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Something to Do: Movies

This weekend we have an interesting looking remake of Conan the Barbarian, one a bit more visually explicit than the Arnie version. It also looks like it might be truer to the original books than the previous film versions, and I will be in the theater for this one. Also out this week is Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, with Jessica Alba as the mommy spy. While this franchise is definitely kid-centric, it still has some entertainment value for the adults in the audience. And there is one more I have to mention, even though it is not genre; the Independent Films crime comedy Flypaper starring Ashley Judd and Patric Dempsey looks to be an absolute hoot. It is only in limited release to start with, but hopefully there will be a theater somewhere near you carrying it.

There is also a special one night only event this Wednesday, the 17th, in the form of RiffTrax Live: Jack the Giant Killer. This is another one of those Fathom Events presentation, with the MST3K inheritors doing a number on the cheesy 1962 fantasy epic.

Something to Watch: DVDs

The movie worth checking out this week is Priest, an action film based on the graphic novel of the same name. Kind of a vampire post-apocalypse western, the vampires are hungry and the clergy are heavily armed.

In TV, Outcasts: Season One could also be called The Entire Series, since it got cancelled before it had finished airing in the UK, and well before it was brought to the US by BBC America. Which is sad, because even though it started out slow, by the end of the season they had built up quite a powerful storyline that just got better with each episode. Also out this week is both season 5, and the entire series to date (seasons 1 through 5) box sets of Dexter, a program that is just strange enough to be genre itself.

There doesn’t seem to be any interesting genre Anime coming out this week unless I missed something. For western animation, there is Batman The Brave & the Bold: Season 2, Part 1, which seems a bit Saturday morning cartoon-like to me.

Bunraku US release

It wasn’t that long ago that I commented on the Bunraku movie showing at Otakon and making the film festival rounds, with a link to the Bunraku homepage. We now have release dates for those of us not able to catch it at a Film Fest. On September 1st it becomes available on VOD (Video On Demand) for home viewing, on September 30th it hits the big screen across the country in at least a limited run basis, and on November 1st you can bring this puppy home as a DVD or Blu-Ray. From everything I have been hearing, this is a fitting successor to Kung Fu Hustle but with a more international cast; I can’t wait!

Metroid Music download

If you have been playing games for a while, you have no doubt run across the classic platform shooter Metroid, which has been around since 1986. According to the folks a Crunchyroll, in honor of the games 25th anniversary there has been an album recorded of the themes from various versions of it called Harmony of a Hunter, and released as a free download from ShineSparkers. A lot of the music is in what I think of as the 8 Bit Boogie format but some is in Metal, Chiptune, and Dubstep. Thee is currently no physical media you can buy, but if they get enough response on the download they are considering releasing it on disc. Considering how key to the franchise the game music has been since the beginning, I think this is an excellent tribute. Be aware, if you download the whole side files (which shows just how old school the creators are: each “whole side” disk is the normal 16 or so minutes long of the traditional vynal record album), the songs slide from one into the next with a cross fade between them. If you want the songs as stand alone so you need only add the ones you like to your playlist, you will want to download the individual tracks.

Marvel Superhero on Castle

According to the folks at io9, next season will see a Marvel Superhero on Castle sometime in the next season. I am having a hard time imagining who it could be, because Castle is a reality based series; it has to be someone without actual superpowers, or perhaps an actor playing an actor in a costume playing a superhero, if that isn’t too recursive. It should be fun, whatever it is.

Something to Do: Movies

Nothing good this week in new movie releases, as I am certainly not going to recommend Final Destination 5 to anyone. But if you missed any of the new releases of the past few weeks, this would be a great time to catch up. Still in theaters we have last weeks Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Cowboys and Aliens from the week before, both of which I can recommend. Also Captain America: the First Avenger from the week before that was a strong entry for the franchise which I completely enjoyed. Unfortunately Another Earth opened to very limited release that same week, and has now evaporated from most of the few theaters it did occupy.