Or “Gojira”, if your ear is tuned to the east. Yes, they are once more making a Godzilla movie for those of us who speak English. But however you pronounce it, a good time is had by all (at least, those of us not yet thrown over the bridge railing). This version of the film is being made by Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures, and will be distributed by them everywhere but Japan, where Toho distributes all things Godzilla, since they created the franchise.
Looks like some excellent selections were held back for last minute shopping opportunities. In movies, Elysium would stand out on its own merits anyways, but it has to be about the only time Jodi Foster got to be the bad guy, at least that I have seen. And even though it doesn’t stand up to District 9, his previous work, for originality (that’s what happens when they hand you a corporate run big budget; too many folks have a vote in what you can and can’t do), Neill Blomkamp still did a quality job within the constraints they saddled him with. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was a great YA book, and I am pleased to see they didn’t just stop with the first Percy Jackson story; with any luck, they will continue to go through converting all of the books to feature films. The comic-book-to-movie installment of Kick-Ass 2 continued the franchise’s tradition of having over-the-top actors in the adult superhero role, with the underage superheroes being the sane ones. Scary thought, that, but it definitely seems to work for them.
While I only believed The Lone Ranger to be genre within a certain narrow range before this movie came out, Johnny Depp completely changed the dialog for the story. I consider this the best Lone Ranger tale ever, quite the fitting reboot for what has always been an American classic series. And for those wondering why I considered it genre at all, it is twofold. First, you have the whole ghost who walks thing of the Spirit Warrior who can not be killed (not to be confused with The Phantom, that is a whole different Ghost Who Walks). The second reason is the Lone Ranger had a nephew named Dan Reid, who grew up to be a captain of industry, and had a son named Britt Reid, also known as the Green Hornet. The same authors created both series, I always liked the fact that they linked them together that way. Ghost Team One is a comedy horror movie, but after I have said that, I have nothing to add. Except that this one will not be following me home.
We don’t have anything directly genre in TV, but Burn Notice: Season Seven is coming out, as is Burn Notice: The Complete Series. For western animation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is good silly fun (and it comes with a 3D version).
In Anime, Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero is a cautionary tale of what Happily Ever After might devolve into. Akatsuki has saved the fairy tale kingdom and escaped home with his prize, Miu (daughter of the Demon King); and that’s where their real problems begin. In what one would think would almost be a related series (but isn’t), Blue Exorcist: The Movie has the son of Satan out to eradicate demonic forces the world over. Dad wouldn’t be proud.
Vividred Operation: Complete Collection shows what kind of world will result from a peaceful use of technology to solve the Earth’s energy problems, when that solution is attacked from space, and only a team of 14 year old girls can protect our planet. Like so many other shows, you can watch it on Crunchyroll if you prefer. The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is a twisty little story that leaves us wondering who will wind up on who’s leash, but finding that out is a fun ride. It is hard to describe Di Gi Charat beyond the fact that she is an alien who came to Earth to break into the music industry, but trust me when I say she gets in lots of trouble. Hopefully you will find something interesting in this collection; enjoy!
Live. Die. Repeat. Edge of Tomorrow looks quite tasty, with an excellent combat by time loop premise that is familiar to everyone who ever played any one of hundreds of MMO War Games. Although watching Tom Cruise do a series of science fiction movies is about as disconcerting as watching Keanu Reeves do a series of Asian Martial Arts films.
The Wachowski’s are at it again, and Jupiter Ascending has the potential to be as impressive as their first Matrix movie. Jupiter Jones cleans peoples houses for a living, but when a genetically engineered super soldier arrives on Earth to kill her and ends up saving her and taking her to her destiny, she begins to see her future is stranger than she had ever imagined. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this one is as good as this first glimpse would lead us to believe.
The obvious mention this time goes to J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, a single book dragged out into three complete films. I thought I should also mention Saving Mr. Banks, a movie about making the movie Mary Poppins, which almost never got made at all. It will be in limited release this week, and wide release next week.
I usually hit movies first, but Day Of The Doctor gets the number one spot this time around. This is after all the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Special, and definitely had more Doctors than any other episode. While we are on the topic of TV, I should mention Futurama: Volume 8 and Futurama: The Complete Series will both be hitting the shelves this week.
Another break from my normal structure; I usually do live action movies first, but Despicable Me 2 has to start out the movie presentations this week. It was way too much fun, and you just can’t have too many minions. The other movies worth mentioning have either Cantonese or Mandarin as their primary sound track, including Man of Tai Chi. Note that that is the second Asian-centric film Keanu Reeves has starred in this year, and the first one he has directed. Saving General Yang takes place in 986 AD, and involves the famous Yang Family Generals. For something different, The Rooftop seems to be a Taiwan gangland musical with lots of singing, dancing, and fighting. It looks like a fun film to check out.
In Anime, Bleach: Season 19 brings us up to episode 279. To put that in perspective, they are up to episode 366 streaming from Japan, so the DVDs are finally starting to catch up with the streaming sources. Another returning favorite is Fairy Tail: Part 7, bringing episodes 73 through 84, and they are also releasing Fairy Tale: The Movie this week, so you get a double dose.
Btooom!: The Complete Series is about a combat game which suddenly changed when the 7 best players in the world were kidnapped, and woke up on an island with a bag of bombs each and holes in their memories; now they have to kill each other off and be the last one standing to escape, or so they are lead to believe. Finally, in the main series, a bunch of friends had their bodies repeatedly swapped so they never knew who they were going to be next, had their ages change at random, and had their desires overwhelm them and take control, all being done to them by an outside force. Now, in Kokoro Connect: OVA Collection, their inner emotional state is suddenly being projected into one of their friends, including phobias and suppressed desires, sometimes with near lethal results.