A couple of CKR related articles.
First up, X-Files in the City.
X-Files in the City
Chris Carter reopens Files in Vancouver
Glen Schaefer, The Province
Published: Sunday, May 04, 2008
Look for some big-screen déjà vu by mid-summer, as Scully and Mulder go poking their flashlights into B.C.'s dark corners for The X-Files: I Want to Believe.
It'll be old home week for the paranormal TV series that filmed here from 1993 to 1998. The last several seasons and a first feature film were shot in Los Angeles, but for this sequel, creator Chris Carter brought stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson back to Vancouver.
The biggest X-Files mystery was where Carter had disappeared to after the series wrapped in 2002. He went from being TV's busiest guy -- he ran three other series during the run of The X-Files -- to the invisible man.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in X-Files: I Want to Believe.
"I still kept very busy," says Carter, adding he rode with Seattle police as research for a still-unfinished novel. Carter's home in Vancouver was his base for mountain climbing and heli-skiing trips. "I tell people it was 10 years of extreme output, and I wanted a few years of extreme input. I was playing as hard as I'd been working."
Talk of a second feature film began right after the series ended, but sped up last year ahead of the looming writers' strike. "Fox [studios] said it was now or never."
He and writing partner Frank Spotnitz finished their script between that April 2007 call and the following August -- speedy work by feature script standards, but "a luxury" for this legendary multi-tasker. On this day, he's on the phone from an editing suite in Los Angeles.
Carter recalls getting together last October at his L.A. house with Duchovny and Anderson to read the script. The three hadn't been together in more than five years. "It was wonderful, surprisingly powerful. I hadn't expected to be so struck by the momentousness of that reunion -- actually I got very emotional."
Production started in Vancouver in late December, with Duchovny first on set and Anderson arriving in January. A preview for the new movie shows Anderson, Duchovny and co-star Billy Connolly searching a snowy field for something scary.
"I used so many of the same crew that I'd used on X-Files, Millennium, Harsh Realm and Lone Gunmen -- I could go down a long list."
Vancouver's Callum Keith Rennie gets a choice role as one of the movie's villains. Carter first met the actor in 1986. "We did cast him in a number of episodes through the years, but not in a big part. I was thrilled -- it's a role that he brings a rare quality to. He approaches it with a humanity, actually, that makes the character more than it could have been."
Which is about all the plot detail that Carter lets slip out. The movie is a standalone creature feature separate from the TV series' ongoing alien conspiracy. This is the B.C. team that's taking on the summer box-office wars, and there's a bit of the mellow West Coast in Carter as he rushes to meet that July 25 release date.
"I think it will deliver what it promises -- smart and scary and thrilling and all those things that every movie in the summer needs to be."
Carter says Duchovny and Anderson's first day on set together was a scene in the FBI office. "It's funny, I think the first thing they did together on the TV series 16 years ago was in Mulder's office in the FBI -- that's a coincidence actually."
So they're back in Mulder's office? He still has an office?
"I'm sworn to secrecy. I've given you too much information already."
gschaefer@png.canwest.com
Second, 'Battlestar Galactica': 'The Road Less Traveled' gets very bumpy.
Spoilers for The Road Less Traveled (and all aired S4 eps) in the article.
The Watcher
By Maureen Ryan
Originally posted: May 4, 2008
'Battlestar Galactica': 'The Road Less Traveled' gets very bumpy
An in-depth analysis of and reaction to Friday's "Battletar Galactica" episode, "The Road Less Traveled," follows. I thought it was an especially good episode and just had to pen some thoughts on it.
But don't read on unless you've seen the episode.
Damn you, “Battlestar Galactica.”
I seriously have to wait a week until the next episode? Aaargh.
The first few episodes of Season 4 have had a set-up sort of feeling - good episodes all, but they very much gave off the impression that the writers are in the process of setting up some large payoffs further down the road.
It’s not as if “The Road Less Traveled” necessarily paid off all of the plot threads in motion, but it was especially enjoyable and suspenseful.
I think my favorite moment was the scene between Leoben and Kara “Starbuck” Thrace in her quarters.
Hats off to Katee Sackhoff for ratcheting up Kara’s level of paranoia appreciably in this episode - she did that without chewing scenery or going over the top. Still, there was a definite wigged-out, Capt. Queeg level of intensity to her staredowns with the crew. You could understand why they thought she’d lost it.
What struck me during her chat with Leoben was the realization that hit her - that giving up her past life and accepting her destiny as a visionary or even angel was difficult because it is hard for her to think of herself as good.
Kara’s excelled at hating herself all her life; the possibility that she can leave that baggage behind and be an agent of positive change - well, she was thunderstruck by the idea. It’d almost be easier to accept being a Cylon than thinking well of herself.
Then there was the priceless line from Leoben, who seems to enjoy a good beatdown: “How many times did you kill me on New Caprica? Don’t stop now.” Callum Keith Rennie and Katee Sackhoff bring all the twisted chemistry you could hope for to their scenes together; I hope there are more.
Another terrific scene was the final showdown between Chief Tyrol and Baltar. It reminded me a bit of “Mad Men,” because that show is so good at setting up scenarios with outcomes that you can’t predict (“5G,” anyone?).
Aaron Douglas did some fine work in this episode - the Chief’s confrontation at Baltar’s preaching session, his meltdown with the gun, during which you could easily see him shooting himself - it was all suitably intense.
But what was great about the Baltar scene in the Chief’s quarters was not only that you didn’t know how it would go - you didn’t know whether the Chief would finish what he’d started and choke the sanctimony right out of the former president of the colonies, or take his hand.
What was also notable was what Douglas did with so few words. He barely said anything, but his eyes bored intently into Baltar. Has Douglas been taking acting lessons from Michael Hogan, who plays Tigh? Because that man can do more with one eye that most actors can do with their entire bodies.
And as is so often the case with Baltar - you had to wonder how much calculation went into a seemingly heartfelt action, in this case an apology to the Chief. As Tory pointed out, no one of consequence in the fleet had joined Baltar’s one-god movement. Baltar, ever the careerist, couldn’t stand the idea that his was just a lunatic fringe group, hence his calculated recruitment of the influential Chief.
So, back on the Demetrius -- does Loeben know that Sam is a Cylon? That’s a fascinating question (critic Alan Sepinwall thinks no.)
In any case, I love how Callum Keith Rennie is able to impart a sense of passionate, apocalyptic belief into Leoben, yet still make you believe that this Cylon is probably up to something.
As Sepinwall has noted elsewhere, the scenes set on the Demetrius have been directed so well that you can practically feel the sweat and smells and claustrophobia of the cramped ship. The directors and writers have expertly helped set the stage for the eventual mutiny of the ship's crew; it’s clear that the officers on board truly believe they’re choosing between dying under Starbuck’s command or living to rejoin the fleet.
And how ironic that the one known Cylon in the crew, Athena, is the one strongly counseling against following the trail back to Leoben’s base star? Athena doesn’t trust a human-Cylon alliance in the slightest.
Among the many grace notes this season is the journey of Lt. Gaeta from dutiful officer to a cynical, tired man who’s been pushed too far. He doesn’t have it in him to pretend that Kara is sane and he’s stopped caring about how his attitude comes across to his superiors. Imagine the Gaeta of earlier seasons contemplating a mutiny - I can’t.
Speaking of changes, how creepy - and randy - has Tory been this season? Something truly rank and sleazy has been unleashed in her since she found out she’s a Cylon. Her blatant attempt to win over the Chief in the airlock in which she had murdered his wife was the height of obnoxiousness. And though the Chief hasn’t figured out that Tory killed Cally, something about her presumptuous, preachy attitude set him off; he could sense something fishy about her, even through his wall of pain and rage.
He will find out what Tory did in that airlock, I predict (I have no inside information about this, however, and have studiously avoided preview clips all season).
And at that point, neither Tory’s high-ranking position in the Roslin administration nor her willingness to bed anything that moves probably won’t save her. Then again, even if the Chief does find out, Tory does seem pretty good at looking after herself. I wouldn’t wander around any more airlocks if she’s in the vicinity, if I were the Chief.
In any case, it appears that finding out about their Cylon status has brought forth something that had long lurked in these characters - Tory had probably always wanted to unleash her inner Machiavelli.
Tigh harbored deep-seated guilt about any number of things, and his murder of his wife just put him over the edge and now he’s sinking into an epic shame spiral, one that shows no sign of abating.
Sam Anders probably did always think he was meant for something more than being a meathead jock, guerilla leader or Kara’s hard-done-by spouse. He hates Leoben, but part of him really wants to believe that Leoben is right - that he is destined to have an exceptional destiny. And he wants what Kara has had - that “singular moment of clarity” that Leoben talked about.
On board the Cylon base stars, “battle lines have been drawn between those who embrace their nature and those who fear it,” Leoben said. The same thing appears be happening among the four secret Cylons in the Galactica fleet.
Though he’s not a Cylon, “I chose to accept my fate, not fight it anymore,” Baltar told the Chief. That’s a battle that all of the Final Four are having, and it has serious implication for their survival, not to mention their secret remaining secret.
As always on “Battlestar,” bigger questions lurk behind individual dilemmas. Whether individuals can change of their own free will, whether one single God has a master plan for humanity, whether the fate of an individual or an entire race is predestined - all of those questions are swirling around as “Battlestar” heads to its final reckoning.
But before these philosophical debates can be settled - if they can be settled, that is - the standoff on the Demetrius has to find a resolution. Can there be one? No idea, but at least we don’t have to wait months to find out what happens, a la the Pegasus episodes in Season 2.
All things considered, I’m betting that Kara Thrace gets her way, one way or another.
By the way, there is an interview with "The Road Less Traveled" writer Mark Verheiden at The Futon Critic's site. Verheiden also talks about "Battlestar" weekly at ComicMix.
And here is some relatively benign (i.e. not too spoilery) information about next week’s episode, “Faith,” which features a guest appearance by Nana Visitor (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”). "DS9" fans probably already know that "Battlestar" writer/producers Ron Moore, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson also wrote for that "Trek" series.
X-Files in the City
Chris Carter reopens Files in Vancouver
Glen Schaefer, The Province
Published: Sunday, May 04, 2008
Look for some big-screen déjà vu by mid-summer, as Scully and Mulder go poking their flashlights into B.C.'s dark corners for The X-Files: I Want to Believe.
It'll be old home week for the paranormal TV series that filmed here from 1993 to 1998. The last several seasons and a first feature film were shot in Los Angeles, but for this sequel, creator Chris Carter brought stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson back to Vancouver.
The biggest X-Files mystery was where Carter had disappeared to after the series wrapped in 2002. He went from being TV's busiest guy -- he ran three other series during the run of The X-Files -- to the invisible man.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in X-Files: I Want to Believe.
"I still kept very busy," says Carter, adding he rode with Seattle police as research for a still-unfinished novel. Carter's home in Vancouver was his base for mountain climbing and heli-skiing trips. "I tell people it was 10 years of extreme output, and I wanted a few years of extreme input. I was playing as hard as I'd been working."
Talk of a second feature film began right after the series ended, but sped up last year ahead of the looming writers' strike. "Fox [studios] said it was now or never."
He and writing partner Frank Spotnitz finished their script between that April 2007 call and the following August -- speedy work by feature script standards, but "a luxury" for this legendary multi-tasker. On this day, he's on the phone from an editing suite in Los Angeles.
Carter recalls getting together last October at his L.A. house with Duchovny and Anderson to read the script. The three hadn't been together in more than five years. "It was wonderful, surprisingly powerful. I hadn't expected to be so struck by the momentousness of that reunion -- actually I got very emotional."
Production started in Vancouver in late December, with Duchovny first on set and Anderson arriving in January. A preview for the new movie shows Anderson, Duchovny and co-star Billy Connolly searching a snowy field for something scary.
"I used so many of the same crew that I'd used on X-Files, Millennium, Harsh Realm and Lone Gunmen -- I could go down a long list."
Vancouver's Callum Keith Rennie gets a choice role as one of the movie's villains. Carter first met the actor in 1986. "We did cast him in a number of episodes through the years, but not in a big part. I was thrilled -- it's a role that he brings a rare quality to. He approaches it with a humanity, actually, that makes the character more than it could have been."
Which is about all the plot detail that Carter lets slip out. The movie is a standalone creature feature separate from the TV series' ongoing alien conspiracy. This is the B.C. team that's taking on the summer box-office wars, and there's a bit of the mellow West Coast in Carter as he rushes to meet that July 25 release date.
"I think it will deliver what it promises -- smart and scary and thrilling and all those things that every movie in the summer needs to be."
Carter says Duchovny and Anderson's first day on set together was a scene in the FBI office. "It's funny, I think the first thing they did together on the TV series 16 years ago was in Mulder's office in the FBI -- that's a coincidence actually."
So they're back in Mulder's office? He still has an office?
"I'm sworn to secrecy. I've given you too much information already."
gschaefer@png.canwest.com
Second, 'Battlestar Galactica': 'The Road Less Traveled' gets very bumpy.
Spoilers for The Road Less Traveled (and all aired S4 eps) in the article.
The Watcher
By Maureen Ryan
Originally posted: May 4, 2008
'Battlestar Galactica': 'The Road Less Traveled' gets very bumpy
An in-depth analysis of and reaction to Friday's "Battletar Galactica" episode, "The Road Less Traveled," follows. I thought it was an especially good episode and just had to pen some thoughts on it.
But don't read on unless you've seen the episode.
Damn you, “Battlestar Galactica.”
I seriously have to wait a week until the next episode? Aaargh.
The first few episodes of Season 4 have had a set-up sort of feeling - good episodes all, but they very much gave off the impression that the writers are in the process of setting up some large payoffs further down the road.
It’s not as if “The Road Less Traveled” necessarily paid off all of the plot threads in motion, but it was especially enjoyable and suspenseful.
I think my favorite moment was the scene between Leoben and Kara “Starbuck” Thrace in her quarters.
Hats off to Katee Sackhoff for ratcheting up Kara’s level of paranoia appreciably in this episode - she did that without chewing scenery or going over the top. Still, there was a definite wigged-out, Capt. Queeg level of intensity to her staredowns with the crew. You could understand why they thought she’d lost it.
What struck me during her chat with Leoben was the realization that hit her - that giving up her past life and accepting her destiny as a visionary or even angel was difficult because it is hard for her to think of herself as good.
Kara’s excelled at hating herself all her life; the possibility that she can leave that baggage behind and be an agent of positive change - well, she was thunderstruck by the idea. It’d almost be easier to accept being a Cylon than thinking well of herself.
Then there was the priceless line from Leoben, who seems to enjoy a good beatdown: “How many times did you kill me on New Caprica? Don’t stop now.” Callum Keith Rennie and Katee Sackhoff bring all the twisted chemistry you could hope for to their scenes together; I hope there are more.
Another terrific scene was the final showdown between Chief Tyrol and Baltar. It reminded me a bit of “Mad Men,” because that show is so good at setting up scenarios with outcomes that you can’t predict (“5G,” anyone?).
Aaron Douglas did some fine work in this episode - the Chief’s confrontation at Baltar’s preaching session, his meltdown with the gun, during which you could easily see him shooting himself - it was all suitably intense.
But what was great about the Baltar scene in the Chief’s quarters was not only that you didn’t know how it would go - you didn’t know whether the Chief would finish what he’d started and choke the sanctimony right out of the former president of the colonies, or take his hand.
What was also notable was what Douglas did with so few words. He barely said anything, but his eyes bored intently into Baltar. Has Douglas been taking acting lessons from Michael Hogan, who plays Tigh? Because that man can do more with one eye that most actors can do with their entire bodies.
And as is so often the case with Baltar - you had to wonder how much calculation went into a seemingly heartfelt action, in this case an apology to the Chief. As Tory pointed out, no one of consequence in the fleet had joined Baltar’s one-god movement. Baltar, ever the careerist, couldn’t stand the idea that his was just a lunatic fringe group, hence his calculated recruitment of the influential Chief.
So, back on the Demetrius -- does Loeben know that Sam is a Cylon? That’s a fascinating question (critic Alan Sepinwall thinks no.)
In any case, I love how Callum Keith Rennie is able to impart a sense of passionate, apocalyptic belief into Leoben, yet still make you believe that this Cylon is probably up to something.
As Sepinwall has noted elsewhere, the scenes set on the Demetrius have been directed so well that you can practically feel the sweat and smells and claustrophobia of the cramped ship. The directors and writers have expertly helped set the stage for the eventual mutiny of the ship's crew; it’s clear that the officers on board truly believe they’re choosing between dying under Starbuck’s command or living to rejoin the fleet.
And how ironic that the one known Cylon in the crew, Athena, is the one strongly counseling against following the trail back to Leoben’s base star? Athena doesn’t trust a human-Cylon alliance in the slightest.
Among the many grace notes this season is the journey of Lt. Gaeta from dutiful officer to a cynical, tired man who’s been pushed too far. He doesn’t have it in him to pretend that Kara is sane and he’s stopped caring about how his attitude comes across to his superiors. Imagine the Gaeta of earlier seasons contemplating a mutiny - I can’t.
Speaking of changes, how creepy - and randy - has Tory been this season? Something truly rank and sleazy has been unleashed in her since she found out she’s a Cylon. Her blatant attempt to win over the Chief in the airlock in which she had murdered his wife was the height of obnoxiousness. And though the Chief hasn’t figured out that Tory killed Cally, something about her presumptuous, preachy attitude set him off; he could sense something fishy about her, even through his wall of pain and rage.
He will find out what Tory did in that airlock, I predict (I have no inside information about this, however, and have studiously avoided preview clips all season).
And at that point, neither Tory’s high-ranking position in the Roslin administration nor her willingness to bed anything that moves probably won’t save her. Then again, even if the Chief does find out, Tory does seem pretty good at looking after herself. I wouldn’t wander around any more airlocks if she’s in the vicinity, if I were the Chief.
In any case, it appears that finding out about their Cylon status has brought forth something that had long lurked in these characters - Tory had probably always wanted to unleash her inner Machiavelli.
Tigh harbored deep-seated guilt about any number of things, and his murder of his wife just put him over the edge and now he’s sinking into an epic shame spiral, one that shows no sign of abating.
Sam Anders probably did always think he was meant for something more than being a meathead jock, guerilla leader or Kara’s hard-done-by spouse. He hates Leoben, but part of him really wants to believe that Leoben is right - that he is destined to have an exceptional destiny. And he wants what Kara has had - that “singular moment of clarity” that Leoben talked about.
On board the Cylon base stars, “battle lines have been drawn between those who embrace their nature and those who fear it,” Leoben said. The same thing appears be happening among the four secret Cylons in the Galactica fleet.
Though he’s not a Cylon, “I chose to accept my fate, not fight it anymore,” Baltar told the Chief. That’s a battle that all of the Final Four are having, and it has serious implication for their survival, not to mention their secret remaining secret.
As always on “Battlestar,” bigger questions lurk behind individual dilemmas. Whether individuals can change of their own free will, whether one single God has a master plan for humanity, whether the fate of an individual or an entire race is predestined - all of those questions are swirling around as “Battlestar” heads to its final reckoning.
But before these philosophical debates can be settled - if they can be settled, that is - the standoff on the Demetrius has to find a resolution. Can there be one? No idea, but at least we don’t have to wait months to find out what happens, a la the Pegasus episodes in Season 2.
All things considered, I’m betting that Kara Thrace gets her way, one way or another.
By the way, there is an interview with "The Road Less Traveled" writer Mark Verheiden at The Futon Critic's site. Verheiden also talks about "Battlestar" weekly at ComicMix.
And here is some relatively benign (i.e. not too spoilery) information about next week’s episode, “Faith,” which features a guest appearance by Nana Visitor (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”). "DS9" fans probably already know that "Battlestar" writer/producers Ron Moore, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson also wrote for that "Trek" series.