Pride And Prejudice And Zombies will also be on the big screen on February 5th. While I think Hail, Caesar! had the better trailer, I really enjoyed the book, so I might just go see this one.
Lost In Hong Kong is a truly twisted film, and the sequel to the highest-grossing film in China’s history (until Monster Hunt came along last July), Lost In Thailand. It does have some great action and comedy sequences, but the flavor of the trilogy, so risque and adventuresome in Lost on Journey, slid into slapstick with Lost In Thailand, and finally into mainstream with Lost In Hong Kong. Still, each of these films was quite entertaining in its own way, and this final one of the set will be out on DVD in March (it hit US theaters back in September).
The film Hail, Caesar! isn’t genre, so why post the trailer here? Because it cracked me up, and when I finally stopped laughing I knew I had to share it. Plus, it is comfortably recursive, a movie about making movies, poking a lot of fun at the industry and itself in the process. I may just have to be in the theater on February 5th to catch this one.
We get the animation Norm of the North in wide release this week, polar bear vs. corporation. In what appears to be a limited theatrical release, the live action film 400 Days tells about a group of trainees in a long duration space mission simulation who lose contact with mission control. This is a bit unusual because it is produced by Syfy Films, but being released in theaters and on demand, rather than being aired on the Syfy Channel. Also, it was released on DVD in Australia last October.
The Martian is out on disc this week, based on Andy Weir’s book and starring Matt Damon. The film has been nominated for a number of awards already, it will be interesting to see which ones it takes home. For animated family silliness we also get Hotel Transylvania 2, with the further antics of Dracula’s daughter. While Mr. Robot: The Complete First Season may not be genre, it is cutting edge TV you should be watching, and it too is up for an assortment of awards. From now to January 21st you can watch all 10 Season 1 enhanced and uncensored episodes on their website, especially if you are voting for any of those awards.
In Anime, Argevollen Collection 2 continues to up the ante in the war, with newer and better combat mechs rolled out to both sides. It is beginning to look like the only winners will be the companies that create the giant robots. The IGPX Immortal Grand Prix: Complete Collection originally came out in 2005 as 2 box sets, this is the first time the entire thing is in a single package. It combines auto racing with combat mechas for a rather unique sport.
The band METAFIVE was formed around Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Takahashi Yukihiro early in 2014, as I mentioned when I posted their video for Don’t Move last month. This time around we have the video edit version of Luv U Tokio, posted on line 3 days ago, and the studio live version of Maisie’s Avenue posted a few weeks ago on December 26th. This band just gets better with each new track I hear from them. Their very first album, META, which includes all of these tracks and many more, hits the shelves in just a few days on January 13th. You can pick it up from your favorite Japanese online music outlet as an import for 2,800 Yen, but sadly it is not coming out in the US at the same time. Locally you can get their track Split Spirit, featured in the Anime Ghost In The Shell: Arise from the iTunes store.