Day six of recovery, and focusing on comedies this time, starting with Earth Girls Are Easy, one of the absolute classics. Starring Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans as the aliens, and Geena Davis, Michael McKean, Julie Brown, and Charles Rocket as the humans, this is one of those movies I have watched a dozen times or more and loved with every reviewing. The same is true for The 5th Element, a Luc Besson comedy starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovitch among others, which I have probably already watched two dozen times. The third for obvious reasons has to be the 1986 version of the Little Shop Of Horrors with Steve Martin as the demented dentist. Yes, all of these are very old movies, but they are all serious (OK, not actually serious, not a single one of these movies was serious, more silly really) favorites of mine which I can watch again and again with complete enjoyment each time. If you have missed even one of these, trust me when I say you need to track them down and watch them as soon as you can. Most of them are available on the free streaming services or come with your various streaming/cable accounts.
Donnie Yen’s movie Dragon (Wu Xia) finally becomes available for the take home market, and if you are looking for some martial arts action it is a good choice. If you are in the market for something with a bit more substance to it, how about a set of films that helped change the worldview of an entire generation from that part of the planet? Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against The System is a collection of four movies by this amazing filmmaker that also becomes available this week: The Thick-Walled Room, I Will Buy You, Black River, and The Inheritance. This is a Criterion Collection release, but it isn’t pricy compared to some single films they have put on the shelves in the past. After surviving WWII in the Japanese military Masaki started making movies that fomented social change in the 1950s and 1960s in Japan, and is probably best known for his 3 part epic The Human Condition. This four film collection includes some of his most important work of that era. Finally, the 1978 classic Message From Space is being re-released in the US, if you haven’t seen this film yet now is your chance.
In TV, Flash Gordon: The Complete Series is the release of the 2007 program, not the earlier works. It is yet another Syfi Channel TV show that no longer has an actual home page, but it was good silly fun and did the original radio drama series based on the comic strip proud. The other show this week is Spies of Warsaw, which is quite well done. Why am I including this non-genre show? Because it is probably the closest anyone will ever come to letting David Tennant play James Bond.
For western animation, A Monster in Paris is quite tasty. Also out Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore. Both of these are feature length films in two completely different styles. If you are looking for quality silly fun I would definitely go with Monster.
In Anime, A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 1 is being released in 2 parts rather than a single box set. This clever series is a good blend of science and psychic powers, and is followed by others, starting with A Certain Magical Index. I really enjoy this series, from the premise to the cast of characters, and can recommend it to anyone looking for a good story. Hiiro no Kakera: Season 1 is about a girl who suddenly learns she is an enchanted princess when she is attacked by creatures she thought mythical while on her way to attend her first day at a new school. The boy who rescues her is both a fellow classmate and a demon, and things just get stranger from there.
Robert Llewellyn, the actor who plays Kryton on Red Dwarf, does some great electric car reviews on his streaming video show Fully Charged. In a way it is the anti-Top Gear show, since the things he is looking for that define a good vehicle are pretty much the opposite of what Jamie and the gang want to see. If you were thinking of upgrading your archaic gas guzzler for a modern electric vehicle his site is an excellent place to start. Since he has a huge collection of detailed reviews, each filmed from inside the car in question while he took it on a test drive (sometimes going quite a distance), you can get a pretty good idea of the pros and cons for each model.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters stars a few of my favorite Sci-Fi folks (including Gemma Arterton) and looks like it should be quite the serious ride. I would select it as my top pick for the week, but I am not sure I can do that. There is also a Jason Statham option this time around, Parker, and while not exactly genre they are usually intense enough that they should be. And one more for the silly factor: Noobz is a gamer film about four friends out to win the Gamecon championship which includes Jason Mewes as one of the competitors. I may just have to see three movies this weekend, and certainly a minimum of two… but which two?
While the only two Genre movies I have found reference to seem to be fantasies themselves this week (i.e., they don’t actually seem to exist), The Last Stand should be fun, with Arnie as the main protagonist. He is a sheriff with some deputies who don’t have a clue, and the bad guys are heading their way at full speed. Action flics are always a good time, and there are a few more good folks involved with this one; it might just be a winner.
A week ago I was in Aurora, IL, attending the stage presentation Shatner’s World, and I need to recommend it for any of you that have the chance to attend. His sense of humor has just grown over the years, as has his showmanship, and this one man show is a lot of fun.
