Well, tonight the Cylons returned with the premiere of the Sci-Fi Channel’s remake of Battlestar: Galactica.

I’ve been soooo impressed with this series. Tons of political intrigue, and loads of sexual overtones. Truthfully, the Cylons have it right — destroy mankind by sending slinky agents to infiltrate and manipulate the men-folk. I tell ya, it’d work. In a heartbeat.

The new season looks pretty cool, and really has grabbed my attention. With Enterprise off the air, this is the only TV on my schedule for Friday nights!

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Tonight, we saw Revenge of the Sith, and I have to say that I was impressed.

I was impressed greatly by the special effects. With every film in the franchise, Lucas’ teams have gotten better and better at making the unreal real, and Sith shows off the best special effects I’ve seen. Really good stuff, with an awful lot of things happening on the screen at any given time. Even details like battle sequences going on in the background of scenes were realistic and vivid.

I was also impressed by the attention to detail in tying this trilogy to the previous trilogy (or later trilogy, depending on whether you’re counting by release date like us old guys, or by story line like the younglings do). Simple things, like Obi Wan picking up Anikin’s light saber after having de-limbed him — he’d need to give that to Luke in A New Hope. There were numerous things in the film that laid a strong foundation for the future trilogy from the past.

Is this film dark? Absolutely. Little Ani becomes a slayer first class by the time the film is over. There’s no gore, although there are heads separated from bodies, much like the last film and others in the series. The thing that kinda stuck with me was how agitatedly vicious the attacks were. Some of the scenes were just mindless hacking, although from a storyline perspective, it made sense. And yes, there was the implication that Little Ani slaughtered a room of children. However, Return of the Jedi was similarly dark, especially with Luke and Vader hacking at each other, so I don’t think that’s anything new. I do believe, though, that this one probably earned its PG-13 rating.

Despire all that, Sio went with us, enjoyed the film and wasn’t traumatized by it. Like she said, things as bad as this are seen on the news. She’s right, of course.

What’s funny to me is the mania over seeing this one. Theatres all over town were showing it at 12:01 this morning. People were lined up for days to get in. Many, many folks were costumed. And despite all that, it still didn’t have the same manic sense as when Star Wars was first released. We’ve gotten a little numb to the dazzling special effects and don’t necessarily go in expecting the greatest film we’ve ever seen. I can remember reading about the first one in Starlog magazine, and the huge news was that there would be a better than 10-minute space-based fight scene. No one had ever tried anything like that before, and the pre-production images in the magazine were astounding. Then the film came, and you simply couldn’t watch it and not come out transformed — you knew you had just seen something special, amazing, groundbreaking, and your whole basis for comparing special effects-based films had been shattered.

Now, it’s old hat. We go in, we’re entertained, surprised by the plot ocassionally, and then we jump in our SUVs, and head home. Nothing wrong with that, but I’m ready for the next Big Impact on the big screen. We’re about due, I think!

Tonight, I saw a trailer for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — the remake of the terrific Gene Wilder film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And I like what I saw.

After seeing Pirates of the Caribbean, there was buzz that Johnny Depp had been tapped to portray Willy Wonka in the remake of the classic, and with the influence of Pirates, it was easy to see that this was a huge stroke of genius in casting. Depp seems like the perfect choice to play this eccentric, goofy role, and the trailer I saw certainly backed that up.

Now, make the film a Tim Burton joint, and suddenly you’ve got what appears to be a really cool film just around the corner. Now, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a box office blockbuster, but it probably means I’ll enjoy it, and end up with it on DVD.

Hmmmm….. I wonder if Johnny can sing? I can’t wait to find out!

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Tonight is the finale of Enterprise on UPN — tonight we say goodbye.

Locally, this series had trouble getting traction. We didn’t have a UPN affiliate in St. Louis, and Enterprise was carried on a WB affiliate, and was originally shown on Saturday afternoons (if I remember correctly). That station, though, had a contract with the local St. Louis Blues, and Saturday afternoon games constantly bumped Enterprise into the chaos of the rest of their schedule. Kinda hard to get a fan base when you don’t have a predictable timeslot.

Then the local religious station picked up the UPN affiliation, and really botched the showing of almost anything on UPN.

Finally, the local HSN affiliate switched to being a UPN affiliate, and for two years, it’s been great.

Now, alas, the series is coming to a close, and at a time when the writing is getting so good. Like the other Star Trek series, it’s taken a couple of seasons to get the writing to shine, and Enterprise has been no exception. This fifth series will have closed with the Star Trek franchise having just over 700 episodes in the bank.

It’s sad to see it go away. There’s been almost no time in my adult life that there hasn’t been a Star Trek series on the air, and for a kid who knew all the original episodes by heart, this last score of years has been a treat.

I only hope it isn’t long until the breather the franchise is taking will be complete, and new missions and adventures will grace the small screen once again.

RIP, Enterprise, 2001-2005. We barely, but always, knew you.

With our last day of official “we’re off work” vacation day, we decided to catch a movie, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

I’d read this book long ago, shortly after it was released, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Any book that had the audacity to destroy the earth in the first few chapters had my vote! Most others took almost the whole book, or even a trilogy, to pull that off.

Anyway, we went to the Wehrenberg Galaxy to watch the film on the Mega Screen — same screen we saw Phantom of the Opera on a few months ago. From the time the dolphins jumped across the screen, singing “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!” until the film ended, I was very entertained.

The special effects were plentiful, characters believable and virtually everything was cheesy — kinda like a classic Monty Python film. I guess that’s why I liked it so much. And, as near as I remember from reading the book twenty years ago, the movie seemed to go along with it closely enough for my tastes.

Really enjoyable, worth the $15 for the both of us, and a good note on which to end the last official day of vacation.

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From the time I was old enough to stay up late, I lived for summer and Christmas vacations from school so I could stay up late and watch The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

I would sleep late, and stay up late, watching Carson — back when the show was 90 minutes, and followed by Tomorrow with Tom snyder, except on Fridays, when it was followed by The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack. Tonight, Brian Williams said that everyone had a favorite Carson moment. One of mine was whenever Burt Reynolds would appear, as it seemed like slapstick comedy would undoubtedly ensue. Like Johnny and Burt cutting each others ties in half.

My absolute favorite, though, was when Johnny returned after Don Rickles had been guest host for a period, and broke Johnny’s pencil box on his desk. Spontaneously, Johnny started directing cameras and sound guys, and had the booth stay with him as he invaded a taping of CPO Sharkey (a bad Don Rickles sitcom in the 1970s) to confront Rickles. I remember Rickels grovelling at Johnny’s feet, and me rolling in the floor.

We lost a legend yesterday, but his legacy will endure for a long, long time to come. As for me, I have some great memories built over the earliest two-thirds of my life, watching Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.

Last night, Beck, Sio and I went to see the new film Phantom of the Opera on the huge screen at the new Wehrenburg Galaxy multiplex. Beck had taken me to see it on the stage at the Fox a few years ago, a production I really enjoyed. I was quite curious how the film would compare.

I’ve got to say, I was blown away.

The film stayed sooooo close to the original play, embracing the dark feel of the stage production, while still adding just a skosh of detail that was not evident on the stage. I was very impressed with the vocals, and was sucked into this film that was a little more than two hours long. A very quick two hours, it seemed to me. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see this film get some Oscar nominations.

Not knowing who was in the film, I was surprised to see Minnie Driver (whom Beck recognized) and Miranda Richardson (whom I recognized). There presence in the film was strong, but the fact that they were there has really been downplayed, in favor of the younger leading role actors. A nice class touch.

Even Sio loved it. She had asked to go see it — I still don’t know why — but she was on the edge of her seat throughout the whole thing, and really seemed to be engrossed. Perhaps, with her about to turn eleven, the appeal of a romantic film is starting to grow with her.

Anyway, I loved it, and will be adding it to my DVD library once it’s available!

Tonight, on the strong advice of a friend, Beck and I rented and watched Napoleon Dynamite. We were told that “this movie is sooooo you — you’ll love it!”

I can honestly say that Beck and I watched the clock to see when the film would be finished. It wasn’t torturous, but it did seem long and — given the hype we’d gotten at work — a little disappointing. I kept waiting for something to happen in the film. I’m still waiting. 😉

The lead character, Napoleon, seemed like he was constantly trying to come out of some deep coma, while stumbling from one scene to the next. I have never seen anyone walking in their sleep that much, or anyone nearly that cranky. Cranky way beyond his years!

If Idaho is anything like this film, it’s boring, dull, and way out of touch with modern times. It seems that everything in the town was a cross of everything from 1970s disco to modern internet chat rooms, and everything in between. Ocassionally, there was a glimpse of the beauty of the vast land and mountains, but that was to me, the only saving grace of the film.

After watching it, I told Beck that it was a two-day rental, and needed to go back to Blockbuster tomorrow. She told me about the new “no late fees” plan Blockbuster has, where now you own it after seven days if you don’t take it back. I implored her to make sure that didn’t happen! 🙂

In the news this morning is the loss of Christopher Reeve.

In listening to him speak of his paralysis, I was convinced that he would end up walking away from his wheelchair, and proving to all of us that Superman really was invicible. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it.

He was a soldier for stem-cell research (along with Nancy Reagan, Michael J. Fox and others) — and from a front seat on the battle. I don’t know that any of us who aren’t living with afflictions like Parkinsons, Alzheimers and paralysis could ever know the frustration and anger at the inability to get leaders to see the possibility for health for so many people.

Blue skies, Chris. May we all be inspiried by your fight and carry it forward.

OK, so we just finished watching Return of the Jedi from the new DVD box set, and sure ’nuff, George played a little too hard with the film…. again.

This time — and this could be a spoiler to some folks out there — in the final scene with the ghostly Yoda and Obi-Wan, is a youthful Anakin Skywalker….. played by Hayden Christensen, and looking just a few years older than he was in Attack of the Clones. Surprise! Obi-Wan didn’t get younger as a spirit, and who knows about Yoda, but Anakin drops about 50 years by crossing over to the spirit realm — amazing!

What that tells me is that if you’re an English Knight, as Sir Alec Guinness was, you don’t get bumped off the film. If you are — by comparison in US eyes — a nobody, such as Sebastian Shaw was, then your days are numbered in a Lucas film. 🙂

I think this thread on IMDB really sums it up: “Where are the movies I fell in love with?”

Inside the thread is a link to originaltrilogy.com, which quotes Lucas, in speaking out against the colorization of black and white films:

“I am very concerned about our national heritage, and I am very concerned that the films that I watched when I was young and the films that I watched throughout my life are preserved, so that my children can see them.”

So, here’s bone thrown out to those guys. 64,000 signatures on a petition can’t be wrong! (I am number 64,541)

BTW, if you want to see some of the big changes, go to The Digital Bits — they’ve got a lot of it there.