Somehow Monday slipped right by me without my noticing, so a bit late this week with the movie entries. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 might be as much fun as the original, this time they end up in the future while trying to get to the past… much like a certain 80s time travel trilogy. The Last: Naruto the Movie will only be available in a limited number of theaters in the US, but if you are near one of them it should be worth seeing on the big screen. Big in Japan is a musical comedy that has been making the festival circuit, it also has a limited run but looks kind of fun.
Rurouni Kenshin 3: The Legend Ends completes the trilogy about the Samurai assassin who decided he would kill no more, and protect the weak and helpless. One OK Rock continues to be featured on the soundtrack, and the action is intense. You can find out more at the RuroKen Fan Site. The movie came out last September in Japan, and has been making the festival rounds; Amazon carries an all region DVD in stock, but somehow the release date went right past me without my noticing. This trailer was posted because it is about to be released in the UK.
We finally get a look at a decent length trailer for the upcoming Netflix/Marvel project Daredevil. It will begin streaming on April 10th, giving Marvel a whole new flavor of outlet for their stories.
Archive Dot Org has a great assortment of X-1 episodes which you can listen to online, or download for your own collection. The show was one of the better presentations of science fiction radio plays, built from stories that appeared in Galaxy magazine, written by some of the best authors of the era. This program has been in the public domain for quite a while now, which kind of surprises me, as I would have thought they would want to hold on to it. Here are a few episodes to get you started; there are quite a few more available.
In Movies Birdman deserved its Oscar nominations, a sort-of superhero movie that spoke about the art and the actor, rather than the character. Then there is The Theory of Everything, where one of my real life heroes, Steven Hawking, was the character at the core of the story; and yes, this one too took home its share of Academy Award nominations. It won a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild, and another dozen awards, so I look forward to seeing what it wins in the next round. We also get the latest Studio Ghibli feature film, The Tale of Princess Kaguya. It is based on one of the oldest and best known folktales from Japan, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which would have fit right in with anything from the Brothers Grimm.
In TV we have Doctor Who: Last Christmas, where Nick Frost gets to be a companion while playing Saint Nick… or something very much like him. For a completely different flavor of sci-fantasy there is Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season, continuing George R.R. Martin’s epic mad battle to rule the world. Fortunately, not our world.
Anime gives us Hozuki’s Coolheadedness: Complete Collection, a story about the chief bureaucrat in Hell, and how he deals with the day to day running of the place. Space Dandy: Season 1 also comes out this week, quite the twisted reality!
HITMAN: AGENT 47 is a clone of a genetically engineered assassin, the 47th iteration of his clone line, with each new embodiment tweaked to be stronger, faster, and smarter than the one before. It will be in theaters this August, with Rupert Friend and Zachary Quinto topping the lineup, and I have every intention of being in that audience.