Great deal at Amazon

Gift-giving time may be over, but this is quite a deal: Amazon is selling BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD box set today for 50% off at $140...

Fanvid: Battlestar Rhapsody

Another great one from nnaylime. Music by Luke Ski.

Candlelight Processional - Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos at Disney:

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from the Galactica Sitrep...

Christmas on BBC

Shakespeare, Dr. Who, and Captain Picard all intersect on the BBC this Christmas.

Last Minute X-mas shopping for BSG fans

Here's the perfect stocking stuffer or last minute gift under the tree for any BSG fan: Titan Books Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion for season four by Sharon Gosling with an introduction by Edward James Olmos. The book is full of new information and provides a real deep insight into the making of the final season of BSG.

And Battlestar Galactica: Downloaded by David Bassom

Battlestar Galactica: Downloaded
(Inside the Universe of the Critically Acclaimed TV Show)
Experience Battlestar Galactica: Downloaded, Titan Book’s full-color companion, unearthing all the crucial details of Season 1 and 2. Filled with interviews from the cast and crew, stunning photos and an in-depth episode guide, this is the ultimate way to experience the show.

In Downloaded you will discover:
Guides to your favorite characters, from Bill Adama to Gaius Baltar, with commentary from the actors themselves!
An in-depth look at the 3-hour miniseries which started it all!
Behind-the-scenes secrets about the costumes, production design and Bear McCreary’s unforgettable musical score!
Get the inside scoop on some of the most seminal episodes in Battlestar history including ‘33’ and ‘Downloaded’

All of Titan's BSG books are created at a high level of professional quality and are designed for the fans who want to learn more about the epic series.

Getting ready for CAPRICA

Syfy has posted the entire pilot episode ("Extended Cut") of CAPRICA on their player and on Hulu.



A new videoblog is out previewing the first season, interviewing Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Alessandra Torresani, and many other cast and crew.



ScriptPhD is taking fan questions for an interview with CAPRICA's head writer Jane Espenson until tomorrow.

Vice Magazine and Motherboard are cosponsoring a public screening of the pilot in New York on January 21st, with free booze. Always a good thing. The Tighs would be pleased.

Go Team Edward

Following up on the post below, you can now order your official Edward t-shirt from HijiNKS Ensue.

I think I know what I'm getting myself for Christmas.

Oh My Edward

Heheh, the first one to make this into a real tee shirt is gonna make some mad nerd fanboy cash. LOL.

Comic by Hijinks Ensue.

Katee Sackhoff on THE BIG BANG THEORY

Video via Big Bang Theory YT Channel.

Caprica Poster

Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune unveiled the new Caprica poster, and reports on the latest Caprica news.

Law and Order SVU

Over the weekend, Saturday night, NBC reran a recent episode of Law and Order SVU, "Users" written by former BSG co-exec producer Michael Angeli (who now is a co-exec producer of Law and Order: Criminal Intent.) In case you missed the compelling episode, here's a two minute recap:



In the episode blogger iJustine portrayed the victim, and she posted several behind the scenes videos during filming on her YouTube channel (and her other one).

ETA, Mark Verheiden, another former co-exec producer of BSG, reports that he's co-written tonight's episode of Hereos.

Katee Sackhoff on Olmos Directing The Plan

From the set of 24 Katee Sackhoff talked to The TV Addict about Edward James Olmos directing The Plan:


Bear McCreary details the music of The Plan on his blog.

In other very big Bear news, Bear's BSG music is finally showing up on iTunes, along with video content:

Best of all, there is (and will be even more) exclusive iTunes content available. First up, the world premiere music video and single of “Apocalypse (Theme from ‘The Plan’)” performed live by the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra in concert are now on iTunes.

This video captures all the energy and intensity of our live performances this summer. If you missed the shows, this is the next best thing.

Also, Mojo reviews the recent Stu Philips birthday tribute concert, that Bear contributed to. And check out Mojo revealing how to find the secret special BSG easter egg on the The Plan DVD and Blu-ray. Without revealing what the easter egg is, lets just say that if you watched the original BSG, I think you'll dig it.

Oh, and check out this out too, it's hilarious.

CAPRICA TV ads

Lots of glimpses of new footage in these three TV ads from Syfy...

ETA: Hat tip to Pedda and CapricaTV for finding even more promo videos, including this one below that gives our first glimpse of James Marsters on the show.

The Plan Interviews

Saturday Music

Saturday in San Pedro, California, at the Warner Grand Theatre the music of Stu Philips will be performed by the Golden State Pops Orchestra, in honor of Stu's 80th birthday. Bear McCreary will be there to world premiere a new BSG composition, that former BSG FX artist Mojo got to experience at the rehearsal the other night:

As Bear mentioned in his blog, he’s written a completely new piece of music that combines elements from both the original series and reimagined version to create an ”ultimate Battlestar theme.” I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this, maybe a mish-mash of stuff we’ve heard before – but what Bear has done is far more than cut and paste – he’s created a BSG masterpiece.

It begins with his moving rendition of the ”Colonial Anthem” as heard in the second season episode “Final Cut,” (which gives me goosebumps every time I hear it), but then morphs into a swirling, mysterious and intense version of “Exploration” ( including the There Are Those Who Believe music). This version retains the familiar middle eastern flavor of the original, but amps it up to the level of Led Zeppelin’s ”Kashmir.” I don’t want to spoil where it goes from there, but suffice it to say that Bear has somehow managed to distill the entire series of Battlestar Galactica into one epic, violent, mysterious, melencholy and bittersweet piece of music.

Yes, I’m serious. All the emotion you felt while watching four years of Galactica are encapsulated in his new composition and the only time it’s every going to be played is this Saturday night by the Golden State Pops Orchestra (with members of Bear’s band) in San Pedro. You really have got to be there.

Buy your tickets here, for this exciting sci-fi music event to celebrate the work of Stu Philips.

Also, check out on Mojo's blog a CGI FX shot of a classic original BSG camera move showing the Galactica's launch pod.

And Bear McCreary reports that he's once again performing at the fourth and final Johnny “Vatos” Tribute to Halloween and Oingo Boingo, Thursday, October 29th at 8:00 PM The Grove of Anaheim.

The Plan: Reviewed

Following up on the post below, reviews are coming in for Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. Bill Hunt, editor of The Digital Bits gives the film a B+ and highly recommends the Blu-Ray release. Ron Henriques for The Latino Review notes:

We were never actually told the details of the Cylons' ultimate plan to annihilate humanity when the series began. The made a dramatic reappearance after vanishing for forty years and with the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, nearly wiped out the human race. Now with this new film all is revealed. The story opens 281 days after the destruction of the colonies during the season one episode 'Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II' where Brother John Cavil (Dean Stockwell) has just been exposed as a Cylon by another model of himself. This is the story of two Cavil's: Fleet Cavil, who has infiltrated the surviving fleet as a minister, hoping to break it from the inside and Caprica Cavil, who gets involved with a group of resistance fighters led by Sam Anders (Michael Trucco) and begins to question whether the Cylon attack was justified. Flashing back two days before the attack we finally get to see the destruction in full detail (thanks in part to an increased visual effects budget).

Yet Battlestar Galactica is not about visual effects, but rather character and story. Graduating from supporting player to central character, Dean Stockwell puts in some brilliant work playing not one, but two versions of the same model. When revealed to be one of the final five in season four, Ellen Tigh (Kate Vernon) described him as a spoiled child, yet he is something far worse. Cavil yearns for mankind's destruction because they created the Cylons and though they are near perfect machines they are still limited. The final five are their creators as well yet no matter what they do as long as man survives they will love them more. We get to see exactly what each of the five were doing when the bombs dropped and how Cavil infiltrated the fleet and was responsible for many of the dilemmas throughout season one.

...If you are a fan of this series, both the blu-ray and dvd are highly recommended. This film will no doubt be edited down for length (and a surprising amount of sex and nudity) when it is broadcast next year so if you decide to wait, you may find yourself missing out.

Other reviews from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Eric Goldman for IGN, Chris Chiarella for Big Picture Sound, Kenneth Brown for Blu-ray.com, and Scott Chitwood for Coming Soon.net.

Check out stills from The Plan, here and here.

Win a copy of The Plan.

Also, you can win Dinner with the Admiral, just sign up at UGO for a chance to dine with Edward James Olmos.

Last Blast Till Caprica

I just saw BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE PLAN, and truly enjoyed it.

There will be much more to say after the DVD and BluRay hit stores on October 27, but for now let me leave it at this: Anyone who ever felt intrigued by Cavil, Boomer, all the various *real* Sixes, and the other "minor" cylon models, will find plenty to enjoy in this film. Anders gets a surprising amount of screentime. There is a very enlightening moment with Leoben. As I hoped, we get a few memorable doses of this new Six. The Cavils -- and really, the cylons in general -- get the coda I always thought they deserved. It was big frakkin' fun to see great moments from seasons one and two woven in. Gods I didn't realize how much I missed you, BSG.


The whole film is cleverly reverse-engineered to keep asking that first question from the miniseries: "Are You Alive? Prove it."

ETA: warning - readers are posting spoilers in the comments on this post.

Sponsor Katee and Tricia

This weekend Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer are participating in AIDS Walk Los Angeles, Sunday October 18th.

Stu

Former BSG FX dude Mojo reports on an exciting concert event coming to the Los Angeles area:

To help celebrate composer Stu Philips’ upcoming 80th birthday, Southern California’s most lavish movie palace, the Warner Grand, is throwing a party! Great music is a must if you really want to make a party swing, so the theater’s house band will be busting out extended suites from some of Stu’s most popular work, including the scores of Knight Rider, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Battlestar Galactica.

In this case, the “house band” is the Golden State Pops Orchestra, and the band leader will be none other than Mr. Philips himself!

Thats right, ladies and gentlemen – if you just happen to be in beautiful downtown San Pedro (less than an hour from Los Angeles) on Saturday, October 24th at 8pm, you’ll get to hear music from the original Battlestar Galactica performed with a full orchestra conducted by Stu Philips.

And if that’s not enough to make your BSG-loving head put a crack in the ceiling, Stu will be joined by special guest Bear McCreary, on hand to conduct a brand new, extended version of the Galactica theme being written especially for this event (Bear’s keeping mum on what exactly to expect from his new composition, but he did say it will include musical elements of both series).

Buy your tickets here.

Some of Stu's notable scores:






Mojo also notes the recent birthday of the original BSG.