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Something to Watch: DVDs, 18Feb14

The only movie I could find this time was an almost-direct-to-DVD release called Battle of the Damned, which is basically Dolph Lundgren and his Robots vs. a Zombie virus outbreak in a remake of Escape From New York. I say almost because it did show up in some theaters in Germany last year, but nowhere else that I am aware of.

We do better in TV, with Game of Thrones: Season Three, bringing the next book of the George R.R. Martin series to the home. I realize that is also only a single title, but the category makes up in quality for the difference.

Where we really make out this week is in Anime; not only more than one title, but more than one excellent title! Ever dream of being able to join your school’s Robot Research Club, and build a giant fighting robot based on your favorite Anime, that would then battle it out in competitions? If so, Robotics;Notes: Part 1 is a must see, from the folks who did Chaos;HEAD and Steins;Gate. But be careful what you wish for; when a sentient AI program begins giving the club members hints about secret robot designs hidden online, things take a turn for the really strange. Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Blood Prison is actually the 5th movie about the Nine Tailed Fox and his ninja friends. They should probably start putting numbers directly in the titles so you wouldn’t have to wonder. In this one, Naruto is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and ends up in prison inside a castle, which I suppose must mean a dungeon. He befriends a few of the inmates and gears up to get free, whatever way he can.

Jormungand is the story of a child soldier desperately seeking those who murdered his family, who ends up as the newest bodyguard for Koko. She is an arms dealer who brings the Boom to the downtrodden masses while preparing for her own version of World Peace. This is one of those instant gratification releases; while season 1 and season 2 are two separate box sets, they are being released on the same day. Folks like me who go nuts being forced to wait 6 months or a year to find out how the story turns out really appreciates that. Of course, in 6 months they will no doubt release both seasons in a single box set for about $5 more than just one season will cost you now, but who wants to wait? I should probably also mention this is from the team that brought you Black Lagoon, so you should expect quite a large helping of ultra-violence and amorality.

Finally, Time Bokan: Royal Revival i just too funny for words. A classic Anime is getting remade, but to select which series of the original 9 different seasons with different casts, the bad guys from the original shows are building their own giant mechas and having a race. Except, the bad guy’s robots in Anime only do one thing really well; get destroyed in some visually stunning fashion. Plus, they are bad guys; cheating and dirty tricks are their stock in trade. My favorite quote about this program is: It’s Grand Theft Mecha Vs. Super Moron Kart as the baddies slam, bash and dirty trick each other to the finish in TIME BOKAN: ROYAL REVIVAL! This one is actually from 1993, and was first released on DVD in the US in 2005. This re-release does mark the first time you can get it in Blu Ray in North America, and if you haven’t seen it before it is quite amusing.

Happy Sci-Fi Valentine’s Day

When I posted about new movies for this weekend, how the hell did I not mention A Winter’s Tale, this year’s perfect Valentine’s Fantasy? It opened today, do not miss it! Tonight I thought I would mention a short list of 5 of the best Science Fiction romantic comedies for Valentines Day from years gone by. I’m starting with a personal favorite, Earth Girls Are Easy, about a fuzzy alien (Jeff Goldblum) and a human girl (Geena Davis). The fact that they were wildly in love with each other at the time gives this film a chemistry that you almost never find on screen. Besides the Out Of This World romance, it is a wonderful musical comedy, featuring the songs of Julie Brown and the antics of the whole cast, who include some very funny people. Hopefully they will get the live stage version going sometime soon. Also in that vein, Blast From the Past has a boy raised in a fallout shelter going to the surface world for the first time, where a nuclear war never happened after all. The Princess Bride is a classic Fantasy that never gets old, and Warm Bodies is the best Zombie romance/comedy I think I have ever seen. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World rounds out the group with an Apocalypse setting for its story. If you have missed any of these, stream or rent a copy and watch it with your special someone; I am betting you will be glad you did.

Something to Do: Movies, 14Feb13

On Wednesday we get the reboot of Robocop, and excellent franchise about corporate greed and what it means to be a man. I look forward to finding out if this one stands up to the previous movies and TV show, but from the look of the trailer I believe it will. Also out this weekend in extremely limited release is Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead, sequel to the 2009 Norwegian horror/comedy Død Snø. And let’s not forget Vampie, a sweet story about a vampire girl allergic to blood who eats VAMpire PIEs to sustain her, and the evil vampires that want to use her food source to raise the dead and enslave the living. I have no confirmation that that last one is actually being released this week, but it looks like it could be fun so I had to include it anyways.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 11Feb14

In movies, Ender’s Game was one of the rare films that is true to the book it is based on; both versions are telling exactly the same story. With an excellent cast, powerful performances, and amazing special effects, it is definitely worth joining anyone’s permanent collection. I don’t remember seeing The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box in theaters near me, but it is now coming to disc. It was meant to be the first in a series of YA Steampunk stories based in the Victorian Era’s British Empire, but it did not get good reviews or much in the way of box office revenues, so I suspect it will be the last, instead.

In TV, Sherlock: Season Three continues the brilliant series driven by Steven Moffat. I am seriously waiting for season 4 next year. The Returned is a twisty little series about a group of people who came home to learn that they had died years ago, and when the currently living start dying off it becomes obvious something has followed them back. It isn’t quite a remake of the TV show Les Revenants, but it lives in the same zip code. Doctor Who: The Moonbase is one of the lost stories, available only in partial video episodes, audio drama, or picture book form. It is one of the Patrick Troughton tales for which they have now used animation to restore, so you can watch all four episodes. Not as good as they did for Enemy Of The World or The Web Of Fear, where they actually recovered the original video footage to restore, but a step closer to getting the whole story the way it was meant to be experienced.

In Anime, Kamisama Kiss is about a ordinary young girl who suddenly became a god at the touch of a stranger’s lips. As she struggles to get her new realm under control, she realizes that life may be worth going for, after all. MM! is about a masochist named Sado who joins a club to seek help with his emotional problems. The clubs president may or may not be a god, but certainly wields some interesting powers, and some of the other members include a girl terrified of men and a nurse who forces all her patients to cosplay. The other club members are a bit strange, even by this groups reckoning. Finally, Strike Witches: Season 2 S.A.V.E Edition gives you the girls who were airplanes continuing to defend the home planet from alien invasion during WWII, at a very affordable price. The Funimation home page seems to be saying Season One S.A.V.E edition on BR/DVD is also about to come out, but since I already own it I have to believe they mean they will be re-releasing it. Or maybe the blurb is for a different country.

Frozen Music

Frozen is a wonderful animation, as witness the fact that it won the Golden Globe Award for best animation, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Animation Long Form and Best Song for Let It Go. Because of this, they have just brought another version to theaters, the Sing-Along, with the lyrics under the bouncing snowflake. The woman who sings this in English, Idina Menzel, truly does an excellent job… So do most of the other singers in the 50 different languages recorded for the film. We have at least three (4 depending on how your counting) new movies out this weekend I want to see, but I would love to see this one again, in the IMAX 3D format. Decisions, decisions…

Something to Do: Movies, 7Feb13

There are an assortment of fun films coming to the big screen this week, starting with Vampire Academy, an action/comedy/fantasy that has an excellent soundtrack. If you want to skip the action component, try out The Lego Movie for a dose of pure silly fun. Also in the silly fun category although not strictly genre, A Fantastic Fear of Everything is a Simon Pegg comedy. It is a bit strange on the release dates, since it comes out this Friday in US movie theaters, but it came out on June 8th of 2012 in the UK, and you have been able to rent it to stream online for a while now. Also, the web site seems to be down, but I am including the link anyways in case it is just a server issue.

If you don’t feel like laughing this weekend, Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage is all about the action, and from the trailer at least looks to hold true to the original Sinbad tales. And one I would enjoy seeing on the big screen is being re-released in NYC, and with any luck perhaps it will have a limited run so the rest of us can see it. The French masterpiece Alphaville may not have invented Space Noir as a genre, but Jean-Luc Godard’s movie certainly put it in the public eye.