21st Century Chess

StarCraft, a Real-time Strategy (RTS) gaming franchise created by Blizzard Entertainment, is chess for the 21st Century. You can't run, gun, and button mash your way to victory. It requires an incredible amount of patience and dedication. This isn't a game that you can master within 8-20 hours. You have to play at least 100 matches with each playable race (Terran, Zerg, and Protoss) before you master just the basics, and another 100+ before you become proficient with one.

For the majority of the microwave generation that's a turnoff, but for gamers looking for a change of pace I can't recommend it enough. I look forward to returning to the battlefield when the expansion pack Heart of the Swarm is released.

Say It Ain't So

An Entourage film can only tarnish the shows legacy.

I'm still shaking my head. Why on earth, other than the fact that nobody from the cast has hit pay-dirt since the show ended, would a studio green-light an Entourage film? The well ran dry after season 5, sending the bucket back down is insanity.

Step 1, Admit That You Have a Problem

Olly Moss - The prequels were an affront to every fan of the original trilogy.

The news regarding the 3-D releases of Attack of The Clones and Revenge of The Sith being delayed so that Disney and Lucasfilm can focus all their efforts on Episode VII is an olive branch to a fan-base that was left wounded by the prequels.

This gesture increases my faith in Disney being able to deliver a Star Wars film that receives universal acclaim.

The Doldrums

The wait for new episodes of Game of Thrones and Mad Men is agonizing.

It finally hit me last night while I was watching the very boring Screen Actors Guild Awards (please, hire a host) and the abomination that is the Pro Bowl; I really miss my Sunday night TV shows.

Thank goodness March 31st and April 7th are right around the corner.

You're My Only Hope

The torch has been passed.

When news broke in October of 2012 that The Walt Disney Company was going to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. and begin production on Star Wars Episode VII, I began to think about what would happen to the hallowed franchise. Would the story from Episodes I-VI continue? Would the living cast members from those films come back to reprise their roles (please, don't do it)? And most importantly, who would be the director now that George Lucas had decided to ride off into the sunset?

Every big name director, from Christopher Nolan to Ben Affleck, had their name tossed into the hat. Irreparable damage was done to the franchise with Episodes I, II, and III. They were brutal films. The only memorable thing about them was the lightsaber duel at the end of The Phantom Menace. Bringing this franchise back from the brink would be a burden very few directors could shoulder.

What's funny is the same thing happened to another venerable science fiction franchise. Star Trek was eclipsed 10x over by Star Wars, and the films released in the 1990's destroyed what little credibility it had left. When comic book movies began their ascent to the top of Hollywood in the mid 2000's, Star Trek seemed like it would be left on the scrapheap until a studio got desperate and wanted to make a quick buck.

Enter J.J. Abrams, a student of Steven Spielberg and a disciple of film. His 2007 reboot, simply titled Star Trek, revived the franchise and set it up for what promises to be a lucrative future (the sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, is due out this spring). I hadn't been a fan of Star Trek until I watched that film. It gave me a newfound perspective regarding the series and what it means to the science fiction genre.

Now, it's one thing to reboot Star Trek, a franchise that was in complete ruin. No one had any expectations leading up to its reboot in 2007. Directing Episode VII is different. It's probably the hardest task any director will undertake over the next decade or two. If the film bombs critically (it has no chance of bombing financially), the franchise would be in jeopardy of entering a point of no return with the fans who elevated it to its lofty status.

Although this is video is 5 years old, and will be 7 at the time of Episode VII's release, it is what I direct people to when they ask if J.J. Abrams is capable of handling all the responsibilities with bringing us Episode VII. He was destined to bring Star Wars back from the abyss. If you haven't seen any of his films or television shows, go watch them before the summer of 2015. Lost, Star Trek, and Super 8 show that the force is strong with this one, and that the Star Wars franchise is headed for new, unimagined heights.