Bruce Campbell -- ON THE RECORD

The Man himself discusses EVIL DEAD, MY NAME IS BRUCE and more. Check out the audio interview at:

http://bruce-campbell.blogspot.com/

CROWDED HOUSE Live

Finally managed to catch my first ever CROWDED HOUSE show, after years of being a fan, and they did not disappoint. The new album, "Time On Earth", definitely catches fire in concert, and the old favorites ("Fall At Your Feet", "Mean To Me," "Don't Dream It's Over", etc., etc.) were given their full due. They're cruising the country so if you get a chance, this is a highly recommended tour. I almost said "reunion" tour, but this isn't some empty nostalgia exercise, they're a real band and I'm looking forward to whatever comes next!

Also, Crowdie front man Neil Finn's son Liam opens for the band on this leg of the tour, and his set is definitely worth catching. He does a wild one-man-band thing with guitar, bass, thermin and drums that's a lot of ear-splitting fun. At the show I attended (Green Theater L.A. 9/28), L. Finn was selling a limited edition live CD that features some of the same set, and it's worth checking out too.

Battlestar Galactica Frakkin' Sharkin' Jarkin' Video

Courtesy the Galactica sitrep site and Adult Swim: this is short and really funny.

http://galacticasitrep.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-frak-is-deal-with-bsg.html

TERROR SQUAD is back!

To my astonishment, someone just reviewed my first produced credit, TERROR SQUAD, on a site devoted to rare movies. TERROR SQUAD's never been released on DVD and is long out of print in video, so it was quite a surprise to find someone reviewing the movie in the here and now. The link will take you to the review and to the discussion I've been having with the review's writer.

http://madeoutofmouth.wordpress.com/2007/08/24/terror-squad-1987/#comment-610

More Law and more Order!

After posting yesterday about LAW AND ORDER's occasion flirtation with character arc type stories, I was moved to do actual research (i.e., I went to a couple sites that do episode breakdowns) and discovered that the show tried to break the strict "only business" mold a couple of times. The biggest change of pace episode was the season ender where Jill Hennessy's character Clair (SPOILER ALERT for a fifteen year old show!) was surprise killed in a car accident. According to one website, none of the personal stories left open at the end of that season were actually continued into the next year. Restart button, ahoy!

It's still a great show. According to what I just read on AOL's news blurb (where I get 90% of my news these days, *sob*), L & O is coming back in midseason on NBC with new cast and stuff. I'll be there!

Law And Order

Not the concept, the television show. I'm a long time fan and love catching up with an episode (or two or three) on TNT. It's especially interesting to find an episode from the season (1998-ish, I believe) where they tried to run "personal stories" along with the procedural stuff. Because the shows get so WEIRD. It's like LAW AND ORDER from another universe, with Briscoe worried about his kid's drug habit, Benjamin Bratt's family troubles, etc., etc.

The strange thing is, I love personal stories. It's what makes BSG such a joy to write and develop. But the framework of L & O just isn't designed to carry the weight of "my ex is taking my son." There's barely enough time to do the "Law" and the "Order," let alone the extraneous runners.

On the other hand, I applaud the folks on the show for giving it a shot. Sometimes (to quote another fine program) you gotta roll the hard six. But as all gamblers know, sometimes you lose. Extra kudos to those responsible for backing off when it was clear the classic version worked best.

I understand changes are coming to next season's LAW AND ORDER... good for them, I'll check it out! But classic is classic is classic...

That is all...

My Name Is Bruce, that's right, BRUCE

It's been awhile since I had an update on our little epic, so here goes. Imagine old-style typewriters tap-tapping in the background as this news bulletin explodes across the internets...

Work continues apace on finishing MY NAME IS BRUCE the motion picture. Trust me, we're all itching to get 'er threaded up and throbbing inside your eager brain-pans. I've heard some of composer Joe (EVIL DEAD 2) LoDuca's soundtrack music, and it's pitch perfect. The terrifying Guan-Di monster is getting more monsterous by the day and the sound more soundariffic, but like fine wine, MNIB will not be released before its time. This is not because of any second thoughts, and in fact we (Bruce Campbell, Dark Horse honcho Mike Richardson and moi) are still gathering to palaver over a sequel. Nope. This post production stuff just takes time...

Okay, turn off the clickety-clack and return to your regularly scheduled blog...

8-30-07 ADDENDUM (and I mean DUM) -- corrected to fix the spelling of composer Joe LoDuca's name. I worked with a guy named Deluca once, sorry!

BSG Update The NEXT!

Our super double-secret BATTLESTAR writing summit is over and I'm sitting in an airport a couple hundred miles from our undisclosed location waiting for my flight. If I left the summit with any overall feeling, it's that I work with the best writers and producers in television, bar none. There were laughs, hard work, even a few tears, and in the end we generated a lot of material for the rest of the series. We knew where we were going, now we have a pretty good idea how we're going to get there. So if you're into BSG, you've got a lot of surprises coming your way. Think you know "the plan?" Think again!

Finally, there seems to be some small confusion about the number of episodes we're making for season four. In production terms, we're making 22 episodes total, with the RAZOR two parter being shows 401 and 402. We'll pick up the storyline off the end of season four in episode 403, written by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, and roll on from there to show 422. And that, as they say, will be that...

The Next Phase of BSG...

Posting may be a tad sparse over the next few days, as yours truly and the staff of BATTLESTAR go to an undisclosed location to recharge our story batteries and take dead aim on the big finale of the series. Eight episodes (counting the two part RAZOR) are in the can and others are well in process, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Or are those uneasy shadows? Guess that depends on your attitude re: the end of the show.

The question is, who will live? Who will die? And how much will be left of them? (Thanks to the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE poster for the great tag-line, which actually may fit some upcoming BSG machinations more than you might imagine!). Obviously, there are a lot MORE questions to be answered than just that, and it's been fun and challenging as we plow forward to explore so much fertile ground...

Me? I gotta pack!

VidFest Keynote

My good friend Paul Chadwick (creator of the comic book CONCRETE, and designer of the online MATRIX game) and I will be giving a co-keynote address at this year's VIDFEST (Vancouver International Digital Festival) in Vancouver B.C. on Sept. 24. We'll be discussing science fiction in the digital age, BATTLESTAR and chatting with attendees afterward. We're hoping that a good time will be had by all!

For more info on the Festival just check out their website at http://2007.vidfest.com

More BURN NOTICE = More BRUCE

Bruce Campbell's new show on USA, BURN NOTICE, has been picked up for another 13 episodes. Something to whet the appetite while waiting for our hardcore slice o'Campbelliana, MY NAME IS BRUCE... which, by the way, is still getting its hair done by various CGI wizards. In the immortal words of Orson Welles, slightly amended, "we will serve no Bruce before it's time!"

Burn Notice and BRUCE CAMPBELL...

According to Variety and the people who deal with ratings, Bruce Campbell's new show on USA, BURN NOTICE, is a hit. The highest rated episode landed it at #41 among ALL shows, quite an impressive achievment for a cable program. Even better, it's a genuinely fun show. Well written and fun, and Bruce is great as disheveled ex-spy Sam Axe. New episodes run Thursdays at 10:00PM on USA...

Rocketbelts... this weekend!

If I wasn't stuck writing various scripts, you can bet I'd be trying to get to this:


http://www.rocketbelt.nl/


Well... not really. But it's still cool. (Thanx to the "This Modern World" site for the heads-up).

POPEYE! (The Sailor!)

The long awaited, remastered collection of the early and best Popeye cartoons is finally out, and it's pretty amazing. As someone who has bought the color "Ali Baba" featurette at least ten times on video, laser disc and public domain DVD, this set is a revelation. The color bursts out of the screen with a vibrancy I suspect no one's seen since the very first release, and maybe not even then!

The black and white cartoons have also been cleaned up and remastered, and they're equally awesome. These are some of the wildest, funniest cartoons ever made, with a fluid animation style that reminds us just how much we've lost as the cheaper Saturday morning animation style has taken over.

I believe a Vol. 2 is due out in November... plenty of time to get through these dozens of cartoons AND the five hours (!) of commentary and extra features.

Assorted Thoughts...

BATTLESTAR

There are a bunch of rumors floating around about season four, nothing surprising about that, except some of the more recent "spoilers" I've seen are flat out wrong. So take a lot of what you're seeing out there with a grain o'salt. (And I'm not going to confirm or deny any of them, which I'm sure makes it all even MORE maddening...)

ROBERT GORDON

My favorite rockabilly stylist has a brand new album out, "It's Now Or Never", a collection of Elvis Presley covers. As with all things Gordon, this comes highly recommended. His pipes are just getting sweeter with age...

FLETCHER HANKS

The first edition of "I Will Destroy All The Civilized Planets", a collection of comic book work by the incomparable Fletcher Hanks, has completely sold out and a second printing is on the way. Much like Ed Wood, Mr. Hanks appears to be finding more fame in the afterlife than ever before.

POWER POP/RASPBERRIES

The reformed Raspberries have just released a two CD live set from Oct. 2005, "Live On The Sunset Strip." I haven't had a chance to sample the tunes yet, but it's the original line-up, including Eric Carmen, so I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it's great. All the hits and more...

Battlestar Battlestar BATTLESTAR

Now it's getting exciting. We're getting the cuts on the first season-four episodes and seeing our plans and schemes finally come together. There are some whopping surprises on the way, and some of the meatiest, most emotional turns yet for our hardy band of rag-tag survivors and their Cylon adversaries. Plus -- hellacious space battle action!

One of the joys of being ON the show is that I don't have to wait until January to see this stuff, but trust me, the wait will be worth it...

And, as the 6000+ fans at the San Diego Con event heard, Lucy Lawless will be back at D'Anna, tossing assorted Cylon monkey-wrenches into the proceedings. Good stuff is coming, I promise!