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3D Thor, Captain America

According to an article in the LA Times, both of the next two upcoming Marvel movies, Thor and Captain America, will be in 3D. I personally believe that, just like an IMAX film, you want to shoot in that media for optimal resolution, and then gracefully degrade the same source material for less robust presentation formats. Even though it results in an inferior product, there are simple ways to Upgrade 2D movies to 3D that any of us can do on our home computers. And all the new CGI software, including all the animation packages available for purchase for home use by us non-industry types, now fully supports 3D creation in all three standard formats. But isn’t the point of paying money to see a movie in the theater to get to enjoy something we don’t have the resources to create at home?

As near as I can tell from the LA Times report, it looks like the film makers of the two movies (Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston, respectively) don’t understand how the technology works, and don’t want to be bothered with learning the new filming techniques or even mastering the cameras. Still, if they have the right competent people on board to process the 2D footage they do film into pseudo-3D, and mix it with the 3D SFX output, and edit the combination into a coherent movie, they could end up with a watchable product. But it will never be as good as it would have been had they bothered to learn how to film a 3D movie in the first place.

Bottom line? I consider the Marvel stable of characters and story lines my friends, since I grew up with all of them. And I am exceedingly impressed by what Marvel Studios has done so far for the movies they have created, certainly much more impressed than I was with the films like Electra and others that were being outsourced before they built their own studio. So I will continue to attend each of the new films as they come out, and based on the evidence so far, continue to enjoy them.

Streaming Anime this summer

I commented previously (in fact gave an entire review) about the new show streaming on Crunchyroll, Occult Academy, which is off to a wonderful start. If you are a premium Crunchyroll member, you get to legally watch new episodes one hour after they air in Tokyo; if a non-paying member, you can see them at slightly lower resolution a week later. Anyone who follows this blog knows I have become addicted to this service, and the annual fee has already paid for itself in terms of knowing which shows I do and don’t want to buy when they come out on DVD.

They have added a few new programs to the Summer Streaming Lineup that look pretty good on initial glance, although you might have to work for one of them. That one would be Tono to Issho, which is kind of the Anime equivalent of one-liners, or the 4 panel comic strip jokes everyone knows from newspapers (at least, those old enough to remember what non-interactive static media forms like newspapers were). You have to know a bit about the culture, history, current events, and popular opinion of Japan in order to get these jokes, but if you do they are delightful. Like all the best satire, it occasionally slips into Sci-Fi or Fantasy memes to make its points.

The third brand new program is Asobi ni Ikuyo: Bombshells from the Sky, an Alien Catgirls Romantic Comedy with a certain amount of Kawaii overdose (cuteness overload). We are still 13 hours out from the start of episode 1’s simulcast stream, but the trailer looks promising.

An old favorite come back for another round is Strike Witches season 2, the parallel timeline story of heavily armed propeller booted WWII flying girls versus alien invaders who seem to be related to cats. Check it out, and if you feel the need to catch up with season 1, it is available on DVD now in the US.

Something to do: Movies

This weekend has three films coming out, two of them pretty much everywhere. They kick off on the 14th, with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a film by the National Treasure franchise team. It takes a stab at reproducing that magic with real magic as part of the premise, and yes, that team includes Nick Cage. This is particularly anticipated because it is not a remake of another film, which seems a bit rare these days.

Two more films roll out on the 16th, with Inception in wide release, telling an original tale of dream theft and the thought police that I have been waiting about a year to see. With an all star cast and deep pockets production money, as well as a concept that has NOT been done to death by Hollywood copycat studios, this makes the second original work in a single weekend. While I am looking forwards to Sorcerer’s Apprentice as a feel-good film, Inception bodes well to becoming a movie with a permanent impact on the genre. I have already started to consider the best films to group it with for a marathon of twisted flicks, with Dark City and Blade Runner leading the pack.

The other film on the 16th is in limited release, The Wild Hunt, originally scheduled for release in May. A man looses his girlfriend to a bunch of guys in a medieval re-enactment game, but it isn’t a game to everyone. In fact, some get downright intense about how they wish to proceed.

Something to Watch: DVDs

There is very little of interest being released on DVD this week, although there is one true masterpiece: Saving Grace: The Final Season. This program has been nominated for many awards although it only won once that I know of, but it is an absolutely amazing drama that goes places you would never expect. The four seasons tell one complete story, and while each episode is a self contained police procedural, the core story arc is something else entirely. With the all-star cast and quality production values, this one gets my vote as the best release for this week.

For Movies, Parasomnia is the only real option, and not much of one in my book.

There are a few new Anime collections being released, including Golgo 13, season 1 of the story of an assassin. But the most important Anime release this week has to be Romeo × Juliet, telling the classic tale of love, class war, and tragedy taking place in the city floating in the sky, Neo Verona.

There are also a few re-releases in a more affordable package, including 009-1 – Complete Collection [S.A.V.E] edition, a tasty Bond-style sexy spy story in a parallel universe, Black Cat, another assassin who learns the error of his ways, and my personal favorite for the week, Magikano, about a magical boy bludgeoned into unawareness by his equally magical sisters.

On the American animation front, the Superhero Squad is a kids-friendly version of The Avengers, and is also released on Tuesday. Not something I will be adding, but worth noting. In a related Marvel project, here is the Shadowland Music Video…

Hopefully, next week will have a lot more choices for us, but a few of this weeks limited selections are quite worth the effort.

New Resident Trailer

The new Resident Evil trailer is out, and looks quite good. I am not a horror movie fan, or a fan of movies based on games, but the Resident franchise is done very well, and looks more like an Aliens-style action adventure to me. The Elvis on Black Velvet speed painting video may not be genre, but William Gibson sent out the link, and it was too much fun sad to share.