Battlestar Galactica

This weekend Canada celebrates the Leo Awards, the event that celebrates outstanding work in British Columbia film and television.  While Battlestar Galactica is not nominated (anybody know why?  I assume it does not qualify for some reason), two of its stars are up for two awards in the acting categories.

Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) is nominated for his performance in Normal and Tricia Helfer (Number Six) is nominated for her dominatrix role in Walk All Over Me.  Both films received several nominations, and are supposed to be worth checking out.

Callum and Tricia’s acting categories will be presented tomorrow night at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Keep your fingers crossed they win - or at least show up for the party!   Hopefully both stars will attend, in which case I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Edit: Tricia and Kandyse McClure (Dee) will be presenting, so come back here in a few days for an update.

There is so much news going on right now, I don’t know where to start!

First of all, there will (probably) be two more Battlestar Galactica telemovies, but very few details are available yet.  They will be about events that have happened in the past, like Razor, but what events and who they will focus on is largely still a mystery.  I will definitely have more details in the weeks and months to come, but for now let’s just enjoy the news that more BSG is on the horizon.

Next, Ron Moore has a new interview with Wired magazine that contains this disturbing quote:

Wired: Since then, have you written yourselves into any corners?

Moore: Some of that is happening right now as we wrap up the show. It’s like, OK, what did that mean, exactly? How do we get out of this?

Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary has a long post about “Gaeta’s Lament,” the song that is very important to Friday’s episode.  He also confirms that this song, and many of the other ideas that have worked their way into this season, were ideas that were formed during after hours of drinking.

Katee Sackhoff has been cast as a doctor on a four-episode story arc of the bawdy plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck.  If you have seen that show, you know that Katee’s extensive experience doing sex scenes on Battlestar may come in handy.  Unless, of course, sister guest star Morgan Fairchild beats her to it.

The first United States promo for Life on Mars is out, and you can see a brief glimpse of Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen at the 2:06 minute mark.

Michelle Forbes brought her sexy self to the season finale of Lost, playing a pivotal role in the Oceanic Six story line.

Be sure to look for Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) in the recently released trailer for X-Files 2: I Want to Believe.

There’s a lot more to cover, but we have time to catch our breaths as there are two weeks before the next episode.  If you are looking for something to help you pass the time, check out this “Faith” recap quiz over at GeekSugar.

Reviews have Al Pacino’s new movie 88 Minutes have been savagely negative, but there is one reason for Battlestar Galactica fans to go see it anyway: it features a “naked and limber” Leah Cairns. So if you liked that sports-bra strip poker scene with Racetrack and Anders in “Six of One,” then this may be the movie for you.

TV Addict got a serious scoop this week that includes serious Caprica spoilers, including some an excerpt from the words written for Joseph Adama in the current version of the script.

TVByTheNumbers.com has the ratings for the first three episodes of Season Four of Battlestar Galactica, which are looking pretty good all things considered.

Tricia Helfer (Number Six) and Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) are both nominated for Leo Awards this year. Callum is nominated for the ensemble drama Normal, while Tricia is nominated for her well-reviewed dominatrix heist movie Walk All Over Me.

Callum will be answering forum questions about his movie Snow Cake in connection to the launch of the First Weekend Club, a DVD club for fans of movies made in Canada.

Brent Spiner, aka Data of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Nicki Clyne had a cute exchange at FedCon last weekend:

Brent Spiner (STTNG): “I just wanted to say how proud I am of the work we do on Battlestar Galactica.” (Note: he’s not in the series and apparently doesn’t even know it)

Nicki Clyne (BSG): “It is so much fun working with Brent Spiner, the show wouldn’t be the same without him.”

Len Neighbors has posted volume three of So Say We All: The Battlestar Galactica Blog Carnival. Most of the posts focus on last week’s episode, “The Ties That Bind” and include serious spoilers so do not click through if you have not seen the episode yet.

If you have seen the episode, be sure to check out the latest strip from webcomic Frakking Toasters, which accurately displays a lot of fans’ feelings about Cally Tyrol. Thanks to Jatg of Battlestar Blog for the head’s up.

If you have not seen the beach-bunny-in-leather-styled photos of Tricia Helfer, Katee Sackhoff, and Grace Park in this month’s Interview magazine yet, then FashionArtEdit is happy to help you out.

This is an interesting list of twenty moments where Battlestar Galactica characters have contemplated suicide.

On the lighter side, check out this bizarre 2006 clip of Nicki Clyne donning elf/alien ears as part of the web series Tiki Bar TV.

The cool Cylon photo above is courtesy of Mechazilla, the obsessive fan collector’s site. Speaking of courtesy, I sincerely appreciate everyone being patient with me this week while I have been posting sparsely and falling behind, we had a family medical emergency and I have been spending a lot of time with doctors who are (probably) not Cylons.

Today is the big day, when we finally see what happens after Starbuck returns from the dead and four of the final five Cylons are forced to come to terms with their new identity. What are your plans for watching the Season Four premiere of BSG? Are you watching it at noon online, or with a big group tonight, or in private later so you can catch every word? Or, perhaps, all of the above?

However you watch it, Galactica Sit Rep has some links to places where you can discuss the details with fans after the episode is over.

New York Magazine has some great advice for people who are trying to convince their significant others to watch Battlestar Galactica … and thanks for the link, Everett Bogue!

The magazine also has a great interview with Michael Hogan, who plays Col. Tigh on the show, where he talks about adjusting to life as a Cylon and how he may request that his children make sure “All Along The Watch Tower” is played at his funeral.

Fans of Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) and Kandyse McClure (Dee) can bid on dinner with the attractive twosome in a charity auction over on E-Bay. The proceeds go towards helping Canadian actress Babz Churla battle cancer, and Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) is helping her out as well.

Speaking of Tahmoh, he recently landed the plum role of Eliza Dushku’s love interest on Joss Whedon’s new series, Dollhouse. Readers of this blog know I am a huge Joss fan, so I am very excited about this combo … hopefully we will get more news on Tahmoh’s role in the near future.

Oh No They Didn’t has a nice roundup of the television pilots that are being considered for next year, including Michael Trucco’s new show Man of Your Dreams. And speaking of Joss Whedon’s actors, Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly) has been cast in a new legal drama that may be on NBC.

Big news for Battlestar Galactica fans:  new and sexy photos of Tricia Helfer, Katee Sackhoff, and Grace Park will be in the April 2008 issue of GQ. 

Tricia fans will also want to pick up a copy of the April 2008 issue of Paw Prints magazine, as the animal loving actress appears with her cats in its pages … or if you prefer a less wholesome look, Tricia will be on the cover of the U.K. version of FHM that month as well.

Tickets are on sale for Bear McCreary’s potentially legendary concert at Los Angeles’ Roxy Theatre.  The one-night-only event will feature the vocalist from the show’s version of “All Along the Watchtower” that was featured in the show’s Season Three finale.  Members of the cast and crew will also be present, although no names have been released yet.  It’s no secret that the music is one of the reasons that Battlestar Galactica is so haunting, so don’t miss your chance to hear it live and conducted by Bear himself.

The folks behind The CKR Files have been busy accumulating every bit of press by or about Callum Keith Rennie, including an entertaining interview from 2001 where he says “Sex” in response to “What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday.” 

On a more human note, they also posted a cool excerpt from an interview where Hugh Dillon credited Callum with giving him some courage - and his car - when the actor was trying to decide whether to go to the Sundance Film Festival for what would turn out to be an award-winning performance in Down to the Bone.

Tricia Helfer recently had another movie come out, the psychological thriller Spiral.  Zachary Levi from Chuck plays the tormented lead, and talked in an interview with IFMagazine about how much he enjoyed working with Tricia.  He also mentioned that she would be great as a character on his show (perhaps as Sarah’s spy sister), a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with:

“Tricia was a doll. She was ridiculously talented and ridiculously hot,” Zachary said.  “She was so nice. She was only there one day and it was a great day. We sat around and talked about life and Battlestar Galactica and her husband and how great life was and it was a really fun time to be making the movie. That day with Tricia was a lot of fun. I hope that our paths cross again in the future and we get to work together again, because she really is a class act.”

This photographer has a cute pic up of Aaron Douglas from last weekend’s SF Ball in Great Britain.

I watched a lot of television while I was sick, including the episode from the first season of Supernatural that featured Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) as an obnoxiously cocky hunter who gets eaten by a Wendigo.  If you are a Leoban fan add it to your Netflix queue if you have not seen it already.

Check out this interesting animation of Giaus Baltar created by Braden Poirer of Ontario.  I like the way he captures James Callis’ questioning attitude and the way his back alternately slumps and arches when he talks.

Calling all Racetrack fans!  The official Leah Cairns web site launched this week over at leahcairns.com, and features great photos like the one above as well as interviews, family photos, and upcoming convention appearances.

Obama is a Cylon?  Maybe, maybe not but Battlestar Galactica fans who are also political junkies will probably get a kick out of this photo of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s heads photoshopped on Apollo and Starbuck’s bodies.

GalacticaSitRep is running a contest to give away two of the Chief Tyrol dolls that were recently issued by Diamond Select Toys.  If you are a fan of the Chief, his alter ego Aaron Douglas, or just like cool toys be sure to check it out.

Speaking of Aaron, Battlestar Blog found this interesting clip of Aaron, Callum Keith Rennie, and Gerard Butler from 300 in the movie Shattered.

In other Battlestar Galactica toy news, apparently fans will have the option to buy a life sized Cylon sometime in the near future.  Perfect for that odd space in the corner where your interior decorator says you need "something tall."

If you like fan fiction, you should check out Admiral Adama’s live journal page which takes the concept to the next level.  This may be the wave of the future for dedicated fan writers, who are not satisfied with the idea of writing a story and want to explore a character even further over time.

Be sure to check out this nice note on Nicki Clyne’s blog, pondering how fans can provide positive connections in this mixed up crazy world.

Note from Margie: 451 Press is still having trouble with its comments, so please be aware that if you leave a comment it will likely be marked as spam.  If you would like to make sure your comment reaches the blog, please e-mail me through the Contact form or by contacting watchingbsg@gmail.com and I will be happy to post it for you. 

Edward James Olmos, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Mary McDonnell, Lucy Lawless and Mark Sheppard were among the VIPs at the SciFi Channel’s All Access Event at the Arclight in Los Angeles last Wednesday.

After being treated to a replay of the season finale “Crossroads” on the giant screen of the Cinerama Dome, fans got to ask over two hours of questions to the cast in a Q&A session moderated by Lucy Lawless. TV Squad has a great recap of the event, which featured a lot of laughter and talking about sex, which of course led to some great quotes from cast as well as producers David Eick and Ronald D. Moore.

Lucy asked “Is Admiral Adama ever going to get laid?” *laughter* Jamie responded by saying “He’s Latino! He has to do it two times a day!” Then someone interjected (I forget who, everyone was cracking up at this point) that we’d already seen Lucy in a threesome with Six and Baltar, to which Lucy said “Well, that was Cylon sex … woo.” What, like that doesn’t count?

Lucy then went on to ask if anyone had a favorite “nudie” scene, and Katee talked about her body paint scene with Callum Keith Rennie. The director kept saying that her pasties were getting in the shot, so she finally ripped them off, and Rennie covered her breasts up with his paint-coated hands. Problem solved. David Eick joked that he was going to buy his own house in Malibu by selling the naked pictures of Katee on eBay, baby.

Don from AI in Software was also lucky enough to attend, order soda with Edward James Olmos, and witness this exchange:

Lucy Lawless said her favorite Battlestar moment was when her character was interviewing Lee Adama while his bathrobe was falling off. She was like “what was keeping your towel on, Lee?� Jamie Bamber had this look on his face like “well clearly it was my giant british penis� but elected to say nothing.

Don also adds context to the widely-reported comment by Edward James Olmos that Blade Runner failed because of Harrison Ford. Apparently Olmos was commenting on the failure of the movie’s fans to accept him in the role, which canceled the possibility of the planned sequels, and giving Blade Runner as an example of “good” science fiction as opposed to “action movies that are supposedly set in the future.”

The Q&A from the event also contained some spoilers, so stop reading now if you like to avoid such things:

- The joking at the Q&A added fuel to the fire storm of speculations that the producers do not actually know what the Cylon’s plan is, which is worrisome as they will soon be filming the final season.

- Fans at the event also got to see a promo for this fall’s movie Razor, which focuses on the Pegasus and includes flashbacks involving the history of the ship and thus shows us more of the formidable Admiral Cain.

- Don’t expect a happy ending, as the producers feel the heart of the show is more about the “yearning” than the completion.

- The Six in Baltar’s Head will be back in Season Four, with some “new twists,” and the show may finally get a homosexual character as well.

- A fleeting glimpse in the Razor promo has some fans wondering of the classic Cylons from the original BSG will make an appearance. Apparently the movie has flashbacks to the original Cylon war, which creates the opportunity for a lot of fun tributes to the old series.

We leave you with a clip of the carpet chaos and one more blogger quote, from TVSquad, and a photo that shows exactly what he is talking about … a lot of guys were talking about Katee Sackhoff’s sexy lace up boots, but I think it is Mary McDonnell who steals the evening in her blue dress.

Lucy asked how the younger actors were enjoying being on a successful series, to which Mary McDonnell primped and preened and said “Oh, you mean me?” Honestly, the woman looked amazing, and I would totally believe that she was one of the younger generation.

Battlestar Galactica, Arclight, Los Angeles, SciFi Channel, Jamie Bamber, Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Lucy Lawless, Mark Sheppard, Harrison Ford, Blade Runner, Cylon, Pegasus, David Eick, Ronald D. Moore