The Celluloid Heroes book I have been writing for the last several years has been an all-encompassing, all-engrossing project. The first draft of it clocked in at roughly 180,000 words. The current iteration sits comfortably at 140,000.
But during the winnowing down part of the rewrites, a great deal had to go. Turning these 40-odd films into a narrative non-fiction biography, essentially, of my entire life to date meant chapters I was (and remain) very fond of had to go.
Which brings us to this month’s episode about Battlestar Galactica.
Now you look at the above trailer and go “wait a minute, I thought Celluloid Heroes was about the cinema going experience”. Battlestar Galactica being a TV series would seem to be outside that purview on first glance, being a short-lived yet fondly remembered ABC TV series that aired between 1978 and 1979.
And you’d be right … save for the fact I was one of a relative few who first got to see Battlestar Galactica in a movie theater two months before its television debut.
And months before the toys began to show up:
How is this possible?
Well … the answers are, as always here:
Celluloid Heroes Episode Three is the kickoff to a mini-series-slash-trilogy of episodes I like to call Attack of the Killer B’s in which my focus shifts to three lesser-known, lesser-celebrated sci-fi epics I saw in theaters while living in Vancouver British Columbia between 1978 and 1980. All of them could be considered “B” pictures. All of them also began with the letter B. Sound off in the comments below which have been enabled, unlike last episodes’ posting (sorry about that) about which films you think those other B’s are, and make your predictions as to the remaining films I’ll be covering over this first 12-episode Season (hint: we end the narrative in late 1983 calendar-wise).
And so without further ado here’s a fun selection of images from this month’s episode. Listen on Spotify, Apple, Youtube, and on the Longbox Crusade Podcast Network.
Hi Brad I just listened to the first batch of Celluloid Heroes episodes and am greatly enjoying the ride. As to your question about Killer B’s I’m going to go with Battlestar Galactica, Battle Beyond The Stars, and The Black Hole as the three movies.
Brian – two out of three ain’t bad.
Hey Brad – I clicked on over here after listening to the first three episodes of Celluloid heroes and have to say this is my new favorite podcast. You’d think after fifty-odd years of GenX cinema there’d be nothing new under the sun to say about 2001, Star Wars, or Battlestar Galactica but you nailed it! In particular your take on Star Wars and suburbia really got me thinking about my small-town childhood, hearing about Star Wars for months before it finally arrived at our local theater. The anticipation was almost as entertaining as the movie and seeing it genuinely changed my life as well. Consider me a fan of Celluloid Heroes!
Ryan – thanks for writing and I’m glad you enjoy the show. I’ll be going it greater detail about certain movie theaters, many of which are now long gone but had a big impact on my life.
Brad – nice work on the first episodes of the Podcast. I am certain you will be covering a lot of interesting films over the show’s run. A question though: will any Canadian films be featured? Given your background in the Canadian film industry I am certain there are stories to tell on that side of the border.
Looking at the Celluloid Heroes blog posts and now these first episodes of the podcast I have to ask will women filmmakers and filmmakers of color make the Celluloid Heroes roster?
Steve H – I certainly plan on devoting several entries to various Canadian films. The challenge in doing Canadian cinema though lies in how difficult it was and often remains to see these films in a theater. Given Celluloid Heroes is all about the theatrical moviegoing experience I have to do some creative flexing to include Canadian films but there are a few titles I do want to cover. Stay tuned.
Kelly – The sad truth of it is in the era I am covering films by women or people of color were quite hard to come by in theaters (video was a different story – that’s where I first saw Dogfight, Gas, Food Lodging, and Do The Right thing). As far as filmmakers of color, there is a big Spike Lee-centered episode coming within the next couple of years, and he pops up a few times in Season Two of Celluloid Heroes. I hope to do a special episode on filmmakers like Nancy Savoca, Allison Anders, and Amy Heckerling as well but I may actually spin the main podcast into a Video-centric ones so I can touch base on a wider variety of films.