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I was struck by some of the lyrics to Gaeta’s song in the last episode of Galactica, thinking that they were likely to be significant in the same way that All Along the WatchTower became. I’ve yet to try and put the lyrics of the latter into context of my plot speculation, but I think that Gaeta’s song is far more likely to contain clues (though they will probably be more obvious in hindsight rather than have predictive utility).

Now, it seems that Galactica composer Bear McCreary has spilled some beans on his galactica blog and confirmed that Gaeta’s song does indeed have direct relevance to the storyline. There are plenty of spoilers for the episode, but also a fascinating discussion of how the song took shape and how they used it to narrate the plot forward - and emphasize the ending.

All in all, Gaeta is getting a lot of attention all of a sudden. That seems to support my theory.

The casting for Caprica, the prequel series to Galactica, is ongoing, and they’ve just cast the inventor of the metalhead Cylons.

I have no idea how seriously they are going to take continuity with this new series. Let’s assume they will take it seriously. If so, then… (spoiler alert)

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Major spoiler about finding Earth, if it can be believed:

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What we know about the four revealed Cylons of the Final Five:

Tyrol - a mechanic crew chief aboard a battlestar. Clearly the best mechanic on the show, and by implication aboard the fleet. Not unreasonable to assume one of the best mechanics in the Colonies overall.

Tori - a political aide. Managed to become aide to the most powerful politician and important civilian leader aboard the fleet.

Anders - former sports superstar turned resistance fighter turned viper pilot. Managed to become the Michael Jordan of his sport, then became a leader in the Caprica resistance, and then a leader in the New Caprica resistance. Now a viper pilot, which is the elite fighter jock corps of the Colonial military.

Tigh - war hero during the Cylon War, best XO in the fleet, most self-destructive alcoholic in the fleet (these latter two things not simultaneously. Call it an Exclusive-OR). Also rose to top leader of resistance on New Caprica.

and, most importantly: all of them managed to 1. survive the Colonial holocaust, 2. get aboard Galactica (even Anders who was left behind), and 3. continued their upwards career trajectories despite fierce competition.

do we see a pattern? clearly, they are overachievers even by the already rarefied standards of the Galactica crew (and the demands of narrative focus). Presumably, the Fifth won’t be a slacker in whatever it is that they do.

There are other major clues, the best being the infamous “Last Supper” photo (click to enlarge):

… which has an empty place setting for the Fifth (and thus implying, with Moore confirming, that none of the other characters pictured are the Fifth, ruling out Baltar, Adama, Roslin, Helo, Apollo, and Starbuck). The Holy Grail is a nice touch, implying that the Fifth has an intimate connection to Earth.

The other major inference we can make is that the Fifth probably already knows that they are a Cylon and has known all along. This is because they did not respond to the Activation song which drew the other Four together. Therefore, the Fifth must be somewhat aloof and a loner, as they are acting to their own agenda and cannot afford personal scrutiny.

I am assuming that the Fifth is aboard Galactica and not aboard some other ship in the fleet, because that’s where all the major characters usually are (and the show is named after her). I suppose it is possible that the Fifth is some random dude aboard the Garbage Schooner or something but this seems unlikely. The Galactica is the nexus of the fleet, and given the likely overachiever status of the Fifth it seems improbable that they’d gravitate anywhere else.

So, who is aboard Galactica, is a major character, an overachiever, has been a bit of a loner and aloof, and is absent from the Last Supper photo?

I think only one character fits: (more…)

The Office returns tonight!

I got seriously hooked on this via Netflix, which really makes it easy to feed a TV addiction (and I’m not alone).

My favorite character is Michael but most of the online quiz thingies have me pegged as Jim. Or Pam. Go figure I think this show is the closest heir to Seinfeld on modern television. The actual plot is basically about Nothing. Sure, the characters fall in and out of various romances but that’s like window dressing for the utter pointlessness of their daily grind. A lot of us can relate to that

UPDATE: a preview, the first minute and a half from NBC.com:

so say we all! Tonight’s episode is titled “He That Believeth in Me”. Promotional screenshot:

Spoilers at the Battlestar Wiki. Any predictions on what happens tonight?

Somewhat relatedly, AICN has a character cast list for the Caprica movie pilot. The most interesting character? spoiler below the fold… (more…)

This interview with Ron Moore has lots of little morsels to chew on, but by far the best is the news that wily lawyer Romo Lampkin returns twice in season 4. He’ll always be The Badger to me, though.

The bad news is that there is no word on when the second half of the season will be aired; SciFi milking the series out until 2009 seems increasingly likely. Still, at least we get the first ten episodes of season 4 starting in just two weeks.

Interestingly, the interview with Moore also includes his thoughts on the new Sar Trek film. Overall, he is very positive, about the reboot with fresh blood. Worth reading in full.

Mark has a brilliant idea - instead of movie reviews, he is reviewing movie trailers.

If you think about it, the name “trailer” seems to be a misnomer. After all, they come before the film, right? It turns out that the reason they are called trailers though is because they are appended to the movie reels, which are then fed backwards into the projector. That, and the complete lyrics to “Can you feel the love tonight”, are the sum total of knowledge retained from my brief career in the movie business. And by movie business, I mean working in a theater.

Though I do have quite a good collection of movie trailers, on actual movie film stock, salvaged from the theater, in a box somewhere in my parents’ house. Including The Lion King. Brian, if ever I can find it, it’s yours man.

I saw Lost in Translation yesterday via Netflix. This movie was really a surprise, I think I was just expecting a light comedic drama without any real heft to it. The premise of the movie seems like a setup for comedy: an old actor and a young newlywed both arrive in Tokyo, stay at the same hotel, and experience culture shock together. But there’s so much more to this movie, especially as a commentary on marriage and relationships, that it transcends the level of ordinary pseudo-romantic comedy and enters into Artistic territory.

I haven’t seen Rushmore so this was my first exposure to Bill Murray playing a complex lead, and his performance was just .. well, there was no Bill Murray, there was only Bob Harris. You get inside his head and really, really understand him and who he is, even though 90% of his lines are wisecracks, and the lines themselves are only 50% of his acting. His expression, as he sees the elevator doors close on Charlotte at the end… I don’t think there are many actors who can communicate that kind of emotion with just a look, but you read it on his face like it was printed there.

The other half of this film is Scarlett Johansson, and she probably ranks as my favorite actress right now on the strength of her performance in this movie alone. Not just because she spends a few scenes sitting around in her underwear, though this helps. She has that kind of vulnerable courage in this film that I used to associate with Sandra Bullock. Again, with her performance, you simply understand her as Charlotte, like an open book - one which none of the other characters except Bob even bother to read, least of all her husband John (played with remarkable restraint^[1] by Giovanni Ribsi).

Tokyo itself, and the hotel in particular, are vibrant and fleshed out and almost characters in their own right. The movie does a masterful job of exposing the characters to all the wierd and wonderful, but unlike some critics I did not find it disrespectful. In fact there was an odd beauty to it, like the teenager simultaneously dancing while playing a video game, or the crazy talk show host, or even the hysterical scene in Bob’s hotel room with the call girl^[2].

I think I’ll take another run through this movie and grab some screenshots later. It was really one of the best movies I have ever seen. This film isn’t one that is content to play by the rules of romantic comedy. The two characters don’t do what you would expect them to do, which actually is how it would be in reality. And the two characters don’t keep up the facade about themselves that you expect them to, and which you yourself might maintain as well. And that too is more real, particularly in the context of the isolation that they both share, one exacerbated by being in a place so foreign, but still primarily deriving from their spouses’ neglect. I won’t spoil the ending but then again, the ending is almost impossible to spoil.

[1] Dude, you’re married to Scarlett Johansson sitting there in her underwear and all you can look at is your camera?? ahem.
[2] “lip my stocking!” omfg rofl. I laughed so hard I choked.

I loved the part with the Pokeball.