Somehow, I expected genocide to be a little more exciting.
Overall, the update to Battlestar Galactica
(which I loved as an elementary schooler, even as I knew it wasn’t as good as Star Wars, back before anyone insisted it was actually called A New Hope) works, and works very well. For all the crying about how Dirk Benedict’s Starbuck character has been turned into a woman, it really ends up being a pretty smooth transition, at least in the miniseries. And that’s the way the remake goes overall: Competent, clever, with a few new twists along the way, but not necessarily selling the total package.
There are a few gaps in the storytelling — who dropped a note in the commander’s quarters without anyone spotting them, and how did they know what they knew? — but not any worse than most television series.
The only real knock against the BSG miniseries is how slow-paced it is. For a story telling of mankind being pushed to the edge of extinction in a matter of hours, it sure is casual about it. Other than one small mob (who were presumably waiting around in a field for a spaceship to land nearby) and some radio chatter, there’s nothing to suggest panic or urgency. In a post-9/11 world, we know what people look like when shook up by a major trauma and fear of what comes next, and little of it shows up on the screen.
Still, this is a strong basis for the new television series.
Recommended for curious fans of the original or those looking for an antidote to the strong-jawed optimism of the Star Trek universe.
I’m convinced that most documentaries are put together as a way of helping people get to sleep. Glacially slow storytelling, minute points (if there any points at all) and sappy narration are the rule more than they are the exception.
Not so Murderball. From its electric guitar soundtrack to its brutal sports footage to its unflinching looks at the athletes, this documentary is made of very different stuff.
A must-see.
It was an interesting night of television. At this point in the season, shows are dead, shows are retooling and shows are being introduced, all prior to the May sweeps period and the race towards the end of the season.
Tonight, I caught the first episode of American Idol that I’ve seen this season. They were covering Queen, with the somewhat odd new version of the band offering advice. It was pretty painful. With the exception of Chris Daughtry, not a one of them would have made it a week on Rock Star: INXS, which makes me miss that show all the much more.
Speaking of which, CBS has announced the band the show will seek to put a lead singer in front of: Supernova. “Who?” It’s various members of Motley Crue, Metallica and Guns N Roses (although that latter is sort of a reach in my book) looking to form a new hard rock band. It won’t have the poignancy of trying to fill Michael Hutchence’s boots, but it’s definitely something worth looking forward to.
A truly pleasant surprise, though, is Pepper Dennis, a Rebecca Romijn vehicle (I know, I know) and probably the first journalism television comedy or drama that didn’t include Ed Asner that actually works. It’s set in modern day Chicago, and Pepper is a television reporter, but it’s channeling the old school screwball comedy newspaper movie vibe (and some of the dialogue) and it works quite well. We’ll see how long it lasts.
For the most part, Walk the Line is simply a standard-to-good biopic, but the performances — especially by Reese Witherspoon as June Carter — elevate it to another level.
The film is a lot of fun for fans of classic rock and roll. Playing “spot the future icon” is a lot of fun when, say, Elvis is recording his demo song (one that few music fans would immediately recognize) or offering young Johnny Cash some uppers, in a moment of dubious historical reality, but great foreshadowing for the King of Rock and Roll.
Likewise, while the music isn’t quite as good as the originals — sometimes dramatically not as good — it’s credible enough and a lot of fun to listen to.
The film’s heart, though, is Witherspoon, who conveys with a glance knowing Joaquin Phoenix’s Cash for years, not the months the film took to make, and who subtly portrays a woman older than herself without relying on ridiculous special effects makeup or dialogue cues. Her portrayal of “the other woman” agonizing over her place in Cash’s marriage is believable and touching. I suspect her days of films like Legally Blonde II are behind her.
A great deal of fun and strongly recommended for fans of Reese Witherspoon or classic country or rock and roll music.
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