Action/Adventure – Page 135

Upcoming Movies, 2014

Hello, and welcome to the future! There are a ton of films coming out in the New Year, I am just going to touch on a few of the better known ones that I am excited about. From Marvel, we are getting Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 14th, Amazing Spider-Man 2 on May 2nd, X-Men: Days of Future Past on May 23, and Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1st. The dates are best guesses, since production or contract realities may shift them about, as always.

We get 2 from Michael Bey this year, Transformers: Age of Extinction on June 27, and for some reason he is also doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Megan Fox on August 8.

Besides the ones already mentioned there are several other sequels and/or reboots, with Godzilla on May 16th, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For on August 22, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on July 18th, The Hunger Games Mockingjay (Part 1) on November 21st, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again on December 17th.

There are also a number of unique properties that have not previously been movies that I am eager to check out, most of which are smaller independent films which I will be mentioning down the road. A few of the larger productions include The Lego Movie on February 7th (that one looks like a serious hoot), The Edge of Tomorrow on June 6th, Jupiter Ascending on July 23rd, and Interstellar on November 7th.

Yes, it should be a hell of a year for movies, and I am looking forward to it.

Something to Do: Movies, 3Jan14

After New Years we get a few movies worth checking out, including Paradox, a story about a theoretical physicist who’s wife is murdered. He build a paratime device to allow him to jump between parallel universes, looking for one in which she is still alive. Unicorns is about a teenage girl who retreats into a fantasy world when her first romantic entanglement turns violent. This one doesn’t seem to be genre really, but it is as indie as they come, so I thought I should at least mention it on the off chance it does go into a fantasy realm.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 31Dec13

Shaolin Warrior comes very close to being genre, since all martial arts movies are fantasy films at heart. I don’t mean because of the various gods and demons that sometimes populate them, that is a matter of personal belief and spiritual worldview. I am referring to the superhero-like powers the fighters have, which enable them to do many things on a par with Captain America, Thor, or Spider Man. The other movie that looks interesting this week is CBGB, a movie about the punk scene centered around the legendary club n New York.

In TV there is a BAFTA-nominated fantasy/supernatural program focused on teens called Wolfblood. They are high school aged werewolves who must hide what they are even from their closest friends, or their entire specie may be hunted down and killed. Like being in high school wasn’t stressful enough. This release is the first season of the CBBC series, hopefully season 2 will be along soon.

In Anime, So I Can’t Play H: Complete Collection is not the most subtle series you will run across (Hint: in these kind of titles, the H always stands for Hentai). This is about a teenage boy who makes a deal with a Shinigami to let her use some of his essence to stay in this world, but instead of taking years off his life like a normal goddess of death would do, she drains off his lecherous libido. Now he has to figure out how to get those feelings back, or he will completely miss out on a major aspect of any mans youth. Fate/Zero: Complete 2nd Season continues the epic of the Holy Grail Wars, with Zero being (rather confusingly) the 4th such war, but the first one to take place.

Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians is the third series in the original martial arts with exploding clothes franchise. Each of these high school students is the reincarnation of one of the most famous martial artists from throughout history, and they will battle it out to see who is the best. Chrono Crusade is coming out in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means if you shop around you can pick up the entire series about the premiere Combat Nun of the 1920s (and her demon sidekick) for around $20.

Happy Boxing Day?

The day after Xmas, December 26th, is often called Boxing Day, but not because they have a bunch of boxes they need to throw out (although that would have been my guess). Rather, after all the important people have celebrated the holiday, they hand out Xmas Boxes to the servants, peons, and blue collar workers who had to keep everything going during the first celebration. I find this more than a bit depressing, so I will just jump straight back into the lights. This time around a few of the Oxford Street offerings, which were quite amazing. Besides the lights above the street which everyplace else had, they included some optional choices to layer entire buildings in lights, which was quite exceptional.

Something to Do: Movies, 25Dec13

One of the movies hitting the big screen this week is a remake of the classic 47 Ronin. While I am not sure how Keanu Reeves ended up starring in a Japanese Historical Epic Chushingura, it looks like a good addition to a true story that has been done as kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, and television shows, not once, but many times each. The historical incident at the core of this tale took place in 1700’s Japan, and it is probably the single best known and most often retold story in Nihongo (that’s Japanese to you and me). The other choice this week is also a remake of an old film (get some new ideas, Hollywood!), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which looks like they may have done justice to the James Thurber story. Even though there isn’t anything original out this week, it looks like they have done a world class job on each of them, so I will have to be in the theater for both.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 24Dec13

I would have thought this would be the perfect date to release some blockbusters to drive last minute Xmas shopping, but not so much it seems. In fact, I didn’t find a single live action sci-fi/fantasy movie or TV show that had not been previously released. Pretty disappointing, especially if you were looking for some last minute gift inspirations.

I had hoped to do better in Anime, and I did, marginally, finding a single new title. Humanity Has Declined is about a woman who takes up the family business of arbitrating between Humanity and Fairies only to discover the task more difficult than she had imagined. And even though the Fay are taking over the Earth as humanity dies off, there is always hope for the future.