More great movie news to pass along today … just because Battlestar Galactica ended its series run this year doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the show. As some of you may be well aware, a BSG TV movie titled The Plan is scheduled to air on SyFy later on this year and a prequel series called Caprica will air on the network next year. BUT, the big news is that Battlestar Galactica is coming to the big screen … and it’s going to be directed by Bryan Singer. Meh. That may not be the best news ever but a BSG movie is sure to rule!

Universal Pictures has set Bryan Singer to direct and produce a feature version of “Battlestar Galactica.” It’s not clear whether Ronald Moore, exec producer of the recent series, will be invited to write the screenplay, but Singer will clearly put his own creative stamp on the project, as the studio indicates that the film will be “a complete reimagination.” Glen Larson is aboard to produce. The original version of the series ran for two seasons on ABC beginning in 1978. Singer had long been intrigued with “Galactica” and flirted with relaunching it into a TV series right after he directed the original “X-Men” (Daily Variety, Feb. 22, 2001). At the time, he was teamed to exec produce the series with Tom DeSanto and to direct the pilot of the new version. The director got busy on other projects, but he was prescient, at the time calling the Galactica brand “a sleeping giant.” Moore became the executive producer of the 73-episode series, which had a successful run on the then-Sci Fi Channel starting in 2004.

Woot! This is frakkin’ amazing news. To be honest, I’m surprised that a BSG movie hasn’t been made before now. The series was such a huge hit and it is RIPE for the big screen. It was rumored that Singer was planning to return to the X-Men fold to direct another movie (a spin-off that was to be focused on the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning titled X-Men: First Class) but it looks like he’s decided to take on Battlestar instead. I suppose Bryan Singer is a good director but he’s not my fave. I’d love someone like David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) to make a BSG movie but … I’ll take what I can get. You know, in a movie … there can be more incidents of nudity than a TV show allows. I’m just puttin’ that out there ;)

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Yesterday was full of errands here on the homefront so there isn’t much excitement to talk about. David’s friend Kurt arrived from NYC last night and after a short while of catching up, we made our way to Basix for a late-night dinner and decided to spend the rest of the night in. Kurt was a bit tired from his flight so we were cool with staying in … besides, it gave me the opportunity to watch Part I of the series finale of Battlestar Galactica:

The series will end next Friday night in the 2-hour, Part II of the finale. The show is so great, I’m really bummed that it’s ending. BUT, I have to say, there was much more excitement leading up to the “season finale” that we saw last year. As those shows winded down, the imminent discovery of their long-searched for goal was really very exciting. This time, the events leading up to the series finale aren’t so much exciting as they are enlightening. No matter how the show ends its run, I am very much looking forward to next week’s finale (which I’ll have to watch later since I’ll be at SXSW next weekend).

Not sure what’s on tap for today, I believe we’re doing dinner with a bunch of friends but beyond that, I dunno. The sun is finally shining this lovely PM … it looks like a great day to be outside.

Yesterday was a totally chill day … I spent the most of it working but managed to get in a lot of relaxin’ at evening time. I really didn’t do anything very exciting at all, just read a bit and watched some TV. As I mentioned yesterday, Battlestar Galactica returned with the first of 10 new (and final) episodes last night — which I made sure to watch as soon as it aired:

Holy Frakkin’ Hell! The ep was good and, I thought, a great way to kick-off the coming half-season of new eps. At long last, the 5th Cylon was revealed and the cliff-hanger from last June was kinda, sorta resolved. There is so much more to come, I can’t wait for the rest of the eps to air. In case you missed it, folks here in the US can click HERE to watch last night’s ep Sometimes A Great Nation in full online.

I read the entirety of Ayn Rand’s masterpiece Anthem before going to bed, I’ve got The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged lined up for reading next. I may get out and enjoy the sun today but … no pressure. This is one of my last weekends in my current apartment. I think I’m gonna spend as much time at home as I can, while I can.

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Battlestar Galactica, the amazing sci-fi remake of the original 1970’s TV series, returns tonight with the final new episodes of the second half of the final season. Last June, the series ended on a pretty cool cliffhanger and tonight the series returns to the Sci-Fi Channel to finish telling the tale:

I admit, my dumbass was not “in the know” about this series until just this past Summer. I had heard how amazing it was but never invested the time to get to know the show. For my birthday, Kirsten got me the first season of the show and I was hooked like a mofo. I watched the entire series up to the point were it left off last June in the weeks that followed, loving every minute of it. I am SO excited for new eps … even tho I’m very sad the series is ending, I can’t wait to see how the whole story wraps up. Those of you who watch the show know how UNBELIEVABLE the last new ep that aired in June was … I’m just totally anxious to see how things pick up tonight. There are only 10 episodes left in the entire series … you don’t want to miss a single thing. Battlestar Galactica airs tonight at 10PM on Sci-Fi. How many of y’all will be tuning in to watch tonight with me?

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Just like it was for music, 2008 wasn’t really a great year for movies or television … the Writer’s Strike at the start of the year really decimated Hollywood and severely hurt television programming. That said, there were a few really amazing films (highlighted by really amazing acting performances) and a select few TV shows that really brought the entertainment this year. Here is my list of my Fave Movies of 2008 … I think the #1 pick might surprise you.

At #10 is The Incredible Hulk:

This movie may not have been the best superhero film of all time but it beat the hell out of Ang Lee’s Hulk and really did a service to both the comic book series and the TV series from the ’70s. This film really paid homage to the beloved TV series for the first half of the film and then represented the comic books very well in the second half of the film. All I know is that I had a really good time at the movies watching this film … and isn’t that what’s most important?

At #9 is W.:

Oliver Stone films are really hit or miss and this one was a pretty nice hit. Josh Brolin played a superb GWB and managed to put our soon-to-be ex-president in real context. I am no GWB fan by any stretch of the imagination but this film actually made him a sympathetic character. Props to Oliver Stone for actually doing the impossible.

In the #8 position is Doubt:

This film is all about the acting. And among the amazing acting performances, Meryl Streep far outshines everyone else in this film. She absolutely turned in the most powerful acting performance this year … she absolutely deserves all the Best Actress awards and, IMHO, the Best Actor awards as well — she is that good in this film. I feel bad for Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, who both turned in exceptional performances, cuz Streep just steals the spotlight. She made this movie such a delight for me to watch.

At #7 is Milk:

At long last, the story of Harvey Milk’s life made it to the big screen … and Sean Penn did his memory a great service. Milk may not have been a blockbuster but it is a very important story that is told so expertly that I wish it had made more money at the box office. Penn’s cast of supporting actors were also pretty phenomenal … as a whole they told a tale that an entire generation of people were hearing for the first time — which was eerily similar to the events that were playing out on the streets of SoCal this past November.

At #6 is WALL•E:

OMG … what can I say about WALL•E that hasn’t been said a million times before? The movie is just cute as hell and actually caused kids and grown adults alike to fall in love with a sweet little animated trash compactor. I had my doubts about this film before I saw it for myself … but man, once I saw it — I was hooked. WALL•E is absolutely the Best Animated Film of 2008.

After the jump, check out my Top 5 Fave Films of 2008 as well as my list of my Fave TV Shows of the Year …

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Yesterday was a very momentous and productive day for me … and I barely had to get up off the couch ;) For my birthday back in July, my dear friend Kirsten gave me the first season of the new version of Battlestar Galactica, which has been airing on the Sci Fi Channel for the past few years, on DVD because she knew that altho I’d never watched the show I would immediately fall in love with it. And she was right. As soon as I blew thru the pre-series miniseries and first season I got my hands on seasons 2, 3 and the mini-movie Razor. As of last night, I caught up with the first 10 eps of the current season 4:

Oh my gods! Why didn’t anyone tell me sooner how amazing this TV series is? To be honest, I’m surprised my friends didn’t haul off and slap me in the face sooner for my ignorance. Even David managed to watch a couple seasons of the show before I did. I gotta say, I really love everything about it … I vaguely remember the original series from the late 70’s but this new incarnation is just really impressive. The writing and the character development is utterly superb and the acting performances by the entire cast are just … riveting. I can’t get enough. I love how the interplay of politics and religion offset humanity’s struggle to survive and quest to keep some semblance of order all overun one another from ep to ep. I’m hooked, I’m a fan. I’ve managed to stay away from anything about the show online so as not to spoil any of the series for me … so I have no idea when new eps of BSG are scheduled to air again on Sci Fi. The developments of season 4 are just … INSANE! Woot!!!

I know there are a lot of BSG fans out there … and now I know why. I just cannot wait to see how the whole damn thing ends … it’s maddening. The race towards Earth is so compelling … I need more!!!

Hahahahaha … OK, I think I’ve calmed down enough to carry on. Tonight Josh and I are heading out to The Forum in Inglewood, CA for the final Nine Inch Nails show of the first leg of the Lights in the Sky Over North America tour. Words cannot express how FREAKING excited I am for tonight’s show … tomorrow, I will reveal why ;)