Pssst…Jim…you should spoiler tag the director as Chuck said he didn’t want to know who directed it!
My theory on Starbuck is that she’s always been in love with Lee. Or at least since the miniseries. I think she chose Sam (in this episode or when she marries him) because she’s not in love with him. Lust, yes, and maybe she loves him, but she’s not in love with him. I think to her, being in love will take away some of her power/control and leave her more vulnerable. Not to mention her past experience with Zach where she made a big mistake let her heart overrule her mind and got him killed. That’s hardly something she wants to repeat. So, I think she gets involved with Sam to forget Lee. If she can focus on Sam, maybe she can resist Lee.
I agree that Highlander 2 was a worse movie than Starship Troopers, and possibly the worst Sci.Fi. movie of all time. I say possibly because there were A LOT of bad Sci.Fi. movies made in the past 50 years, and MST3K could only scratch the surface of that pile.
As for the political rewrite that the director did on SST, I got it, and it didn’t work. If he wanted to write that story, then he should have had the decency to change the name. Now there has been a lot written on the net about Heinlein’s politics or the message that he was trying to present in SST, but that ends up having absolutely nothing to do with the movie. It’s like taking Hamlet and making it into an polemic on the invasion of Iraq, with Hamlet as General Petraus (sp?), Bremmer as Polonious, and Sadam Hussain as Faltanbras.
As for the director that shall not be named, I think his other work does speak to his dislike for Sci.FI. Robocop was at best tolerable to watch once and I’ve never had the desire to see it again. As for Total Recall, I laughed as much in that movie as I did in SST, and mostly involving the phrase “Can you believe how bad that was?” 
Still, Highlander 2 was much worse…
Wanted to comment on the Alien species phone call in this podcast…
Always have thought that aliens kinda put a limit on a universe, even though they usually show up to break you out of the mundane human mindset. When you look at Star Trek, Farscape or anything that has a huge species/race/bestiary list it really sort of domesticizes the idea of life on other planets. Once you declare- Here are aliens from other planets you can build any sort of argument you want about humanity’s place in the Universe, which sorta the bread and butter for a lot of Scifi.
What is so great about BSG not having alien species-- and we’re talking acid-blooded, grammar challenged sorts (what? Yoda totally had acid-blood!)-- is that it captures the vast emptiness of space really well. The infinite is kinda hard to conceptualize- for television? fuggedaboudit! But the Fleet running sorta blindly in that vast nothing, with no allies and no haven is the crux of a lot of elements in the first two seasons. As things slide into the humanity vs. cylons; creating cylons and the nature of humanity, trying to bring in other aliens, plus how everyone’s going to react to them, is really going to complicate and dilute a lot of those themes. So it never struck me as something that the showrunners left out for the sake of approachability, but more something that was cut because it wouldn’t serve the story. Of course that’s just IMO, but I’m all for not seeing any other aliens in the show, it’s not necessary for the big epic story points that I find the most interesting and it would detract from some of the awesome.
My thoughts exactly, and expressed very clearly, sir.
The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley. Talat is Aerin’s trusty and loyal steed. I like horses. Real horses rather than dogs as big as horses. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs too.
The first time I ever get quoted on the 'cast and it’s for calling Scar a “sexy beast.” Oh, man…
My theory on Starbuck is that she’s always been in love with Lee. Or at least since the miniseries. I think she chose Sam (in this episode or when she marries him) because she’s not in love with him. Lust, yes, and maybe she loves him, but she’s not in love with him. I think to her, being in love will take away some of her power/control and leave her more vulnerable. Not to mention her past experience with Zach where she made a big mistake let her heart overrule her mind and got him killed. That’s hardly something she wants to repeat. So, I think she gets involved with Sam to forget Lee. If she can focus on Sam, maybe she can resist Lee.
I agree, Trillian (awesome name!). I think Starbuck wants what she can’t have (don’t we all?) Instead of trying to make a relationship work with Lee, she’s going to pine for Sam. This episode and the next one are very interesting after having seen Unfinished Business. When things go badly with Starbuck, Lee runs right to Dee.
Also,
The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley.
Awesome! I loved this book!
LOL, that is awesome!! I was sure that no one would get that! Now the real question is did you actually know or did you google it? Just kidding, you ROCK!!!
My favorite book of all time… sad, but true!
I agree that Starship Troopers didn’t follow the book, but was still fun as an action/monster movie. I wonder if anybody else thought it had a lot of the same kind of tongue-in-cheek sillyness as Robocop?
Dune just sucked the air out of the room.
— Dismal the oppinionated
I always felt the exact opposite. I liked Lee and Starbuck’s brother/sister relationship, especially in the context of Adama and Roslin as father/mother figures–the scene in Pegasus where the two “kids” argue in front of Adama about their reassignments is classic Family Adama stuff. The love angle always seemed forced, like a ploy to the fans who wanted to see the two leads hook up (no offense if you do). The chemistry b/t Kara and Anders felt real to me, and Starbuck seemed more mature when she was with him as opposed to when she was pining after/frakking around with Lee. Lee and Dee’s chemistry didn’t really work for me until they got married, and then it became obvious that Dee was the best thing that ever happened to him.
<duck> As for SST, I loved it when I saw it, but then I was 16 or so, and my arachnophobia probably played into it a lot–the swarms of giant bugs were exhilaratingly terrifying. I read the book years later, but never developed the hatred for the movie because of it. It’s a darn good book though, and I could never figure out why they didn’t include the big fighting armor suits in the movie (can’t remember the correct term), which were basically what the book was all about. They certainly weren’t at a loss for special effects funds. </duck>
Now I can’t remember what they were called. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers] Wikipedia calls them “powered armor exoskeletons.” Doesn’t ring a bell but my head is so full of craaaaap, like “where did I put my car keys?”
I’m so going to check as soon as I get home. And I completely agree, the film maker that dare not be named really missed the boat by leaving the suits out. Definitely my favorite part of the novel…
It was asked on the show where you can see the old Looney Tunes cartoons, like coyote and roadrunner… Warner Bros. releases an annual four-disc box set DVD “Looney Tunes Golden Collection” (I believe there are five available now) each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts. You can find them on Netflix or at your local video store…
Here’s a Wikipedia description:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looney_Tunes_Golden_Collection
— Dismal the animated poster
I am going to rent Buckaroo Banzi, I bought the Dune book (Frank Herbert is the author right?), Ender’s game seems interesting, and that other book about Mariner’s souls (I forget the title).
Which Ender’s game book should I get? I am on Borders now and there are so many.
are you talking about the chick from Saw 1,2 & 3?
btw, i love the podcasts even more now since we have the forums. It’s much more interactive and personal. When you guys talk about threads i’ve started or contributed to, it’s like we’re all hanging out at the bar and such 
I’m no shipper, but I’m quite pleased when Lee and Starbuck get together (physically…). It’s probably a personal reflection on me, but the only chemistry I really believed was between Lee and Kara. They squabbled and picked on each other not so much like siblings, but in a flirty sort of way (a la Pride and Prejudice). I could see why maybe it was somewhat awkward, with the “I was engaged to your brother, was then responsible for his death, and oh yeah, your father likes me better than you”. I don’t really think Dee is/was at all good for Lee. After he married her, he gained a bunch of weight and became a wimp. Kara would totally have kicked his butt! Instead, Daddy had to. And she totally didn’t support him playing lawyer, she might not have agreed with him, but she should have supported him. Of course, I stopped liking Dee after what she did to Billy and totally lost all respect for her when she said she knew Lee was in love with Kara, but married him anyway because it’s war time and who knows how long they’ll be around for. Kara and Lee work because they’re opposites. Kara and Sam, though lusty on Caprica, didn’t work out in the long term because they’re too similar. They just got bored and sat around drinking. Dee is too much like Lee, honourable and rule-abiding, and no fun. Kara brings out the competitive spirit in Lee.
Thanks!
trillian is the hot chick from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, right?
Absolutely!
I get the feeling that Kara really can’t love anyone who isn’t an Adama, and after what happened to Zak she has a real difficulty allowing her self to get into a relationship with some one she truly loves because she worries too much about hurting him and herself. In addition, I think she realizes that a real relationship with someone you love and respect requires compromises and sacrifices, and she’s not willing to do that. The only time when she was willing to have a relationship with Lee was when they were committing adultery and therefore she could convince herself it wasn’t a real relationship. While she had a good fling with Anders, and then fell in love with the idea that she loved him while he was stuck back on Caprica, I never got the sense that she truely loved him. The most passion we saw between them was when Apollo was around and she could make him jellous. Otherwize, the Kara’s and Ander’s marriage didn’t seem very fullfilling and he appeared to have been more of a drinking buddy than a husband. Also I bet that if Lee and Kara had been in a relationship at the time of Maelstrom she wouldn’t have been able to have let herself “die” in the storm.
I’m still not really sure who is best for Lee. Starbuck would require a lot of work while Dee seemed like she would be more supportive. However, I too was dissapointed in her failing to support him through the trial. Then again, Lee only really performs well when he’s passionate about something, and if he would be passionate about Kara, then she would have probably been the best choice for him (if she were ever able to make the commitment).