Extra five minutes of BSG Finale glory

From Scifi.Com:

NEWS FLASH! The Sunday, March 25, season finale of Battlestar Galactica will run five minutes longer than usual. If you plan on recording the episode, set your DVR or VCR to continue for five to 10 minutes after the end of the hour so you don't miss anything!

BSG Shocker: Starbuck is toast!? Say it ain't so!

From Maureen Ryan's blog on the Chicago Tribune:

Q. Is Starbuck dead or alive?

A. Good question. We saw debris from her ship, but perhaps she ejected before it was destroyed. And was there a Cylon ship nearby which could have rescued her – or was that a figment of her imagination?

One thing to keep in mind is that in their January interview, Ron Moore and David Eick were very careful to never use the words “death” or “dies.” They called what happened to Starbuck “a major event,” and when I asked directly if she would die in “Maelstrom,” Moore said, “I don’t know that I want to say that directly. I think people will have to watch that episode and judge for themselves what happens.”

I'll just say I find that comment telling.

Q. Moore and Eick said in January that a cast member's name would be off the credits after “Maelstrom.” Whose name is gone?

A. Katee Sackhoff’s name is gone from the opening credits as of the March 11 episode. An interesting side note: The opening credits in the last few episodes appear to be slightly different for each episode. In “The Son Also Rises,” the March 11 outing, there’s a brief shot of Starbuck’s photo being pinned to Galactica’s memorial wall honoring the dead.

Q. Do the members of Galactica’s fleet think Starbuck is dead?

A. Yes. In the March 11 episode, Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) is seen weeping over a picture of Starbuck from her official file (which of course contains both commendations and several disciplinary reports). Apollo is also grieving, as is Sam Anders (who has an interesting way of dealing with his pain)

Q. What happens next?

A. “The Son Also Rises,” the March 11 episode, sets the stage for Baltar’s trial for treason, and we meet Baltar’s lawyer, Romo Lampkin, who turns out to be a pretty fascinating guy (despite my initial fears, which turned out to be unfounded, that he had a David Caruso “Sunglasses of Justice” acting style).

Q. What happens at Baltar’s trial?

A. Well, now, you’ll just have to see that for yourself. But a lot of secrets are revealed and many ugly incidents from the past come out at the trial, which occupies much of “Crossroads Part 1” and “Crossroads Part 2,” the final two episodes of the season. And let’s just say that the trial does not lead to happy times for the Adama family.

Q. Do we find out who the final five Cylons are?

A. There is new information about Cylons before this season ends, a fact that David Eick revealed in an interview with TV Guide. If you’re asking whether a character or characters we have already met in the Galactica fleet are revealed to be Cylons, the answer is yes.

Q. What were your favorite parts of the two-part season finale?

A. The last two episodes contain some great Saul Tigh scenes (including one with Caprica Six), an intriguing scene involving Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), Caprica Six (Tricia Helfer) and Athena (Grace Park), and there is one scene in the finale, which is several minutes long, in which Jamie Bamber hits it so far out of the park that I think the ball landed in another galaxy. In every way, from the plot to the performances to the dialogue to the closing revelations, the season finale is simply enthralling. Kudos to Mark Verheiden and the "Battlestar" writing staff.

Q. Would you like to leave us with a cryptic clue?

A. Why yes, thank you. One final clue – music is a major thread in the last episode of the season. But I’ve said enough now, the hour's getting late.

Iron Man Update

From IGN.com. Jon Favreau has been keeping fans updated on his MySpace site. Here's the latest:

"...the sets are all being built, the locations are locked and the cast is, for the most part, set. As you all know, RDJ, Gwyneth, T Howard, and Jeff Bridges are all on board. We've had a week of rehearsals and I'm currently working with the writers to tailor the material accordingly. Mr. Bridges has a haircut that will no doubt be of interest to any of you fans of the books."

"I am going up to visit ILM and the Ranch. I've never been and am as stoked as any of you can imagine. I love my job."

"Stan Winston Studios has been unveiling suits for us. Once again, they have exceeded our expectations. Those of you who follow my career know that I am very skeptical about the overuse of CGI. I am happy to report that the film will be a healthy mix of both computer generated and practical effects. My goal is to make the two integrate in a way that they usually do not."

Speed Racer Goes

The live-action feature “Speed Racer” will start its engines to open on May 9, 2008, two weeks earlier than previously slated. In addition to opening wide domestically, the actioner will be released day-and-date in a majority of the international markets.

Based on the classic series created by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida, “Speed Racer” is being written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, marking the brothers’ first writing/directing collaboration since their groundbreaking “Matrix” movies. The film is being produced by Joel Silver.

Rumor has it that the movie will be shot entirely on green screen with CGI effects, like Sin City and 300.

Classic Remake

Klaatu Barada Nikto.

Possible remake by 20th Century Fox of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Angelina Jolie has been offered the lead role in "The Day The Earth Stood Still;" and the remake is currently out to Scott Derrickson to direct.

Flushed Away

Just got around to seeing Flushed Away. Somehow this movie fell through the cracks- it's actually pretty good! Made by Aardman Animation and Dreamworks. It compares favorably to Over the Hedge and Open Season.

The singing slugs are fun throughout the movie, but my favorites are the ninja frogs.

After watching, compare notes with Wikipedia and see if you spotted all the "hidden" references to other movies and characters.

Dennis Muren Interview

In the 6th grade, I became fascinated with movies and movie special effects. I poured through magazines, books, etc. One name I came across frequently was Dennis Muren. He is responsible for the visuals of many of my favorite movies including Star Wars, They Abyss, Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, and others.

From CG Society.com:

On February 11, the Visual Effects Society honored Dennis Muren, one of their own, with a Lifetime Achievement award. Muren began working at Industrial Light & Magic in 1976 on the first ‘Star Wars’ film, for which he won his first Oscar. He has gone on to receive 15 Oscar nominations and win nine Oscars, the most of any living person still making movies. In 1999, he became the first visual effects artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6764 Hollywood Blvd). His most recent Oscar nomination was last year for the visual effects in ‘War of the Worlds’. We talked with him to find out what’s keeping him interested today.

Read more.

Matt Groening Interview

From Crave Online:

What took so long to do the movie?

For me, part of the reason was, we're coming up on the 20th year of the show, we're coming up on the 400th episode, and if we're ever going to do it, we should do it now. I don't want to do it [when] for some reason the show goes away and then do a movie. I thought it would really be neat to do a movie while the fans are still clamoring for it.

You'll see more of The Simpsons than you really should see and probably things, people you don't want to see. Whoever you don't want to see naked on The Simpsons, you know that's who you're going to see. Sorry about Marge.

Futurama is coming back!

Talk about a day job and night job, my night job after The Simpsons is Futurama, which is coming back on Comedy Central in 2008, 16 new episodes, and we're going to be running the old episodes, as well.

I always felt like we were a little bit like the original Star Trek. I always thought that working with my partner, David X. Cohen, that we knew that the people who loved the show really, really loved it and they wrote petitions, they wrote letters and e-mails and it just seemed right. And also, everybody that worked on the show loved it. So when it came time when the show did come back, everybody without exception said, "I'm on board." At this point, I said, "We're thinking of gearing up the show again." They said, "I'm on board." Everybody, Katy Sagal, all the actors, John Dimaggio, Billy West. The original animation team, the original animation house, the original writers. Everybody came back. It was great.

Cool Trailers

Enjoy...

• Paprika
• Sunshine
• Across the Universe
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
• Caffeine
• 1408

More Star Trek Casting Rumors

From TrekToday:

First came the rumours that J.J. Abrams would direct Star Trek XI, then the rumours that he would not, and finally the confirmation that he will. Now the rumour that Matt Damon will play Captain Kirk - debunked by both Star Trek insiders and Damon's reps - has returned with a vengeance.

IGN Movies cites studio sources who have told the web site that the roles of James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy may go to three very big name stars: Damon, Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise.

Damon is said to be in talks with Paramount to take over the role originated by William Shatner, who has won two Emmy Awards for his more recent role as Denny Crane on Boston Legal. Brody, an Academy Award-winning actor for The Pianist, is reportedly negotiating to play Leonard Nimoy's iconic role of Spock.

Both Shatner and Nimoy have said that they would be interested in appearing in Star Trek XI as older versions of their characters if they liked the script, and Nimoy added that he believed his contract entitled him to image approval for any actor playing young Spock.

Sinise is the current star of CSI: NY and is said to be in discussions to play physician Leonard "Bones" McCoy, a role originated by the late DeForrest Kelley. A Golden Globe winner, Sinise previously appeared in the space epics Apollo 13 and Mission to Mars.

Recent rumours have also suggested that Scottish actor James McAvoy might be in talks to play engineer Montgomery Scott, and IGN claims that Lost's Daniel Dae Kim, who previously played Corporal Chang on Enterprise, may be in line to take over the role of Sulu from George Takei, who is currently appearing on NBC's hit series Heroes as the father of a Star Trek fan.

Until Paramount makes an official announcement, all casting rumours should be considered just that. The original story is at IGN Movies.