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Saturday, October 22, 2005
I have to say that I wasn't expecting much from the Battlestar Galactica mini-series which I watched out of curiosity. But I was quite impressed. I guess I just took the word of various fanboy geeks I'm forced into contact with due to professional obligations, who were expecting a continuation of the series. But fuck that, I say. It was pretty intense. The action was cool, the effects were awesome and the acting pretty good considering the genre. I'd consider it on a par with Firefly, but without the humour.
This series, if you are as clueless about it as I was, is essentially a remake of and not a continuation of what may have been spellbinding television when we were 7 but in retrospect, let us face it, was seriously bad.
The fanboys are upset with some of the changes. Like the Cylons have evolved to appear human. Which really just makes it more interesting and paranoid. And, as I said, they were cool in 1978, but they'd look ridiculous now. You do get to see some CGI updated Centurions, which were cool, but they just walk on and stand there looking menacing. Maybe they do more in the series, I dunno...
Also, apparantly many people are upset about Starbuck and Boomer being cast as women, Richard Hatch, the original Apollo, amongst them. It's also evidentally made Dirk Benedict, 1978's Starbuck and inadvertant spokesman for a coffee conglomerate, question his manhood, judging from the DVD's special features. Katee Sackhoff, the new Starbuck, seems to be irritated by flack from the fanbase. And why not...I mean, shit, she's a hot sci-fi adventure chick...I thought geeks love that kind of thing...
Anyway, check it out. The relationships are more complex, the writing's good and the space battles are intense. They're kind of a cross between 2001 and Firefly. You get a sense of the vacume of space but it's shot as if some guy with a handheld camera is doing his best to follow the action. Very effective. Some of the best spaceship footage I've ever seen, even... Also, life on the Galactica is pretty gritty. Damage isn't repaired by telling the computer to take care of it. Shit falls off. It's got a very realistic and believable feel to it.
So, yeah, check it out if you haven't...
Friday, October 14, 2005
Maggie Thatcher, of all people, says the invasion of Iraq was based on lies! But she supports the decision to oust Saddam?
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
What God Really Told Bush / Apparently, it wasn't just "invade Iraq and Afghanistan in my name." A special report: " Here's the truth, Dubya: Earth's a giant liver-flavored Kong toy and you're a rabid terrier. Now, go get it, boy!
'Damn kids these days. Who needs so many? Why not send tens of thousands of them off to fight your two brutal, unwinnable wars? Why not Vietnam 2.0? Hell yes! Because if there's one thing I love more than useless wars, George, it's thousands of mutilated soldiers coming home in body bags, all draped in the pretty American flag. Twenty-one gun salute! For God and country! Righteous.
'Speaking of uppity kids, I know my own brat Jesus came down here once and mumbled some flower-child gibberish about turning the other cheek and not killing anyone and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you and yadda-yadda-yadda. That's what happens when you give the kids the car keys and an unsupervised weekend, am I right? It's all complete bupkes, but I don't have to tell you that, now do I?
'So here's what I want you to do, George. I want your demoralized military shlubs to capture as many swarthy types as possible, whenever they raid an Iraqi home or school or Afghan farm, and throw them all straight into a military prison and let 'em rot and wait for months, years for a fair hearing. Got it?
'Strip them naked! Stick electrodes on their genitals! Smear menstrual blood on their faces! Beat 'em senseless! I don't care if they're innocent. I sayeth unto you, innocence is overrated. Rape the boys, too. Then cover it all up and blame it all on a poor, dim-witted female soldier from Kentucky and shove her into prison for three years while all the honchos who sanctioned the torture (hi, Rummy!) merely smirk and walk away. God sayeth unto you all, rock on!"
Bush has fun in New Orleans, again. Maybe too much fun?
Iraq orders 'corruption' arrests: "Iraq has issued arrest warrants for 27 senior officials from the US-backed interim government over suspected embezzlement of more than $1bn."
Another feather in Bush's cap...
Well, Iraq may be instable and chaotic, but at least they arrest their corrupt members of government. In the US they get re-elected...
Friday, October 07, 2005
Bush will veto anti-torture law after Senate revolt. The Senate passed the bill 90-9, after realizing that they've given a bumbling nimcompoop wide ranging powers in '01. But, the Bush White House want their military to continue using torture against their prisoners. Now, you understand why Junior was so opposed to the International Criminal Court...
Thursday, October 06, 2005
George W. Bush, Jr. - The Dark Side...Skeletons and scandals in Bush's closet. A retrospective.
Bush's vision for the future: rebuilt New Orleans will have fewer poor blacks.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
New Supreme Court nominee's ties to Bush's National Guard scandal: "White House counsel Harriet Miers has never served as a judge before, and while this career 'hard-nosed lawyer' (as she is invariably described) from Texas certainly deserves some kudos for a trailblazing career as a female lawyer, she's not a legal scholar, either.
But she does know better than just about anyone else where the bodies are buried (relax, it's a just a metaphor...we hope) in President Bush's National Guard scandal. In fact, Bush's Texas gubenatorial campaign in 1998 (when he was starting to eye the White House) actually paid Miers $19,000 to run an internal pre-emptive probe of the potential scandal. Not long after, a since-settled lawsuit alleged that the Texas Lottery Commission -- while chaired by Bush appointee Miers -- played a role in a multi-million dollar cover-up of the scandal."
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Okay, I really enjoyed Batman Begins so I have a suggestion, the sequels should be based on Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's collaborations on Batman, specifically The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, which are two of the most compelling and suspenseful Batman comics I've read in a long time. And Loeb could probably write the screenplay himself. If anybody has Chris Nolan's ear, get him to read those comics.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Corporation for Public Broadcasting now completely controlled by Republicans
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