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Something to Watch: DVDs 22Jul14

In movies this week Transcendence is a story of the singularity, as the first person to upload themselves becomes in control of the web and everything connected to it. I have not seen this one yet, but as someone who wants to be uploaded I intend to, and hope it does not end too badly. In the realm of Fantasy we have Heaven Is For Real, another movie I haven’t seen and can not comment on.

In TV we have Xena: Warrior Princess – Season Five, and yes, I know this is not the first time this season has been released. But when it was originally put on the shelves it had a list price of $79.95, which means if you shopped around you might be able to find it for $59, or a used copy for $45. The new set of releases list at $26.95 when each first comes out, meaning you can find it for $19 or so, a lot more cost effective choice, and a bit less if you wait about 6 months. The other thing I prefer about the new series of releases is that they are in a single multi-disc case per season, and so take up about a third of the shelf space of the original box set with 4 or 5 normal DVD cases in it. And the rumors of a new series/movie continue, so maybe we will get a bit more of this show to enjoy.

In Anime Appleseed: Alpha is the new prequel to the other series by Masamune Shirow about what it means to be human, and where the borders of your humanity are in a war-torn cyberpunk universe. For those wondering the primary series from the author/artist on the topic is Ghost In The Shell, the title referring to the human/AI mind/spirit encased in whatever combination of organics and machinery your particular cyborg situation has you in. Appleseed is one of the best professional instances of Machinema I know of, rivaled only by the Final Fantasy franchise. And the GITS link is a really good viral site, driving everyone nutz when it first went online; have fun learning your way around it.

The Severing Crime Edge: Complete Collection is a dark fantasy about people who inherit murder weapons from their ancestors, complete with a curse that causes them to re-commit the original murders. But they don’t want to do that, and are fighting their destinies. The other anime this week isn’t exactly genre, but it is pretty amusing, right down to the title: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. His student adviser put him into a club that had only one member until he arrived, and the club’s mandate is to help all who come to them solve their problems. Except the problems they are asked to solve are fairly strange, and get stranger as time goes on.

Something to Do: Movies, 18Jul14

For action we have The Purge: Anarchy is the sequel to The Purge, with a simple premise: for half a day all crime goes without punishment. This distopia does allow for some pretty exciting footage on the screen as the various protagonists attempt to survive the night, without having to remake Escape From New York yet again. Which allows them the dubious honor of remaking their own movie instead, which was probably inspired by Escape From LA. If you prefer family friendly animated silliness with your fantasy adventures, Planes: Fire & Rescue might be the choice for you this week. The animation work is quite well done, but somehow the planes/cars franchise hasn’t really engaged me, I think because they are a little too heavy handed with their story lines. If you are looking for a film to share with your kids, this is definitely your best choice. Finally, some theaters will get Mood Indigo, a romantic fantasy about an inventor who finally falls in love with a woman, only to discover she is dying from flowers growing in her lungs. I had to grin at the mouse sidekick to the chef, at the very minimum. If this one is playing near me, it will be getting my money as the best film option available. Strangely enough, although the movie is French/Belgium, the working home page I found for it is in Japan; there is also a US Outlet Home Page. The two other films from this director I really enjoyed were The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and this looks like it might be just as good as either of those.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 13Jul14

In movies, the animation Rio 2 is a family friendly action/adventure worth the time to check out. Just like the original feature, the new one is very heavy with musical talent, both on the vocal and instrumental levels, as is fitting for the town where it takes place. In both films the animation is integrated with the music to an extent I have hardly ever seen before. I particularly like the aerial ballet work. A Winters Tale is a romantic Fantasy that I missed at the theaters, and am looking forward to seeing on disc.

For TV, Orphan Black: Season Two is the definite winner, and I have a hard time understanding why Tatiana Maslany was not nominated for half a dozen Emmy Awards after the insanely complex series of characters she has been portraying.

In Anime, Deadman Wonderland: Complete Series is a twisted little story about the unjustly imprisoned who are forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of the public and the enrichment of the networks. Not exactly a new premise, the plot has been around since at least 1975’s Death Race 2000, and renewed with The Running Man (the 1987 film with Arnold Schwarzenegger, or the 1982 Steven King book it was based on, your choice). Also this week, Mononoke: Complete Collection is a sequel to 2006’s Samurai Horror Tales, and tells the story of a medicine seller who travels the provinces looking for the evil spirits he is charged with defeating. When he finds one, he goes through a three stage process to banish it, the final step being to wipe it out with his sword. The tale takes place during the Edo period so this is a bit confusing to the locals, since society is broken up into four classes, and only the highest class, the Samurai, are allowed to use swords. The lowest class, merchants such as the medicine seller, would never be allowed near them; and yet, here he is, heavily armed to protect his fellow breathers.

Finally this week, To Love Ru: Darkness brings season three of the battle of the royal daughters of the planet Deviluke over the fate of the human Rito Yuuki. This one is a definite romantic comedy, and when the Golden Darkness shows up with an army of possessed high school students, things get really wild.

Dracula Untold trailer

This appears to be a unique take on the origin story of Dracula, with a bit of the historical Vlad Tepes embedded to explain the forces driving him to make bad choices for good reasons. With the tag line Every bloodline has a beginning, Dracula Untold will be hitting the big screen in October.

Something to Do: Movies, 11Jul14

The film this time is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the second in the series of the recent reboot. The CGI work on the characters looks a lot more realistic than the ape makeup they used in the classic films, making the reboot worth doing just for that. I am not sure the changes to the underlying story are an improvement, but at least they have a better evolutionary driver than nuclear war radiation/fallout this time around.