The full trailer for The Pirates! Band Of Misfits is finally out, and it is a hoot. This animation is from the team that brings you Wallace and Gromit, so you know you are in for quality fun. It also has the best flying whale sequence since Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, and it should be out in March. I am ready for some silliness!
Yes, it is true. BBC America will be hosting a special TV presentation of NPR favorite Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on Friday, December 23rd. Neil Gaiman will be playing their quiz game Not My Job, while Paula Poundstone, Alonzo Bodden and Phill Jupitus will be on the panel looking back at the years top stories from both a British and American perspective. The program will also be broadcast on NPR that weekend, so those of you reading this on the radio will not be left out. Had I been able to find a trailer, it would have been posted here.
A few more pictures from my trip to the UK the other month. These particular images are from (surprise!) the Doctor Who Experience, which will be moving from London to Cardiff this winter, to reopen in the spring. The London run will continue through February 22nd. The first image is the Tardis above the doorway at which you enter the exhibit, which tells you that you have correctly figured out the tube system upon arrival. The next is one of a large number of character mockups they have, in this case Davros. And finally, everybody’s favorite robot dog, K9. Yes, this really was the primary reason I made the journey over the water (OK, I admit, I never would have done it if a friend hadn’t been looking for a likely accomplice). Although I made sure to hit lots of other fun tourist spots, like Forbidden Planet and the Namco Funscape. I think there were some buildings and churches and castles and clock towers around, as well. I’ll have to check the photos and see.
The Black Mirror Trilogy is a trio of stories put together in a twilight zone kind of way, coming to BBC4 beginning this Sunday, the 4th. It is pretty twisted; in the first episode kidnappers grab a princess and put their demands on YouTube where the government can’t block them, involving the Prime Minister and some barnyard animals. I am hoping BBC America will be kind enough to pick it up, so we can watch it on this side of the pond.
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.
The trailer for the new Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe. They ran the trailer this weekend as part of the Children In Need special, and as of this posting, there are still just over 3 days left to enter your bid for the Doctor’s clothing and a signed script.