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This one is wonderful, and I had to post it here. I figure almost everyone else in the world saw it last week, but then this web site has always been about getting there in the end…
Howl will be in limited release this weekend, and while it might be hard to find a theater it is in, it will be worth it. Also in limited release, Enter the Void was inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and is every bit as strange as that implies. In wide release, the animated Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole brings Kathryn Lasky’s wonderful books to life in 3D. The animation looks amazing, and believe me when I say I will be in the 3D showing.
Ondine did pretty well when it made the festival circuit, getting lots of good buzz, but when it finally made a limited theatrical release it played no where near me. Now that is coming out on DVD this Tuesday I will finally get to watch this tale of a mermaid-like creature and the fisherman who catches her. The other live action movie out this week is the
Ridley Scott/Russel Crow version of Robin Hood, complete with WWII amphibious assault craft.
For TV programs, Being Human: Season Two just finished its first run on BBC America and is now heading for the shelves. A lot of the second season involves dealing with the consequences of the first, such as George accidentally turning his girlfriend into a werewolf and Mitchell’s new position in the local Vampire hierarchy. But there are new enemies to deal with this time around, one just for Annie and an organization out for the whole group and all their associates. Mythbusters Collection 6 is also available for anyone who likes their science with some serious attitude, and the new season rolls out on October 6th.
Xam’d: Lost Memories – Collection 1 is the story of war between humans and human/Hiruko fusions, told from the viewpoint of the high school boy who just got merged. The animation quality is excellent, and a bonus is the opening track by Boom Boom Satellites. Two other animation series come out in reduced cost editions, Ghost Hunt – The Complete Series in a S.A.V.E. version, and Samurai 7 in a Viridian Collection.
There are a few Geek-friendly archives that have just gone online and are worth bringing to your attention here. The first is YouTube Time Machine, or YTTM. Set your category toggles and click on a year, and you will get presented with a bit of history that matches your configured interests and timeline. You can then either repeat the process, or click the Play Another Vid button to see another match from the same year. The archive is somewhat limited when you narrow down your topic and date ranges, but still manages to deliver some fascinating videos to watch. The collection begins with the 1860 entry First Sound Ever Recorded, and goes through the subsequent media milestones since then.
The other archival project just rolled out that I find fascinating is the Variety Archives, with 105 years of Variety issues to browse or search through. They include not only articles, but every other entry aspect, including classifieds and advertisements. This is a serious glimpse into the history of recorded media, and will be mined by many scholars both amateur and professional over the forthcoming years.
As I have previously commented here, they have found the missing 25 minutes of Metropolis in an obscure museum (virtually a private collection) in South America, restored them, and released them to the public. Being a 85 year old movie you wouldn’t expect it to get a major distribution deal, and it didn’t, but the places you can go see it are all over. One of the best is the Austin Cinema Drafthouse presentation, shown (and original score performed live in) an Art Deco Powerhouse, so the setting for watching the movie is a match for the setting in the movie. To see it on the big screen my best option is to go for the next time around at the AFI Silver, one of my favorite movie hangouts, and the place where I just finally got to see the original Day The Earth Stood Still on a screen large enough to contain it.
The new Game of Thrones trailer, the George R.R. Martin series from HBO, premiering in 2011; The new Fringe trailer from Fox, with the new season kicking off the 23rd of September. The new season 4 trailer for Chuck on NBC, with a season that promises to be the best one yet. From Syfy, Stargate Universe and Caprica. There are a whole lot more, but get ready, because the majority of the new season starts next week!
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