From the team that did Chicken Run and the Wallace and Gromet series of films comes The Pirates! Band Of Misfits. As always with the output from this group expect a wonderful animation leaning heavily on the comedy side, but there will be a bit of a wait for it; this one comes out in March of 2012.
Emil Goodman created a very interesting Steampunk video as an initial concept piece for a project known as Henry Waltz. If he gets to build out the entire project, I will definitely be in the audience when it rolls out on the big screen.
HENRY WALTZ – VISUAL TEASER from Emil Goodman on Vimeo.
Nothing exciting coming out new this weekend, and I certainly can’t recommend Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a remake of an old made-for-TV horror flick. This might be a good weekend to catch up on recent releases you haven’t seen yet, or watch a few of the DVDs you still need to unwrap. But there is a new trailer for the Ghost Rider sequel, coming out in February.
The folks over at Deadline are reporting that Ridley Scott is signed on to helm a new rendition of Bladerunner. The classic Philip K. Dick story explores one of his favorite themes, what does it mean to be human and how can you tell if someone is? Details are few and far between yet, such as will this be a prequel or a sequel, but I really don’t care. As a person who already bought every different edit and version of the original movie, I will definitely be in the theater for that one. Meanwhile, Trekweb reports that Walter Koenig has been talking about J. Michael Straczynski getting his hands back onto the rights for Babylon 5 and rolling out a new feature film for the franchise. That is another universe I have never gotten tired of, and I look forward to returning to it as well.
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.
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!