Star Wars: This Will Be a Day Long Remembered

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Get ready to return to the galaxy far, far away with the new cast of Star Wars VII (Courtesy StarWars.com)

In a surprising move (many were expecting the announcement to come in with the hyper-punny May the 4th faux-celebration), Lucasfilm has announced the cast of the new Star Wars sequel, still as of yet untitled.

Original stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) will be reprising their roles from the original trilogy. 

New to the series are actors are John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Mr. Selfridge), Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Issac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter)... oh yeah, and freaking Max von Sydow (you know, of many films but let's be honest you know and love him as the voice of Vigo the Carpathian, right?). The new cast's roles are as of yet announced.

The film opens on December 18, 2015 and begins filming in the next few weeks.

UPDATE: Slashfilm has a fantastic breakdown of all the new actors, descriptions of their personalities and how they might coincide with characters on-screen and more. Check it out, it's a great read.

NFL - Masters of the Sports Universe

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We're not certain that Dolph ever played for the Vikings but pretty sure Man-at-Arms was a kicker. (WB/Cannon Group)

New columnist Tony Garcia writes in response to the recently released NFL schedule for the upcoming season. Turns out that the sports outlets aren't the ones holding the Power of Grayskull. Here's Tony...

If there was any doubt who the supreme king ruler of the sports world was here in the US and A, please just stop doubting now. Early last week there was a lot of speculation rolling around the offices of ESPN, CBS, NBC and any other major network that claims to be a sports news reporting agency that the 2014 NFL schedule would be out sometime this week. Speculation was the schedule would be announced Tuesday, April 22nd. 

Flash forward (or by the time you read this, rewind) to Tuesday morning. If there was ever a day that the NFL flexed its muscle it was this day. There was an announcement to be made. Everyone made a big deal out of it and if there was ever a significant "nothing" announcement, this was it. It reminded me of something that would come from a Ron Burgundy/Champ Kind telecast. In fact, when I heard what the NFL did, I kind of just imagined Ron Burgundy breaking the news over my radio like only he could:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen…The National Football League would like to announce that they are making the announcement that the 2014 NFL schedule will be released tomorrow at 7pm, live on the NFL Network."

So basically there was an announcement that they were going to be announcing the schedule the very next day. An announcement of an announcement. And you know what? It worked. The internet was set on fire with re-tweets of all beat writers from all 32 NFL teams. The NFL buzz was flying. To be the king you have to act like the king. And since Roger Goodell has taken over, that's exactly what the NFL has done. They are the undisputed king of the sports world. It doesn't matter how mundane the news, the sports cycle revolves around the NFL. And rightly so.

To create so much buzz from such a seemingly insignificant event just proves what the NFL has become in this country. What I like about Roger Goodell is it seems he won't stop. There are always goals to achieve that are bigger and better than the current state. Just listen to all the pundits on ESPN hyping the NFL Draft right now. You can't turn on a sports channel and not hear the names Mel Kiper Jr, Todd McShay or Mike Mayock right now. The NFL has grown exponentially over the last 10 or so years. It's not like theres a major lull in sports right now either. The NBA playoffs and Stanley Cup Playoffs are in their first week and most of those series remain interesting, even to the casual sports fan. But the announcement of the NFL schedule took priority in many households.

So what about the schedule? Did I even look at it? What can we expect?

You bet your last dollar I checked it out. I went straight to the Chicago Bears schedule and did exactly what I hate the local sports radio pundits do. I went week by week….win, win, loss, win, loss, loss….and 10-6 is what I eventually came up with. We haven't even had the draft. Off season programs literally just started this past week. Teams, both good and bad, will add several players that will guaranteed still make a difference on the rosters throughout the year. In other words its too soon to even predict anything.

I wasn't the only one to do this. Turn on any sports program in America and they no doubt took time to go week by week and break down the schedules, adding up the wins and losses for all 32 teams. It's a madness and sickness that you would think I hate from reading these words, but I absolutely love it. Here in Chicago football is a religion. We pray the "Our Father" with a few creative lyrical changes here and there. Ditka, Butkus, Payton…they're all mentioned in the prayer. God, he doesn't mind. Who hasn't changed the lyrics to a famous tune from time to time?

Since I am a huge fan of the NFL game, not just a Bears fan, I also took a look at the other games of note throughout the schedule. There's plenty to chew on if you enjoy watching the other teams. Fantasy Football has changed the way people view the game. You will find yourself rooting for other teams and players once your team is eliminated from contention. I'll cover the effect of Fantasy Football some other day (probably in early August), but for now I'll just mention that it has changed the game in a good way. Its brought more casual fans into the game. And that's why the NFL machine is what it is today. 

You can go week by week and find the games that are meaningful. Usually those games are reserved for Sunday Night Football on NBC and Monday Night Football on ESPN. For me, I'm watching the Denver Broncos this year. This could be it for Peyton Manning and I want to watch his greatness until he can no longer perform. 

Seattle vs San Franciso: We're lucky to get two of these games per year. These teams hate each other and you can see that out on the field. These are the games you almost want to wear a helmet at home on the couch while watching. The hits are hard and often, much like an NHL playoff game.

Now that you're ready for some football much like the rest of the country, you only have one thing left to do. And that is sit and wait and be patient. Ok, I guess that's three things. It's only April. The draft hasn't even started. We have to sit through a few more weeks of Johnny Manziel and Jadaveon Clowney talk. Once the draft is over, Mel Kiper Jr and his perfect head of hair will head back to his lair in the mountains of Wyoming and prepare for another draft in 2015. What? He's from Baltimore!?!?! Absurd! After that we have OTA's. Then training camp in July. Then the dreadful 4 week preseason. THEN…it's game time! September is when the fun starts. So sit back, relax and put your feet up on that ottoman over there. May I suggest some Stanley Cup Playoff hockey to appetize your football hunger? Fret not, little one. The NFL king will be back soon enough.

Orphan Black "Governed by Sound Reason and True Religion" Recap and Discussion

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Alison and Donnie (Tatiana Masiany and Kristian Bruun) attend Aynsley's funeral. (Courtesy BBC America)

Orphan Black really is coming out swinging on the second episode of its second season. Lots of revelations in the mouthful of a titled "Governed by Sound Reason and True Religion", Helena is still alive, saved by a mysterious group calling themselves the Prolethians. The mysterious zealot group apparently also has Sarah's daughter though through some keen detective work between Sarah and Art a very different scenario reveals itself involving Mrs. S. Alison comes clean about Aynsley to Felix and believes her husband to be her monitor. The two have an incredible scene together that makes you wish that an Alison/Felix Dynasty-type spin-off was on the horizon.

In the episode it's revealed Mrs. S knows about the mysterious Project LEDA. What's her involvement in the project? And while we're asking questions, just what's Art's partner's deal? 

Join us in the discussion after the jump, won't you?

Also for those interested, Visual Effects giant Cinefex has posted an excellent blog on the history of "Twinning" in the movies and how the effect is achieved in Orphan Black. Check it out here.

Star Wars Fans Shouldn't Have a Bad Feeling About New Timeline

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Cover art from the novel that started it all: Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" (Courtesy StarWars.com)

Before the weekend, Lucasfilm made the announcement that "Expanded Universe" materials that have been released since the mid-1990s including books, comics, video games and more will not be considered in the Star Wars "canon" (or storytelling events that are considered officially recognized as happening within the world of Star Wars). From here on out, a new timeline will be groomed and maintained by a new story department out of Lucasfilm which will oversee all of the books, video games, and others and begin releasing new materials that all coincide with this new timeline. Much like Marvel oversees its "cinematic universe," this story department will be the keepers of everything Star Wars from this point forward.

From the official press release:

While Lucasfilm always strived to keep the stories created for the EU consistent with our film and television content as well as internally consistent, Lucas always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU. He set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align.

Now, with an exciting future filled with new cinematic installments of Star Wars, all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected. Under Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy's direction, the company for the first time ever has formed a story group to oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development.

Sure, an outsider reading that first paragraph might be scratching their heads wondering what type of nerdery is afoot here and shrug it off with a, "who cares?" But apparently Star Wars fans are in a frenzy about it, curious how close to 30 years of materials could just be thrown out the window. 

Something like this is actually a great opportunity. Lucasfilm will now be overseeing all of the Star Wars universe to make sure that A ties to B and that, as often seems to be the mantra, everything is connected. How great will it be to pick up new books that directly coincide with the forthcoming movies and TV shows? It'll all be one big story that we all have no idea what path it will travel. And the amazing stories that were told in Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, the fantastic Dark Empire comics, and others will still continue to exist as great pieces of storytelling and it's not a slap in the face to those artists and writers who poured their heart and souls into those still respected previous works. And this isn't exactly something completely foreign to nerds like us either (how many alternate/parallel universes exist in Marvel and DC comics).

Star Wars fans should be excited and remember that traveling through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops - travel outside your comfort zone and enjoy the adventure that ensues.