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Pick of the week would have to be Source Code, about a soldier who is part of an anti-terrorist task force, and who keeps getting shoved back through time so he can gather intelligence about who planted the bomb, so they can be arrested. But that is not good enough for him; he knows that the true task is to save the victims on the train from the bomb. The problem is doing so would lead to some serious causality loops, possibly as severe as an actual paradox, and that threatens the very existence of the task force, and maybe even the planet. This one is worthy of Philip K. Dick in its twisty recursiveness, and is another win for Duncan Jones.

Also out this week, Super is the story of a man who turns himself into a costumed vigilante after loosing his girlfriend to a drug dealer. The Crimson Bolt may not have any super powers, but he does have attitude and a serious wrench as well as some great actors involved with project. For the younger crowd, the animated Hop shows what happens when the Easter Bunny gets run over by a distracted driver.

Finally, in a bid for the Batshit Crazy award we have Rubber, a film about a telekinetic tire which goes on a killing spree. This one is so outside the box it has a shot at cult status if the quality holds up.

The best two releases this week are animated. Disney’s Tangled was an absolute hoot on the big screen, and will be just as funny and fun filled on smaller screens, I feel certain. If you haven’t seen it, now is your chance. Be warned that in this movie the horse pretty much steals every scene he is in, which I found amazing for one simple fact; he does not get a single word of dialog. This one is being released in every format up to and including 3D.

The TV series worth noting this week is not sci-fi, but science: The Cosmos: A Beginner’s Guide. This one was built as part of the BBC 2 Open University project, and is in fact a collage level course for the price of a DVD TV series.

Evangelion: 2.22 You Can [Not] Advance brings us the updated second quarter of the re-imagined series. When completed, the four feature length films will take less total viewing time than the original 26 episodes and two movies although to be fair one of the movies was a retelling of episodes 25 and 26 to arrive at an alternate ending. Even so, they are getting all the key story line, plot twists, and character development of the original into them. To make it all fit, they are skipping a lot of the less important giant mecha vs. alien battles and just showing the critical ones. Whether you consider this an improvement or not depends to some extent on why you liked the original series, but I find that it makes for a denser story moving at a faster pace. While I haven’t heard of any plans to turn the new Manga series into an Anime yet, I should mention that Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse Graphic Novel 3 is being released by Dark Horse Comics this week as well.

The fantasy epic Guin Saga Collection 1 will also be released this week. Their homeland invaded, their parents slain, the prince and princess of Parro flee by means of a strange device hidden in the palace. It deposits them in the Forest of Rood, where a cat headed warrior named Guin saves them from their enemies; and so the story begins.

The streaming schedules for various Anime programs from Japan have been broken up by the disaster continuing to happen there, in no small part because all the TV channels have been doing emergency response information and disaster news coverage. Since all the contractual agreements with places like Crunchyroll stipulate that the programs air in Japan before streaming anywhere else, this is understandable. Even though the emergency is still ongoing some of the regular programing is returning to the airwaves, so new episodes of some of the programs are once more becoming available. NHK World is still doing full time disaster coverage, which you can watch online at that link. It is also available on Ustream for those in the Americas, over at Nico Nico Live across Asia, and on their own iPhone/iPad App. Once the emergency is over and they return to regular programing, I have 3 shows to recommend:

1) Imagine-Nation, a weekly edutainment program covering the Manga, Anime, and Gaming news out of Japan.

2) Digista which is running this season as Digista Teens, the high school version. This is all about learning how to create your own media to express yourself, with guidance from industry professionals, and most of the media being created is one flavor or another of animation. This one gives you insights and useful tips for building your own, so it is worth your time if you are considering creating something. Digista was a Japanese program for adults, but Digista Teens has expanded to become part of the Asia-Pacific Broadcast Union helping kids from multiple countries grow their skill sets. If this sounds kind of familiar, perhaps you read my Build Your Own blog entry a few days ago, when I gave the link to download some of the free animation software they are using for this project.

3) J-Melo, the weekly music program covering J-Rock, J-Pop, and all other music formats. They play both video tracks and run their own live concerts from the studio/club, this is a great place to learn about new bands and see some old favorites.

Starz has announced that the air date for Torchwood: Miracle Day will be July 8th, 2011. On that day we will get to see the premiere episode of season 4, which will get a 10 episode run. That run will bracketed by season 6 of Doctor Who on BBC America, which starts the first half of the season on April 23 and breaks a few weeks before Torchwood starts. After Torchwood runs, Who returns! I wish I could say that we will be getting Sarah Jane Adventures after that, but I don’t believe they have run in the US since season 1; I have had to wait for the DVDs to see them.

But you can see this year’s Red Nose Day Doctor Who episodes online; enjoy!

I have been waiting for, and blogging about, Sucker Punch for close to two years now. The wait is over, because it hits the big screen this weekend, and I will guaranteed be there.This animated short, The Trenches, is a bit of a spin-off from the project. There is also a movie coming out this weekend called The 5th Quarter, but sadly it is not based on the book written by Tanya Huff.