You might not of heard of any of the interesting movies this week, but a few of them are quite good. I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK is a 2006 romantic dramedy from Korea that mostly takes place in a mental institution. Yes, it is every bit as quirky as that description makes it sound, and it goes places you wouldn’t expect; I have owned the subtitled import version of the film for years, and it is quite worth the time to experience. This first domestic release is also subtitled rather than dubbed into English. Lunopolis has won fistfuls of awards at film festivals all over the world and tells a sci-fi drama about lunar occupation, cover ups, and conspiracies. Done documentary style, this one looks quite good. And there is Phase 7, a sci-fi/horror/comedy that has been compared with Shaun of the Dead, all about the end of the world.
In live action TV we have The Bionic Woman: Season 3, the spinoff from the 6 Million Dollar Man. I thought both of those series were campy when they were made, but unlike Knightrider they are still watchable today.
On the animation front, I don’t have a clue why the production team behind Chop Kick Panda are not all in jail for copyright violation, since it is a direct ripoff of Kung Fu Panda, but they have a new one coming out this week as well. On the other hand, The True Story of Puss ‘n Boots is a legitimate original work based on the public domain source material, but this time the cat has a French accent rather than Spanish.
In anime, La Corda D’Oro: The Complete Collection tells the entire story of a slacker girl given a magic violin by an interesting fairy. More interesting for me is Glass Maiden – Complete Collection about an offbeat detective agency and an impossible girl.