THE BLAME GAME HAS BEGUN...inept director Michael Rymer

[dvo47p]

BEFORE THE mini STARTED?

From the Chicago Tribune
`Galactica' ends too abruptly
By Maureen Ryan
Tribune staff reporter

December 8 2003

Though this "Galactica" outing isn't quite as free from cliche as the producers promised, it's a reasonably intriguing effort, and worth the time of sci-fi aficionados. Though if the show does return as a series, let's hope it's without , whose biggest previous credit was the critically savaged "Queen of the Damned" and whose fondness for swooping and jittery camera moves gets mighty irritating. There are many excellent directors working in TV today, but he's not one of them.

[Belloby]

I don't care if they had Steven Spielberg directing it. I wouldn't watch it.

[Bijou88]

It is true that the direction is the least of this debacle's worries. However, it must be said that the hand-held shaky camera technique favored by the director is a poor choice for this production. Hand held shooting has become such a cliche and I find it really irritating. I think that it gives directors a free pass for crappy camera work. It calls attention to itself and is distracting. It is ok for some action sequences like in "Saving Private Ryan." In that case it was harkening back to newsreel footage of the actual D-Day invasion. Cop shows use it all the time to make it seem immidiate and "real". But for the mini, the jiggly camera moves make no creative sense. Gaius and Number 6 are having a conversation and the camera is wobbling like the camera operator is having muscle spasms. What's the point? There isn't any. Now that I think about it, I guess pointless cinematography and a pointless script are made for each other.