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Something to Do: Movies

There are a couple of interesting choices this weekend, starting with The Adjustment Bureau, written by Philip K. Dick and starring Matt Damon with Emily Blunt. There is a way your life is supposed to go, and if you step outside that path the near supernatural members of the Adjustment Bureau will step in and make corrections to reality to sync your life back to their expectations. As with every other P.K.Dick story turned into a movie, I am guaranteed to be in the audience on opening weekend. Note that the official Dick site is not kept up to date as well as it should be, so it is leaving out several other potential film projects.

Ordinarily a week with one of Phill’s stories coming out on the big screen would be enough to keep me happy, but this time around we get more. Apollo 18 was originally scheduled for this week, but has now been pushed back to April 22nd of this year. With the tag line There’s a reason we’ve never gone back to the moon, it looks quite interesting. But the universe keeps things balanced, and Rango has been moved up from the 18th to the 4th of March. This animated western epic stars Johnny Depp and is directed by Gore Verbinski (they worked together on that Pirates of the Caribbean series of films). So it looks like I have two films I need to see this weekend, and I will do my best to make both.

Somthing to Watch: DVD’s

What If… stars Kevin Sorbo as the man who gets a glimpse of what his life would have become had he made different choices. Yes, we have seen this before in many different movies, but I think the actors this time around bring a unique perspective. Surviving the experience with these kind of glucose levels may be a bit of a challenge, of course.

Originally a PBS series episode, Pioneers of Television: Science Fiction is a documentary which explores how Star Trek, Lost in Space, and The Twilight Zone changed the way the future was viewed, while delivering modern morality plays able to explore topics normally untouchable on the small screen.

For western animation this time around there is really only one choice: ReBoot: The Definitive Mainframe Edition. I have been waiting entirely too long for this direct descendant of the original TRON to become available. This was the first fully computer generated TV animation in western countries, telling the stories of the Guardians and their battle with the Viruses they defended Mainframe from. Besides having animation of a quality that had not been seen before in a TV series, it had a unique story line filled to overflowing with concepts previously only available in a collage level computer course, but told in a way to make them understandable even to children. Out of this weeks choice, this one is the Must Have selection for me. NOTE: while the Shout Factory web site page talks about the complete series in a single box on 9 DVDs, the Amazon page lists Season 1 and 2 on 4 DVDs, and I don’t know if they are releasing two versions or had to scale back the scope of the release.

There is one new and one repackaged Anime entry this week. Shin Koihime Muso: Complete Collection involves a girl with a disease that will turn her into a cat if an antidote is not found, and a guy trying to forge a peace between the kingdoms.

Samurai Champloo – The Complete Series also becomes available this week. This re-release (the original was in 2009) is the story of friendship through combat skills, as a waitress, a Ronin, and a Samurai wander Edo-era Japan looking for a warrior who smells like sunflowers. This program completely changed the way everyone viewed Samurai movies or TV, with a hip-hop music line, a unique animation style, and some amazing fight sequences.

Something to Do: Movies

The primary choice this weekend is Drive Angry, where Nick Cage escapes from Hell to protect his granddaughter after his daughter is killed. The alternate choice is Shelter, in which a forensic psychologist (Julianne Moore) discovers all of the multiple personalities in one of her patients were murder victims. They both border somewhere between thriller, a category I like, and horror, a category I don’t, at least when it approaches Slasher territory. If I do end up seeing one of these it will probably be Drive Angry, the adrenalin junky factor over ruling the actor quality factor.

Somthing to Watch: DVD’s

Even though it is actually the Millennium Trilogy, apparently in this country it is being released as Stieg Larsson’s Dragon Tattoo Trilogy, and while not science fiction the world-class genius hacker girl at the core of this story gives it all the geek cred I will ever require of any movie series. Accept no substitutes, including the wimpy American remake; this one is the real deal.

Glenn, the Flying Robot is a movie from Belgium that is noticeably different than you think it is. Two old friends share a history and a skill set centered in their concert level piano playing, but as often happens they become rivals from the personal to the professional levels. When one looses the use of his hands due to external damage, Glenn is brought to the problem, applying mechanical digits to replace the flesh. This story goes in directions you were not at first expecting. The live action silly fun imported movie this week is Alien vs. Ninja, which is exactly what you think it is. Some of these titles lend themselves to an obvious progression, and this one fulfills its promise nicely.

This week’s TV series was never actually on TV, but rather only distributed online: The Guild: Season 4. Think about it; a TV show about playing online games together so good that Microsoft actually has sponsored them since season 2 for X-Box Live viewing.

Topping the choices for western animation this time, and in fact weighing in as the only contender, is Megamind. As usual, it is coming out as a DVD, and a Blue Ray/DVD edition. Surprisingly there does not seem to be a Digital Copy or 3D edition for this one, at least not at first. If you go with the DVD/Blue Ray edition, you can also pick it up in a 2-pack with Megamind: The Button of Doom, but be aware this is another non-Tuesday release. This one comes out Friday the 25th, and along with Despicable Me and Tangled made up the best that western animation had to offer for 2010, as far as I am concerned.

Gintama – Collection 4 continues the story of alien invaders in Edo-era Japan who enslave the population to their factories and distract them with TV and Anime, while forbidding any kind of fighting that might threaten their power or risk inciting rebellion. So Samurai and Ninja go disarmed and bored unto tears, while the world gets stranger still. Our Home’s Fox Deity Volume 2 brings the next twelve episodes of this tale of siblings to life; one pair the human brothers, Noboru and Toru, and their spiritual guardians, fox goddesses Kugen and Gyokuyo. And then there are various gods, werewolves, and clans of Oni (Demons) to continue to make life interesting for them!

The Paranormal Disaster Countermeasure Headquarters is the government organization which is supposed to protect Japan from supernatural attack, but one day things don’t go so well and a rival organization is forced to step in. Ga-Rei: Zero tells their tale. Also, becoming available in a single box set edition, the classic anime GunGrave is being re-released

There are a few classics being re-released in the US, including FLCL (pronounced Fooley Cooley), a truly insane little animation series from the folks who made Gurren Lagann and Neon Genesis Evangelion. While only six episodes long, this OVA has enough twists and turns for a full season of most other productions, and a killer soundtrack by The Pillows. The other classic title is Chrono Crusade, the story of a heavily armed nun and her demon sidekick battling the forces of evil in 1928 New York. If you missed getting either of these in your collection the first time around, now is your chance, and at a decent price if you shop around.

Something to Watch: Online

Coming up on Hulu on the 24th, TokyoPOP will be presenting America’s Greatest Otaku. This isn’t a one-time award show, but a documentary series that has the TokyoPOP team touring the country looking to see who will qualify for the grand prize. Meanwhile, beginning this presidents day weekend, Viz Media starts streaming the US premier of Neuro, Supernatural Detective. They have the first 5 episodes online to watch right now, and this is a bit of an experiment for them. They haven’t even picked up the Manga yet, but if enough people “like” the Anime (click the red heart on the streaming page), they will sign the contract and bring it to the US.