Not long ago I mentioned the Robert A. Heinlein Radio Archives, and a bit before that it was the Ray Bradbury Radio Archive, both part of the new Radio Archives section of the Sci-Fi London web site. They have expanded their collection yet again, this time with classic radio plays from Issac Asimov and Frederik Pohl. The Asimov stories include Pebble In The Sky and Nightfall, the Pohl include Tunnel Under The World and The Map Makers. You can listen to them online, download them for your permanent collection, or if you have an Ubuntu One account you can have them delivered there to enjoy through the cloud. You should also be aware that Sci-Fi London 11, the new incarnation of their annual film festival, runs from March 1st through the 7th. Wish I could be there for it.
First off, a reminder that the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival takes place from the 10th to the 18th of February, but there is new Sci-Fi for folks not in Boston as well this week. Journey 2: the Mysterious Island is based on the Jules Verne book, and is the sequel to the version of Journey to the Center of the Earth from a few years ago. I suspect that is going to be the movie to beat this weekend, but it does have a bit of competition. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is being re-released in is 3D incarnation. This may actually end up being worth watching, because unlike most post-production 3D processing jobs, they have the money to do it right. Now if only they could improve the story and kill Jar-Jar while they are at it.
The Tokyo International Anime Festival takes place in Akihabara from Oct 27th to the 28th this year. Together with the Tokyo International Anime Fair, which is held in March every year, these events help keep Japan preeminent in the world of animation. If you are in the neighborhood, you really do want to check these out.
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.
According to Anime News Network, the latest film from Studio Ghibli, From Up on Poppy Hill, has blown away the competition to become the number one box office film in Japan for 2011. It did it so completely that it exceeded the box office draw of its next two competitors combined by $400,000 US, and is currently pushing the $54 million range. This is another work directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of renowned filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki who wrote and planned the movie. No word yet on when Disney will be releasing the film either in theaters or on DVD for the US market, but it is at least making the rounds of the usual film festivals in North America.
On September 22nd through the 29th Fantastic Fest take place in Austin, Texas. Billed as the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, this one is worth the effort to get to. Some of the more interesting films already in the venue (they are still adding more) include Beyond The Black Rainbow, a dystopian retro-future with a unique visual style, and Invasion Of Alien Bikini, a Korean ultra low budget kung-fu/action/comedy/sci-fi/bikini romp that made 5 times its production cost when it won the Grand Prize at the Yubari Film Festival. Also A Lonely Place TO Die, a UK presentation of a survival film that has fully believable characters in every roll and real heart in its storytelling, and Underwater Love, a Japanese romantic comedy about the relationship between a woman and her Kappa (watersprite deity). The list goes on, including a rare big screen presentation of Versus, the classic Yakuza vs. gun toting Zombies fim, a from Japan.