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Things to Do: Cons

If fantastic art has ever drawn your eye, this weekend offers something special; IlluxCon in Altoona, PA has the biggest talents in the field displaying their work. The Guest List is absolutely staggering, including artists like Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, Michael Whelan, Brom, Todd Lockwood, Greg Hildebrandt, Jordu Schell, and Bob Eggleton, to name just a few. I have never heard of a more impressive gathering of talent in this century, and will do my best to be there; this is my pick for the Event of Choice this weekend.

The Readercon event would have to be TusCon 36, put together by the Baja Arizona Science Fiction Association. Edward Bryant is the Toastmaster, and the Cosplay competition is Steampunk this year.

Speaking of Steampunk, best SteamCon event goes to WindyCon 36 running this Friday through Sunday in Lombard, IL. Author GoH is James P. Blaylock, while Artist GoH goes to the team of Phil and Kaja Foglio, who amongst many other works create the ongoing Girl Genius.

The MediaCon event for this weekend looks to be NEFanX, the New England Fan eXperience. Headlined with GoH Leonard Nimoy, who is backed up by actors Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood’s Ianto Jones) and John de Lancie (who played both Trek’s Q and the real scientist Nikola Tesla in Legend), writer Wen Spencer, and Devo Spice, this is an impressive collection of talent.

There are a bunch of Anime Cons this weekend, and one of the best of them is EirtaKon, which identifies itself as Ireland’s first Anime convention, and the largest of it’s kind on the island, from the 13th to the 15th. Nearby, and much smaller, is the Anime League Club London, London’s little Anime convention, at just 5 pounds for entry on its single day.

In Canada, OtaFest Lite takes place on Saturday only, reproducing the event look-and-feel of the early days of the University of Calgary’s major Otaku Festival. Dot Con happens in Toronto, to include Junko’s Shamisen. In the US, Izumicon happens from the 13th to the 15th in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with all the usual events. Yet another one day Con, Kaji Con, happens in Georgia on the 14th. At some point these details get too complex to track.

And then there is EuroQuest, a Gaming Con from the old country. And there are others…

Things to Watch: DVDs

Topping the TV show DVD list is the Sara Jane Adventures: the Complete 2nd Season. Sarah Jane has helped the franchise by bringing a truly kid-centric program that takes place on modern day Earth, using only the wits of its youthful protagonists to save the world. I find it makes an enjoyable counterbalance to the more adult themed Torchwood, each pivoting around the Doctor as their anchor point.

The western-style Animation winner for this Tuesday has to be Pixar’s UP, a movie that has had me snapping my head around and shouting Squirrel in mid-sentence since I first saw it. A good rule of thumb for me is if it is by Pixar, it belongs in the permanent collection. While I can’t say the same of the Cartoon Network, Xavier Renegade Angel looks worth checking out. BTW, if you were thinking about ordering the HD version of Aeon Flux, it looks like that one will not be released this month after all, if ever.

As usual, some quite good entries from the world of Anime, starting with Naruto: Shipp|AMP|#363;den the Movie. One series I wasn’t familiar with has two seasons (actually two different series) being released on Tuesday: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Collection, and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Complete Collection. There is also the usual assortment of repackaged re-releases, like the classic Giant Robo, and a few newly available on High Def as there are each week (this week Monsters, Inc. becomes available in HD, and last week WitchBlade did the deed).

I would have mentioned S A Collection 1, but I see no Sci-Fi influences in any review I have found, and I can name three series with the same plot description that include giant robots, two with magical girls, one that jumps through linear time and another that jumps between parallel world lines. Is there at least a telepath or curse to make it interesting? Finally, there are a few places reporting Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE comes out this week, but a lot more point to next week as the actual release date.

There was very little in the way of new Sci-Fi or Fantasy live action films released this week. There were a few horror flicks like Summer’s Moon that had no fantastical elements to them, although with Breast Grenades and Rocket Feet, Samurai Princess probably counts. There were a few classic gems turned out as High Def Blue Ray disks, including Godzilla, Logan’s Run, and Watchmen (The Ultimate Cut). Perhaps Christmas on Mars will become available soon.

Things to Do: Cons

The First Irish Discworld Convention takes place the first full weekend of November, the 6th through the 8th. Yes, Terry Pratchett is the guest of honor (health permitting), and all sorts of fun things are planned; see the con blog for more details. This one looks unlike any other con for the weekend, and would be my first choice if I had just figured out that pesky teleporting thing. Except maybe for the PMX2009 event, listed below.

Chevron 7.3 in Northampton, UK, is a Stargate mediacon, with the guests leaning heavily to the new series Stargate Universe. Also in Europe, J-PopCon is an Anime Con that takes place in Valby, Denmark, close to Center of Copenhagen. It is the biggest Anime event in that country, and has been running since at least 2000. To round out the international listings, Vertigo is a one-day Anime con taking place on Sunday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

For events in the US, Astronomicon takes place November 6th through the 8th in Rochester, NY. Mike Resnick is the Author GoH, and one of the events is the Grand Great Lakes Steampunk Cotillion, Symposium and Tea Social, along with all the usual fun stuff you expect at a readercon.

Anime Cons around the US include Aki-Con in Everett, Washington, Anime NebrasKon in Omaha, NekoCon 12 in Hampton, Virginia, and Zenkaikon 2009 in King of Prussia, PA. They all have screenings, events, panels, and cosplay, but the Kabuki Mask Painting Workshop caught my attention, especially listed after the Cosplay Swimsuit Competition and Dating Auction.

Some anime is included in the Pacific Media Expo 2009, but the event also includes live-action movies, the hottest bands, the latest fashion, and the newest pop culture trends from Japan and the Pacific Rim, making this a truly unique happening. I would probably have to clone myself this weekend to attend this one and the Irish Diskworld convention.

Gamer Cons this weekend include Carnage 12 in Fairlee, VT, Millennium 12 in Round Rock, Tx, and UberCon XII in Edison, NJ. And no, I don’t know why that last one went with Roman numerals when the Arabic numbers were a good enough Twelve for every one else.

Finally in Charlotte, NC there is the one-day Charlotte Comic-Con on Saturday the 7th.

Things to Watch

Out new this week is Aliens in the Attic, a Family Friendly invasion of Earth movie where the kids get to save the day. Another new release is GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra; I saw it in a movie theater and asked to be paid triple my ticket price to compensate me for my time when it was over. StarQuest: The Odyssey looks to be a direct-to-DVD release.

For the classic releases, Doctor Who has a few important ones this week. the Patric Troughton story line The War Games are a welcome addition to the collection, as is the Tom Baker Black Guardian sequence.

While the release of the live action version of Terminator Salvation won’t happen until the beginning of December, Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series comes out on DVD this week. Not bad for something that started life as a viral marketing campaign, and the disk release dates match up with the original deployment. Also on the animation front is Star Wars: The Clone Wars The Complete Season One.

There are a ton of quality releases on the Anime front, starting with Dragonaut – The Resonance, in which Earth clones Dragons to defend against extinction-level asteroid impacts. Also out is Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Volume 7. And then there is the Bleach Season 4 Box Set as the soul reaper saga continues. Also out is Utawarerumono The Complete Collection, and You’re Under Arrest: Fast & Furious, season 2 part 1. The Boogiepop Phantom complete collection is out this week as well; guess I jumped the gun last week.

Things to Do: Cons and Movies

A major Con this weekend; the World Fantasy Convention celebrates Edgar Alan Poe’s 200th birthday, and runs from the 29th of October to November 1st. Held on Halloween weekend in San Jose, California, it will as always include the World Fantasy Awards, nominees this year including Kage Baker, Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Ellen Datlow, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, and many more (but the ones mentioned being multiple nomination recipients). As announced in August, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winners for 2009 are Jane Yolen and Ellen Asher (see the previous award winners listings here).

Oni-Con takes place in Huston, TX this weekend, and will probably be the single most impressive Anime con this time around. In the same town as the former ADV, the guest list at this one has to be seen to be believed. There appears to be three separate tacks of Cosplay events alone.

Saboten-Con in Phoenix, AZ, also looks to be a great place to spend Halloween weekend. Musical guests include Ketsune Robot and Toybox at this Anime con, and the rest of the guest list is just as intense. Many events, screenings, concerts, panels, and so forth. The competitions include the usual (cosplay, artistic, etc.), and a few not-so-usual, including a +18 AMV contest (yes, that means explicit) separate from the all-ages contest, and a Karaoke contest.

In Vermont, BakuretsuCon runs from October 29th to November 1st. This predominantly Anime con includes an AMV contest and the steampunk-inspired Penny Dreadfuls, as well as everything a good con should have.

In Cincinnati, SugoiCon is an Anime con that covers aspects most cons miss; I would go for the concerts alone, the guest list is amazing from both Japan and the US, and the cosplay fans have multiple events! There is a lot more going on, it should be wild.

To round out the weekend of the Anime-Con is Youmacon in Dearborn, MI. This is the 5th year for this Detroit area event, with all the usual guests and activities.

For movies this week, Gentlemen Broncos comes out Friday, fresh from the Film Festival circuit. It is more a film about a science fiction author than an SF film itself. However, if you are in Washington, DC, you might want to consider the screening of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Mushi-shi on Friday evening, a one-time event brought to you by the DC Anime Club and the Japan Information and Culture Center.