Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: Geek Canon

Favorited By A Wookie

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On February 4, 2015

In Geek Canon, Star Wars

I have to share my moment of nerdy personal triumph. Lately I’ve been using Twitter more but mostly to try to elicit responses from celebrities that are often quite vocal on twitter. I’ve been successful a couple of times but the most recent acknowledgement really had my geek ovaries tingling:

wookie-fav

If you haven’t figured it out, Peter Mayhew is the actor that donned the Chewbacca costume in all the Star Wars movies in which he was present. A few weeks ago he was admitted into the hospital with pneumonia and the flu. He was absent from twitter while he was recovering and I was glad to see he had recovered. I did not expect him to actually see my tweet, let alone favorite it.

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

Biggs On: Game of Thrones (HBO Series)

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On June 18, 2014

In Biggs On, Geek Canon

The latest TV phenomenon is the HBO “perspective” of the Game of Thrones books. I actually have not been watching. I’m not really a fan of the deviation from the books. I realize that the author, George R. R. Martin (GRRM), is heavily involved with the retelling of his books. Perhaps his reasons for changing the fates of some characters or emphasizing certain character elements is his way of “correcting the flaws in the books”. Well then he should have fixed them before publishing the books. GRRM must be the worlds most A.D.D. author, or the most indecisive author.

I’m actually somewhat reluctant to read books 6 and 7 (if he ever gets around to publishing them) because I’m worried about the continuity with the first 5 books. He has already altered the fates of a few characters from the books. How will that affect the next book? If he uses some lame flashback mechanic or character recollection of the Red Wedding (**SPOILER**) to explain why suddenly Rob’s wife is dead (because she wasn’t killed at the Red Wedding in the book – in fact she wasn’t even at the wedding – and is the source of much controversy that she is carrying an heir), I will be quite upset and GRRM will be quite the sell out (and I know sell outs, I’m a George Lucas fan).

The old adage “the book is always better” definitely applies in this case but since the author has direct influence of the story told on HBO, then personally they will be two different entities. The HBO series will be a *cough*bastardized*cough* re-telling of the books and not worthy of my patronage.

Am I really the only one that feels this way? Is everyone else so taken in by the HBO series, and too intimidated to actually read a book, that these differences are not that troubling??

I think what pisses me off the most is that GoT was actually declared the best HBO series since The Sopranos!! REALLY!! The Sopranos was an original concept, not an adapted screenplay. There shouldn’t be any comparison. Oh, and aside from Peter Dinklage, the casting of GoT is terrible.

Biggs On: Episode VII Cast

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On May 3, 2014

In Biggs On, Geek Canon, Star Wars

master-lukeIf you are a Star Wars fan, some very exciting news was announced this week; the cast for Episode VII. It seems I’m in the minority when I say that I think the cast looks pretty good.  All the so called “fans” that just want to dis on Lucas and piss off the rest of us that are the true fans of the franchise are just trying to troll (and believe me, I know a troll when I see one).

Be that as it may, the bulk of the cast are relative no names, which I think is a great move by Disney and J.J. Abrams (after all, who even heard of Mark Hamill prior to A New Hope). The most exciting bullet point of the announcement was the return of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew to reprise their iconic roles. My personal feeling is that while I think its great that they are going to be in the next story, but I doubt they will be in leading roles. I mean, Luke as the new Obi-Wan Kenobi would be awesome!

The new cast members are John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. I’m sure most (if not all of those people) are unfamiliar to you. Andy Serkis and Max Von Sydow stand out to me though. If you are a Lord of the Rings fan (of the films) then you should also recognize Andy Serkis. He was the beloved schizophrenic Gollum. 

Max Von Sydow is a much older actor, he doesn’t really have a lot of notable roles, but he’s one of those guys you would recognize him when you saw his face. JJA and Disney have not unveiled any specific character names but MVS must play the role of a Sith Lord, I cannot envision him in any other role.

For those Harry Potter fans out there, Domhnall Gleeson was Bill Weasley in the last two Harry Potter movies. The remaining actors seem predominately unknown.

I am becoming more and more excited for this film; I love the work JJ Abrams did with the two recent Star Trek films so I have high hopes that he will due justice to Star Wars as well. I know many are concerned about the lack of Extended Universe content but Lucas has had the story for these films thought out for many years, and since he is consulting on the films production, I think he has the veto power. Don’t get me wrong, I really, really wanted to see Grand Admiral Thrawn (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) but it’s not my story to tell.

On a final note, to all those out there complaining about the lack of female roles … so what?!?!? It’s a freaking movie!! If you’re really bunching the panties over more female roles in Star Wars then dig into the Extended Universe and read about Ahsoka, Aura Sing, Mara Jade. There are plenty of incredible female Star Wars characters.

/cheers!

Book Review: Ready Player One

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On January 28, 2014

In Book Review, Geek Canon

Ready Player OneReady Player One by Ernest Cline

My Rating: [rating=5]
Click here to read the review on Goodreads.

The star ranking of “it was amazing” seems trite compared to how much I enjoyed this book. I knew within the first three chapters that this was going to be a top five book for me. The entire book was living my early childhood from the 80s. I grew up playing several of the games that were mentioned in the book. I still watch all of the movies that were mentioned in the book.

I am an avid gamer so the concept of the story had me completely immersed as if it were the OASIS itself. It’s also kind of humorous to think that I actually live fairly close to Middletown, Ohio. While I don’t think our MMO games will ever dominate our lives as the OASIS does, it’s still rather exciting to imagine the world Halliday created becoming real; although some of the concepts (i.e. attending school or performing a regular job in a virtual world) are not really that far fetched. In fact, in today’s world, I think it’s quite conceivable.

Ender’s Game is #1 on my list of non-classic literature. I haven’t decided if this book has dethroned Ender’s Game yet, I may have to read it again to decide; in the meantime, its definitely a tie.

If you are a product of the 80s and a gamer geek, this book is a priority 1 must-read.

View all my reviews

Why So Much Ewok Hate?

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On July 3, 2013

In Geek Canon, General Cogitation, Star Wars

tumblr_static_7I’ve been a fan of the Star Wars franchise since I was 10 years old. I’ll always love the original trilogy first but I honestly don’t mind the prequels. I get the fact that there are some folks (so-called “fans”) that don’t like the prequel movies, but hey that’s their deal. The Empire Strikes Back is by far my favorite of the six but I had no idea that people hated Ewoks so much.

Again, I don’t mind the Ewoks. I thought it was great when 3PO stood up and they all freaked out and started bowing to him as if he were some kind of god; that was awesome. I suppose I get that people have a hard time swallowing the fact that all the power and might of the Empire was thwarted by fuzzy creatures using sticks and stones, but I think that’s the point. I think its the dichotomy of the two sides that makes the fight interesting and entertaining. The Empire’s overconfidence in their advanced technology was the character flaw and thus why the Ewoks were successful in their assault.

An arrogant enemy isn’t always a victorious enemy.

I liked the Ewoks. I’ll take a thousand Ewoks over one Jar-Jar any day! So why is there so much Ewok hate?? (oh, and the other thing that makes Return of the Jedi great … Speeder Bikes … I want one!)

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