Few things can match the excitement that Star Wars fans had when they found out that the three prequel movies in a rumored 9–movie franchise were going to be made by George Lucas. But in 1999 the prequel trilogy began, and when it was all said and done in 2005 fans were only left scratching their heads, unsure of what had just happened to them.

Since then all anyone has ever wanted was an answer as to why the three movies””Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (which, to be fair, is pretty decent and by far the best of the three)””didn’t come close to living up to the hype set by the classic original trilogy released in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Thankfully that answer is now here in the form of a video called George Lucas Strikes Back. Not much else needs to be said””go forth, and discover the answers you’ve sought for so very long now.

Sean Bean scored a lifelong geek following with his role as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which excitedly followed him in bringing his fantasy skills to the excellent HBO series, Game of Thrones.

Diehard fans of the book from which the first season was based””part of George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series””and newcomers alike have praised Bean for his work bringing Lord Eddard Stark to life, and it’s likely that anytime he finds himself in some sort of sword-wielding role (you can also check out Black Death on Netflix) we geeks will watch with happy eyes.

Now Bean is carrying over his battle-tested warrior ways into real life.

Green Lantern hits theaters this weekend, but there’s still time to catch up on Hal Jordan’s adventures and all the numerous characters that inhabit his corner of the DC Universe before you see the film, which stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role.

Since the creation of the second Green Lantern in 1959, he’s gone on numerous adventures, died, been reborn, been replaced by three other characters, and fought Sinestro more than a few times. However, many of you may have never read any stories with him before, as I had until a few years ago. Where’s the best place to catch up, you may be asking. Well, here are four collections of Green Lantern stories that I recommend reading before you see the movie.

Eisner award winning, and one of my personal favorite, comic book series Beasts of Burden is making its way to the big screen care of Andrew Adamson, director of The Chronicles of Narnia and Shrek.

The comic, created by writer Evan Dorkin and artist Jill Thompson, is a compelling story based around a group of dogs and one cat protecting their neighborhood from evil forces. The book does an incredible job of exploring each one of the characters and the relationships between them while also showing the importance of bravery and friendship. It can be funny, exciting, heartwarming, and heartbreaking. I’ll be ecstatic if the movie can give me one-fourth of the enjoyment that the book did.

The spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the video game L.A. Noire for Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 for $44.99 each (that’s 25% off the list price of $59.99).

Note, this deal is only for today, June 14, 2011, until midnight PST while supplies last.

[On the product page, click “See price in cart” for a pop-up window that shows you the discounted price.]

From the Xbox 360 product page:

L.A. Noire is a gritty, single player detective game set on the infamous streets and in the smoke-filled back rooms of postwar Los Angeles. Designed and developed with a nod to the classic film noire movie genre, L.A. Noire blends crystal clear graphics that bring the iconic look and feel of the era to life, with a combination of innovative technology and unique gameplay that allow you to solve crimes through interrogations and investigation. Additional features include: five LAPD based crime desks to work, the ability to analyze the case as well as suspects for clues, an accurate block-by-block recreation of eight sq miles of 1947 Los Angeles, multiple difficulty settings and more.