(14) 90 in 90: A Love that Will Never Die

It's no secret to people that know me how much I love film. I love watching film, I love talking about it. I love finding out the secret history of my favorite films, the steps it takes to craft a vision that begins in the mind and comes alive on the scree, to be shared with millions of people from all walks of life.

This is why I get incredibly giddy when I watch a film that I genuinely love. Like many things in life, getting swept off your feet doesn't happen too often. And also like life, we comes across dozens of moments that we experience one moment, and easily forget about the next. Life is filled with many moments, but there are only a precious few that we actually remember.

For me films are the same way. It may have come from devouring a massive amount of of celluloid in my life. While I can confidently say that I have watched hundreds of movies and films over the years, there are only a select handful that remain in my mind. 

These are more than just passing memories or cool moments that I can remember (although there are still plenty of those). These are stories, scenes and characters that have effected my entire life and being. They have sent images and messages that have been permanently implanted into my brain, moments in which I close my eyes, I can can still recall with such vivid clarity, they feel like recently experienced memories, even if the film or specific moments were first viewed years or months ago.

People often think its strange how much I love cinema. To them, it comes off as excessively possessed by something that has no true purpose in our lives. Something that is a in its most basic way, entertainment meant to distract us for a few hours. 

To me it is an easy answer to give. Cinema offer something more than entertainment. Dig deep enough you see something so pure and simple in its message, so incredibly human like in nature. 

This is because movies offer a heightened sense of emotion that we don't get from the real world. We, I, crave that stimulation because life is filled with tedium and toil for which most of will never escape from until the day we die. Most people walk blissfully through life and don't care about movies, seeing them as simple entertainment, a distraction. We want to feel something beyond what life offers.

But despite all of the thunder that movies provide, the best of them always have the smell of truth. What I remember from Star Wars isn't the Death Star explosion but that one moment where Luke looks to the horizon. That's one of the purest moments in cinema history as it crosses cultural barriers because it reaches the very core of the human condition; longing and hope for a better world.

No matter how many pyrotechnics there are, if the story doesn't resonate on a purely human level then all is lost because it then becomes an imitation of life. Hollow and shallow, like many forgotten memories and moments in our lives.

Moments that like bad movies, just seem to fade away from our minds. 

E3 from Abroad: Conference Wrap Up: EA and Ubisoft

To start this out and get it out of the way, it has to be said.

I don't hate EA.

I constantly hear how they are the most hated company in the industry and how they are the cancer that is slowly stifling the creativity and innovative ideas in the industry. In some ways, this is true. EA is one of the kings of producing franchises that always seems to scream "me too" and appeal to the unwashed masses.

In another way, EA has put out many games that I have enjoyed over the years. While I haven't played a sports game since middle school (and back then they were always the Sega 2K games) and racing games like Need for Speed for the most part leave me feeling indifferent, there have been titles from EA I have enjoyed. Mirror's Edge, The Dead Space series (1 and 2), Shadow of the Damned and yes, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 have all had extended playtime from me.

That being said, there's quite a bit I don't like about EA. Again, I don't like the me too, focus group features that make it in to some games. For example, co-op in Dead Space 3 and multiplayer for Dead Space 2 were entirely unnecessary and seemed to exist just for the sake of having a feature that the publisher could bast about. I am also not a fan of their Origin service, an extremely restrictive and uncompromising distribution and game client that is pretty much a requirement for PC gamers wanting to play EA games. Let's not even get into the season pass and activation codes for games otherwise I'll never get to my point.

EA

For their E3 presentation this year, four games caught my eye. Titanfall, which I previously talked about in the Microsoft wrap up still looks like a ton of fun (no pun intended) with nimble and fast paced soldier on mech action. In many ways, this looks like the forward and radical thinking that most would have wanted from the Call of Duty games in order to prevent themselves from becoming stagnant. Coming from the guys who were responsible for the COD series up to Modern Warfare 2, I have really high expectations for this game.

Battlefield 4 looked awesome as well. Large maps, impressive visuals and a 64 player count makes this more like the game that Battlefield 3 should have been and in some ways, that makes me feel conflicted. Looking back, I can't help but feel that BF3 was a beta for EA, a way to test the Frostbite engine and have a placeholder title to compete against COD a few years before the next gen jump. That being said, BF4 still looks fantastic and a lot of fun. Even the single player, which I was initially cold towards looks more interesting as time goes on. Does it appear to be a linear corridor shooter? Yes, but it looks like to be a well made and intense corridor shooter and for me, that's just fine.

The last two announcements were both barely under a minute each but had me excitedly pondering the possibilities. Both a new Mirror's Edge and Star Wars Battlefront were announced. Again, barely any gameplay was shown but the promise of a new, open world Mirror's Edge and a Frostbite powered Star Wars Battlefront has me extremely excited. They are more likely at least a few years off but that won't stop me from getting excited now.

Ubisoft

Out of all the big, bad major publishers, Ubi Soft is one that for the most part is doing it right (expect for their U play and DRM). They produce the games casual audiences and gamers alike both enjoy and regardless of their audience, both audiences receive well made games with a strong emphasis on quality gameplay rather than a check list of things that games like. I can't count the number of Ubi titles I have enjoyed in the last two console generations and judging from their presentation this year, more interesting games are on the way.

First off, Watch Dogs. Nothing but good things have been coming from that game and the more details I hear, I get excited for this game. A large and detailed open world Chicago and the ability to manipulate the world around you rather than just driving fast or shooting your way out of situations (although you can still do that). It looks like a big leap forward for open world games and the fact that both current and next gen gamers get to play is a great thing. Really looking forward to this one.

Rayman Legends continues to look fantastic and just as fun and fast paced as its previous title, Rayman Origins. The bright and cartoon-like visuals give each character and environment an incredibly fluid sense of motion and pacing that most 2d platformers lack. I sincerely wished the New Mario series embraced a similar art style, as it looks so much better than the somewhat generic look of the New Mario Bros series.

Finally, the last game that caught my attention was the announcement of a new Tom Clancy game called The Division. Set in a world where a virus has quickly ravaged the US and martial law is in effect, players can team up into clans and make their way around the city seamlessly jumping from interaction with NPCs and real players. Its an interesting form of gameplay and an interesting setting that doesn't involve the overdone zombie apocalypse scenario we are all used to.

Overall, the conferences from EA and Ubisoft were what I expected. Some interesting glimpses mixed in with expected titles. While not every game interested me, there were quite a few that did. It goes without saying that any conferences with Mirror's Edge, Star Wars Battlefront and Rayman can't be too bad. 

My thoughts on the future of Star Wars

This has nothing to do with Korea... pretty much at all, but its still something that I want to talk about as its as about as important to me as many things in life.

I'm going to talk about Star Wars.

Now for those who know me really well, this is nothing new. I talk about Star Wars all time to the point that I can subconsciously quote lines from the films with no afterthought. Ever since seeing them as a young boy, they have left a huge impact on my life and are responsible for opening the door to one of my biggest passions in life, watching, analyzing and enjoying the art of film.

It goes without saying that Star Wars has gone a little stale over the years with the dilution of the prequel trilogy and woeful expanded universe spin offs that were generally, not very good. There were a few bright spots, but for the most part Star Wars had become the definition of an over-milked franchise long past its due date. It's not that the core story was bad, it just needed a fresh start that took everything that the original movies stood for and presented them in new and exciting way.

This morning was the announcement of the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas selling the Star Wars franchise (along with Indiana Jones, ILM and Lucasarts) to Disney for $4.05 billion. While he would still retain creative consultation, the direction of these movies would be handed off to a new series of directors.

Honestly, this news comes as nothing more as pure exciting expectation The announcement of a new Star Wars trilogy starting in 2015 with a new entry coming out every two to three years. While this may sound like overkill, this is in fact quite possibly the best thing to happen to the series since The Empire Strikes Back.

The thing that held back the prequel trilogy was Lucas himself. While his creative visions were spectacular and inspiring, his writing in the movies was horrible. Stiff acting, nonsensical links to the original films and some of the most unlikable characters in cinematic history took Star Wars off a pedestal and into laughing stock territory and garnered enough fanboy rage to last several lifetimes.

Now with other fresh interpretations being brought on board, my mind boggles at the possibilities are. The fact that we are moving away from the prequels era that have been beaten into the ground and into the post Return of the Jedi era that fans have been asking for since 1983 leave me one very excited fan.

The list of directors that could very well craft a masterpiece of a Star Wars film is huge. The wonderful thing about the Star Wars series is the universal appeal and huge rang of its own universe, Literally any kind of story would fit in, a perfect medium for directors to play around in and the reason that the two to three year time period between each movie doesn't bother me. There's enough galaxy and stories for a hundred films if done properly.

Some worry that Disney buying the brand would only dilute the Star Wars we all know and love and that Star Wars has become a corporate entity and not a universe that we all know and love. To them I ask them two questions:

1. Where the hell have you been since 1977? Star Wars suddenly becoming a brand? It's been a brand since 1977.

2. Disney has proven that it cares for its franchises created through other sources. Many moaned that their purchase of Marvel would lead it to a downward spiral. Then The Avengers and The Cinematic Universe happened. Total dilution of quality right?


Some may be cynical, but I could not be more excited. While I don't think we will be seeing a gritty and violent crime drama set in Star Wars' underworld, the new possibilities are exciting and the chance to expand  the universe in a new direction is something that I cannot wait to see.

In 2015, Avengers 2, Justice League and Episode VII will be unleashed in theaters for film fans around the world to watch and enjoy. I haven't been this excited for anything Star Wars since being a child. Bring em on. Bring em all on.

* Finally, because I obsess over stuff like this, here's a list of directors I would love to see make a Star Wars movie. My God, my fanboy mode is going insane..

James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens, Avatar)

Duncan Jones (Moon)

Neil Blomkamp (Distirct 9)

Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs, the World, Hot Fuzz)

Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises)

Joe Johnson (Captain America: The First Avenger) *note: He was on record for saying he would like to do a Boba Fett movie so who knows?

Brad Bird (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Incredibles)

Ridley Scott (Prometheus, Alien, Blade Runner)

Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) 

Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit)

Joss Whedon (Firefly, The Avengers)

I really can't wait. Where I once saw Star Wars as a soulless husk I now see a glimmer of hope. May the Force be with us, all of us.

Goofy doesn't seem right as Darth Vader...