The first trailer for Gravity has been posted, and it jumps right in. It stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts in trouble, and should be hitting theaters in October. Thanks to SFX for the heads up on this one.
Star Trek Into Darkness is the obvious winner this week! I have been watching trailers since last year, so I am more than ready to see this one. And as much as I loved the initial J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise, with this one we will learn if it suffers from the original even/odd rule where only every other Trek movie was good. Keeping my fingers crossed!
There are a few tasty movies this time, starting with Cloud Atlas, a very complex book turned into a very ambitious movie. I missed this one in the theaters because of real life getting in the way, I am looking forward to finally seeing it. There is also Frankie Go Boom, not a genre flick but a comedy with both Chris O’Dowd and Ron Perlman that sounds like a lot of fun.
Have you seen the 4K TVs yet? They are 4 times more detailed than Blue Ray’s 1080P at 4,000 pixels, the same resolution as the screens in a regular movie theater. Nobody is making the 8Ks yet (the IMAX resolution screens), but at $20,000 for the 85 inch 4K screens and most streaming content for them not coming along until the fall, they are not in big demand. That is now changing, with a 55 inch 4K priced at $5,000 (still noticeably hefty for my budget, especially because with my eyesight I can not see the difference between the 4K and the 1080P at couch distance), and the fist few 4K films being released on Blue Ray DVD format discs holding 4K video files. Movies coming out this week include Ghostbusters, The Amazing Spider-Man, the Toby McGuire Spider Man, Battle: Los Angeles, and the new version of Total Recall. Pricing appears to run $35 a movie for the recent stuff, $14 for things older than a decade. So, once again, just like they did for Blue Ray and then 3D, they want you to buy the same movie you already own for still more money. I think I will pass, at least until the price comes WAY down.
In TV we have Mythbusters: Collection 9 continuing the engineering madness for another season. Speaking of madness, also being released this week is Top Gear: The Complete Season 19. I am not6 a car fanatic, but I never miss this one if I can help it.
In Anime, Tiger & Bunny: Set 2 continues the story of the robot jocks with serious endorsement contracts and a winning record against the bad guys. Darker Than Black: Gemini Of The Meteor is the complete second season with a few OVAs thrown in. BK has lost Yin and is under attack from all sides, when he runs into a girl who’s life was changed the night the Meteor came down.
One Piece Season 4 DVD Part 5 sounds like it ought to be a single volume with a few episodes, but the average part-season of One Piece is 11 episodes, so this set brings us episodes 253 through 263, and we are still nowhere near caught up with the Japanese current season, which is sitting at episode 594 this week (yes, you can watch it streaming at that link). The Straw Hat Pirates are a hit with fans world wide. I should also mention that Kämpfer für die Liebe has an OVA set coming out this week, but it only has two episodes so try not to pay too much for it.
There are two new feature length presentations, starting with The Princess and the Pilot. That one is a story of love, danger, and power politics during wartime. Colorful: The Motion Picture starts at the train station on the other side of death, where one soul will get sent back in a body belonging to someone else to try to resolve the mystery of his death.
Finally, we have two re-releases in new box sets. My Bride is a Mermaid is a S.A.V.E. edition, so you can pick up the entire series for around $20. And Gurren Lagann is coming out in a limited edition special box set complete with music CDs, so expect to pay way more than you were expecting for that one.
The final entry in the trilogy that started with Shawn Of The Dead and continued through Hot Fuzz is on its way, and here is the wonderfully funny trailer for The Worlds End.
The first trailer for Ender’s Game is finally out, and it looks like they stayed quite close to the book. Of course, it has been years since Orson Scott Card signed the contract to give them the rights to make it, so one would hope they had used that time well. This one should be hitting the big screen around November 1st, 2013.
If you are not already watching the made-for-BBC America series Orphan Black, you need to correct that right away! One of the twistiest new shows on TV, they uplevel their game with every episode. And it is easy to find yourself there; they are part of the BBC America Supernatural Saturday lineup, airing immediately after Doctor Who and just before The Nerdist. So odds are good you have been watching all along, since it is just easier to leave your TV on the same channel. But if you haven’t been, most carriers who provide BBC America have a Video On Demand service for your set top boxes through the remote, or an online streaming service like Comcast’s Xfinity (tablet/smartphone app or web page for your computer) where you can start with the first episode and work your way through the entire series. If you don’t have a cable/satellite system that supplies VOD oriented services as part of a Value Added package (it lets you watch more channels and programs more ways for no additional money just to make staying their customer more valuable to you), you can buy the episodes from places like iTunes and Amazon Instant Video. This one is really good, you should at least watch the first episode and get a feel for the show.