It’s serendipity that on tonight, of all nights I have some excuse to talk about the greatness of Edward James Olmos in movie news. It’s perfect, because I’ve been looking for an excuse, any excuse to talk about the latest episode of ‘Battlestar Galactica’, which, if you’re one of those sad few who hasn’t caught on yet, should always be referred to only as The Greatest Show On Television (Read our recap of BSG's brilliant season finale here).
BSG resolidified its place as the best thing on your tube tonight by ripping off the most mind blowing, ass-kicking season finale to hit television in at least a decade. The show had started to feel like it was slipping a little bit lately, like maybe they were drifting into ‘Lost’ territory. But in the season finale which just aired a few hours ago they not only put the show back on track, but made everything that’s happened over the past season suddenly seem a bazillion times better. Tonight’s episode was the kind of episode that leaves you with goose bumps on the back of you neck, the kind of television that makes living another minute without more of whatever it is you just saw almost impossible to bear. But we’ll have to bear it, since The Greatest Show On Television won’t return to the airwaves until January of 2008.
In the meantime, I plan to slavishly obsess over anyone and everyone from the show anywhere they go. That goes double for craggy faced acting wonder Edward James Olmos, who plays Admiral Adama on BSG. Variety has just announced that the old man is using his 2008 ‘Battlestar Galactica’ hiatus (or will the series be over?) to produce and direct a bilingual drama about illegal immigration. I have absolutely no interest in watching another movie about illegal immigration, but if Adama is there, then I’m there. So say we all.
Movie is being adapted from a book called “The Crystal Frontier”. The book tells nine different stories about nine different characters whose lives have been touched by a Mexican border resident named Leonardo Barraso. The reviews I stumbled over while trying to find out what it’s about seem mixed, and the novel sounds like it’s pretty heavy on political agenda. I’ve always gotten this weird vibe from Olmos, even before BSG, that he ought to have (or maybe does have) some sort of heavy credibility in the Mexican community. He just seems like the sort of guy you’d want to listen to. Maybe he knows what he’s doing here, and besides interconnected story movies are all the rage.
In addition to directing and producing Olmos is expected to star in the film, thus instantly making it worth at least double the price of admission. And if you just can’t bring yourself to pay to see Olmos speak two languages in theaters, then wait around for his other Mexican border project, a miniseries he’s doing for Showtime called The Flood. That shoots this summer during the current ‘Battlestar Galactica’ hiatus.
