The Clone Wars. It’s almost upon us (Aug. 15). And I find myself not really caring anymore.

The poster is cool, right? And a new trailer debuted this week on all the Turner networks. It’s shiny! You can watch it right now at StarWars.com.

But it’s just not what I consider Star Wars.

Now, I’m not a prequel-hater. I enjoyed all three of them, and thought Revenge of the Sith was the high point in the new trilogy. And I’ll watch The Clone Wars. But don’t expect me to camp out for this movie, or even to catch it in theaters (a breakthrough! I hear my wife shouting).

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Every April 22 is Earth Day, a global observance of our terrestrial home. And at such a time, let us not wonder why so many forces across the galaxy have chosen to pick on our pitiful little planet — the Klingons, the Borg, the Independence Day aliens, the Daleks, the Skrulls, the Terminators, the Egyptian gods … and ourselves.

Let’s just save it.

George Lucas is trying to downplay the chances of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ever living up to the inevitable hype. He probably doesn’t want it to come down with a case of The Phantom Menace syndrome.

“It’s just a movie,” he says. “Just like the other movies. You probably have fond memories of the other movies. But if you went back and looked at them, they might not hold up the same way your memory holds up.”

Truer words were never spoken. They are just movies. But they’re also more than movies — they’re adventures that we went on with Indy.

Now, like many fans, I wasn’t thrilled with many aspects of the Star Wars prequels — and that is why Lucas is going on the defensive before the film even comes out on May 22. But they have their moments, and they got better as the trilogy progressed.

Are they great moments in film history? No, at least not like the original movies were, that’s for sure. Lucas did what he always has done: make the movies he wanted for himself, not for the fans. (more…)

Apparently, there really is such as thing as a born gamer. It’s called a man.

Gaming is hardwired into the male gender. So it would seem after reading about a Stanford University School of Medicine study that found guys become addicted to computer and video games more easily than the fairer sex do.

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