There are a couple of great choices this week. The film Mortal Instruments: City of Bones actually hits the big screen on Wednesday, the 21st. Based on the YA series of urban fantasy novels by Cassandra Clare, Sony is no doubt hoping for the same kind of audience reaction earned by the Twilight and Hunger Games franchises. There are 5 more books already written and ready to turn into films, as well as 3 Steampunk prequels set in the Victorian era, so if this does well expect to see more. Then on Friday, The World’s End completes the Cornetto Trilogy, which started with Shawn Of The Dead and continued in Hot Fuzz.
Epic is a fun animated adventure from the team that does the Ice Ages franchise. I missed it in the theaters and am looking forward to finally seeing it. Scary Movie 5 is the latest from that series. By now you must know if you like those or not; I always consider them silly fun.
I didn’t find anything that caught my attention in TV this week, but there are a goodly collection of Anime coming out. Being a long time cyberpunk fan, I am excited that Ghost in the Shell: Arise will be out, but not on the shelves. It is only available as a Limited Edition Import from Japan, rather than licensing it to an American distributor to manufacture and release. Add to that the fact that this Blue-Ray is limited to only 2,400 copies in the US plus is the Japanese Collectors Edition, and you wind up with a very expensive 58 minute program. It is still tempting, but I am going to have to wait for a more cost effective release, probably in 6 months to a year.
Also out this week High School DxD doesn’t have anything to do with Dungeons and Dragons, but rather Demons and Devils, one of which is apparently fallen angels while the other is not. It is also from the studio that made Ikki Tousen, so expect some sex and violence. As an example, it starts with our male protagonist going on his first date, only to have said date turn into a monster and kill him. Mobile Suit Gundam UC comes in Part 1 and Part 2, each running about 2 hours, and I am having a hard time when I try to visualize the Unicorn Gundam. For me the words Unicorn and Gundam do not have a lot to do with each other. I am sure I will understand when I get to watch the video.
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan continues that epic spiritual battle, now against the 88 Demons of Shikoku. In The Legend of the Legendary Heroes, available as a single boxed set for the first time, Ferris and Ryner face an entire countryside filled with their enemies, all armed with mystical weapons. Finally, in Tsuritama, the new kid in school is an alien. Who would have suspected that in an Anime?
And remember: When tanks are outlawed, only outlaws will have tanks! Yes, they are re-releasing Masamune Shirow’s New Dominion Tank Police, an absolute classic in the collateral damage mayhem category.
The first track is Headphone Bugs, the second is Curiosity both by The ChronoHEAD, and excellent alt rock band from Japan. Curiosity is from their latest album Hakucho The Loop which was released in April, while Headphone Bugs was from back in 2011. All their music is worth checking out.
It came out at the beginning of last week, so you have probably seen this already. About Time is a comedy about love and time travel, with a stellar cast and some great production team members. And did you notice who wrote it? It should be along come October, I fully intend to see this one on the big screen.
This is different music than I usually post; rather than being something you have never heard of from a country you have never visited sung by people you don’t know, this one will be familiar in every detail. But I still had to post it, because this particular combination is one I never expected to see; and even if I had been aware of it, I never would have thought they could have done it anywhere near this well.
I particularly like the dragons vs. airships combat. Called Airlords of Airia, this is a Steampunk crowd funded proof-of=concept, built I suspect to generate more funding so they can do the whole thing. It really is nicely put together, and the making of stuff at the end lets you know exactly how they did it.