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Something to Watch: DVD’s

There are some fun movies being released on DVD this week, starting with J.J. Abrams Super 8. That one should work on the small screen just fine, as outside of the train wreck itself and one pan of the battle across the town almost all of the scenes were shot with HDTV in mind, it seemed to me. Also out, Conan the Barbarian, which has noticeably more sex and violence than the Arnie versions. For the younger crowd, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World continues the franchise in its usual somewhat silly way.

From Japan we get Saki the Killer, which tells the twisted tale of the daughter of a Yakuza assassin who teaches art to killers. Finally, Tekken: Blood Vengeance is an entertaining 90 minutes of animated fun straight out of the game. It is being released two ways; as a stand-alone movie, and bundled with the new game Tekken: Hybrid. Looking at this group, it occurs to me it might have made more sense to group them by potential audience rather than list them in box-office results order.

In TV, the primary selection is Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series, but I find myself being aggravated by this one. They broke the airing of the season apart, with a gap in between large enough to run the new Torchwood series, one episode per week. When the first chunk finished running, they released Doctor Who: The Sixth Series – Part 1 on DVD, and if you shopped around you could pick it up for $21 or so. Not a bad deal at all, and lots of folks bought it. Likewise, when the second half was completed, they released Doctor Who: The Sixth Series – Part 2, and dropped the price of the first half to $18, with the stand alone Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol special running $8 or so. If you can buy all of the pieces for $48, why would you need the Complete Sixth Series as well, which costs $54 (again, assuming you shop around for the best deal). Because it includes extras missing from all previous versions, possibly?

Also in TV, Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman: Season 2 is an excellent science series that explores science fiction concepts the same way all the best authors do: by asking What If. If you haven’t seen this one I highly recommend it.

In western animation, the Marvel Knights Collection will be available in a single box set, if you haven’t already picked up the individual stories.

For Anime, Bakuman – First Issue is about someone driven to become a manga author, but is a bit more realistic than some series about the problems that kind of a goal needs to overcome. This set contains the first seven episodes. Also out, Fairy Tail – Combo Pack Part 1 seems to be about a young combat wizard team in typical quest game mode who may not be up to the challenge. At least, not without causing more harm than good. This box set contains the first 12 episodes of the series, but be warned there are over a hundred episodes already released, so you might want to watch a few online to give you an idea if this series is for you.

You would think a show with a title like Star Driver Part 1 would be about spaceships, but this one actually involves shrine maidens worshiping some giant mecha built for battle (ED: This one actually comes out next week). The most interesting of the animations out this week may be Coicent / Five Numbers!, which is two separate but equally strange OVAs. In one, a time traveling boy chases a deer and meets a girl who is herself pursued. In the other, 5 prisoners get loose from their cells, but the guards have disappeared and there appears to be no way out. Both of these short animations have gotten excellent reviews at various anime fests.

Something to Watch: DVDs

The first film worth mentioning is Griff the Invisible, staring Jason from the True Blood series as a hapless superhero who meets Melody, a fellow traveler out to save him from himself. To me, this one holds the most promise, both because of the actors involved and the premise they explore. Another movie coming out this week that I am looking forward to seeing, even if it isn’t genre, is Flypaper, a romantic comedy in the midst of heavy gunfire. The final fictional film that might be worth looking into this week is Bite Marks, which may be cast into the overplayed field of vampires but could always have something new to offer.

Then there are the documentaries, of which there are several. Superheroes from HBO is just what you imagine; an exploration into those people who actually are real life caped crusaders, out to protect us all. Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World is both in IMAX and 3D, and mostly playing in museums, which is what makes it so collectable. A tribute to one of Sci-Fi’s great writers is also released this time around, The Magic Never Ends – The Life & Work of C.S. Lewis. If you are a fan of Narnia, you do not want to miss that one!

We have two live action TV shows of note this time around. Being Human: The Complete First Season is from the American series supported by the Syfy Channel, not the far superior UK show, but worth checking out even so. Then Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns is a UK program every bit as intense as the subject matter might make you suspect, and well worth watching.

Western animation has several programs worth watching, of which my personal favorite has to be Red vs. Blue: Season 9. Trust me when I say no animation you will watch this year will be more entertaining or important (unless it comes from Japan with an insanely good review). From the UK, Shaun the Sheep: Season 2 is the selection of choice, and almost as good as the Master Chief series. I should also mention Dreamworks Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury / Book of Dragons, which looks to be a hoot. Not only do we get a couple of additional animations from the series (I really like the way Dreamworks, Pixar, and a few others are willing to add new entertainment to the archives), but this one will set you up into online game mode if you are good enough to figure out its triggers.

In Anime we have two new presentations and several cost-effective reissues. First, ICE – Complete Collection gives us a virus, which has wiped out most of the population. The survivors are all beautiful women, and the choices they make will shape society for a thousand years. Then Bleach: Fade to Black is a stand-alone movie that gives us more of the back story of this incredible complex series.

There are also a few classic anime now released in more cost effective packaging, including Blassreiter, Love Hina, and Shuffle. I personally appreciate not having to pay the huge original price for a quality series, considering just how many series I find myself buying.

Tailchaser’s Song movie

Tad William’s classic fantasy Tailchaser’s Song is going to be made into an animated feature, and what encouraged me that they might stay true to the feel of the book is the animation production house, IDA. If International Digital Artists doesn’t ring any bells for you, they are the team that put together Cat Sh*t One, based on the manga of the same name. That is a brutally realistic combat animation starring special forces bunnies; unfortunately, all the legal copies of the trailer for that animation I could find include advertisements of one type or another, but I think you will be impressed by the quality of work once you get to the trailer itself. Thanks to Crunchyroll for the heads up on this one!

Something to Watch: DVDs

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 completes the epic series, and for those who don’t have any of the others they are also releasing the Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection. This really was an amazing series, and I am glad the studio buckled down around the time they did the third one and decided to spend the time and money to do it right.

The Sleeping Beauty is a French variation on the classic fantasy with a group of witches trying to find an antidote to a lethal curse laid on the young protagonist. This one I probably will go for, as it seems much less ordinary than some other choices. Atlas Shrugged part 1 is the latest incarnation of the Ayn Rand classic story updated for the modern audience, with some interesting casting choices. This will also be on the to-be-acquired list.

On the lighter side, The Change-Up tells the story of two guys who swap bodies after expressing a wish. What, you have heard this one before? Yep, they do variations on this one every 5 years or so, always with a serious difference between the protagonists. Often that difference is age, but this time the difference is marital status. I will wait to see this one when it comes to Netflix or Hulu or HBO, whatever. And finally for movies, Mortal Combat: Legacy started out being assembled as a Web based series but has a number of quality actors involved with the project, as well as the history and background of the series.

The two entries for live action TV series this time around are both from the UK, but completely different from each other. First is Doctor Who: Series Six, Part Two, and I still object to their breaking a single season up into two parts, but it does make each part easier to afford (even though the total cost for the season is higher that way). I should probably also mention it looks like you might be able to play the new game on the web site even if you are in the US. The other UK series is Bedlam, which I have not found very interesting so far, but horror fans should love it.

In anime, Squid Girl – Part 2 continues the story of the invertebrate who became a human girl when she invaded the world of the air breathers. She does not seem noticeably more successful in her war against the bipeds. Loup Garous also comes out this week, a feature film presentation involving deadly viruses and a cloistered existence.

The other new release is Amagami SS Collection 2, but there is some dispute between different sites as to exactly when it becomes available. In this instance, it may have come out before this date, but it will definitely be available come Tuesday.

Two titles are being re-released in lower cost full series editions, Mushi-shi and Romeo × Juliet – The Complete Tragedy. If you shop around, you can pick these up for as little as $18 each.

Something to Watch: DVDs

There are a couple of live action movies coming out this week that look interesting, and I think Bunraku will beat out the competition by a noticeable amount. It had a very limited theatrical run, so for most of us this will be our first shot to see it. Stars include Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore, Gatck, and Ron Perlman, while the premise includes cowboys without guns and samurai without swords. The other live action selection is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, a story that crosses centuries and cultural evolution to talk about friendship.

There is another film of note this week, and it is a documentary: the Magic Trip, staring Ken Keasey, Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, the Warlocks (they later changed their name to the Greatful Dead), and the Merry Band of Pranksters. This is the epic journey the bus Furthur and its humans took in 1964. If you knew what it meant to be On The Bus in the sixties, you can finally see the movie they filmed during that journey a mere 48 years later. I am planning to watch it as part two of a double header, with Howl starting the lineup, therefore watching the core events that caused post WWII America to evolve into the counterculture of the 1960s in one sitting. There is also a western animated feature film, Cars 2, with an all star vocal cast from Disney.

Only one TV series that ran nationally in North America found this week, Transformers Beast Wars: The Complete Series. This show was rather well done, with some good quality 3D animation for its time and a story line that evolved out of the original Transformers series. Personally I thought it was much better done than Transformers themselves, at least until the live action feature films came along.

In anime the primary selection is Amagami SS – Collection 2, continuing the story where all the potential futures for our protagonist are explored, each in their own parallel timeline and universe. There is no indication in what I have read if they continued the previous collection practice of having each shows primary voice actress sing the closing song, but I certainly hope so; it was a very nice touch. Also this week, Gakuen Alice – Complete Collection has schoolgirl friends transferring to a school where explosions, superpowers, and axe-wielding teddy bears are all part of the daily events.