Club Jade

Yesterday marked the release of the direct-to-DVD Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, directed by Edward James Olmos. Remember when the Cylons had a plan? Now you can see the events of BSG (especially seasons one and two), from the Cylon point of view. Here’s what the reviewers are saying:

• Wired says not to put too much hope in this mediocre coda, which would more aptly be titled A Tale of Two Cavils.
• Geeks of Doom loves the inner struggles among the Cylons, but feels that the flow is a bit off. However, they totally agree with Olmos’ proclamation that after seeing “The Plan”, you’ll want to re-watch BSG again to see how it all fits in. They also have a giveaway contest for “The Plan” DVDs.
• Ellen Gray at philly.com likes when the Cylons try to be human… but wishes there was more of that.
• Alan Sepinwall of the NJ Star-Ledger likes Dean Stockwell’s and Grace Park’s performances, but overall says, “As one small bit of bonus material tied to a classic series, it’s fun, but it doesn’t really stand on its own.”
• FilmThreat calls it “a mess” that ends up with epic fail, but also closure for Boxy.
• The Salt Lake Tribune gives it a brief C+, saying that diehard fans will enjoy it, and that’s about it.

Hyping “The Plan”, PopStar gets a few questions with Dean Stockwell about playing against himself and his views on a Quantum Leap reunion. UGO has a contest where you can win dinner with Admiral Adama, Edward James Olmos.

Overall, most reviews feel like “The Plan” is more like a series of deleted scenes than a coherent story.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is released today on DVD and Blu-Ray. Several reviewers note that it is unrated and contains sex and nudity, which will most likely be cut for the Syfy broadcast of it next year.

Any excuse for a gallery, and this time io9’s is concept art that reimagines the greatest space epics. The Star Wars offerings are the best of the bunch, naturally.

The Emmy Award Nominations are out and the geeks seem to be doing the same as always.  But hey, the folks who do all the technical stuff work hard on it.  Let’s congratulate the great crew of our favorite geeky shows on jobs well done.  (And there are some major ones in there.)

• Robot Chicken - Animation Series,  and Voiceover for the Star Wars Episode II episode
• The Big Bang Theory – Best Comedic Actor, Art Direction
• Lost - Best Drama Series, Best Supporting Actor, Sound Editing (Series), Writing (Drama)
• Heroes – Art Direction, Visual Effects (Series)
• Battlestar Galactica – Directing (Drama), Single-Camera Editing (Hour-Long), Sound Editing (Episode), Sound Editing (Series), Visual Effects (Series) and Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Program
• Legend of the Seeker – Original Music Composition
• Smallville - Sound Editing
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog - Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Program
• Terminator – Sound Editing
• Sanctuary – Visual Effects (Series)
• Chuck – Stunts

We scour the complete PDF so you don’t have to!

Amazon.com has this exclusive clip from Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica prequel series that will have its premiere episode on DVD/digital download on April 21, 2009, but won’t actually air as a series until 2010. Want more clips? Movieweb has seven clips available, and io9 briefly talks about them.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post looks to Battlestar Galactica for 10 business lessons. Lesson #8: Don’t store all your backups in one place.

As the geek world turns:

• The town of Vulcan, Alberta, will have a special pre-release screening of Star Trek, after Leonard Nimoy went to bat for them to the Paramount bigwigs who chose Sydney, Australia for the world premiere. But wait, Vulcan doesn’t even have a movie theater!
• Leonard Nimoy talks about being Spock one more time, and gives a spoiler as to his scene.
• Some new Red Dwarf: Back to Earth photos have popped up, as well as a postcard from Lister.
• NPR ponders: Does the end of BSG mean dividends for Dollhouse?
• Moviehole reports that the ending of Terminator Salvation has been changed since the original ending was leaked online last month. Maybe they’ll put in that line about the Salvation Army? Will this affect the prequel novel “Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes” written by Timothy Zahn that came out last week?
• And with the latest promo material showcasing the cast of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, cinematical wonders where are Ryan Reynolds and Dominic Monaghan?

Alan Sepinwall has Ronald D. Moore’s answers from the Battlestar Galactica finale press conference. Needless to say, it is full of spoilers.

Did it rock? Did it suck? Is Battlestar truly the best science fiction show of the moment? Address these, and other deep questions, in the comments. (Please.)

First off, the absolute most important thing you should know tonight is that the finale runs a whopping 11 minutes over, so set your DVRs accordingly. Reviews have been mixed – Los Angeles Times’ Mary McNamara says it’s “everything a fan.. could hope for,” while the Boston Herald’s Mark A. Perigard calls it “wildly uneven.” And over at the San Francisco Chronicle, Tim Goodman asks if the BSG void can be filled, equating it to The Clone Wars in the process. Uh-huh.

From the fannish side, io9 has 12 plotholes that must be filled tonight, and Sci Fi’s DVICE reveals the winners of their Steampunk Cylon contest.

Of course, this won’t be the last we’ll see of the old Galactica: in addition to the Caprica prequel, there’s a spinoff movie directed by Edward James Olmos, The Plan, coming in the fall.

io9’s Meredith Woerner has a fantastic report from the floor of last night’s Battlestar Galactica retrospective at the United Nations. Ronald D. Moore, Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell and David Eick were on hand to talk about the human rights and other issues that BSG has addressed over its four seasons. I really hope there’s video, particularly after Woerner wrote this:

At one point the discussion lit a fire under the Admiral, and the talk of human rights turned personal for Edward James Olmos. The “Old Man” launched into a passionate speech about casting off the idea of race as a cultural determinant, and said we were one race, the human race. His voice echoed throughout the chamber growing louder until – I kid you not – he was yelling, “So Say We All,” and the crowd answered right back.

That proved a bit controversial to some of io9’s commentators… But in short, sounds like a rousing night and a real example of how science fiction can address and open up dialogue on real-life issues.

As the two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica approaches this Friday, SciFi Channel brings us “The Last Frakkin’ Special” tonight (10 PM ET/PT and rebroadcast a lot this week). Hollywood.com puts it on the Do It Today notice. Want to find Cylons in your midst? Get the Cylon Detector iPhone / iPod Touch app. It’ll work better than Baltar’s blood screening. and Remember, the final episode of BSG: “Daybreak, Part 2″ this Friday night, 9 PM ET/PT.