The band METAFIVE reminds me of David Byrne and Talking Heads more than anyone else ever has. That seems kind of appropriate, since the band was formed around Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Takahashi Yukihiro early in 2014, as those of you who saw his interview earlier this year on J-Melo already know. Don’t think he is carrying the younger members of the band, though; it is a bit of a super-group, with 2 heavy hitter veteran musicians, a singer/songwriter who already had a long list of chart climbers under his belt, and one each famous producer and equally famous DJ. This track is the studio live version of their song Don’t Move, and it is quite impressive. It is also very different than the studio version that will be released on their new album Meta coming out this January 13th. My only regret about the album is I still haven’t heard any of the other 11 songs, unless the few tracks Takahashi played on that J-Melo episode were from it; even if they were, he played by himself, so I have no idea how they would sound with the whole band playing together. Guess I will have to wait until January 13th along with everyone else to find out.
The revolutionary 1953 Arthur C. Clarke novel Childhood’s End will be hitting the small screen as a 3 episode miniseries. The first episode airs beginning on December 14th on Syfy, just before the premier of The Expanse, or you can stream it now from their web site. The peaceful alien invasion of Earth is followed by decades of apparent utopia under their rule, but most people fail to notice their goal is to change humanity forever.
Gods of Egypt looks like a lot of fun if this trailer is any indication. It will be in theaters on February 26, 2016, and this video makes me think somebody looked around for inspiration after watching the Thor films and Stargate series, landing on the rich mythology of ancient Egypt for their way to access the other franchise’s audiences. While I don’t expect this film to turn out to be an award winner, it does look like it could be silly fun.
This year the Geminid meteor shower peaks on the 14th, but numbers will be high from December 13th through the 15th. If we get clear skies the viewing should include fainter meteors since the moon will not be overhead during the event, which means 60 to 100 visible per hour, or better than 1 a minute on average. If you haven’t enjoyed a meteor shower before, stop by Meteor Watch to learn the basics. The really short version of the basics are be comfortable (chair, appropriate clothing, munchies and drinks, etc.) and keep looking at the sky.
Most good sequels try to outdo the originals, and the Now You See Me franchise is no different. At least, now that they have a second film in the making, so they become a franchise rather than a single offering. I really like the first film in this series, and can’t wait to see how the new one does!
Nola and the Clones sounds interesting but seems to only exist on IMDB as a minimalist entry. Sadly Krampus, a movie about a boy who unleashes a Christmas Demon, seems to be a real film. The movie that does look interesting this week isn’t Sci-Fi or Fantasy at all; A Royal Night Out is about teenage Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret escaping the palace on VE day 1945 to celebrate in the streets of London along with the rest of the city. That part really happened, but I am pretty sure the events depicted in the film are fiction beyond that. Still, it looks like a fun film, I just might take it in this weekend.