StarWarsEpisodeIvANewHope Tagged Articles at Cinematical

We've seen the ads, we've seen a trailer, but we really have no idea what to expect from this week's release of Gamer. Except that it's directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the madmen of action cinema, and it's set in the near future, and it concerns an online game that involves mind control. Cool! If we're lucky, maybe we can figure out what's happening before a migraine sets in from all the on-screen insanity sure to be unleashed from the people behind Crank and Crank High Voltage.

Focusing on the mind control angle for a moment led me to think about all the great sci-fi movies that have played around with the idea of remote control mental gymnastics. The adolescent brain immediately seizes on the possibilities inherent in stripping unsuspecting young ladies down to the buff (thanks a lot, Zapped!), yet the more mature thinker wonders about deeper issues, like what to do with a woman who will only go out with you because you gave her no choice.

1. X-Men
Bryan Singer wove the mind control battle between Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan) into the fabric of the story. You could enjoy Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) discovering a fuller range of his powers, sympathize with the desperate plight of Rogue (Anna Paquin), admire Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), or simply try and stare through the body paint covering Mystique (Rebecca Romijn). Lurking in the background, though, was a duel between good and evil, with Professor Xavier favoring gentle nudges in the right direction and Magneto ready to wage an all-out war.

Read the Rest at SciFi Squad

Yesterday was the 32nd anniversary of the original theatrical release of Star Wars, which I had completely forgotten about until Cinematical Editor-in-Chief Erik Davis pointed me to this book. Star Wars: The Essential Atlas by Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry is a "fully illustrated, full-color guide that maps the entire galaxy." It promises to encompass "the entire Star Wars canon, including all the films, and the Clone Wars television series, plus the novels, comic books, video games, and more." The book "is packed with dozens of detailed maps and charts."

My interest in Star Wars ebbs and flows with the years. I was absolutely fanatical / obsessed with the first two movies, but the Ewoks irritated me long before Jar Jar Binks. I very much enjoyed the Thrawn Trilogy novels by Timothy Zahn but could not possibly keep up with all the books that followed. I loved seeing the originals on the big screen again in the 90s but was sorely disappointed that George Lucas felt compelled to tamper with them. Episode I was a real let down, Episode II fell entirely flat, yet portions of Episode III nearly redeemed the whole thing for me. (Go figure.) As a movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was fatally boring.

Despite all my mixed feelings, the idea of putting the entire Star Wars galaxy down on paper, complete with detailed maps and charts, appeals to the analytical part of my brain. The book is due out on August 18.