Save the Date: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Event: Dragon Age: Inquisition release date
Date: Tuesday, November 18

For some reason, games of interest tend to take over Save the Date. It's not that there aren't movies or TV shows or books I look forward to, but video games have a strong advantage in building my enthusiasm in the days leading up to release. Today's Save the Date title has a bit of a history, being the third game in a series. It's tough to tell how it's going to land, because the first two vary so wildly in quality. Dragon Age: Origins is one of my favorite games, and I replay it often. Dragon Age II was a disappointment (it's one of the few things I'd go back and slightly revise a grade to a lower one). So who knows where on the scale this new one will fall?

I'd like to believe that after some pretty strong blowback from the last game, the developers learned something. The few articles and videos of gameplay that I've seen make me think they have. Everything I've encountered has been gorgeous. It's rare that I'll buy a game at release; normally I wait to hear some player feedback and for the bugs to get worked out. But I might have to make an exception for Dragon Age: Inquisition. Or if not, I'll at least play through Origins for the thirtieth time until I'm assured the new game will be worth the sticker price.

Save the Date: Watch Dogs

Event: Watch Dogs U.S. release date
Date: Tuesday, November 19

Open world games can be a little intimidating. I have yet to get through Skyrim, simply because there's so little structure that I'm a bit at sea as to where to go and what to do. So the limited information I've heard and seen about the new game Watch Dogs makes me a little anxious. Need to get into a guarded building? Take out the guards. Or hack the security system and sneak in. Or set off the sprinklers to scatter everyone standing nearby. Or distract the security guys by overriding the controls of construction equipment. Or don't even go into the building, but steal the information electronically. There's just so many options, and I worry that it'll be overwhelming.

Why, then, does Watch Dogs get a rare Save the Date entry? Cause it looks like SO MUCH FUN. Many games are split into two distinct gameplay styles: Go in guns blazing or get in and out without leaving a trace. This game offers the player a lot more tactical options, several of them dealing with clever trickery over brute force or convenient hiding places.

You play as a hacker in a future Chicago that basically runs on a centralized operating system. While this offers a lot of convenience and security, it means that once you're in the system, you're essentially granted access to the personal lives of everyone around you. Every bystander's dark secret pops up on your phone. That lady has a restraining order against her estranged husband. That guy was arrested for vandalism. As with a lot of modern games, morality is up to you. When you're not running missions, you can spend your time protecting people that crime statistics predict will soon be victims. Or you can hack into an innocent's bank account and drain their funds.

I've spent some time watching gameplay demos of this game, and it drew me in instantly. I like games that make you think out creative solutions (as long as they're not too far-fetched), and the potential to play as both a noble vigilante and a greedy cyber-thief is pretty magnetic. So let the internet keep wetting its collective pants over their GTA V selfies. While they beat up hookers with a baseball bat, I'll be stalking the streets of Chicago with nothing but a cell phone and a list of access codes.

UPDATE: The release date has been pushed back to spring of next year, which is a bummer, but at least it gives my wallet time to recover from the beating it always takes over the holidays.

Save the Date: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Event: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiere
Date: Tuesday, September 24

Even if I immediately pass on 90% of the new offerings, and then later drop 90% of what I originally pledged to watch, I'm always excited to read about the fall television season. So much promise! I haven't seen the full slate for the upcoming season, but there is one show that has already leaped to the top of my list. I recently admitted that the superhero genre is starting to lose its luster for me, but that's mostly because the same tropes keep getting recycled. If a story involving people with remarkable powers could be told with a fresh perspective, I'd be all over it.

Enter Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - premiering on ABC this September. Though Jed is the Whedon serving as showrunner, Joss co-wrote the pilot, and directed it as well, so let's go ahead and raise our hopes now. The show centers on Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg, who's great in everything) and his special ops team trying to deal with a world in which there are emerging super-humans. I don't know how much the show will even involve said super-humans - it might solely (or at least heavily) focus on the members of the agency.

And actually, that sounds kind of cool. Naturally, properties in the superhero genre tend to revolve around those with the powers, but it would be neat to write stories centered on the normal people who interact with them. I don't know any of the planned stories (or if they hew to ones in the comics), and have not read up on the characters. I'm intentionally keeping myself mostly in the dark on this one. I trust the people involved enough to know that only someone with super-strength will be able to pull me away from the screen on September 24.

Perfect Pitch

As I mentioned on marathon night, I've been working through multiple seasons of multiple shows concurrently. I've finally wrapped a bunch of them up, and can move on to the next batch! While all of the shows were successful to some degree (I wouldn't watch an entire season of a show I found unbearable), one stands head-and-shoulders above the crowd. Season 5 of Mad Men will likely rank among my favorites that the show has done, and will definitely find its way onto my best-of list at the end of the year. This season was utterly engrossing from start to finish. There wasn't a single bad episode in the bunch, and several were out-and-out brilliant.

I tried to impose a rule on myself that I'd only watch one episode per day - An hour of Mad Men is always so crammed with meaning and symbolism that it benefits from some time to digest and reflect on the theme. I have to say, though, that towards the end of the season, I couldn't stop myself from plowing through episodes; the season arc was so engaging that I just had to know what came next. Naturally, the show tackles multiple stories and themes, but if there was one central idea to Season 5, it's that everyone is always aching for something or someone that they don't have. And even when we achieve what we want, it doesn't stack up to the ideal we imagined it would. And there are always more things to want. If only we had that job. If only we had that house in the country. If only we had a wife and 2.5 kids and a mistress in the city, we'd surely be happy forever. Except life doesn't work like that, and the show's characters spent the season learning that in a multitude of ways.

This isn't a show that people can jump into at any random episode. The characters are so layered that I think it's important start at the beginning. Hell, the entire first season was largely just the laying of a massive amount of groundwork. Fortunately, anyone with access to Netflix Instant can catch up, though they'll have to do it quickly. That's right, it's Save the Date time!

Event: Mad Men - Season 6 premiere
Date: Sunday, April 7

I canceled cable a few months ago, and haven't regretted it for a moment since. Until now. I didn't mind waiting for this most recent season to be available on DVD before diving in, but I'd really like to watch Season 6 along with everyone else. It's time to do some scheming. Pete Campbell would be proud.

Mad Men - Season 5: A

Save the Date: Much Ado About Nothing

Event: Much Ado About Nothing release
Date: Friday, June 7

Even I weren't a big fan of Joss Whedon via Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and to a lesser extent, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog), he's spent the past year showing that he's just as talented when working in other genres. One of my biggest regrets about not being able to handle gory movies is that I'll never see Cabin in the Woods. So, when word reached me that he's made an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, which is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, I was giddy.

Never mind that the movie employs Shakespearean language in a modern setting, which usually sets my teeth on edge! Never mind that the entire thing was made in less than two weeks! It's Whedon, it's Whedon's usual stable of actors, and it's Beatrice and Benedick! You can bet I'll be jumping on this like a trampoline.

Save the Date: Call the Midwife

Event: Call the Midwife - American premiere
Date: Sunday, September 30

Stop me if you've heard this one. A British period drama series with some stalwart actors has a short episode run on BBC and becomes an immediate sensation, then gets shipped to America a few months later. Of course you've heard that one - it's called Downton Abbey, and it's one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen. How great would it be to get in on the ground floor of something like that?

Well, here's our chance! Call the Midwife is a British period drama series with some stalwart actors, and has had a short episode run on BBC, becoming an immediate sensation. And about a month from now, it'll be shipped to America.

I'll admit that the plot seems like kind of a hard sell: It follows a newly-qualified midwife working with the nuns of a nursing convent in a low-income section of London in the 1950s. But with the pedigree behind this show, you can bet I'll be tuning in on September 30, hoping to catch some more lightning in a bottle.

Save the Date: Assassin's Creed III

Event: Assassin's Creed 3 release date
Date: Tuesday, October 30

I enjoyed the first Assassin's Creed game, but it didn't blow me away. The story was incredibly intriguing, but the gameplay was a bit sparse, and protagonist Altair was somewhat of a cypher. After seeing some beautiful clips of Assassin's Creed II, I felt I had to give the series another shot. Boy, am I glad I did. The story became even more expansive, the setting much more visually appealing, the protagonist (Ezio) more deeply realized, and the game itself was exponentially more entertaining. So much so that I also bought Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, even though I'm not much for expansions. That one was amazingly fun as well, so I regret I haven't had a chance to play the other expansion (Assassin's Creed: Revelations). After three games, though, I felt it was time to give Ezio a rest.

It seems the game designers felt that way, too, because here comes a new Assassin's Creed game. Now that our protagonists have explored exotic locales like Crusade-era Jerusalem, Renaissance Italy, and Constantinople's Ottoman Empire, the action comes closer to home by shifting to the Revolutionary War in America.

This series has been on a hot streak, and I can only hope it continues. Break out the controllers! It's time to slice and dice some Redcoats.

Save the Date: Around the World in 80 Plates

Event: Around the World in 80 Plates premiere
Date: Wednesday, May 9

I just finished saying that all reality shows have expiration dates. What's the cure for that? Finding a worthy replacement! Of course, there's no way of knowing if a new show is worthy until we actually see it, but taking two old favorites and combining the best parts of them sure sounds promising.

Around the World in 80 Plates appears to be a combination of Top Chef and The Amazing Race, in which a group of chefs go from country to country and attempt to replicate the local cuisine. That's an awesome concept, so everything's going to come down to the execution. I haven't done a ton of research, so I don't know if Curtis Stone is the judge and Cat Cora the host, or vice versa, or what. I've always liked her on Iron Chef, and he's... Well, he's easy on the eyes, anyway.

Handled correctly, this show has the potential to be a new favorite. Handled incorrectly, it'll be the next Shear Genius. Either way, my Top Chef viewing party is already stockpiling wine in eager anticipation of the premiere.

Save the Date: The Hunger Games

Event: The Hunger Games Release Date
Date: Friday, March 23

Agatha Christie wrote many great mysteries, but my favorite is And Then There Were None. Ten people, trapped on an island. All of them have gotten away with murder, and now someone is evening the score by murdering them one by one. I've been fascinated by this story ever since I first read it. Who would be next? What methods would the doomed employ to evade their unknown attacker?

From then on, I've always been a fan of the one-by-one winnowing of a group of characters, from Series 7: The Contenders to Harper's Island to The Hunger Games. Mass popularity only struck for that last one, and now the book that kicked off the trilogy has been made into a movie.



The story of the The Hunger Games, in which the protagonist volunteers in her sister's place to be sent to an arena, where she will fight to the death against other young children, is just as fascinating as the others I've mentioned, though you'd never know it from the trailer. Often, a book's story will be lost in translation, and I worry that the film will concentrate less on the intelligence and bravery of a girl desperately trying to stay alive than on all that blooming romance nonsense. Heartfelt conversations about making an impression and staying true to yourself are all well and good, but let's not forget this movie is called The Hunger Games, not Sensitive Girl Learns A Valuable Life Lesson.

Those worries aren't enough to keep me away. I'll definitely be grabbing my ticket for this first film. There are two more books, though. If Hollywood screws this up, I'll show them what getting rid of characters looks like. May the odds be ever in their favor.

Save the Date: Joyful Noise

Event: Joyful Noise Release Date
Date: Friday, January 13

Honestly, I have no idea what this movie is even about. Something to do with a singing competition or whatever. Does it matter? I mean, look at the poster.

It's a movie with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton! Singing! Together! It clearly must be seen. If it's not good as a movie, it'll be good as a musical experience (see: Roll Bounce). In the unlikely event that it's not good as a musical experience, it'll be a fun way to pass the afternoon with friends.

So often around Oscar season, watching movies becomes an exercise in the Grand Experience of Cinema, which is fine. But once in a while, you've got to see something that just looks like pure fun, and this movie looks like it will fit the bill nicely.

Save the Date: Downton Abbey - Season 2

Event: Downton Abbey Season 2 Premiere
Date: Sunday, January 8 (8PM - 10PM, PBS)

I'm almost frightened of watching the Season 2 premiere of my current television obsession this weekend. Season 1 was so utterly fantastic, and received such widespread praise, that it's likely the new season won't be able to meet the impossible expectations set for it.

That doesn't mean I won't be glued to the screen this Sunday. If you haven't caught up with Downton Abbey, get thee to a Netflix Instant streaming device immediately. There are only a handful of episodes, and all of them are incredible. Team Edith!