Strider's Sci-Fi

The one that gets my vote this week is Epic, an animated fantasy from the folks who did Ice Age and Rio. They did pretty good on the voice actor department to, with a cast that includes Collin Farrell, Chris O’Dowd, and Beyonce to name a few. If you’re in the mood for something darker, the no budget film No Sanctuary will also be out in at least some theaters.

Movies this week have a genre option, although Lego Batman: The Movie DC Super Heroes Unite can be considered as a commercial for the game of the same name. 2011′s An Assassin is being released in North America this week for those who enjoy Asian action, and if you prefer your action movies in English Parker is probably the way to go.

In TV True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season continues the twisted goings on around America’s favorite telepathic waitress and her never ending collection of non-human boyfriends. Saving Hope: The Complete First Season is also out this week, for those looking for something a bit more serious from their weekly dose of the supernatural. Finally, the funniest secret agent series since Get Smart is out with it’s next round: Spy: Series 2 out of the UK. Sadly, it looks like they have cancelled it before it made it into season 3.

In Anime, Gunbuster 2: Diebuster is the story of Nono, a girl who wants to be a space pilot, but ends up spending her days working the space port diner. Until the monsters attack, when she becomes key to saving the world. Also this week Lupin the 3rd: Green vs Red is an OVA series in which a hoard of Lupin imitators descend on Tokyo to become a one man crime wave.

Another OVA worth watching is Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar, another fun entry in the Tenchi saga. This time the Princess has kidnapped Kenshi (Tenchi’s half brother) to her home planet to be trained on combat mechas and serve as her sauna attendant. If he can’t win the war he will be stuck scrubbing backs the rest of his life. It is being released in two parts of 7 OVA episodes per part, but the episodes are 45 minutes long each so they do add up to a decent story length.

Two last mentions, not Sci-Fi or Fantasy but fun shows in their own way are K-ON! The Movie, and Love <3 Love?, because you got to make room for silly fun sometimes.

I am really looking forward to the new Marvel TV series Agent of SHIELD, and this trailer just kind of helps that along. ABC signed up to carry the series this fall, adding it to the Tuesday night lineup. And Joss is doing it! TV needs more Joss!

The Locus Awards have been handed out for the last 33 years, and often predict who will end up being nominated each year for the Hugo Awards, the prime fan chosen set, and the Nebula Awards, the main industry selected prize group. I should probably also mention that the Nebula Awards will be handed out next weekend in San Jose, CA. for this year. The reason I bring this up is that Worlds Without End posted a wonderful icon/graphics-driven listing of the Locus Fantasy Awards from the beginning on. As usual with such listings, you should look through it for books and stories you might have missed, because these represent some of the best tales created in the last handful of decades.

Looks like the Daisuki streaming animation site is now live! Because, you know, I didn’t have enough online streaming services to watch anime on already, so I needed this. If, like me, you need more streaming anime in your life, sign up today and check them out. Also, starting today as part of their launch festivities, they are giving away a boatload of prizes of various sorts, you can pick one and apply to win each day.

These are just amazingly detailed works from Jason B. Thompson, an American Manga artist (yes, there is a difference between Manga, Graphics Novels, and Comics) who has put together a few tasty interpretations of some classic H.P. Lovecraft stories. The White Ship was the first one I looked at, and I knew instantly I would have to read them all. Next I hit The Doom That Came to Sarnath, and again I was sucked right in. These are from the Dream Cycle, as are all of his fully realized stories, but you can find his interpretations of other Lovecraft characters and settings in his Lovecraft Sketches section. Thanks to the folks at io9 for the heads up on this one.

I don’t really care what they are advertising, although I suspect it is a vehicle of some kind. But this is, hands down, the most amusing commercial I have seen so far this decade. Nemoy and Quinto have a lot of fun with this, and probably got paid fairly well for it in the bargain. You have to admire folks who worked their ass off to get in a position that they get paid for having fun. And yes, anyone with eyes can tell what the car company is who paid for the add; it just felt better to word it that way. I am already playing their add here, if they want me to mention the product name they can pay me for an endorsement. Thanks to The Nerdist for the heads up on this one.

The first trailer for Gravity has been posted, and it jumps right in. It stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts in trouble, and should be hitting theaters in October. Thanks to SFX for the heads up on this one.

Star Trek Into Darkness is the obvious winner this week! I have been watching trailers since last year, so I am more than ready to see this one. And as much as I loved the initial J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise, with this one we will learn if it suffers from the original even/odd rule where only every other Trek movie was good. Keeping my fingers crossed!

There are a few tasty movies this time, starting with Cloud Atlas, a very complex book turned into a very ambitious movie. I missed this one in the theaters because of real life getting in the way, I am looking forward to finally seeing it. There is also Frankie Go Boom, not a genre flick but a comedy with both Chris O’Dowd and Ron Perlman that sounds like a lot of fun.

Have you seen the 4K TVs yet? They are 4 times more detailed than Blue Ray’s 1080P at 4,000 pixels, the same resolution as the screens in a regular movie theater. Nobody is making the 8Ks yet (the IMAX resolution screens), but at $20,000 for the 85 inch 4K screens and most streaming content for them not coming along until the fall, they are not in big demand. That is now changing, with a 55 inch 4K priced at $5,000 (still noticeably hefty for my budget, especially because with my eyesight I can not see the difference between the 4K and the 1080P at couch distance), and the fist few 4K films being released on Blue Ray DVD format discs holding 4K video files. Movies coming out this week include Ghostbusters, The Amazing Spider-Man, the Toby McGuire Spider Man, Battle: Los Angeles, and the new version of Total Recall. Pricing appears to run $35 a movie for the recent stuff, $14 for things older than a decade. So, once again, just like they did for Blue Ray and then 3D, they want you to buy the same movie you already own for still more money. I think I will pass, at least until the price comes WAY down.

In TV we have Mythbusters: Collection 9 continuing the engineering madness for another season. Speaking of madness, also being released this week is Top Gear: The Complete Season 19. I am not6 a car fanatic, but I never miss this one if I can help it.

In Anime, Tiger & Bunny: Set 2 continues the story of the robot jocks with serious endorsement contracts and a winning record against the bad guys. Darker Than Black: Gemini Of The Meteor is the complete second season with a few OVAs thrown in. BK has lost Yin and is under attack from all sides, when he runs into a girl who’s life was changed the night the Meteor came down.

One Piece Season 4 DVD Part 5 sounds like it ought to be a single volume with a few episodes, but the average part-season of One Piece is 11 episodes, so this set brings us episodes 253 through 263, and we are still nowhere near caught up with the Japanese current season, which is sitting at episode 594 this week (yes, you can watch it streaming at that link). The Straw Hat Pirates are a hit with fans world wide. I should also mention that Kämpfer für die Liebe has an OVA set coming out this week, but it only has two episodes so try not to pay too much for it.

There are two new feature length presentations, starting with The Princess and the Pilot. That one is a story of love, danger, and power politics during wartime. Colorful: The Motion Picture starts at the train station on the other side of death, where one soul will get sent back in a body belonging to someone else to try to resolve the mystery of his death.

Finally, we have two re-releases in new box sets. My Bride is a Mermaid is a S.A.V.E. edition, so you can pick up the entire series for around $20. And Gurren Lagann is coming out in a limited edition special box set complete with music CDs, so expect to pay way more than you were expecting for that one.