You have to love anything called TeslaCon, and even more when it is a Steampunk gathering. It will be happening in Madison, WI, in November, and just might be a lot of fun. Don’t count on seeing everyone named in this video, it is from last year’s event; check the current web pages guest list for the new names.
Teslacon 2010 opener from Jon Sovey on Vimeo.
In limited release this week, Shaolin looks like the most interesting selection. It is a historical epic of the feudal warlord period of China’s history (yes, I know that only narrows it down to a few thousand years, but the fact that they have rifles helps narrow it further, to the last several hundred years). The name from the cast everyone should recognize is Jackie Chan, and as you can see from the trailer the cinematography is excellent as is often the case with Chinese made epics.
X-Men: First Class leads the movie field this week. This one was very impressive on the big screen as a reboot of its franchise, and I think the solid storytelling will have it fare just as well on the small screen. The other major movie offering that looks interesting is Hanna, a rather intense thriller about a teenage assassin. On the import front, Clash of Empires was originally called The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines, and is set against a backdrop of the ancient civilizations of Rome and China from the second century AD. It tells the story of a Roman prince traveling to wed a Chinese princess, with a lot of the filming taking place in Malaysia. Expect a lot of combat in this one; the trailer looks quite interesting. I should also mention The Last Kung Fu Monk for completeness’s sake, although it won’t be following me home.
There are two quality choices in the TV category this time around, with the obvious winner being Fringe: The Complete Third Season. This brilliant show just gets better with each season, and as usual the box set is coming out just in time for you to re-watch it all before kicking off the new season. The other release is the short lived No Ordinary Family: The Complete First Season, which I personally enjoyed and was sorry to see cancelled.
The new Anime offering this week is Bleach: Box Set 10, in a franchise that just keeps going. For re-releases, To Love RU is now being made available in a single boxed set rather than the two boxes it previously came out in. A number of recent classics are being offered in more cost effective packages, including Burst Angel – The Complete Collection which you can find for as low as $21 if you shop around, Black Blood Brothers – The Complete Series [S.A.V.E. Edition] can be found for about $15, and Peacemaker – Complete Collection is running at just about $25 if you shop around.
The folks at Production IG have released yet another sci-fi app in the form of the Ghost in the Shell: Optical Camouflage Camera. This one allows you to snap pictures or capture video that turns transparent against the background, as the characters did in the original GITS movie. To make it even tastier, they are throwing in free backgrounds from the GITS: SSS movie for you to position your people and objects in front of, to maximize the fun. It is currently on sale for $1.99 during the roll-out period, but expect the price to go up after a bit. While you are in there, you might want to grab their previous two apps which are running at 99 cents each. The first is the Character Music Player from Ghost In The Shell: S.A.C. Section9, the second is the 3D Cyber Clock. While I like all of these apps, only the first allows you to create your own original video.
The other app worth mentioning is FiLMiC Pro, which gives you a bunch of functionality for enhancing your HD video capture. It is a bit pricy at $2.99 compared to most other apps (or at least most I find interesting), so check out the new stuff it gives you before making your decision. *grin*
The Lollipop Chainsaw game does for Zombies what the Buffy TV show did for Vampires. Rest assured, this is already on my Must Have list!
An interesting twist on the Shakespeare legend, this historical fantasy looks like it could be intellectually satisfying as well as just plain fun. Anonymous opens October 28th in the US, November and December for the rest of the world.