There is a new trailer for the UK show Misfits which is about to launch into season 2. If you enjoyed Heroes back when they were good and you like intelligent comedy, this may just be the show for you. A group of scruffy young folks on a Community Service sentence get struck by lightning and develop strange powers. This program actually won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Drama, awarded in June. So far as I know, no one is currently planning to bring this to the US; I hope that changes soon.
Terrestrial Human
TOR Dot Com didn’t do a full month of Steampunk this year, but they are doing a Steampunk Fortnight. Besides the many articles they have posted in the 42 or so hours since they started, they have also posted two excellent stories: Clockwork Fairies by Cat Rambo, and The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder. And if you can’t get enough Steampunk there, consider becoming a part of the project to Build the Charles Babbage Analytical Engine, as posted by the BBC. As someone who has ranted about Ada and Charlie, inventor of computer programming and the computer respectively back in the 1830’s, you probably already know I am supporting this one!
One of my favorite J-Rock groups is Scandal, who started out as four actresses in training. Each was advised to learn a musical instrument to round out their skill set; so they chose 4 different ones and formed a kick-ass band. You mostly only hear them in North America on Anime DVDs, when they come through on tour, or periodically on a J-Melo broadcast. And while over here they are best known for their contributions to K-ON and other anime, they have a ton of top quality non-anime music as well, and more fans than you might suspect (some of whom can sing their entire catalog in Japanese). Did I mention the have won some awards, including the Viewers Choice Awards on J-Melo?
Hopefully you have been attending the USA Science and Engineering Festival since it opened on the 10th, either on the national mall and surrounding area or at any of the Satellite Events taking place at 50 locations in twenty different states. It goes on through the 24th, and I wanted to remind everyone that for the final weekend they are doing a Grand Finale Expo. That runs from 10AM to 5:30PM on Saturday and Sunday, the 23rd and 24th, with more than 1,500 hands-on activities and over 75 stage shows. Hope to see you there!
This Friday’s offering is a bit different, but looks like it could be interesting. Hereafter is a film directed by Clint Eastwood about a psychic who sees the afterlife and a few people he connects with deeply. I am not a fan of Clint Eastwood, Psychics, or near-death phenomena, but the trailer makes me think that perhaps there is something about this movie that would make it worthwhile. Of course, that’s what I thought about The Last Airbender trailer, and once the film actually started the guy sitting behind me kept nudging me to stop me from snoring. I think I will wait until this one is on a service I get anyways, like Netflix or HBO, rather than take another expensive nap in a darkened room full of strangers.
Mamoru Oshii’s latest feature film Assault Girls takes us to a future dystopian China where we return to the virtual realm called Avalon, for more beautifully filmed and soundscaped combat. The environment is very like the one he created for Ghost In The Shell, and could easily occupy that same universe, shifted to the mainland instead of the home islands. This one gets my vote as must-have of the week.
It seems like Predators was just in the movie theaters, but it is already coming out on DVD. In this entry to the franchise, a small selection of Earth’s top killers are exported to a hunting planet as prey. And in absolute last place for this weeks feature films, I am only mentioning Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl because the title gives me a grin. But the people who built both this movie and Tokyo Gore Police look to be the Troma of the orient, except without the humor. And notice I am not even mentioning Zombie Christ.
For live action TV series, a couple of classics are finally out on disk, starting with The Bionic Woman: Season 1, the original version. Personally I thought the recent remake was a much better rendition, with a more realistic story line, better acting and improved FX, if only because we are so much closer to having functional tech these days. The other TV golden oldie is Tales from the Darkside, with both the final season and the complete series being released this week. While it was more horror than Sci-Fi or Fantasy, every story had a little twist that gave it an edge, and figuring that twist out became the fun for watching this series.
Several goodies from the realm of animation this week, with Eden of the East: The Complete Series beating out everything else. I just reviewed it the other day, so my opinions should already be obvious, but let me just restate it for the record: this is the best Anime series I have seen this month, and in the top 10 (maybe the top 3) for this year. Its numerous awards come from many events, including the Tokyo International Anime Fair and Anime Kobe.
Tears To Tiara – The Complete Collection tells the Arthur/Albion legend from a new perspective. I haven’t seen this one yet, but it sounds very interesting and the artwork looks great.
Also out this week, Bamboo Blade: The Complete Series puts the entire girls kendo team storyline into a single box, in their never ending battle for sushi. And Hetalia: Axis Powers – Season 02 continues the personified silliness of WWII. And for western animation, Shaun the Sheep: Season 1 is also available Tuesday. Yes, this last group is just good old silly fun.