After Star Wars was released and hit it huge at the box office, nearly every sci-fi film made afterward during the next decade plus was immediately (and unfortunately) compared to it. This bit of mental short-handing by critics, fans and other detractors with short attention spans may have been correct about most of these films’ characters, visual effects and overall designs being influenced by the art direction and effects found in George Lucas’ movie, but in terms of story, well… that’s where some needed their heads handed to them. That easily digestible tale of mystic good versus mystic evil in an epic fantasy/space opera lite setting was cut from the cloth of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, assorted WWII movies (The Dam Busters, 633 Squadron and others) and most importantly, a great “little” film by Akira Kurosawa called Hidden Fortress (which SHOULD be a RFoTW, but I haven’t gotten around to seeing it again).
In fact, Kurosawa’s films have formed the basis of a few important American and international film hits, and if you poke around enough, you’ll see (and be surprised) that some of your own favorites started life as Kurosawa projects. Probably his best known film (at least here in the US), Seven Samurai was reworked into a few films over the years as The Magnificent Seven and this particularly cool 1980 sci-fi sleeper produced by Roger Corman and directed by Jimmy T. Murakami. As fun as Lucas’ flick was, as a lower budgeted quickie, Battle Beyond The Stars manages to be its equal in a few small areas and actually surpasses it in at least one surprising manner… Continue reading
I remember about ten or so years back attending a dinner party where I walked into a conversation about violence in video games affecting society in a few negative ways. Asking around, I found that no one in the group had any actual current video game experience (this was before mobile and tablet gaming became the nickel and dime juggernaut it is now), so it was interesting watching the debate flop and flail around like a fresh fish that’s landed in a boat with the hook still in its mouth. I also remember shutting the conversation down entirely by asking if anyone in the vicinity was a contact spots fan and reminded them that more REAL people have been injured and died from participating (and spectating) in all sports than from playing video games, PERIOD.
OK, SIDE CHOSEN! Now that I’ve teamed up 
OK, listen up you potential evil-doers! I had to go through HELL to post this video (OK, it wasn’t hell, but I sat on my keys when I came back from the bathroom, so that counts as a kind of hell), so make sure you WATCH it and pay attention. If you THINK you have what it takes to be some sort of modern hooded menace and you can use all sorts of deadly fake weapons and not kill yourself in the process, go sign up 
But you could really care less about what 
Sure, May 3 isn’t exactly THAT far away… then again, it’s not exactly close, is it? Still, this seems to be the sweet spot for these blockbusters where a month or so in advance, the TV commercials start dropping in many varieties. Of course you can expect 30 and 60-second spots, clips scattered around cable and online, the early screening buzz (where the more fortunate press get to show up and blab about positively or otherwise on their sites) and finally, a few premieres of the star-studded variety.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 