Gaius Baltar: Not That Evil, Part 1,000,000

James is featured as number 40 in EW's "Biggest Emmy Nomimation Snubs". I love that he's there, although he could be higher (like say number 1). I know James has said he doesn't care about the Emmys, and maybe he has a point, but still. He did a great job as Gaius and deserves some award love. 

Once again, I have to take objection to how Baltar is presented though. 

Callis' Baltar has worn so many masks, it's still hard to pin down who he is: weasel-like traitor, Iago-esque manipulator, power-hungry despot, broken political prisoner, crazed cultist?

I wouldn't describe him as any of those things. Well, maybe broken political prisoner. Weasel-like? Yes. Traitor? Yes, but he didn't know the stakes, so it's a bit debatable. Lago-esque manipulator? Absolutely not. Who did he manipulate and how? If anything, HeadSix manipulated him throughout the show. "Power-hungry despot"? That one made me laugh a little. I don't think he even cared about being president, in between the hookers and the drinking. He was just really miserable. "Crazed cultist"? That role was thrust upon him. He never really believed in the cult thing anyway, and secretly despised the women but was kind to them, because he had no choice.

But see - he was KIND to those women. He was kind to Gina, kind to Caprica (also bitchy at times, but that's part of a relationship), kind to Gaeta in the end, etc. He really did very little evil, and he wasn't consciously manipulative or scheming, ever. 

Did James Callis "redefine onscreen evil"? That's an interesting claim. I'm really not sure. On the one hand, he did give "evil" a kinder face, much kinder than the writers and producers would have. But was Baltar evil enough to redefine evil? Can you really put him on par with all the real baddies who have no conscience or heart to speak of? I don't think you can.

Callis drenches Baltar in such palpable fear and insecurity that his evil acts can actually make sense... making them all the more horrifying.

I agree with the first part, that's good writing and a good analysis of the role. But the second part? I just feel like they had to make it seem like Baltar is evil in the end. Maybe he did a few things that I thought were horrifying - almost killing the Chief to torture Sharon, for instance, and giving Gina the nuclear war head - but those acts didn't really make sense to me, and I don't think he was horrifying. He always seemed conflicted and guilty afterwards. 

What's horrifying about Baltar is how human he is. It horrifies me when I can relate to him, because it says something scary about my own personality: we're all weak and we could all end up in his position. That's the horror, not his evilness. 

BBC Merlin News Snippet

James' BBC Merlin role has been named: he will play "Borden, an old pupil of Gaius"! Digital Spy reports that James will appear in the fifth episode of the new season. The show will return in one month, which means James' episode will be aired in about two months' time. Exciting!

I must admit I've never watched this Merlin, but it's pretty cool he got to do a scene with Gaius of all names. Also, he will be riding a horse, which is exciting to me for some reason. (I'm not sure why - maybe I just like the skill of it? I've never done much riding.)

I don't have any other news about this, so here's the clip of him "climbing the wall" in "the rain", again.

New James Callis Project(s?)!

Screen Daily reports that James will be in a British soccer-related film in Manchester. It's described as "Billy Elliot meets Bend it like Beckham". So will it be sappy or funny? Hard to tell from the description, but it's James working with children, so it should be awww material! Also, it promises to be "distributed in the UK in 2012", so this might be something we will actually see. What worries me is that James is mentioned sixth, so it might be another small part. Must stop hoping he'd always have starring roles.

There is an indie film too, A Little Place off the Edgeware Road. And while indies are never something we get to see, I'm kinda hoping he does this one. He's unconfirmed, but very much wanted in the lead, and it's based on a Graham Greene story. I'd love to see him do something literary. (Bridget Jones doesn't count.) It's very sweet if he does this, because he'd basically be working pro bono, but I'm not sure if the soccer film comes first.

Oh, James tweeted he's already in Manchester! The Jamesman flies on, never stopping long in one place. They say Tampere is the Manchester of Finland (I guess because it's an industrial city), a.k.a. "Manse", so by admittedly rather far-fetched logic, he and I are in the same city. O.o Cosmic!!

As a side note, I almost eletrocuted myself with my old hair dryer. (It wasn't really that serious, but I had to go to the emergency room.) It reminded me of this deleted scene from Meet Pursuit Delange, so I'm re-posting it:

"It was certainly food for thought, and I knew that for the rest of the day, my mind would be filled with personal mission statements, Campari-fueled incontinence nightmares, and concerns about badly wired home appliances." 

So you know what my mind's filled with right now. Well, apart from the incontinence thing.

Like they said at the hospital, my heart is in great shape, but I do suffer from very severe fangirl-itis. Modern medicine knows no cure, so I'm not gonna quit the blog anytime soon. More news as it comes in!

News Splash

Firstly, some long-awaited news: Reuniting the Rubins has announced a release date on Facebook! 21st October, it will run a whole week in the UK cinemas, but the screens are still to be announced. I wonder if I could pester the local arthouse cinema Niagara to show this film. The previews seemed pretty promising.

Little birds have tweeted that we haven't seen the last of Dr Trevor/Charles Grant! The finale for Eureka was shot last week, and James Callis was in attendance. I'm quite excited about this! He was a no-show in the second part of season four (unsurprisingly, as we knew he was in Delhi while they were filming it). Dr Grant might just come to wrap things up neatly, or wreak more havoc. We'll see!

Edward James Olmos announced at Dragon*Con that he, James, and Ron Moore were going to Portland to shoot "an improv BSG skit"! :D This sounds awesome, and just up James' alley. I wonder what the skit will be like, with just the Admiral and Gaius Baltar. If it's anything like the Music of BSG segment, we're in for a treat. Edited to add: Oh, and it's apparently on a show called "Portlandia", which I had never heard of. So a guest starring role! Nice! Also something I can expect to see online soon after it airs. Watch this space!

Tricia Helfer, on the other hand, mentioned that she and James used to take shots of scotch before love scenes. Heee! They really needed alcohol to find each other attractive? I'm starting to wonder if Gaius Baltar's drink glasses contained actual scotch instead of some fake swill. BSG set was an openminded place...

During the past week, James has apparently managed to be in Vancouver, Portland, Zürich, Delhi, LA and London. (Or at least all of the airports, if I deciphered his tweet correctly.) This will only fuel the rumors of Mr Callis being Jesus, or Santa, or an unknown super-powered entity. We'll keep watching him for signs of greatness and report as need be.

If indeed Mr Callis had flown through the air without the means of a plane, we imagine it would have looked something like this...

(Reconstruction of possible situation; not an actual photograph. All rights reserved.)

Re-Uniting the Rubins Making of Teaser!

Re-uniting the Rubins: Behind-the-scenes Teaser from tomhollings on Vimeo.

Much like the film itself, the making of documentary doesn't actually seem to be available. But hey, here's a snippet of the first day of filming! James Callis can be seen several times, looking happy and donning his bubblewrap vest. (OK, sorry James, it's a very stylish coat, really. Ahem.) Rhona Mitra can also be seen. Timothy Spall and Honor Blackman are NOT in this video.

What you can see in this video is the amazing amount of PEOPLE present in every scene. If the scene is three people walking along a corridor, there are five others following them with cameras and microphones. It seems like so much work. How do they make it seem so effortless?

The movie does look good. I hope I get to see it some day.

Mustenland?

OMG people. LOOK AT THIS. James Callis posted this photo on Twitpic yesterday and I can't even.

Colonel Moustache

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :D :D :D :D :D
I was gonna joke at him at some point that if he's an old-timey gentleman, he needs those moustaches with the ends twirling up. Well, apparently he's got it!!! Also, LOL at "trailer trashistrocracy" :D I love his puns so much.

If he looks like this on the movie, I don't know. Very nice outfit and dignified, but that moustache! And even the sideburns, I mean look at them. Are they glued on? Is the moustache real? I will have some real trouble taking this seriously. Hehhehhee.

Other news from twitter:

mrbonturcode Bradley Porter 

@ 

@VMShorts Always. On set at the moment as Bret McKenzie is giving r&b dance lessons to Jane Seymour, JJ Feild & JamesCallis. Friday feeling

Sounds like they're having a lot of fun! :)

Also, author Shannen Hale reports:

 After one very cute and sweet actor shared some chocolate with me, I felt I had to report it to my husband, because hey, he was cute and British and he gave me chocolate!

 I choose to believe this was James. It just sounds like a James thing to do; eating chocolate AND sharing it? Swooon and gushhh (but only tentative ones in case it turns out it was Bret or Rupert instead!).


I'm also happy to hear they've been ad libbing. It might make for a nice genuine feel and allow James to build up Colonel Andrews a bit. The film really sounds pretty promising.

Ahhh *fantasizes about sharing chocolate with James, but then remembers the moustache and starts to giggle again* hihihihi.. :D

James Callis Shirtless Ideas

I get so many "James Callis shirtless" searches lately that I have decided to post a few gratuitously shirtless movie/tv show ideas for him. With pictures of him shirtless thrown in. No need to thank me; I aims to please.

"Oh no... I think the fangirls are objectifying me again!"


Shirt Free.
Hillbilly couple Jimbob (James Callis) and Trishlene (Tricia Helfer) decide to become hippies. They take their shirts off and wander around in the wild, putting flowers in their hair and singing stupid songs about going shirt free. Their arch enemy is Rody (Edward James Olmos), an angry old chief of police who hates nudity of all kinds, yet can't turn his eyes away from it. Their friend Ostrich (Jamie Bamber) is always at hand to join in the shirtlessness, as well as take shirt-free photos of them. This sitcom will run for eighteen seasons, despite being extremely formulaic. In each episode, they are almost but not quite caught by Rody, and Ostrich takes a series of sexy photos of them.

Some dialogue:
Jimbob: Golly, it's mighty fine going without a shirt! (ruffles chest hairs)
Trishlene: Oh yeppers. (ruffles boobs)
Ostrich: I done me a picture series that done been very sexy. I will get some cash for these. Yeehaw!
Rody: FREEZE!!!!
Jimbob: Oy, not him again. (puts shirt on)
Trishlene (puts shirt on, reluctantly)
Rody: YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR... wait a minute, where's your shirtless bodies?
Jimbob: Them's under them shirts.
Trishlene: Them. (points at boobs)
Rody: Hot fidgety fudge!!! *stomps ground in a comedic fashion*

Chest to Chest. 
What if shirts had never been invented? What if people just rubbed lotion on themselves and each other to keep warm- and safe? This horror drama explores such a sexy but dangerous world. Fyvush (James Callish) and Driwsha (Trisha Helfer) are starring, among others. Oh let's be honest, it's the entire BSG cast with no shirts to speak of.
Fyvush: Honey? Time to get up.
Driwsha: Mmmh. I had a beautiful dream that there were no chest-eaters. We just ran around happily with no fear.
Fyvush: But it was only a dream. The reality is, they are out there...
(looks out the window. A futuristic, poorly CGI'ed bird-beast stares back and licks its lips.
Fyvush: Ugh. (cuddles his chest)
Driwsha: Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll just rub this repellent lotion on ourselves and each other.
(30 minutes of lotion-rubbing in slow motion)
Bird-beast: GAWKK!!! (flies away from the smell of the repellent)
Fyvush: We finally found the right smell to repel them.
Driwsha: Too bad it's the smell of shit. But hey, you get used to everything.
(The TV turns on by itself)
Fyvush: We gotta fix that thing.
Reporter: A chest-eater mauled a young woman to death today in city chest. It was later found to be a suicide. The 25-year-old woman had left a note saying, "I cannot stand the smell anymore." She was a notable model and studied medicine... (Picture of the woman; Katee Sackhoff)
Driwsha: Oh my chest. Such a pointless death!
Fyvush: That's it! I will find a lotion that smells better than shit!

A chest-eater!!! Honestly how creepy is that?! (Toby says it just looks cute and I'm too easily scared. Maybe he's just scarred from playing too many Silent Hill games. It's HELLA SCARY.)




34t My 541rt.
(eat my shirt)
This ground-breaking idea explores a world that is exactly like the internet. People of all sizes keep stopping for sexy posing, while the jealous troll them relentlessly. The dialogue goes into many directions, but someone always mentions Hitler.
(beginning screen) You must be 18 or over to proceed. Please click YES if you are and NO if you are not.
(invisible hand clicks YES) We're not sure we believe you. But wtf ever, how could we tell?
(Street. Regular-looking people walk around. Among them - Jimbyc (James Callis) and trutricia (Tricia Helfer). People randomly stop to pose shirtless, sometimes pantsless.)
Jimbyc (takes his shirt off and gives some sexy poses.) (He could gain some weight for this role. Just an idea.)
Troll: LOL U R fat
Jimbyc: LOL Shut up haters u just jelous
Trutricia: F U stop being rude to my boyfriend he's rily hot u not
Troll: WTF is this Nazi Germany u just want ppl to say u r hot f u both
Troll 2: Show ur b00bs
Trutricia: (shows them)
Troll 2: w00t [CENSORED]
Jimbyc: WTF Shut up u perv its my gf u r talkin 2

I could go on forever, but I think I'll stop here. I hope you were turned on, I sure was.

A Slight Alleviation. (James Callis in Austenland)

So I dunno. I'm not going to say that I will LOVE this thing, because I probably won't. BUT.

-If you do a search, dozens of blogs are already squeeing over this film. It's all over the net. People are going to watch this. People are going to watch James. So it might not be the main role or anything, but he's at least VISIBLE to the great audience again. Some will watch for Stephenie Meyer (sigh), others will watch for Keri Russell, some because they love the book or Colin Firth. So it's visibility, and all visibility is good for his career.

-James' role is Colonel Andrews, according to this link, which is Shannon Hale's personal blog, so we can be pretty sure it's accurate. There's a preview of Austenland here, and browsing through it, I found Colonel Andrews on page 27 and on. There are fairly many scenes with him; he's an OLD-TIMEY BRITISH GENTLEMAN, just like I hoped. Swooon!!!! I want to see this! James is so good for the part of a gentleman, because well, even off character, he is. He may be down-to-earth and a bit clumsy and awkward sometimes, but always polite, and in some way very British. So it at least sounds like a fitting role and one I can enjoy watching.

-Colonel Andrews is described as "fair-haired, with a decent set of shoulders and a very ready smile". Fair-haired?! I wonder if they've given up on that or if James will dye his hair. Also, he is said to emit a "whiff of tobacco", which is fitting too. So maybe we get to see him smoke again!

That's about it. I must admit I couldn't read the book; I can't focus on this kind of fiction. I fear I sound like a snob now, I do enjoy entertainment, just not of the chick lit kind. However, I have no idea how much bearing the book will have on the actual film; Bridget Jones's Diary, while entertaining enough, was a terrible adaptation that took away the best scenes and shrunk the best characters into the margin. So reading the book might actually not warm me to the film at all. Maybe it's best to just know what part James will play and look forward to gentlemanly charm. I do find Keri Russell charming and a good actor, so that's also a plus.

I guess you could say I don't have "great expectations" for this film. Heh heh. Wait, no, that's Dickens. I'm approaching this film with too much "pride and prejudice". See? That works! I am clever! I should totally write a chick lit novel about a girl who obsesses over James Callis.

James Callis to be in "Austenland". (AKA I'm Sorry But.)

So James will appear in "Austenland", a rom-com about a woman who's obsessed with Colin Firth's Mr Darcy (who's apparently not called Mark except in Bridget Jones - so much for my classical literature education ;)). It's an adaptation of a book by Shannon Hale, starring Keri Russell. Brief article here.

I'll start with the good: it sounds like a mainstream film that WILL make it to Finland, so I can actually go see him in the cinema and buy the DVD. Yay for that! The premise sounds like it could be interesting, book adaptations tend to be better than run of the mill rom-coms, and I do like Keri Russell. (And Colin Firth, assuming he appears in the film at least in some way.)

But the bad... Oh, dear. OK, I'll just say this now, before I know more about the film: I'm a huge James Callis fan, but that comes second seat to my politics. I'm a feminist, and rom-coms exhibit all things I hate about modern "women's culture": they're shallow, feminist on the surface but patriarchal in the core, terribly dated and stereotypical, and what's worst of all, totally unfunny. I've seen a couple I liked, but there's a big chance I will not like this film. And I'm sorry, but I will gripe in that case. If I think it's a waste of my time and James' talent, I will gripe. I'll try not to make the posts ALL about that, but I won't make totally unpolitical gushery posts if I'm not feeling it. The only thing that will stop me from griping, if it's anything like other rom-coms I've seen, is if a) James is fat or b) he gets to play a really charming, funny, sexy gentleman (a well-written one). Preferably both. I know, boring feminist grouch, but there it is. (I wouldn't apologize if this were my personal blog, but I always feel like a fan blog should be a little more for the other fans, and I've already made it so much about me. But I am what I am.)

Also: SUPPORTING cast. In a rom-com. If this is another Bridget Jones's Diary, I will just... I mean, I know some good actors (Colin Firth) have done a bunch of rom-coms of varying quality. Maybe I'm biased because I'm just a big ol' fangirl but James is talented. He's smart, he brings a world of emotion into his roles, he's handsome, he has it all. He could be doing main roles, serious movies, genuinely funny comedies, Charlie Kaufman or David Lynch or something like that. It troubles me when he's cast like this, mentioned last in a Stephenie Meyer project. Is there something I'm missing? Is it his accent? His height? His lack of buffness? The fact that BSG was popular only in nerd circles? Or maybe he's just happy doing this kind of thing and doesn't want the stress and fame that would come with a bigger role. Maybe I'm taking him too seriously again and I need a new hobby.

On the other hand, he was going to be working on 17th Precinct, and probably passed by some other roles because that was his first choice. So maybe there's more good stuff coming later.

All of that said, I will give "Austenland" a try, and if it's good, address a full and frank apology for suspecting it sucks. (But can you blame me? Stephenie Meyer, Nacho Libre writer.)

Incy Wincy James Callis Came Climbing Up the Wall

Taken at Pierrefonds on May 10th, 2011. At 1 minute: James Callis climbs the wall of the castle. It's fascinating to see how this happens. What surprises me is how many people are constantly there while a scene is being filmed. And they're all so quiet.

Have you ever wondered how they film rain scenes? Apparently they just use a big hose to create it. And when someone has to climb the wall? He has a LADDER. He makes it look like a lot of work. And OK, hanging in that position and being rained on, it probably is, but so much for the magic of cinema! I've never watched Merlin, but I'm intrigued to see why James climbs up the wall and what happens inside the castle. I know he filmed many inside scenes, so we'll see!

In the scene with the horses (near the end), you can see someone who MAY be James with a white horse. I really can't tell if it's him. After staring at his pictures so much, I really should be able, but all I can say from such a distance is that it could conceivably be James. Maybe. (I have the same problem with his figure, the clothes are really bulgy and hangy. Hmmm.)

I also think it's adorable how that guy - Colin Morgan? - is kissing his horse in the end. So cute.

Edit: Oh, and where are my manners? Original video here, big thanks to JulesVids!