While I would love to share the trailer for the next live episode of Primeval New World, episode #7 or #11, depending on where you live I believe, it is not available in the US yet, so that’s not an option. What I can share is some compiled footage put together for/by Miranda Frigon, who’s character is central to the story so far. As is appropriate to a story about time travel, I do not believe these outtakes are anything like in correct temporal sequence, but at least they give us a teaser into the worldview of this story.
There are actually two release dates this week, and they both have some serious winners. On Valentines Day we get the box office monster A Good Day to Die Hard, because I am sure some movie executive somewhere said to themselves “Yeah, that is such a romantic chick flick, but there are 2 other films worth noting. The romantic fantasy Beautiful Creatures (based on the book of the same name) takes place in a small southern town where a newly met couple must uncover some very dark supernatural secrets. Unfortunately, Love & Teleportation is in such limited release that you have to be attending the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival if you want to see it.
When we get to Friday proper, Escape from Planet Earth brings all the animated silliness anyone could wish for. Meanwhile, The Power of Few runs multiple story lines in parallel, and one of them involves the Shroud of Turin being stolen so someone can clone Jesus. All in all, quite a good weekend for movies.
Robot & Frank is a great little indi film about the robot Frank’s kids get for him, to help him around the house. But Frank see’s a chance to come out of retirement, and starts teaching the bot how to be a cat burglar. This one absolutely has to come home with me this week. In The Man with the Iron Fists the Emperor’s gold is stolen, and everyone in China is out to claim it for themselves. Aladdin and the Death Lamp is one of those Syfy Channel made-for-TV movies that they would be better off not making. However, I can’t wait until the production company that they formed with Universal Pictures comes out with their first movie, based on the first Wildcards book, with both George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass involved with the project.
Skyfall has to be mentioned, because Bond is the character that made Spy stuff so out there it became genre. For the documentary fans we have two items, the first being 50 Years of Bond Cars from the mainiacs with Top Gear. There is also an offering called Jedi Junkies, all about Star Wars fans. It includes the usual collection of interesting people, of whom my favorite has to be Olivia Munn.
In TV we have Weeds: Season Eight which, while not genre, is a twisty little series. I am amazed so many of the characters lived to make it to the final season, but I don’t hold out much hope many of them will survive it. The other TV show of note is Duck Dodgers: Dark Side of the Duck Season 1; any program that has Marvin the Martian as a regular character definitely gets my vote.
In Anime, InuYasha: The Final Act – Set 2 finally brings the saga to a close. I think. This series has been running for a very long time, there is no rule saying they couldn’t continue it if they wanted to. Also this week, New Fist of the North Star – Complete Collection brings us more story for that show, but not a lot. This one is a 3 episode OVA. What the two shows have in common is they are both old school anime of a style common in the 1980s and 1990s, probably because that’s when each series originated.
I enjoyed the new game day trailers for the various genre films coming out soon, particularly the one for the new Lone Ranger offering. It was pretty much all new footage for me, although that one train sequence has to be central to the story; I think I have probably seen most of it now.
The Sorcerer and the White Snake starring Jet Li is sadly in limited release this week. Although since China bought AMC last year, the larger AMC theaters (anything with 12 or more screens) are now showing Chinese movies along with the Bollywood films they have always carried, so you could find it nearby. This is not the first movie based on the Chinese legend of the White Snake, which was first written down during the Ming Dynasty. In fact, there have been TV shows, operas, and stage plays, as well as movies based on this story, coming from Japan, China, Taiwan, and other parts of Asia. I am looking forward to seeing how this interpretation goes, since some of them have been quite surreal.
There seems to be a distinct lack of live action genre releases this week, either Movies or TV. And the western animation is a re-release, Peter Pan, Diamond Edition, which brings this classic out in Blue Ray format for the first time.
We do a little better with Anime, but not by a lot. Toriko: Part 2 continues the combat gourmet epic as our hero attempts to assemble his Full Course Menu of Life. The rule for including a dish seems to be it has to be made from something that kills most of the people that hunt it. While I can’t vouch for Toriko’s sanity, you have to admire his style. Also this week, Casshern Sins: Complete Series is coming out in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means if you shop around you can pick it up for under $20. Robot redemption in the wasteland he created is a unique premise for a series, and this one is done quire well.
There are, of course, many other DVDs coming out this week, both live action and animated, but they do not seem to be genre or even genre related. Hopefully we will do better next week.