Skip to main content

Something to Watch: DVDs, 19Feb13

In movies, Atlas Shrugged: Part II is the concluding part of the epic Ayn Rand story. I missed this one in the theaters, so I am looking forward to watch both parts back to back. With The Complete Adventures of Flash Gordon the three original Flash Gordon serials are being released in a single package. Originally released in 1936, 1938, and 1940, they starred Buster Crabbe as Flash. I already have all 3 serials bought separately, but I am tempted to pick up this package for the included original comic strips and cartoons from the 1930s.

Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season is out this week, and it is every bit as adventurous, sexy, and violent as the first season. It also grew the characters well, which I didn’t realize was happening until I noticed who I was rooting for kept changing. Also this week, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome takes place in the middle of the First Cylon War, with a young Adama piloting a fighter and coming to the Galactica for the first time.

Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee comes out with the second half of season one. This series has heavily armed letter carriers combating giant insects and rival organizations, as well as the occasional mad scientist. It takes place in a land of perpetual twilight, with a unique and beautiful art style that reminds me of certain tarot decks. The manga it comes from is also beautifully drawn. Also new, Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts is an OVA special collection of only two episodes. Finally, Tiger & Bunny Set 1 brings the first 12 episodes of the first story, which totals 25 episodes in all. Giant Robot pilot/heroes with sponsors logos painted on their metal hides, it brings an interesting view of how the future might be.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 5Feb13

There seems to be a distinct lack of live action genre releases this week, either Movies or TV. And the western animation is a re-release, Peter Pan, Diamond Edition, which brings this classic out in Blue Ray format for the first time.

We do a little better with Anime, but not by a lot. Toriko: Part 2 continues the combat gourmet epic as our hero attempts to assemble his Full Course Menu of Life. The rule for including a dish seems to be it has to be made from something that kills most of the people that hunt it. While I can’t vouch for Toriko’s sanity, you have to admire his style. Also this week, Casshern Sins: Complete Series is coming out in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means if you shop around you can pick it up for under $20. Robot redemption in the wasteland he created is a unique premise for a series, and this one is done quire well.

There are, of course, many other DVDs coming out this week, both live action and animated, but they do not seem to be genre or even genre related. Hopefully we will do better next week.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 29Jan13

Getting my vote for strangest movie with the best cast this week is Seven Psychopaths, which I completely enjoyed. All Superheroes Must Die is about four Superheroes stripped of their powers and trapped by their arch-nemesis in a situation where they must fight to avoid total destruction for their entire town. The western animation Hotel Transylvania is out this week as well for those in need of silly fun.

We finally get the US release of Misfits: Season Two, the show about the strangest group of Superheroes ever remanded to public service. Let’s see how many social workers sent to rehabilitate them they manage to kill off this season, while trying ever so hard to stay out of trouble. This is one of the best done shows out of the UK on virtually every front, and the soundtrack includes some of the best tunes I never heard here. I strongly recommend this show to everyone old enough to not get offended, but mentally young enough to not get bent out of shape.

In new Anime releases, Baka and Test: Season Two is coming out. It has a nice silly premise; class standings and personal differences are resolved using battle avatars who’s strength is determined by the students academic standing. Our protagonist Yoshii is a warm-hearted goofball with a solid string of F’s in all his classes, who wants to advance his station. He has nowhere to go but up, and he can’t even spell surrender, which makes for an amusing series.

Viz rolls out Naruto Shippuden: Box Set 13, bringing us up to episode 166 by the end of it. For those in need of a silly time, Shin Chan: Season Three may be the way to go.

Arakawa Under the Bridge Season 1 is the story of a man who falls into the river, to be saved by cutely insane Nino, who lives there. To repay her kindness he sets out to help her, meeting many of her friends in the process, some of whom are not human. This is a bit of a re-release, having been previously come out in a limited premium edition. Likewise, Fate/Stay Night: Collection 1 has seen the light of day before, but this time it is coming out as a Blue Ray Disc.

Occultic;Nine is coming

I am happy to report that the franchise begun with Chaos;Head, and continued through Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes, has another series added to its universe: Occultic;Nine. I have enjoyed everything they have done so far, hopefully they will keep up the quality work on the new offering. Steins;Gate was one of the twistiest time travel stories I have seen in a while, and word is Robotics;Notes is getting a stage play treatment soon.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 22Jan13

There are a number of new movies this week, of which Tai Chi Zero is the top of the list for me, being a Steampunk Kung-Fu action comedy. How could I possibly resist that combination? If you are looking for something a bit more serious, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai from the creator of 13 Assassins should have everything you could want in a story of martial arts revenge under an oppressive government. Both of these films are quite good and worth your time to watch.

noobz is a gamer film that looks like silly fun this time around, and yes, the name is lower case. Jason Mewes is involved with the project, which I appreciate, but the DVD is coming out only a matter of 4 days after the film was released in theaters, which is never a good sign.

There are a couple of direct to DVD choices this time, or maybe they just never played in my part of the world, or were on a TV channel I don’t watch. Night of the Templar might be interesting, it is a bit hard to get an idea of the quality from the trailer. Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft is being released in the hopes that people will confuse it with the new movie coming out this week (at least, that’s my theory), and I have no real idea why they are releasing Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. Or any of that series after the original movie, for that matter. At least with Death Race 3: Inferno, also out this week, I actually like the first two films in the franchise.

There are no actual genre releases in TV this week that I found, but there are a few geeky items. Chris Hardwick: Mandroid is his Comedy Central special, now on DVD and noticeably expanded from what they broadcast, covering a range of Nerdist topics. The other offering is an award winning British sitcom, Spy: Series 1, in which a divorced father in a custody battle for his son goes looking for a new job, and accidentally gets recruited by MI6.

Anime is comprised of OVAs and a feature film this time. Saiyuki Gaiden is a three episode OVA telling of the battles Goku and his allies fought to escape Heaven. The Shakugan no Shana: Movie and Shakugan no Shana S, a five episode OVA telling four new stories, bring us new tales of Shana’s flaming sword as she and her powerful human partner Yuji destroy demons across two worlds. OVA stands for Original Video Animation, and the instances mentioned here are examples of studio projects for existing series that are released direct to DVD, without a movie or TV showing first. They can also be a privately funded short set of episodes that are then used to shop a project around to the studios in the hopes of getting it picked up as a series.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 15Jan13

In the silly movie department, 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is yet another of those spoof movies that go for multiple targets in a single film. The other feature presentation for the week is the 2011 documentary I am Bruce Lee, originally presented on Spike TV in the US.

Being Human season 4 leads the TV selections, the UK version of course. Also this time around we get Merlin: The Complete Fourth Season, which made me realize that while I am right up to date on the first series, I am a couple of seasons behind on the second. I may need to do a marathon and get up to speed.

The new anime release is Persona 4: Collection 2, where the Investigation Team moves on to the mystery of the Velvet Room and the deadly Midnight Channel, having solved the murder in the first collection. Figuring out how their powers work, and who is behind the new rash of killings, would be good things as well, preferably before they are all dead.

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is being released in a complete series box set, for those who didn’t already pick it up as separate seasons. As usual with such things, you get a bit of a discount for buying the entire thing in a single box, and also as usual you want to shop around for the best deal, with a few places having it for as low as $40. Finally, the original 1970’s TV series Gaiking has been re-edited into 3 feature length movies and packaged up for DVD release, for those who love truly old school giant mecha.