Life After Beth follows in the footsteps of Warm Bodies, being a romantic zombie comedy. When Beth dies, Zach is devastated and goes into serious grieving. When Beth rises from the dead, Zach sees it as his chance to do and say all the stuff he was too shy to go for the first time around. The critical reviews look pretty good on this one, and the fact that it is opening in theaters nationwide two weeks after it stormed through Sundance is a good indication that it is something special. The Girl at the End of the World just came out, about a couple in a long distance relationship, until a disaster knocks out all technology. They have to travel across the planet to be together, just in time for the end of the world. It isn’t in a movie theater, though, it is being released as a digital download; but I thought it was a great title and wanted to mention it.
This week we get I, Frankenstein, a movie based on the graphic novel I, Frankenstein which surprised me. When I first saw the trailer I figured it was based on the Dean Koontz Frankenstein series, but I guess it just borrows heavily from it. In case there is a difference, they also have a Motion Comic of the prequel episode.
After Death brings together four siblings who gather for their inventor father’s funeral, who then discover their father and deceased brother (killed years ago in another of dad’s experiments) may not be as dead as they all supposed. I know it sounds like a plot for a horror film, but this 2012 UK feature film is actually a quirky comedy in the British style. I mention the year and country because there is a 2014 American movie by the same name that is a horror film. The superhero movie this time is Iron Girl, in Japanese with English Subtitles. The actress playing the lead role is famous in Asia for her genre work, but it is not the same genre I mean when I use the word, so put this one in the NSFW category, just in case. In Japan it is listed as 12Up (pretty much our PG13), in Korea it is listed as 18 (somewhere near our R), the US release is flagged as Not Rated, and the trailer looks like a PG13 Action film. So I certainly have no clue, you can decide for yourself whether to check it out.
While there aren’t any TV shows as such this week, The Doors: R-Evolution is a music performance compilation that includes their early TV appearances and highlights the evolution of their image presentation as they gained more control over how they were displayed on the small screen. It includes early music films (video did not yet exist) through later professional cinematic productions, and is as interesting for the evolution of the artistic style it promoted for other bands to follow, as for the music it showcases.
In Anime we have one new release this week: Medaka Box Abnormal: The Complete Collection. In season 2 of the series, Medaka Kurokami has to use every hidden resource of the Student Council in her possession, including the super power wielding Abnormals, in order to defeat the dark plans of their enemies. Her War God Mode will not be enough to save the day by itself this time.
I find these characters looking a bit strange in 3D, but I am looking forward to this blast from the past being reborn on the big screen. Mr. Peabody & Sherman was a part of the whole Rocky and Bullwinkle experience, along with Dudley Doright and Fracture Fairy Tales, and will be hitting theaters on March 7th.
More than a trailer, a bit less than a featurette, it looks like they are doing a first class job of relaunching the Robocop franchise. And for the easily confused, no, this was not filmed at CES the other week. Looks like it could have been, though.
We get animated silliness this week in the form of The Nut Job, a comedy about some overly ambitious squirrels who destroy their home while trying to stock up for winter. Also out this week is Collider, which looks pretty interesting. The official site is a bit unclear as to what country it is coming out in; it might just be Ireland. I hope it includes the US, since this one appears to have an original plot line, something that is getting hard to find out of Hollywood.