First Footage of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome! | Tor.com

UPDATE: FRAK!!!!! Click here to find out more.

It LIVES!!!! The first bit of exciting scifi news I had today and this is a winner in my book. From just this preview alone, I can tell that this is not Caprica-ish in the least respect. Not that Caprica was bad but the slowness of the story telling and lack of action made this prequel unworthy to be mentioned in the same breath as BSG. They only sticking point is the SYFY logo in the trailer which kills me. The SYFY Channel is an empty husk of what I used to love about the channel. Even back in the days of SCIFI, there was the long lull between seasons and even mid seasons episodes when BSG was on the air. Farscape was this first series to have suffered this fate and thus, I have yet to see seasons three and four. Hell, MAD MEN took 17 months off between seasons. Stop the nonsense and the fans will support the show. Don’t yank the fans, SYFY!!!!

Enjoy the trailer below!!!

First Footage of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome!

STUBBY THE ROCKET

The second spin-off of Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica reboot looks to be a bit closer than we thought. Here’s the first footage:

So, ignoring the strange choice to basically make the trailer the bastard cousin of the U.S. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trailer, what are we seeing? Well, to start, we’re seeing little Bill Adama! In a viper! Being awesome!

In all honesty, it looks like this was the BSG prequel we’d really been waiting for. A lack of movement (and enough likeable characters) killed Caprica off pretty quickly, and Blood and Chrome is already looking a lot more like the BSG we know and love. It’s possible that this spin-off may rely more heavily on action, and CGI will clearly be a sizeable component since we’ve got lots of early cylons to contend with.

What are you hoping to see? And do you think Blood and Chrome has what it takes to be the “gamechanger” Syfy is heralding it as?

via First Footage of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome! | Tor.com.

Here We Go Again…. But Seriously « Page 49

The religious mantra “all of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again” as heard on Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica could not be a more apt quote for the latest round of county budget cuts geared towards the library.  Exactly two years to the date, I wrote about library cutbacks here in Miami. Click here to read the earlier blog entry. Each year from 2009, there was the feeling of the end was nigh and yet we are still here. There were some cuts in salary and employees, namely pages were let go but most were shortly hired back. So, is this go around any different from the past two years? Yes. Just like the Cylons, there is a plan.

via Here We Go Again…. But Seriously « Page 49.

The House Next Door | Caprica: “Pilot”

While I am re-watching the last season of BSG, I have seen the initial first movie of this series. While I was downright disappointed with the story, there were some highlights. Esai Morales playing Joseph Adama was in my opinion the best thing about the series. Being latino, I am always impressed when an actor can be more than just the color of skin. Edward James Olmos as Admiral Adama has raised such a bar of excellence in acting on a scifi tv series no less, Esai looks to be on the same path to greatness. While I may knock the series as Crapica, I have been known to watch even less worthy scifi shows to kill my time like SeaQuest, and Andromeda. I’m sure I’ll be watching in time; just not in a rush. In any case, read over Tony’s review from the Cinema Viewfinder.

Enjoy!

BY TONY DAYOUB ON JANUARY 23RD, 2010 AT 12:25 PM IN TELEVISION

While some felt that Battlestar Galactica’s finale repudiated much that came before it, both thematically and in its execution, others (like myself) felt the story had come to an emotionally satisfying conclusion. Either way, disgruntled or devoted fans of the show—and even those who’ve never seen it—will find its new soapy spinoff, Caprica, of interest. Like its predecessor, which was couched in Bush-era “War on Terror” parallels, the show alludes to present day tensions stemming from Obama’s promise of change, something I discussed at length in a piece I wrote back in April after watching an early DVD release of the pilot.

“Caprica: 58 Years Before the Fall” reads the opening title card to the two-hour debut. The Fall refers to humanity’s near extinction at the hands of their robotic Cylon creations in BSG’s premiere. This prequel explores the fateful forces which led to their creation and rise to prominence. It begins with two young girls perishing in a terrorist attack orchestrated by a monotheistic cult known as the Soldiers of the One (the seed for the Cylon belief in one God; contrarian in the polytheistic society of Caprica). The girls’ respective fathers—Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz), a Bill Gates/Steve Jobs-like billionaire genius looking for the missing link in his robotics research, and Joseph Adams (Esai Morales), a Michael Corleone-type attorney reluctant to join the family (as in Family) business—are our portals into this show’s world.

via The House Next Door | Caprica: “Pilot”.

Virtuality Pilot Review

Virtuality may be one of the better scifi show I’ve seen this year and thanks to Fox, you will probably never see it. Honestly, Fox programming for scifi shows is the kiss of death and to boot air the shows on a Friday night. With two strikes against any show, Virtuality is practically dead in the water. However, thanks executive producer Ron Moore who made BSG more than just Battlestar Galactica from the 70′s, he has made a compelling scifi series that is worthy to watch and a much improved drama over Caprica.

Think of this show as The Real World meets The Truman Show meets Big Brother in outer space. This is a story about 12 astronauts on a mission for 10 years leaving our own solar system to the distant Epsilon Eridani with the whole world watching the journey and along for the ride. We see video confessionals from each crew member baring their hopes, their dreams, and their frustrations ala Real World. The mission is also sponsored by various companies and the crew on a given day would work in the sponsors name just like on The Truman Show by wearing the apparel. And despite the exploration mission being changed to a mission of salvation, because the world would be uninhabitable in 100 years, we personality clash, tempers flair and romance between adult crew members like on Big Brother. These are not the perfect UtopianStar Trek crewmembers we have grown to expect from Starfleet but rather this maybe the very thing that might happen people have to live with one another not by their choosing and for nearly a decade in space. Despite all this, there is an escape for the crew members from the promotion of sponsors and video confessionals through the use of virtual reality.

Before you write off as boring and we’ve seen this already on Star Trek and Earth 2, yes I agree. The virtual reality does play an interesting part in the series. I did have the groans of seeing the VR on screen at the very beginning and an unknown character invading the VR setting interacting with the Commander. We saw this countless of time on TNG and even the Danger Room the X-Men comics by Whedon became sentient. However, this becomes a mystery throughout the pilot with other crew members and does not get wrapped up in the end. Virtuality gives you a WTF moment at the end but in a good way. With this going on, the rough at times crew interaction and the actual journey to the new system, there is enough drama and storylines that makes for great scifi watching and eventual dvd owning.

But as I said before, we may not see this again. The rating for very poor to be nice but thanks to Hulu.com you can watch the show below. Do yourself a favor and tell a friend about this show if you enjoyed as much as I have. One last thing, go over the Cinemaviewfinder.comfor a couple of blog entries about this project from Ron Moore.

more about “Hulu – Virtuality – Watch the full fe…“, posted with vodpod

Cinema Viewfinder: Caprica Pilot: A New Chapter for a New Era

Since the Caprica dvd is schedule for release on 4/21/09, David from Cinema Viewfinder was kind enough to share his review.

Enjoy!

Caprica Pilot: A New Chapter for a New Era

With the recent demise of the much beloved Battlestar Galactica, this avid TV watcher found himself mourning the loss of its wonderful characters in a way he seldom has before. Perhaps it was because the series reached what is generally rare for television: a satisfying conclusion. I actually found myself wanting to follow the new adventures these characters had set out on in the final minutes of the show. It is fitting that the science fiction series, an allegory for Bush’s “War on Terror” era, would wrap up as America enters a new, hopeful, but more opaque era of economic uncertainty. The new prequel spinoff, Caprica, is a chapter in the Galactica saga that captures the feeling, characteristic of the Obama era, of American life at a crossroads.

The opening title card states, “Caprica: 58 Years Before the Fall.” It is a world we’ve seen in glimpses on Galactica, beautiful, glistening buildings forming a gleaming skyline overlooking an ocean. But it is a society on a precipice. It has reached the apex of its civilization and the seeds of its ultimate destruction are being sown right now. It is a world much like our own where there are differing socioeconomic levels because of class and racial bias. And its young people rely on virtual technology to fill the void in their lives where the gradually disintegrating family structure once existed.

via Cinema Viewfinder: Caprica Pilot: A New Chapter for a New Era.

Monster Scifi Show Podcast – BSG Promo, Sort of…

Day 3

Three days ago, my mother told me that her mammogram came back positive. She had known about it about a week before and didn’t tell me because of her 61st birthday celebration she had with me and my family. She had called me on my cell phone during my walk home from work. I knew something was wrong by the way she answered the phone. First, I thought she had some bad news about my family in NY. She revealed to me that she might have breast cancer. There were plans to get a second set of tests done to confirm the first checkup.  It is now Day 3 and I have yet to hear any more news on this matter. However, I am finding myself in a mixed bag on emotions with little to no focus on what or where to go from here. The waiting is so far the worst part of this dilemma.

TalkShoe Instructions for BSG Podcast

On March 27 @ 9:00pm Eastern, join me and others to discuss our thoughts and passsions about BSG. Follow some instructions and rules of conduct and you join in on the fun. 

1. Call from any phone from anywhere: +1 724-444-7444. Enter Call ID 22510, and then join the call as a guest by pressing 1#. Best slightly before 9pm.
2. On your computer, click on this link http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/22510 to get into the chat room
3. If you followed everything correctly, then your computer screen will look similiar to the image below. Your name will appear on the right side of the panel and you have an area to enter text for the chat room which is the last box on the bottom.

Rules of Conduct

1. No swearing except for the constant usage of the word FRAK when deemed necessary. Try to follow this  as this saves me time from editing. If you abuse the this rule, then I will block you from the call and/or chat room.
2. We can have SPOILERS. I will have warning at the beginning of the podcast. Feel free to speak your heart out on any topic.
3. Don’t interrupt others. We may have many guests and I want to hear everyones ideas and opinions. Everyone is free to like what they like. However, feel free to challenge what is being said. Make good arguements.

If you unable to join us, please feel free to email me your thoughts and comments about BSG as a whole, the last season or the last episode, whatever you like to: monsterscifishow@gmail.com.

Please include your name and where you are from so I can read it during the show.

Monster Scifi Show Podcast Wants You

I am planning to do a BSG podcast after the finale on March 20. The original date was going to be on March 21 from 3 to 6pm EST. However, this day and time conflicts with my mother’s birthday. While I don’t have another copy of myself to take care of this duty, I will need to changed either the time, day, or both. Look below at the suggested changes.

A: Saturday Night – After 10pm
B: Sunday Afternoon- 2:00 to 4:00
C: Friday, March 27 – 9:00 to 11:00 since there is no more bsg

Those are your three choices – Majority will dictate. Write me back soon.

Thanks,

Montgomery (Monster) 

PS – If you can not attend, send me your thoughts in an email to monsterscifishow@gmail.com and I will promise to read them on my podcast just like I did with the Heroes Season 3 premiere. (which I have stopped watching!)

WTF… What The Frak?!?

I have just seen “Last Exist” for BSG and I have to say it sucked BIG time how this all came together. I am less than impressed with the big reveal of Ellen Tigh being that final Cylon and when we jump into this episode, we see that how backstory that supposedly had happened several years back. The whole conversation between Ellen and John reeks of Bladerunner’s Roy Batty and Dr. Tyrell. I had expected John at one point to say, “All those moments will be lost like tears in rain.” Come one, BSG writers this should have been one of those OMG moments but rather it turns out a big huh? 

Anders, who is recovering from the brain drain, now has visions of what has happened before. Fine, I’ll go with it but honestly, how much time does he need to explain all this has happened before and will again. And why for frak sake does he need his other skin job friends? To help them to remember? To have them sing Ding, Ding, Ding goes the Trolley? Can’t someone just record what he’s saying or maybe start a blog or podcast, you know time shifting tools, so that Chief can stop frakking appearing in every other scene. Yes, Chief is back in title and rank and has to repair Galactica. Great, I am all for that but what a minute, he has to be with Anders to find out more about the visions, but wait, Chief has to back to repair the ship, no wait, back to Anders…..STOP THIS CRAP!!!

We have 5 weeks to go until this series is completely over. I want to be  amazed, stunned, and in awe of an ending that is equal if not more to the amount of time I have spent watching, buying BSG merchandise, and loving this show. Let BSG be BSG and not just BS. Frakkers!