Haibane.info

Category: Movies and Television

  • serious academic pursuits

    The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies (PRS), of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds in Leeds, UK has issued a very important call for papers:

    Call for Papers: The Politics, Poetics and Philosophy of Battlestar Galactica: A One Day Symposium

    Summary: Since its return, the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica has emerged as the most politically, philosophically and artistically compelling television series of recent years. Opening with the near-obliteration of mankind by a race of cyborgs evolved from human technologies, BSG’s survivors – including a war-weary military commander, a minor cabinet member suddenly elevated to President, a scientific genius harbouring a secret and hallucinating his duplicitous girlfriend – variously struggle to reconcile the grief and guilt of survival, their own personal and psychological flaws, and the demands of fighting an enemy uncannily close to themselves. Remaking the cult 1970s original as a morally challenging, psychologically complex and politically controversial science fiction series, the show combines thriller, space opera, war film and docu-drama, while meditating on the nature of humanity, governance, desire, technology and religion. Conflicted characterisations, ethical irresolvable scenarios, ambiguous storylines, an often-uncomfortable resonance with contemporary international events, and a filming style more cinéma vérité than Star Trek, combine in a text which demands serious academic attention. This one day event affords academics, fans and fan-academics the opportunity to consider the social, political, philosophical and artistic significance of Battlestar Galactica. Contributions are invited from researchers working in a wide range of disciplines, including film and television, fantasy, fandom, philosophy, psychoanalysis, drama, documentary and media production.

    Snark aside, the fact that Galactica can support such philosophizing is the mark of good science fiction. Scifi is supposed to stimulate introspection about humanity – the futuristic setting just introduces a distance between the subject matter and the modern day, that serves to render the analyses a little more honestly in our minds.

  • Serenity now

    Man, I kind of wanted to be Wash. But this is pretty good too:


    You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)

    Honest and a defender of the innocent. You sometimes make mistakes in judgment but you are generally good and would protect your crew from harm.

    Click here to take the “Which Serenity character are you?” quiz…

  • Trek X casting speculation

    There isn’t any real new casting information about casting for the new Star Trek franchise reboot to report. However, I did see The Departed a couple of weeks ago, and also Oceans 11 for the second time. Between the two of those films, any lingering doubt I might have had about Matt Damon playing James Tiberius Kirk has been effectively neutralized.

    But if they do land Gary Sinise as Bones McCoy, that’s the real casting coup.

    Wouldn’t Topher Grace make for a great Spock?

  • Galactica: the Story so far

    There’s an hour-long video on SciFi that recaps the major plot developments of Battlestar Galactica seasons 1 and 2. This will bring any newbie up to speed for Season 3, which just ended a couple of weeks ago.

    Now, if only they’d do something like this for Lost…

  • Rainbow disconnection

    The deconstruction of childhood continues apace. Weep.

  • Wii-sabre

    Old news, but still:

    During an extended technical demonstration for a new, unnamed Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 Star Wars title, LucasArts staff have confirmed to Gamasutra the company’s intense interest in creating a Wii lightsaber game, if not yet its explicit existence.

    At the end of the demonstration, Gamasutra inquired as to whether the company planned on creating a lightsaber game for the Wii, after many commented on he suitability of the system to the concept – especially after an internal speaker was revealed in the controller being used to demo the concept.

    This question produced a number of knowing smiles around the room from LucasArts employees, followed by the comments: “We know” and “We are looking into it”, as possible concepts for the game were discussed. However, the firm has not yet made any official announcements regarding planned Wii titles.

    UPDATE: This seems relevant. Imagine: me in my living room, you in yours, and we engage in a duel. I’m toast.

    Soon we will all be able to unleash our inner Star Wars Kids… (more…)

  • Trek X

    The more I learn about the new Star Trek “reboot” the more excited I get. Look at how Batman Begins and Casino Royale essentially breathed new life into abused franchises; now comes a hint that the original Star Trek continuity and canon itself might be ditched, which is really good news. Via AICN, a panel at the WONDERCON in San Francisco revealed a lot of tidbits:

    (more…)

  • engaging

    Ever wonder what the cast of Star Trek did on those fancy sets between takes? Ever wonder just how much of a freak Patrick Stewart really was off-camera? Ever had the urge to break into Paramount’s lot to sneak onto the Bridge of the Enterprise D?

    (h/t Moe. Who will suffer for this, I promise.)

    (UPDATE: I’m brown, but otherwise yes, guilty as charged.)

  • Luminous beings are we

    not this crude matter:

    I have always found this scene to be deeply insightful, in ways that transcend the mere plot and apply to reality and life. In many ways, the quote itself is fundamental to why I am devout. But it has just as much secular meaning as it does spiritual. George Lucas is often derided for creating a “new age religion” (and in fact in E4:ANH a character actually insults the Jedi as a “religion” to Vader’s face) but I appreciate the deeper universal truth he is describing here.

    If we are just bags of meat, then all we strive for simply doesn’t matter. Only if there is something beyond does it begin to have any meaning or purpose. What shape that Beyond takes; be it Paradise or Transhumanism or something else entirely, is mostly a matter of simple taste.

  • Why is this so hard to understand?

    Ars takes the new BitTorrent video store for a spin and finds unsurprisingly that DRM renders it useless. Off the top of my head,here’s what a genuinely successful online video store is going to require:

    Intuitive. The interface should be identical to NetFlix, with genres down one side and a search box. A Queue functionality should be a given, with options to “subscribe” to shows.

    Comprehensive. Every TV show that is currently broadcast or on cable should be available. Movies should have simultaneous release on the big screen and at the online store.

    Value. No more than $1 per 30 min for movies, $1 an hour for TV. Hot picks or new releases could reasonably go double or triple that rate within a short time window, say three to four weeks. The price could decrement in stages over that time frame. Allow users to get a discount on TV show downloads if they opt for included TV commercials (which will be formatted as part of the content chapters, so they cant be skipped on the DVD burn). The purists can pay full price for the ad-free version. For movies, give the user a discount coupon for the soundtrack CD or a free movie rental at Blockbuster or Hollywood Video as a freebie (give those chains free ad space to cover their costs). Permit the user to apply discounts/pay a premium for higher or lower resolutions (ie, 50% for iPod or 150% for BluRay).

    Burn to DVD. The vast, vast majority of video is seen on consumers’ expensive TV sets. Its still very rare for people to have a PC next to the TV set, and will be rare for a long time. HD-DVD and BluRay, not to mention the mandatory upgrade cost of HDTV for everyone within the next year or two, means that people have enough new media hardware to spend money on.

    And what about DRM? First, let’s acknowledge reality: all DRM schemes are bogus to begin with.

    Second: what Steve said. But more importantly: recognize that the lack of protection on audio CDs has not impeded sales. Note that you can burn iTunes tracks to CD as well. Theres no reason that burning to DVD would result in any threat to the studios’ revenue streams; in fact, I’d be able to burn a disc of great scifi show episodes and get my friends hooked. We could share video discs the way we did with mix tapes and CDs. The lack of any need for DRM on the files would also mean less overhead and increase profits to the studios directly.

    Have I missed anything? If the studios build this, the consumers will come. Ultimately we shouldn’t even be wasting our broadcast spectrum on television; it should all be wired.