After a year or so making the Film Fest circuit, Splice is finally in general release! Demonstrating exactly why you do not want to buy your kid a genetic engineering tool set (around $20 worth of chemicals, enzymes, and glassware if you get the raw materials yourself, or about $150 if you pick up the pre-made kit), this movie looks to have enough of the basics right to be a quality morality tale with a scientific grounding. I have been waiting a while for this one, and that may be warping my focus this week, so lets look at the other films coming out.
The other wide release film is, of course, Killers, your basic spy comedy. While I am looking forward to seeing Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl play off each other, I really don’t know if that will be enough to carry this film. I expect this will be silly fun, but not memorable in the long term. I will be happy to be proved wrong, as I was by Mr and Mrs Smith.
The other movies hitting the big screen this weekend are all in EXTREMELY limited release, but they really do look like the films to pay attention to. On the documentary front, Whiz Kids introduces you to a few of the people that make up our only real hope for the future; those children who understand enough of the science and math to make the world work.
And then there is Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead, where the classic Hamlet is re-written by a vampire. I would be poking fun at this one, except I found it very entertaining, and thought I should pass it on. Especially once I realized Dracula was the vampire who did the re-writing.
The movie that may be the best one for the week is Ondine, a Brit film with serious heart. With actors Colin Farrell, Stephen Rea, and Alicja Bachleda, it is telling a story about True Love, and how the non-human might regard it.
The pick of the week for mixed media films (combining live action with animation) is the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland. This twisted little tail continues a long film making tradition of using the Lewis Carrol source material to tell a morality tale; what the moral of the story is changes with each director, of course. I am not a fan of Burton’s visual style and found Depp’s character in particular somewhat grotesque, but I still consider this version a must-have addition to the collection. The other film of note this week is the recent remake of The Wolfman, with Anthony Hopkins and Benicio Del Toro. Despite the star power this one fell just a little flat for me, but fans of the Gothic may have a better opinion of it.
My pick for number one imported live action film this week absolutely has to be 20th Century Boys 3: Redemption. While there is enough exposition at the front of the film to catch you up on the story so far, I am setting this one aside for Saturday, so I can watch all three films back to back. This has a very original story, and great characters that you follow through most of their lives, watching them grow and develop.
New in the live action TV category this week is Burn Notice, Season 3. Yes, I know it’s not science fiction, but I think everyone would agree that it is a bit of a fantasy. Plus it is just too much fun to miss. As usual, they have the previous season DVD release just before the new season starts; in this case two days before, as season 4 kicks off Thursday night.
In the world of animation, he’s Baa-aa-aack! Shaun the Sheep: One Giant Leap for Lambkind is another half dozen episodes from the team that brought us Wallace and Grommet. Very few language skills are needed to enjoy these, as dialog is not a core component of the tales they tell.
For anime proper, Brighter than the Dawning Blue: Complete Collection is a story of diplomatic fence mending between the Earth and the Moon, with the Lunar Princess exchange student running into some romantic complications along the way. Also out this week, Slayers Evolution-R season 5. As usual when the Slayers are involved, they nearly destroy the world in the process of saving it, and magical mayhem abounds. Also out this week another S.A.V.E. edition re-release of a complete series, this time Beck.
I am happy to report that the Google Pacman now is permanently online at that link!
Craving some Steampunk? Allow me to recommend the alternate history series Clockwork Century from author Cherie Priest. Some of the books and stories in this series are up for some serious awards, so it is worth your attention. If you are looking for a Build Your Own project, I was just passed the link to the Gamepunk Woot Shirt design. While it has been forever since I last silk-screened a T-Shirt or poster (yes, another one of those jobs we have all had that doesn’t directly relate to our main goal in life, but that was fun and educational), it has inspired me to start working on creating 3D VRML/2ndLife/Machinema objects based on the Portable Games In A Steampunk World concept. Perhaps you have a design idea? Triple points if your 3D object can actually activate a HUD and run an interactive game within the virtual environment!
I am glad Chuck got renewed for a 4th season, because I love that show. For those who enjoyed the season finale last Monday but were hoping for more music, thanks to the Chicago Tribune you can watch the Jeffster Music Video in its entirety.
And one last detail, for the Punk Rocker who needs to remember their roots; Linda, Linda…
After watching how brutally American TV trashed and tanked the brilliant British Life on Mars, not to mention how the US version of Red Dwarf was made into pilots twice, both times so bad they were never optioned into a series, I am a bit concerned about the coming rebuild of Being Human. The folks at Broadcast Magazine have the basic details, but SFX has the questions about how this might turn out. The good news is it is a Syfy Channel TV series, with a solid budget, and with TV shows like the various Stargate series, Eureka, Sanctuary, and Warehouse 13, as well as miniseries like Alice and Riverworld, they have shown a solid level of production quality (sadly not shared by their made for TV movies). So this one could go either way; here’s hoping they get it right.
If you haven’t had a chance to see the new Doctor yet, tomorrow night BBC America is running a Doctor Who Marathon. They will be playing all 6 of the so-far released Matt Smith/Karen Gillian episodes in order starting at 8/7C.
This fun little video was made by Skyler Page as his second year film project. The heads up for this was supplied by this tumblr page, and I agree; it reminds me of @moonrangerlaura as well.
You would think there was a holiday weekend coming up the way the Cons are stacking up. There are so many good ones I don’t know where to start, and I am sure I will short some of them, but let’s start with the Steampunk cons. The big one of course is World Steam Expo in Dearborn, MI. The musical guests alone are worth the price of admission, plus the panels, events, and everything else going on. Nakamacon is a Steampunk con for Anthropomorphic and Anime fans held in Madison, WI; or maybe a Furry Con for Cartoon Victorian Werewolves. Whatever it is it looks like they have some fun things planned. And ConQuesT 41 in Kansas City, MO, is billing itself as Steampunk & Evil Geniuses, but it also has a great lineup of authors and publishers.
There are a number of general Sci-Fi cons, meaning a little bit of everything but leaning towards the mediacon side of the spectrum. In Atlanta there is TimeGate, in Lansing, MI MediaWest*Con 30, in Santa Clara BayCon, and in Missoula its MisCon. Most of these appear to be fan run gatherings with plenty of activities and guests (including Harry Turtledove in Montana). My personal favorite fan run con this weekend has to be BaltiCon 44 in Baltimore, MD., and this would probably be the major Readercon event for the weekend. Tanya Huff is the author guest of honor, just for starters; check the participants list to get an idea of the scope of this event.
If you want a comicon this weekend, the prime choice looks like the Phoenix Comicon, with guests like Stan Lee, Felicity Day, Levar Burton, Wil Wheaton, and James Marsters, this one could double as a Media Con. Stan Lee will also be at Rock’N Comicon in L.A., California, which really is a monster media event. Another comicon is Florida Battlecon in Orlando, for those who prefer their comic art tattooed directly onto their epidermis while driving hot women around on monster bikes.
The actual media con for this weekend is a true monster: the London MCM Expo. If I start naming everyone who is there and all the things going on I would still be typing as the doors open Friday. So, instead, here is a glimpse of the last one they held…
If you are in Europe this weekend you also have an event in Paris that looks like a lot of fun, la convention Epitanime. This time I can’t tell you what’s going on because my French tutor back in school was actually teaching me Louisiana Cajun, which is about as close to French as German is to English.
English speaking Anime conventions this weekend include Animazement 13 in Raleigh, NC, Anime Oasis in Boise, ID, and Anime North in Toronto, CA. All three events have a hoard of guests and a lot of activities planed throughout the weekend, and they all look great. And Fanime Con takes place in San Jose, CA, right in the heart of Silicone Valley. What makes this event special, besides the location? Flow will be one of the bands playing at the Music Fest, and will probably be playing the theme songs they did for shows like Naruto, Code Geass, Psalms of Planets, Eureka Seven, and Persona. Also playing are LM.C and Halko Momoi. Or how about the US almost-premier of 20th Century Boys 3: Redemption at Viz Theater. Supposedly they have enough back-story at the beginning of this film so you don’t need to have seen the first two to enjoy it, but they are always fun to re-watch. Also playing at Viz that weekend is The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, the feature length presentation that comes between the first and second series of the TV program. Seeing either of those on the big screen would be a treat; seeing both would be worth the price of that coast to coast ticket.
There are more cons this weekend, but that should be enough to get you started; have fun!
