I was watching last Friday's episode of "Battlestar Galactica," and it finally hit me: Only 3 more episodes to go before this landmark series comes to a close after 4 spectacular seasons on the Sci-Fi Channel. It may not have been a huge ratings hit (like, say, "American Idol" or "Dancing with the Stars"), but "Galactica" - or "BSG," as it has come to be known - was thought-provoking TV at its finest, thanks to great stories and complex characters.

Of course, I still have the DVDs, which I plan watching again from the beginning. Then there's "Caprica," the prequel series that will turn back the clock to depict how the 12 colonies of humanity sealed their fate by creating the dreaded Cylons in the first place.

But the process of having brand-new episodes of "BSG" to look forward to will be gone, which means my Friday nights will be free again. At least there's solace to not being able to see "Galactica's" finest in uniform, since I'll be able to see their work on other shows.

Comeback star Mickey Rourke won Best Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday for his role in "The Wrestler" -- his speech was funny, moving and outrageous as usual (filled with profanity and sex jokes)!

He dedicated his award to his late dog Loki (almost cried), and he went on about how Eric Roberts should be given the second chance that he got!

And he gave a shout-out to Marisa Tomei, who played a stripper in "The Wrestler."

"Not many girls can climb the pole," he said of his co-star. "She climbed the pole, and she did it well."

If he wins Best Actor tonight, those sensors at ABC better be on 5-second delay!

I still have a few movies to see before I get to writing up my list of the Best Movies of 2008, but when I do, there's no question what's gonna be perched at the tippy-top:  "WALL*E"!

The fact is, not only is "WALL*E" my favorite movie of 2008, but I can honestly say that it's one of the best movies of this DECADE (so far, of course).

Talk about a movie that's loaded with subtext, it's far and away Disney/Pixar's most daring and imaginative film yet -- and that says a lot for the filmmakers behind "Finding Nemo," "Ratatouille" and the "Toy Story" features.

Sure kids will love it, since the "A" story -- about love story between two robots -- is hard to resist.  But grown-ups will get more out of it, especially if they peel away the layers to absorb the existential, environmental and post-apocalyptic issues at hand.

That's why I was so very glad when the Los Angeles Film Critics Association named it Best Picture of 2008. That's the first time in the organization's 33-year history that an animated film won the top prize.

by Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood movie guru

 

The "Star Trek" universe just about imploded this week when William Shatner went online -- and on the record -- about not being invited to the wedding of George Takei, who played helmsman Sulu on the original "Trek" series and the first six "Trek" movies.

While fans would love to believe that Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew were one big happy family, that wasn't the case.  But this is nothing new to the fans who attended "Star Trek" conventions over the years or to anyone who read "Star Trek Memories" -- Shatner's first memoir about the groundbreaking TV show that ran for three short seasons on NBC between 1966 and 1969.

Back in the day, when "Star Trek" was struggling in the ratings, many of the cast members resented Shatner for stealing dialogue and camera time that allegedly should have gone to them.

So this week, the Tribble...er, I mean, the cat's out of the bag -- and I know I'm gonna sound biased here, since Captain Kirk is one of my heroes, but I don't blame Shatner one bit for speaking out.

Every year at Comic-Con, there's at least one panel that you don't wanna miss. These panels start the buzz for big-budget genre movies, and that buzz can make or break a film long before it makes it to the big screen. In 2006, "Spider-Man 3" started the ball rolling, and in 2007, it sure as hell worked big time for "Iron Man."

[Pictured left: Actresses Carla Gugino, left, and Malin Akerman, right, pose for photographers after a panel discussion for the new movie "Watchmen" at the Comic-Con 2008 convention Friday, July 25, 2008 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)]

This year, it's "Watchmen." That name may not mean anything to the masses, but for the Comic-Con crowd, Watchmen is the Holy Grail. When it was first released as a 12-issue maxi-series starting in 1986 (and re-released later as a bounded graphic novel), it broke new ground because of its dark, violent, realistic and more mature depiction of flawed superheroes that weren't so super after all. Co-creators -- writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons -- took readers through an alternate 1980s reality where Richard Nixon was still president and the doomsday clock was ticking against the backdrop of New York.

In short, it was the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" of comics.  And now, director Zack Snyder is directing a big screen version for release in March of 2009 (ironically, 2 years to the day after Snyder's stylish epic "300," also based on a comics graphic novel, broke new ground).

If the comics read like an R-rated movie, then Snyder confirms that the film version will follow suit -- it's violent, disturbing, graphic, bloody and very R-rated.

And contrary to many special effects-laden superhero movies these days, most of the film was shot using real sets and not using green-screen.

By Scott MovieMantz

If Rose McGowan and Robert Rodriguez have indeed reached splitzville, as some tabloid rags recently "reported," you couldn't tell it from their P.D.A. at the San Diego Comic Con.

Both were in town to discuss their upcoming remake of "Red Sonja," the film about the red-haired heroine who first debuted in a Marvel comic.

McGowan leaves next week for five weeks of training to play the title role, and Rodriguez will direct.  The movie opens in late 2009.

by Scott Mantz

You may not know who WALL-E is now, but you sure will come June 27.

 

That’s when the next computer-animated bonanza from Disney-Pixar (“Finding Nemo,” “Toy Story”) hits theaters, and considering how well the first 8 have done – collectively grossing more than $4.3 billion worldwide – the ninth is bound to keep that cinematic gravy train chugging along just fine.

 

And for good reason – I got to meet WALL-E up close and personal when he dropped by the “Access Hollywood” offices, and what a cutie!  At first, he looked a little like the robot from “Short Circuit,” but then I realized he looked more like a cross between R2-D2 and E.T.