. Abrams twisted plot.
BTW, there is a sequel already in the plans, Untitled Star Trek sequel.
Regards
John Crawford
AutismZone
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The Cartouche - Science Fiction Reviews
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