We have two films that look interesting this week: Ratchet & Clank for animated silly fun, and The Man Who Knew Infinity, the story of Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar, a true mathematical genius and pioneer. I am thinking I am going to have to see both films this weekend.
In Movies we get IP Man 3, which completes the story of the man who became a legend in the Martial Arts community for much more than training Bruce Lee. Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is a documentary you have to see if you appreciate comedy, covering them from the 70s through the 90s. The animated feature film Norm of the North is also being released on disc this week.
In Anime, ALDNOAH.ZERO: Set 4 brings the conclusion of the war between terrestrial humanity and the VERS, and sets the stage for mankind’s next venture to the stars. It is a smart series which doesn’t mind breaking some standard Anime tropes. Black Butler: Book of Circus is season 3 of the adventures of the demonic Butler and the woman he serves. This time they go undercover in a Circus to learn what is happening to the children who disappear when it comes to town. Finally Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories brings season 1 and 2 together in a single boxed set, with all 3 seasons currently streaming.
A new trailer for The Secret Life Of Pets has been released, and it is very amusing. This is created by the team behind Despicable Me, a series of movies I have already watched multiple times, so I have a lot of hope that this will be that kind of animation. It will be in theaters on July 8th in the US, and I will be there to see it.
The main film this week is The Jungle Book, the latest iteration of the Rudyard Kipling classic. The composited Live Action/CGI makes this the best looking version yet, and is an example of just how good the technology has gotten. The last time Disney told this story they did it with hand drawn animation, and that was the best anyone had seen up to that point, so this continues their tradition. While the most widely publicized, this isn’t our only choice this time around; Adam Green’s Aladdin will be making its way to a limited number of screens, and looks interesting enough to check out.
TV has Heroes Reborn: The Complete Event Series, and I was thrilled to discover it has 13 episodes. Somehow my DVR only captured the first 12, when I got to the end of my binge watching session I thought they left it like that to try to get the fans to pressure NBC to do another season. It turns out it does have an actual ending, and I am going to get to see it after all. Movies has the DC direct to video animated Justice League vs. Teen Titans; I am afraid I am not a fan of the animation style, it is reminiscent of bad Saturday morning cartoons from the 70s and 80s. Someone is also releasing all of the Alien and Alien vs Predator movies in a single bundle; if you don’t already have them, now is your chance to get the entire collection at once.
In Anime, Gugure! Kokkuri-san is about a doll girl who summons a Kokkuri-san, or fox ghost, by accident. He decides to haunt her and cook for her, because all she eats are cup noodles, and he can’t stand it. Maken-Ki! 2 is the second season of this school for magical combat, done as comedy with a large helping of fan service. While it isn’t genre, Tonari no Seki-kun: Complete Collection are short, fun little episodes about the Master of Killing Time. Each day he sits at his desk in school and creates complex diversions to entertain himself, driving the girl at the next desk out of her mind from the distraction. While he never manages to get caught, her reactions pull plenty of attention from the teacher. It is pretty amazing how they manage to fit so much tension and humor into a show only 7 minutes long per episode.
The animated short Jinky Jenkins & Lucky Lou is an adorable little video about two people who were always meant to be together. While there were a lot of folks involved with this one, it is predominately the creation of Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon. It has won dozens of awards, including the Best Student Project Prize at the 2014 SIGGRAPH Asia convention, which impressed the heck out of me.