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Something to Watch: DVDs

There are several interesting movies this time around, starting with Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, a twisted little comedy starring Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk. Every variation of a Deliverance movie you have ever seen, with the twist that the Good Ole Boys are under attack by suicidal yuppies. The other quality movie for the week is Another Earth. Having a duplicate planet Earth orbiting on the other side of the sun has been done before in 1969’s Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, but this time the premise is used to explore interpersonal relationships rather than political ones. It’s theatrical run was extremely limited, so for some this will be the first chance to see it.

For TV, there are two super choices of the same entry; Smallville: The Complete Series, and Smallville: The 10th Season give you closure on that series, whichever one you need to add to your collection. The other TV show worth noting this week is a bit of a classic, the Six Million Dollar Man: Pilot TV Movies & Season One. We can rebuild you…

If there is a western animation series this week, it snuck right past me. There are a few Eastern animation series, including One Piece: Collection 3, continuing the story of the Straw Hats as the rescue a little girl and her dragon companion. Also released, Star Driver Part 1, where would-be giant mecha riders battle shrine maidens for power. Another new title is Chaos;Head, where a caffeine-addicted gamer suddenly becomes identified as a schizophrenic murder suspect, as his life falls apart overnight. If you are a fan of Welcome To The NHK you will not want to miss this one, and you can watch the first several episodes online at that link.

There is also a stand alone movie this week called Loups=Garous, about life in a world where a virus has wiped out a major percentage of the human race. The survivors communicate online and avoid physical contact, but a group of girls seeking contact must solve a series of murders before they become the victims. SCANDAL does the music for this one, which means at the minimum I have to have the soundtrack, since they are one of my favorite J-Rock bands. They animate up pretty good too.

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Haywire trailer

While not exactly genre, the movie version of Haywire looks like it will be a hoot to experience.

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Dali Does Alice

Did you know that in 1969, Salvador Dali did a series of illustrations for that surreal classic, Alice in Wonderland? It is true, and the book itself is not cheap; the second video tells you how to identify it, so you don’t waste your $30K to $60K (depending on where you find a copy). The final video segment is from the 1933 version of Alice, with W.C. Fields and quite a few other folks you should have no problem recognizing.

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J-Rock: Uplift Spice

Another fine J-Rock band, Uplift Spice was formed in 2005 and is best described as Emo-Punk. The first one of this set is Minority Parade, which they played on last weeks J-Melo episode. The next track is Memento, followed by Justice; that should be enough to tell you whether or not this band is worth following. I for one enjoyed the hell out of every track I have heard from them.

Uplift Spice also has a MySpace page you might want to check out for more information.

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We Lost Anne McCaffery

I don’t normally do two blog entries on the same day, but I had to say goodby to Anne McCaffery, author of so many quality books, including the Dragonriders series, The Ship Who series, and so much more. This event is hardly a surprise, as she was 85 and had been missing things like Dragoncon this year for health reasons. But every time we loose an author of this caliber we are all the worse for it, for there will be no more tales to stir the blood and stimulate the imagination from them. The post that summed up who she was and what she meant best so far is from Jenna Busch, another geek like me but wearing a body of a different gender. OK, she might also be a bit more eloquent than I am, which probably explains why her posting moved me the way it did. Thank you, Anne, for all the wonderful dreams and adventures; see you on the other side.

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