It Has Begun: Bananapocalypse is one of the funniest YouTube videos I have seen in quite a while. After I got my breath back and was able to get up off the floor, I just had to post it here. And it is not alone; the new YOMYOMF Channel is already cranking out some excellent entertainment. If you keep a sharp eye out you will notice a lot of faces you already recognize populating the footage, and the folks putting these together are no strangers to quality video production. I suspect we will be seeing a lot of excellent productions from this team as time goes on.
It isn’t very long, but let’s face it… there is only one true Judge Dredd quote, and we finally get to hear what the new incarnation of the iconic jurist sounds like delivering that dialog.
Word from Deadline Hollywood is that Marvel and ABC have signed off on creating the pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D, the live action TV series. Joss Whedon is supposed to be co-writing it, with his brother Jed (Dollhouse, Doctor Horrible) who will also be directing. Joss always had the best TV series going (Buffy, Firefly, you can name the rest as well as I can), and I can not wait to see his work back on the small screen again. They pretty much started production when they left the room after signing the contracts, so it may just be available fairly soon. Thanks to TOR for the heads up on this one.
There are several excellent choices this weekend, with Branded giving us an insight into just how twisted and horrific the world would become if it was run by marketing department teams from this or any other planet/dimension. If you liked Inception this may be the movie you should go for this time around, and I will definitely be in the theater for it, since it looks like it will need the big screen to display the video properly. From Bollywood Raaz 3: The Third Dimension is a recursive tale of a film director who must save his love from supernatural attacks from a wicked witch. This is the third entry in this horror franchise, but being a Bollywood series they take it in directions you never would have suspected. And if you just want to kick back with an old favorite, Raiders of the Lost Ark is rolling out for a limited IMAX engagement, and by limited I mean one week only. I may have seen this movie 30 times or so, but I have NEVER seen it remastered for IMAX, so I am also going to have to be in the theater for this one. Not a bad collection of choices, ne?
I couldn’t find a single movie this time, but there are two excellent TV shows: Fringe: Complete Fourth Season, and Haven: Complete Second Season. Fringe finishes with season 5, so if you missed any of 4 you can watch it now and get ready for the final round. Haven hopefully has a few more seasons in it after season 3.
For new anime, Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto: Collection 1 takes place at the end of the Shogunate era, telling the tale of a wandering warrior who is gathering up implements of supernatural power for reasons even he does not understand. A troop of actors are on much the same mission, but their motivation is revenge. War is coming to Japan, and one or both of them must be ready to try to save their country. Psychic Squad – Collection 3 continues the story of three esper girls with a boatload of power, dangerous enemies, and treacherous handlers.
In Anime classics, Haibane Renmei: Complete Series is a masterpiece of episodic animation, using soft gentle images to tell a brutal story of sin and redemption among those who may be fallen angels. Likewise Martian Successor Nadesico: Complete Collection brings the TV series, the feature film presentation, and the OVA together in a single box set. Excellent news for those who have yet to experience this amazing series. For those of us who own the TV series and the movie this is a bit of a disappointment, since there is no option to pick up just the OVA. The temptation to just buy all the rest of it again to get the missing bits is strong.
Yes, it is Worldcon time again, this time with Chicon 7, the 70th annual World Science Fiction Convention. It started on Thursday, august 30th, and runs through the holiday weekend, with an incredible line up of guests and events. One of the most important events each year is the presentation of the Hugo Awards, which has John Scalzi as Host and Toastmaster, and will be held at 8PM CDT tomorrow, September 7th. If like me you can’t be there physically, you can actually watch it Live on the Worldcon UStream channel as well as on the Hugo Awards CoveritLive page. You can go to the Worldcon UStream page now and watch last years Chelsea Awards, Hugo Awards, and a quite amusing presentation of Just A Minute that had me laughing up a storm. If I had a vote of what program out of this years offerings should also be sent out live or included as a recorded online video it would have to be the Filk Opera version of Tanya Huff’s Choice of Ending.