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Something to Watch: DVDs

Movies this week kick off with Green Lantern, quite a fun little film for the action/adventure junkies. There is a related animation release, The best of Green Lantern, which seems to be a total of 5 episodes from 4 different series (I vote for just getting the compiled Justice League series and skipping this one). For folks looking for something noticeably sillier, we have Zookeeper.

Several interesting TV releases this time around, my favorite being the complete Chuck, Season 4. A couple of old classics finally coming out, including The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. released as a complete series, but broken up into two box sets (first and second parts). A related release for the same week, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Movies Collection brings out the 8 stand-alone Man From U.N.C.L.E. movies. Note these were not included in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. complete series attache case, which only had a single feature length film in it.

Speaking of complete, Doctor Who – The David Tennant Years is a 26 disk set of every David Tennant episode, special, confidential, animation, and anything else they could find. I have a hard time visualizing who they are going to sell this to, since everyone who might want it has already bought each season as they came out.

In western animation The Penguins of Madagascar: All-Nighter Before Xmas becomes available. This is from the TV series, not the movie production project.

For anime, Tales of the Abyss – Part 1 brings us the story of building global conflict in an alternate reality timeline filled with sorcery. Note that this title is also a platform game from Bandai/Namco if you are looking for a more interactive story format. Also out new this week is Naruto Shippuden Uncut Set 8, and this box set brings us up to episode 100 for the series. The final new title for the week is Kobato – Collection 2, a magical girl series where our protagonist uses her magic healing flask to ease the pain and suffering of others.

Something to Watch: DVDs

You might not of heard of any of the interesting movies this week, but a few of them are quite good. I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK is a 2006 romantic dramedy from Korea that mostly takes place in a mental institution. Yes, it is every bit as quirky as that description makes it sound, and it goes places you wouldn’t expect; I have owned the subtitled import version of the film for years, and it is quite worth the time to experience. This first domestic release is also subtitled rather than dubbed into English. Lunopolis has won fistfuls of awards at film festivals all over the world and tells a sci-fi drama about lunar occupation, cover ups, and conspiracies. Done documentary style, this one looks quite good. And there is Phase 7, a sci-fi/horror/comedy that has been compared with Shaun of the Dead, all about the end of the world.

In live action TV we have The Bionic Woman: Season 3, the spinoff from the 6 Million Dollar Man. I thought both of those series were campy when they were made, but unlike Knightrider they are still watchable today.

On the animation front, I don’t have a clue why the production team behind Chop Kick Panda are not all in jail for copyright violation, since it is a direct ripoff of Kung Fu Panda, but they have a new one coming out this week as well. On the other hand, The True Story of Puss ‘n Boots is a legitimate original work based on the public domain source material, but this time the cat has a French accent rather than Spanish.

In anime, La Corda D’Oro: The Complete Collection tells the entire story of a slacker girl given a magic violin by an interesting fairy. More interesting for me is Glass Maiden – Complete Collection about an offbeat detective agency and an impossible girl.

Something to Do: Movies

There are two interesting films hitting the theaters this week. If you are in an Action kind of mood, the one you want is Bunraku, starring Ron Perlman, Woody Harlson, Demi Moore, and Gatk (I believe this is his first time in an American movie). Kind of American movie anyways; the title and the plot line came from a traditional school of puppet shows from Japan, Gakt is a Japanese rock star, and they filmed the movie in Rumania. It is opening in very limited release, if it does well it may go to wider release down the road. If you are more in the mood for a dark comedy, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is the way to go. It is about two good ole boys on vacation at their dilapidated shack in the mountains when they are attacked by a bunch of preppy collage kids who have seen Texas Chain Saw Massacre one too many times.

Something to Watch: DVDs

This week we get Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a real roller-coaster of an action adventure movie. If you want some comedy with your action, I can recommend The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman, an unusual martial arts movie from China, where you follow the blade from owner to owner, getting a different story with each one. If you are more in a Fantasy kind of mood, Dragon Crusaders could be fun; nothing fancy here, it is just like the title says; a band of knights out to defeat a dragon. The final entry The Lost Future is a made for Syfy movie from last year.

In 1989 NBC aired a TV Miniseries of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days and it is getting re-released on DVD this week. The all star cast included Eric Idle which I find interesting because also in 1989 his fellow Pythons Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam also did an Around the World in Eighty Days TV series for the BBC, only theirs was a documentary in which Palin attempted to circumnavigate the globe without flying to see if Phileas Fogg could have done it.

In western animation the two pack of Scared Shrekless / Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins at a noticeably reduced price over getting them individually.

For anime, Mardock Scramble: The First Compression is finally being released in the US. This is the first of three science fiction stories that make up the series. In this one, the female cyborg Balot has only one purpose; to track down, capture, and/or kill the serial killer who murdered her. In Squid Girl – Part 1 we have a cute young girl who is a squid when she is in the water, now come ashore to conquer the human realm, but she is not having much luck with that last bit. Trigun: Badlands Rumble is a feature film that returns us to science fiction western that is Trigun. Rounding out our new releases, the Straw Hat Gang is back in One Piece – Collection 2.

The box set of Corpse Princess – Complete Collection brings the full story of the machine-gun wielding dead girl and her battle against the unnatural undead in a single package. Also Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple – Season 1 – Complete Collection is now out as a single set for the season rather than the two parts it had been.