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.
If you are a Studio Ghibli fan, and love movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Howls Moving Castle, or Spirited Away, and you happen to live in the central East Coast portion of the US, the AFI Silver Theater is presenting Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata and the Masters of Studio Ghibli. These masterpieces of animation equal or exceed anything done by the classic Disney studios and have won critical acclaim all over the world. The American Film Institute Silver Theaters in Silver Spring, MD, is not alone in this presentation. The co-presenters are the Freer Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Japanese Information Center, a department of the Japanese Embassy. I already own almost all of these on DVD (one has yet to be released in the US), but I have never before seen the ones in this program on the big screen. After this past weekend, I can tell you they are amazing to see in a real theater, and if you have the chance to go there are plenty of wonderful films yet to be presented.
There are no wide releases of note this week, but if you are near a theater that gets limited release films, My Way is the most interesting film out there, and the sad part is it is based on a true story. Two high school rivals, one Korean and one Japanese, become enemies and end up fighting together in most of the major theaters of WWII, and eventually have no one to depend on except each other. They start out fighting for the Japanese in China, one an officer and the other a conscript, where they are captured and forced to fight for the Chinese on the Russian front. Soon they are captured by the Russians, who in turn place them on their western front to fight the Nazi’s. In turn, they are captured by the Nazi’s, who put their new cannon fodder along the entrenched installations in Normandy, to fight the invading Allies. Originally titled D-Day, this is a Korean film which has won some awards around the world and done some serious box office in Asia.
No movies to speak of this week, beyond Robotropolis, which is a remake of Westworld without the budget.
In TV, the 1980s spinoff series from the movie of the same name, Starman: Season 1 stared Robert Hays as the alien, come back to Earth to visit his kid. I still love the movie, the TV show was not as impressive but still might be worth watching again, if only to see if it got better with perspective. Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials also comes out this week, and that period of his career holds some of his most creative work. If you got the huge Ernie Kovacs DVD collection that came out last year like I did, you already have these. If you were waiting for something resembling a best-of, this would be it.
We do have a treat in Western Animation: Shaun the Sheep: Shear Madness. The folks at Aardman have a new movie coming out in the next few weeks as well, Pirates, Band of Misfits that also looks to be pretty funny. The other western animation this time around is Young Justice: Season 1, Volumes 1-3, which is still funny, but more action oriented.
In Anime, Someday’s Dreamers – Complete Collection looks to be the humorous choice, being the story of a magical girl who can’t spell very well, and who moves to Tokyo for some advanced training. Winning the ward for most redundant title this week is Legend of the Legendary Heroes, with both Part 1 and Part 2 coming out at the same time. This one is a much more serious story of war and power.
Re-released in a more cost effective package, Tsubasa, RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – OVAs Collection S.A.V.E. edition completely changes the way you view that set of universes, as the two OVA series tells you what lay underneath the tale you thought you understood.
The movie Looper is a movie about a bounty hunter in the present who gets paid to kill time travelers arriving from the future. And one day, the guy who arrives is an older version of him, and all sorts of hell breaks loose. They do have a nice tag line: Hunted By Your Past, Haunted By Your Future. Bruce Willis is the older-me time traveler, this one will be hitting the big screen on September 28th.
Yes, you can also get the printed version of these two, but they look real good online and you can read them there for free. The old favorite Steampunk Comic that you have seen mentioned here many times before is Girl Genius, a graphic novel series so good it has won some serious awards. I have been reading it for years and did order the print version (I think I have through volume 8 so far) just because I wanted to read it the old fashion way. On the other hand, I only heard about Lady Sabre & The Pirates of the Ineffable Aether within the past week or so from the folks over at SF Signal, and am enjoying it immensely so far. Check them out, and let me know what you think!