Skip to main content

Things to Watch: DVD’s

The movie release of choice this week is Surrogates, a fun little action/adventure outing starring Bruce Willis as a man who has to avoid wearing his robot body while hunting down a killer.

If you didn’t have a chance to see it in the theaters, RiffTrax LIVE: Plan 9 from Outer Space hits the shelves Tuesday, along with several other RiffTrax titles, including Planet of Dinosaurs and Voodoo Man, as well as several collections of shorts.

Naruto Shippuden releases both Box Set 1 (you can select the regular or special versions) and Volume 5 of the series. These are a somewhat older crew of Ninja’s than the original series gave us. Speaking of Ninja’s, Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny volume 2 also gets release this week. And the one that looks most interesting to me is the Sands of Destruction Complete Series.

Beginning TV

There are a few new TV shows beginning in the US that I wanted to mention. Hopefully you already know about them, but if not this will be timely.

First, there are two programs from the UK. Demons started a few weeks ago on BBC America (if you missed the first few episodes, they are still available on Video On Demand). The politically incorrect chief detective from Life on Mars stars as the American trainer of the teenage heir of the Van Helsing dynasty. Terry Nation, inventor of the Daleks and Blakes 7, also created a series in the ’70s called Survivors, about the handful of people left in England after a biologic disaster. Just like Doctor Who, the series has been revived by the BBC, and rolls out on BBC America on February 13th.

In the US but Brit-related, it seems Fox Broadcasting is once again looking to create locally something Whoish; this time around it is a US pilot for Torchwood. Or almost US; Russel T. Davies would be writing the script (at least for the first one), Julie Gardner and the team from BBC Worldwide would be doing the production, even the surviving original actors could be involved. It sound more like tangential episodes to the series than a remake, which is again much like Fox’s one venture into the world of Doctor Who.

Finally, Caprica kicks off tonight on Syfy. This prequel to Battlestar Galactica has been anticipated for a while, and it is finally here. The VoD Caprica pilot they have been running for the last few weeks ends today; it will be interesting to see if it is the same as the one they broadcast, or different.

Things to Do: Movies

This time around, Legion appears to be the action/adventure film of choice for the weekend. The Archangel Michael teams up with human misfits in an out-of-the-way diner to battle God’s Legions for the survival of mankind. The attack by the demonic grandmother alone is worth the price of admission.

On the MUCH lighter side, Dwayne Johnson stars in Tooth Fairy, along with Ashley Judd, Billy Crystal, and Julie Andrews. I am going to have to hit this one first, just because it looks like so much fun.

Things to Watch: DVDs

Of the new movies this week, Gamer is the one I find most interesting; a game in which real people are the game pieces with technology that makes the Running Man game show look friendly. I’m going to take a pass on Pandorum, since it is horror rather than Sci-Fi. Although I am partial to silly horror, like this weeks release of Bikini Frankenstein.

The live action TV series release for this week is Defying Gravity: The Complete First Season. Unless someone else picks it up it is also the complete series, since the network canceled it just as it was getting interesting.

Update: After I posted this, they rescheduled the release of Ponyo to March 2010, the third time the DVD release date was pushed back.

Topping the Anime and the Animation list for Tuesday’s DVD releases will be Ponyo, yet another world-class creation from Hayao Miyazaki and distributed by Disney in this hemisphere. This is from the same group who will be bringing you Alice in Wonderland later this year, another class act. Not, of course, to be confused with the Alice the Sci-Fi Channel just ran, which was also well done.

For Anime TV shows to add to the collection I can recommend Yokuwakaru Gendai Maho, a good new Magical Girl animation. However it turns out, it is off to a great start! Another one worth consideration is Rin: Daughter of Mnemosyne, a six part OVA about an immortal private detective under attack by supernatural enemies. And season one of Linebarrels of Iron is also out Tuesday, a somewhat confused Mecha/Harem/High School action/comedy.

Avatar Interview, Cowboy Bond, Iron IMAX

James Cameron had a quality interview at The Wrap in which he answered political critics comments about Avatar, and spoke about the technology and the future of movie making. Word is also going around that Daniel Craig is talking with the makers of Cowboys and Aliens, and might be taking over the lead in that film. The part opened up last week when Robert Downey dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts with Sherlock II and Iron Man III. The premise is similar to one of my favorite Harry Turtledove series, only this time the aliens land in the 1880s old west, instead of WWII. And word came out today that an Iron Man II IMAX release will be happening simultaneously with the regular theatrical release on May 7th.

Things to Do: Movies

This week is the release of The Book of Eli, a post-apocalyptic film starring Denzel Washington. I haven’t heard enough about this movie to make it stand out, so I am just as happy there is an alternative selection for the week: Jackie Chan’s The Spy Next Door. The latter looks to be a variant on his Robin B Hood story format, except I don’t think Jackie sings the theme song in the new film. If you missed him singing it for the other, here you go…