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Something to Watch: DVD’s

Gantz II: The Perfect Answer tops the movie list this time, bringing the second feature length episode of the live action version of the story. They have eased back considerably on the sex and violence of the Manga and Anime series to avoid an X rating, but it is sill quite an interesting and exciting tale. Also out this week, Parallel Life involves a murder mystery revolving around a South Korean mathematics professor who appears to be the reincarnation of Kurt Gödel. In addition there are rumors of a Russian sci-fi time travel/space combat movie called The Interceptor based on the book by Vasiliy Golovachev, but I can’t seem to find a proper site for that one. Finally, Age of Heroes is the true story of the formation of Ian Fleming’s 30 person commando unit which became the basis for the SAS.

There are two TV titles this week; Sliders: The Fifth and Final Season (I couldn’t find an official site for the 1995 series any more, so that link is a fan site) concludes that series, in what I feel is the weakest season ever for the show, with only the actor playing Rembrandt Brown remaining of the original cast. The other show is Merlin: The Complete Third Season, and it is finally starting to get a bit dark for the storyline.

Two Anime movies this time around, with the award winning First Squad: The Moment of Truth definitely leading the field. It is WWII, and a group of super powered Russian teenagers goes up against an SS officer who is attempting to raise the dead to fight for the Nazi’s. The other feature length film is Redline, the biggest car race in the universe.

In new TV series we have Princess Resurrection – The Complete Collection, a kinky little story about a boy who saves the life of a girl in a creepy mansion, only to loose his own in the process. Imagine his surprise when she grants him a second life, but only for so long as he shall be her servant. Meanwhile, Star Driver Part 2 brings us the second half of the tale of the battle of the Shrine Maidens trying to keep the evil organization Vanishing Age from bringing the giant killer Mecha’s into the world. And the last new title is Hetalia World Series – Season 03, which I will not be bringing home myself.

There are also a couple of re-releases in more cost effective packaging, for those of you who have been waiting. Kaze no Stigma – The Complete Series is being released in a [S.A.V.E.] edition, as is Nabari no Ou complete series; if you shop around, you can pick them each up for well under $20.

Something to Watch: DVD’s

In movies we have a very interesting historical epic, 1911, staring Jackie Chan, Bingbing Li, and Joan Chen, amongst others. It tells the story of the defeat of the warlord fueled empire and the near-unification of China (there were still pockets owned by the British, Japanese, etc.) just after the turn of the last century. Jackie Chan is also the director for this film, bringing yet another slice of history to the world in the form of a story you can care about, as he has done so often of late. I think in the long term these productions will stand out as his legacy, and I find it ironic that the slapstick kung-fu comedies that we all know and love has been what has given him the financial backing he needed to create this series.

And then there is The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption, which would be a direct to video release, except it looks like it will also be in a few theaters the week after the DVD is released. The cast does include Billy Zane and Ron Perlman, who between them probably account for a noticeable percentage of the 6 million dollar budget. This is a sequel of a prequel to a sequel of a remake, and I will not be holding my breath in hopes it will be watchable. Three guesses which movie will be coming home with me this week.

The winner in TV this time around hands down is Primeval: Volume Three. The title is a bit confusing, since most folks (and even Amazon, it appears) might think it meant season 3. But volume 1 was season 1 and 2, volume 2 was season 3, and volume 3 brings us season 4 and 5. There is also a quality documentary available, Nova: Finding Life Beyond Earth, from my favorite PBS science show. We may be on the verge of finding out if we are alone or not, and this episode gives you all the latest updates.

One amusing release for western animation in the form of Penguins of Madagascar: Operation Blowhole, doing a great animated James Bond parody.

For true anime, Akikan! – Complete Collection fits the bill, with a unique Japanese concept; inanimate objects as characters. This time around the soda cans are also people, and there is a bit of a war on between the Iron and Aluminum Can tribes. I am sure it will be no surprise to discover the cans become beautiful girls in their anthropomorphic form. Finally, Tweeny Witches – Complete Collection explores how an un-magical human and her two magical best friends team up to take control of their lives.

Something to Watch: DVD’s

If you are reading this, congratulations! You made it to 2012! And nowhere in today’s list will you find any movies about how the world is going to end in 2012; everyone who made one of those made sure to release it in 2011, so they would have time to spend the profits before Armageddon. The movie we do have is Red: Werewolf Hunter, in which Felicia Day is the heavily armed descendent of Little Red Riding Hood, out to keep the werewolves under control. Normally I love Felicia Day, but I am not sure this one is a noticeable improvement over any of the 2012 Armageddon films. Mostly because it was made by the old crew of made-for-TV Syfy channel movies production house, who brought us such classic turkeys as Mansquito and Sharktopus. Their new production house is a joint venture between Syfy and Universal Studios, and I have high hopes for their first contracted film, Wild Cards.

In TV, no new releases, but Fringe: Seasons 1-2 is being released in a combined box set at a reduced price, always worth noting. The various sales sites that have it listed (WB does, Amazon does not, for example) are rather vague about it with no cover image or description of extras, which I find a bit strange. It tends to give me the impression that the studio isn’t really certain if they will release it or not.

In anime, My Bride is a Mermaid – The Complete Series is genre, but the title doesn’t quite tell the whole story. The girl in question is not only a mermaid, but the daughter of the local Mer Yakuza boss, and now that the boy has learned their secret his choices are marry her or sleep with the fishes. This one is a definite comedy. Also a comedy, And Yet the Town Moves – Complete Collection is cosplay in a wanna-be maid cafe, and I think the writers may have seen a Midsummer’s Night’s Dream a few too many times. I say this because of the twisted convolutions layered into who is lusting after whom, which is the dynamic which drives the story here. Although both the ghosts and the aliens do bring their own spin to the series.

In Sekirei 2: Pure Engagement the MBI has declared the super powered combat lovelies as terrorists and intend them and their masters to fight each other to the death until only one pair is left standing. That’s pretty much all the plot line you get, but it is good enough to fuel the entire sequence of fight scenes that make up the rest of season 2, as the girls beat the clothing off each other.

For re-release this time around we have the classic X – The Complete Series, where a young psychic has to decide if he will save the world or destroy it. We also have GUNxSWORD – The Complete Series in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means if you shop around you can pick it up for less than $20. Gun X Sword is a wild west combat mecha from orbit tale of murder and corruption versus condiment-guzzling justice. It may be a bit difficult to describe in a way that makes sense until you see it, but this is one of the better animes of the last decade or so.

Finally, the original girls with guns and LOTS of collateral damage are back with the Dirty Pair OVA Series. This was probably the first anime I watched all the way through back in the ’80s, laughing my butt off as episode after episode they did more damage to the communities they were assigned to protect than the bad guys they were there to protect people from did.

Something to Watch: DVD’s

The one movie of note this week is In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, a followup to a surprisingly good direct to DVD first video. The first one had a decent amount of star power, this one has Dolph Lundgren as the modern day time traveling protagonist who ends up in a medieval war against evil sorcerers. I think I can do better dragon CGI on my home computer, but other than that this one looks like fun.

In TV we also have a single entry this week: The Nine Lives of Chloe King Volume 1. This one aired on ABC Family, and involves a high school girl who gets killed in the first episode, unleashing her superpowers. This series is a lot like watching a high school remake of Charmed, and they accurately hit their target audience of 13 to 17 year old girls; the appeal outside of that demographic is limited. You can watch full episodes on their official web site (linked above) if you want to see if this one might be for you.

Anime is where this weeks releases come into there own, with several new programs, and a number of old favorites being re-released in more cost effective packaging. To start,
Fairy Tail – Combo Pack Part 2 is the next installment about the most dangerous team in the Wizards Guild, sometimes as dangerous to themselves as to the demons they go up against, and definitely as good at generating collateral damage on the surrounding terrain and inhabitants as Dirty Pair ever was.

Himawari Too!! – Complete Collection likewise continues the story of the student kunoichi (female ninja’s, or perhaps ninjette’s, in English) as they go up against alien invasions, bubblegum maniacs, and evil broccoli. This one is just a tad surreal, more than a little bit silly, and a whole lot of fun. It is not my place to tell you about Viper GTS, the third new release for the week; if you know what it is and want a copy, you no doubt know where to find it.

The bargain editions in more cost effective packages I mentioned, the [S.A.V.E.] (for Super Amazing Value Editions) set, we have Heroic Age – The Complete Series, the Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor – The Complete Series, and D.Gray-man Season 1. If you shop around, you can pick any one of them up for less than $20.

Something to Watch: DVDs

I was rather surprised to find there isn’t much new coming out this week for last minute x-mas gifting, but there is one masterpiece: Futurama: Volume 6. I have always loved this show, and it continues to be high quality sci-fi humor.

Another show worth looking into is Rosario + Vampire: Season One, and Rosario + Vampire: Capu2, which means you can collect the entire series up at the same time. The basic plot is a normal human kid gets accidentally enrolled in a high school for monsters, and ends up with a vampire girlfriend. Plenty of comedy and fan service in this one, as there is in the other new anime for the week: Heaven’s Lost Property – Season 1 Complete. In that one a girl crazy high school boy has a wish granting winged girl fall out of the sky and into his life. She interprets his wishes in some bizarre ways not being used to humans, with pretty comedic results.

Strangely enough, I found no live action releases this week; I think that is the first time that has ever happened.

Something to Watch: DVDs

Topping of the film list this week is Cowboys & Aliens, the incredibly well done reimaging of Gene Autry’s 1935 classic The Phantom Empire. It absolutely gets my vote as best Western so far this century. As a counterbalance to that, Alien Armageddon has a bunch of cowboys trying to save Los Angeles from Space Zombies. Three guesses which one I will be bringing home. I am not even completely convinced that The Return of Post Apocalyptic Cowgirls wouldn’t be a better choice, also coming out this week, and extremely NSFW. And don’t even get me started on The Incubus, which can’t hold a candle to its 1982 namesake.

While not exactly genre, Jim Carey’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins is surreal enough to get an entry here, and a whole lot of fun. And the sleeper this week seems to be the Brazilian fantasy Astral City: A Spiritual Journey, which looks very reminiscent of What Dreams May Come, both in its cinematography and in its story. This one is worth checking out.

In TV, the primary choice this time around is The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Fourth Season. I miss Elizabeth Sladen, and am glad we have one more set of adventures to go on with her.

Captain Power: The Complete Series returns a 1980s show briefly to circulation. This one was somewhere between The Terminator and Power Rangers, and I think it may resemble the original Transformers by being a TV show spun off as a way of selling a children’s toy. But it did have a few things going for it, including the fact that along with Max Headroom that same year it was one of the first shows on TV to combine computer graphics with live action footage. But somehow Max has an honored place in my collection, while Captain Power does not, and will not.

In Anime, new this week is Tales of the Abyss – Part 2, continuing the story of the super powered boy hoodwinked by a general… or is he? Perhaps his companions will keep him from being used. Also coming around for the first time (that I am aware of) is Rozen Maiden Ouverture, which is an OVA prequel of the TV series. At the same time, they are also releasing Rozen Maiden – Complete Collection which includes season one (12 episodes), season two (another 12 episodes), and the prequel Ouverture (2 episodes). Since the complete collection is only double the cost of Ouverture while containing 12 times the number of minutes of animation, if you don’t already own the full series you will want to get the former.

Birdy the Mighty: Decode – The Complete Series finally brings this set down to a more reasonable cost than it had when broken down between the first and second season. I still own Birdy the Mighty: Final Force, which this one is pretty much a remake of, but I am looking forward to adding the new version to my collection. Also in re-release, Devil May Cry – The Complete Series S.A.V.E. Edition puts the entire anime series (not to be confused with the games, the manga, etc.) in your hands for noticeably less than $20 if you shop around.