Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer and Poster Review

The Road to Episode VII | My column @ Forces of Geek.com

Sometimes, J.J. Abrams’ “Mystery Box” approach to promoting a film can be frustrating. However, this time, he is running on all cylinders as the trailer gave us a lot without spoiling much of anything. I still have no idea what this movie is about, but the revealed footage made my imagination run wild with possibilities.

Kylo Ren standing over the scorched Darth Vader helmet and vowing, “Nothing will stand in our way. I will finish what you started.” Wow, just, wow. What does that even mean? Did Vader have a grand design that none of us are aware of?

Does Kylo know that Vader turned good at the end of Return of the Jedi? We’ve had Sith lords that deal in absolutes, but never a dark side wielder that is clinically insane. What else do you call someone who keeps someone’s thirty-year-old head on a pedestal? Continue reading “Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer and Poster Review” →

Raw Ratings Suffer Despite Star Studded Lineup

WWE brought out the big guns this week in order to prevent what could have been a historically bad rating for Monday Night Raw. While the ratings did improve from last week’s record low number of 3.27 million viewers, it was only a slight increase to 3.35 million viewers. Even with the combined competition they faced, WWE can’t be happy with an increase of only 80,000 viewers considering the big names they had on the show. Continue reading “Raw Ratings Suffer Despite Star Studded Lineup” →

We’ve Finally Gone Back to the Future

This past Wednesday was October 21, 2015. The day when Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled to in Back to the Future II. Movie theaters across the country held special screening of the BTTF films while websites displayed a fond remembrance for the franchise.

All of the activity throughout the day prompted me to watch Back to the Future when I got home from work. Maybe it was the nostalgia of it all, but I found myself completely absorbed in the final moments of the film when Doc connects the wires just in time for the lightning to hit the DeLorean and send Marty back home.

At best, I’m a casual fan of the trilogy, but I’ve gained a new-found appreciation for the first film. Forces of Geek.com celebrated Back to the Future with lots of great columns, commentary, reviews, and more. Click here to check out my review of the new comic book written by films co-creator Babe Gale.

Star Wars: Shattered Empire #3

Even from beyond the grave, Emperor Palpatine will do anything to protect his secrets. Satellites have been sent to select planets across the galaxy to create typhoon strength storms that will destroy everything in their path.

One of these planets is Palpatine’s homeworld of Naboo. Coincidentally, Princess Leia and Shara Bey (Poe Dameron’s mother) are there meeting with the Queen in an attempt to bring allies to the New Republic. Continue reading “Star Wars: Shattered Empire #3” →

Star Wars Reads Day

This past Saturday marked the fourth annual Star Wars Reads Day, a global celebration that promotes literacy while uniting fans of the franchise. Thousands of events were held all over the globe.

I’m going to be honest, I never knew that Star Wars Reads Day was even a thing until my editor at Forces of Geek asked me to write an article about it. It resonated with me once I looked into what this event was because Star Wars taught me how to read. Continue reading “Star Wars Reads Day” →

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith: Book Review

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith | By Paul S. Kemp | Published by LucasBooks |The Road To Episode VII @ Forces of Geek.com

Lords of the Sith is a cautionary that takes place 14 years before the Battle of Yavin and right before the events in James Luceno’s Tarkin.

I use the word cautionary as opposed to dark to describe the comings and goings of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine because if these characters were real and you wanted to kill them, this book would convince you to not only abandon your plans, but you wouldn’t dare to think of such a plot ever again. Continue reading “Star Wars: Lords of the Sith: Book Review” →

Star Wars – Lost Stars (Review)

Star Wars: Lost Stars | Author: Claudia Gray| Published by Disney Lucasfilm Press | The debut of my Star Wars column “The Road to Episode VII” at Forces of Geek.com

When I first heard that four of the five Star Wars novels that were released on Force Friday were being marketed as Young Adult books, I stereotypically dismissed the idea of reading them due to my fear of pale moody Jedi sparking Sith Lords.

However, one of the books titled Lost Stars has received a lot of praise, with many calling it the best of the new canon novels. I don’t even know why these books were labeled YA.

In its simplest form, the story follows two star-crossed lovers trying to find their place in the universe, all while serving the Empire. The success, misfortune, and bedlam coupled with youth’s intense and raw emotion produced a mature and thought-provoking narrative along with interesting characters that have depth. Continue reading “Star Wars – Lost Stars (Review)” →

Hellboy in Hell

I haven’t reviewed a comic book in a while. So I jumped at the opportunity when my editor at Forces of Geek.com asked me to write an advanced review of ‘Hellboy in Hell #7.’

Here is the official synopsis for “The Hounds of Pluto” Part 1 of 2.

A sickness eats away at Hellboy. Though he’s dead, he risks losing himself and becoming one of the hollow phantoms that haunt Hell. A team of doctors promise a cure, but they need something from him first . . .

My review is up now, and you can click here to check it out.

Pixels is Pixelated

In the third act of Sony’s video game comedy, Pixels, Josh Gad’s Ludlow professes his love to his 8-bit crush, the deadly assassin Lady Lisa, while she has him pinned down by a pair of swords. I hoped she would run him through with the blade instead of falling for his romantic gestures because Gad’s annoying and uninspired performance represents the film’s overall tone.

Continue reading →

Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger will appear at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger captured my imagination from the moment he emerged from the curtain at WCW Superbrawl II. Liger lost the Light Heavyweight championship to Brian Pillman on that February evening in 1992, but it didn’t matter. The mixture of revolutionary high-flying moves and technical wrestling coupled with his anime inspired ring gear had me at hello.

Liger has wrestled all over the world. You name the promotion, and he has been there. That is, except for WWE. That will finally end as it was announced that Liger will appear at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn on 8/22/15. The event will air live on the WWE Network and spoiler alert, he will square off against Tyler Breeze. Continue reading “Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger will appear at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn” →