Former Star Wars producer Kaleb Lechowski wrote and directed the short film R’Ha, which you can watch below. He is now teaming up with Matthew Graham to turn it into a feature length film, according to SFX in one of their Link-A-Mania entries. Matt was the person who created two of the more interesting British TV shows, Life On Mars and Eternal Law. Not the first movie to start out as an independently produced short which was then shopped around in hopes of getting a backer, but with the state of modern desktop video production suites this kind of thing is getting better and better.
The obvious winner this week is Man of Steel, the latest in a long tradition of Superman movies. I have enjoyed many of them, and sat through the turkeys in the hopes they might get better, and I will be right back in the theater for this one. Strangely enough, the best trailer I have seen for it is from a cell phone company.
A couple of real winners in Movies this week, starting with Oz: The Great and Powerful. This Disney built prequel was a true homage to the 1939 movie on so many levels, as well as to Frank L. Baum’s wonderful but scary universe. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is another excellent selection, and I am definitely going to have to go for the unrated version with the extended footage. If those weren’t enough the Korean historical epic Masquerade tells an exciting tale of a commoner who becomes a king in the 16th century.
While there doesn’t seem to be any true genre TV this week, Burn Notice: Season Six comes awfully close. Hey, it’s got Bruce Campbell, that ought to qualify it right there.
In Anime, Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne is the story of a helpful high school girl who agrees to pilot a giant robot to kill aliens who are trying to invade the Earth. So yes, now that you ask, this one is a comedy, and I believe they are working on a movie to go with this 12 episode TV series. Bleach: Season 17 has the Soul Reapers battling their own weapons, which are under the control of a power with his eye set on the world of the living. This brings the US anime release up to episode 255, but I think the current Japanese episode is 640. We have a ways to go to catch up.
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings has season 1 at 13 episodes, season 2 at 12 episodes, plus the OVA. It is a 3-way battle between ninjas, samurai, and pirates, each group trying their best to conquer the country, until the Demon King shows up to threaten everybody. Then the warring parties join forces to eradicate their common foe. While I am not sure if Mysterious Girlfriend X is genre or not (I am only about a third of the way through the series, it could still go either way), it is sufficiently bizarre to be worth checking out.
Beginning tomorrow Primeval New World hits the Syfy Channel. If it gets enough viewers in the US, they may make a season 2 after all. If you are not already aware, this spinoff from the UK program brings the time travel anomalies to North America, and the cast includes a few favorite folks from Eureka as well as a member or two of the original series, at least in guest spots. I followed what the Canadian fans had to say, and it was very positive, but there just wasn’t enough of them. I am hoping it picks up enough fans here that they decide another season would make the company some money.
We have several choices this time around, beginning with the action comedy This Is the End, in which a bunch of celebrities try to survive the apocalypse. The Purge takes place in a future where all laws are suspended once a year for 12 hours, and follows one families attempt to survive the event. Also this week is the Joss Whedon version of Much Ado About Nothing with Nathan Fillion and Amy Acker.
In movies the comedy/horror/romance Warm Bodies tells a story of zombie love in a way I have never seen presented before. This actually is a good date movie, not something I usually would associate with zombies. Also out, the animated Escape from Planet Earth shows why humans are the scariest creatures in the galaxy. For the action addicts out there I should probably also mention A Good Day to Die Hard hits the shelves this week.
In TV we have Falling Skies: The Complete Second Season, continuing the alien invasion vs. human resistance story.
In Anime, Appleseed XIII – The Complete Series is a 13 episode TV series that follows up the movie with a deeper look into that clone and cyborg driven post war society. From Shirow Masamune, the man who gave us Ghost In The Shell, who shares a tendency with Philip K. Dick to have a single question at the heart of his stories: How do you define what it mean to be human, and who or what qualifies? Dusk maiden of Amnesia: Complete Collection is the story of a woman who was murdered 60 years ago, but now she can’t remember anything about it, or even who she was. But with the help of a boy who can see and hear her, they set up a paranormal investigation club with the goal of find out all about her and the event, even though a lot of the club members don’t know that is what they are doing.
Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Reverse is bringing out season two collection 2, with the action heating up, the Letter Bee’s under attack by multiple threats, and destruction and mayhem being used by Reverse to undermine society and perhaps wipe it out. In The Everyday Tales of a Cat God: Complete Series is about a lazy goddess who gets kicked out of heaven and doesn’t seem to improve much on Earth.
Both Birdy the Mighty: Decode and Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom are having the entire series released in a S.A.V.E. edition this week, so if you shop around you should be able to pick them up for around $20 each. Birdy was always more dangerous to the innocent bystanders than the bad guys were, but the original collateral damage queens also have a lower priced release this week: Dirty Pair: Part One is being put out as a Litebox edition, which means less shelf space used up to boot.