I love Tangled, and was excited to hear they did a short sequel called Tangled Ever After. So far they have played it before the theatrical run of the 3D version of Beauty And The Beast, and that has been about it. I am not big on seeing re-releases of 2D movies processed for 3D, considering the process to be right up there with colorization as a way to destroy the original artistic vision of the creators, so I didn’t get to see it there. No word on when the DVD might be available, although you can buy the movie poster, a read-along book, and even a Mini Princess Doll Set. But it should pop up soon on the Disney Channel, so keep an eye peeled for it to appear on VOD or streaming online from the official web site.
Top movie choice this time around is Immortals, a tale of war and oppression in the time of the Greek Gods. In fact, it would pretty much be the only movie choice if it wasn’t for the direct to DVD release of Tooth Fairy 2 starring Larry the Cable Guy. And no, it doesn’t have its own home page that I could find, or I would have linked it.
A made-for-TV movie sits right on the border between the two video forms: My Future Boyfriend is a rather silly story without much substance, but kind of sweet. If I did food comparisons, cotton candy would definitely come to mind. If you prefer your stories with a bit of meat on their bones and noticeably more adult, Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season is the way to go. George R. R. Martin is still writing the books, hopefully he will be able to keep ahead of the filming schedule as they convert one book a year into video footage. He has been releasing the books a bit slower than that, and now that his other main project, Wild Cards, has been picked up by the new Universal/SyFy Channel production house he may have less time for writing than ever.
For western animation there isn’t anything new as such, but they are releasing Robot Chicken: Seasons 1-5, giving you the opportunity to grab everything currently available at once, and for a bit of a discount. Season 6 is currently airing and should be available soon.
Anime shows a single new release in the form of the House of Five Leaves – Complete Series, a historical drama involving a shy Ronin and the gang of kidnappers he falls in with. The animation looks interesting, and there is promise of personal growth in the evolution of the protagonist.
There are several re-releases worth mentioning, starting with Grave of the Fireflies – Remastered Edition. This semi-true story about orphaned children in wartime Japan has been digitally remastered to rip your heart out with improved video resolution and audio quality. If you haven’t seen this masterpiece trust me when I say it is right up there with Barefoot Gen as an object lesson in the human condition during war, especially as it applies to children.
On a much lighter note, Sands of Destruction – The Complete Series is being released in a S.A.V.E. (Super Amazing Value Edition) package, which means you can pick up the whole thing for around $15. Also being released in a single box set, Hetalia: Axis Powers – The Complete Series also brings the price down for those who have been waiting, but not by anywhere near as much.
This is the second Brave trailer, and it is even more fun then the first one was. I have definitely added this to my list of must-see animations for this summer. Thanks to SFX for the heads up on this one.
This time around it is an animation from the folks who made Despicable Me: The Lorax is a Doctor Seuss story brought to life. I find it interesting that Danny DeVito plays the Lorax in the English, Spanish, and Russian language versions of the film. Also out this week, although only at film festivals, is A Monster in Paris, which looks very Beauty-And-The-Beast like…
Best movie selection this week definitely goes to Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s stunning Steampunk homage to a pioneer in the film industry and to movies in general. This one blew me away in the theaters, it won a Golden Globe and it is nominated for 11 Academy Awards; we will find out tonight how many of those it is taking home. If you only get one DVD this month, this is the one that gets my strongest recommendation. On the other hand, if you just want something silly, Johnny English Reborn would be the way to go. Once more Rowan Atkinson delivers a world class comedic performance, this time bringing his anti-007 character back to life.
In western TV, Todd & the Book of Pure Evil: The Complete First Season is the live action offering, and I do like their tag line: Fighting Evil, with Mixed Results. They are actually about to launch season 3 elsewhere, in the US season 2 kicks off on Fear.Net on March 13th.
In western animation, the feature length film Justice League: Doom pretty much covers all the choices.
In anime, Fairy Tail – Part 4 continues the story of the battles between guilds of wizards out to earn a living and prove who is best with episodes 37 through 48. I was not completely certain that Princess Jellyfish – The Complete Series is genre. But it has hopeless nerds with bizarre hobbies and crippling social anxieties, coupled with a late night jellyfish rescue mission; plus it is based on an award winning Manga (the award being Best Shojo Manga), and the anime was made by the folks behind Baccano, Hell Girl, and Durarara. Taken all together, how could I not include it here? You can watch some episodes online at that link and decide for yourself if it deserves to be added to your collection; when I did and discovered all the primary characters were Otaku, it went on the must watch list right away. And for pure Otaku recursiveness, Bakuman – Second Issue brings 6 more episodes of an Anime all about making a Manga, and it doesn’t get much more recursive than that.
It is kind of sad when the only live action genre movie for the week has a title like Bong Of The Dead, but it did win some awards, including Cannes, and the zombies are the ones being hunted for their brains in this horror comedy. In animated movies we have Puss in Boots, both as a stand alone and bundled with Puss In Boots: The Three Diablos. Staring Antonio Banderas, this Shrek spin off has all the humor associated with that series.
The genre TV series this week is The Fades: Season One, fresh from its run on BBC America. This one is a bit more horror than I prefer, and without the humor, but it is exceedingly well done.
In Anime Strike Witches Season 2 continues the story of propeller booted aerial combat during WWII. Also being released, Broken Blade – Complete Collection is a giant mecha combat set.