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Something to Watch: DVD’s

There are no well known movies coming out this week, which is how we end up with Thor at the Bus Stop and Planet of the Vampire Women sharing the first mention, because they are at least sort of genre. I really can’t recommend either of them to anyone, even a little. I can, however, recommend Let The Bullets Fly, a nice little action comedy that takes place in 1920s China. A bandit arrives in a small town in the middle of nowhere claiming to be its new mayor and then has to go head-to-head with a tyrannical petty noble, and the results are a lot of fun to watch.

The 1933 version of The Perils of Pauline serial is also coming out this week. This one has a bit of history, as it was one of the original movie theater serials done in 1914 based on the Charles Goddard Book. It has been redone several times since, including a 1947 version where Betty Hutton played Pearl White, which is kind of interesting since in the 1914 version Pearl White played Pauline. Serials were of course what lead to episodic TV series in later years, so it seemed fitting to mention this one in the TV section of this entry.

In western animation we have Iron Man – Complete Series and X-Men Complete Series, which are actually part of Marvel Anime, western characters re-imagined for the Japanese anime fans. So while not exactly western, close enough to mention here.

In anime proper, the exciting release this time is Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, a new feature length film in the ongoing saga of the Elric brothers. This is one of my favorite steampunk anime series, so I should also note they are releasing another repackaged box set of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Collection 1 containing the first 33 episodes in a single collection.

Finally, Jyu-Oh-Sei: The Complete Series has been released in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means you can now pick up the entire series for around $20.

Ghibli on the Big Screen

If you are a Studio Ghibli fan, and love movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Howls Moving Castle, or Spirited Away, and you happen to live in the central East Coast portion of the US, the AFI Silver Theater is presenting Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata and the Masters of Studio Ghibli. These masterpieces of animation equal or exceed anything done by the classic Disney studios and have won critical acclaim all over the world. The American Film Institute Silver Theaters in Silver Spring, MD, is not alone in this presentation. The co-presenters are the Freer Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Japanese Information Center, a department of the Japanese Embassy. I already own almost all of these on DVD (one has yet to be released in the US), but I have never before seen the ones in this program on the big screen. After this past weekend, I can tell you they are amazing to see in a real theater, and if you have the chance to go there are plenty of wonderful films yet to be presented.

Something to Watch: DVDs

No movies to speak of this week, beyond Robotropolis, which is a remake of Westworld without the budget.

In TV, the 1980s spinoff series from the movie of the same name, Starman: Season 1 stared Robert Hays as the alien, come back to Earth to visit his kid. I still love the movie, the TV show was not as impressive but still might be worth watching again, if only to see if it got better with perspective. Ernie Kovacs: The ABC Specials also comes out this week, and that period of his career holds some of his most creative work. If you got the huge Ernie Kovacs DVD collection that came out last year like I did, you already have these. If you were waiting for something resembling a best-of, this would be it.

We do have a treat in Western Animation: Shaun the Sheep: Shear Madness. The folks at Aardman have a new movie coming out in the next few weeks as well, Pirates, Band of Misfits that also looks to be pretty funny. The other western animation this time around is Young Justice: Season 1, Volumes 1-3, which is still funny, but more action oriented.

In Anime, Someday’s Dreamers – Complete Collection looks to be the humorous choice, being the story of a magical girl who can’t spell very well, and who moves to Tokyo for some advanced training. Winning the ward for most redundant title this week is Legend of the Legendary Heroes, with both Part 1 and Part 2 coming out at the same time. This one is a much more serious story of war and power.

Re-released in a more cost effective package, Tsubasa, RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – OVAs Collection S.A.V.E. edition completely changes the way you view that set of universes, as the two OVA series tells you what lay underneath the tale you thought you understood.

Online Steampunk Comics

Yes, you can also get the printed version of these two, but they look real good online and you can read them there for free. The old favorite Steampunk Comic that you have seen mentioned here many times before is Girl Genius, a graphic novel series so good it has won some serious awards. I have been reading it for years and did order the print version (I think I have through volume 8 so far) just because I wanted to read it the old fashion way. On the other hand, I only heard about Lady Sabre & The Pirates of the Ineffable Aether within the past week or so from the folks over at SF Signal, and am enjoying it immensely so far. Check them out, and let me know what you think!

Something to Watch: DVDs

The Darkest Hour has five teens in Moscow when alien invaders take over the Earth, and they spend the movie trying to survive. It is not a bad little film, but I think they made a mistake when they opened it in theaters on Christmas day, as it was not exactly holiday fare.

A rather amusing family oriented TV miniseries this time is The Witches of Oz, where best selling author Dorothy Gale discovers the stories she has been writing are based on suppressed childhood memories, and Oz is real.

The other TV choices are all older programs now available for the first time, starting with Night Gallery: Season Three. Joining Rod Serling in Season 3 were Vincent Price, Mickey Rooney, Sally Fields, Sandra Dee, Bill Bixby, and Leonard Nimoy, amongst others. Logan’s Run: The Complete Series ran on TV for the 1977/1978 season and also comes out this week.

Finally, Dark Shadows: Fan Favorites pulls all the way back to the 1960s for its episodes. Dark Shadows ran for five years, but as a soap opera it ran every weekday during that time, so it had over a thousand episodes. Besides being the first TV series to focus on the emotional needs of Vampires, Werewolves, and Witches, it was also one of the few shows of its time to include time travel and alternate universes as regular plot devices in its ongoing story arc. Every one of those details is represented in this small collection.

In western animation, Marvel Knight’s Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous becomes available this week, the second release in the series.

The new release in Anime is Naruto Shippuden: DVD box set 10, which I am not going to bother to describe, on the theory that if you liked the series enough to watch the previous 9 box sets you probably already know the story thus far.

The other anime releases this week are consolidations or Blue Ray or just plain re-releases. Oh! Edo Rocket – Complete Series is a consolidation, previously available in a box set per season, now with both seasons in a single box. Infinite Stratos is a re-release, except it also includes the OVA Infinite Stratos Encore, a short sequel, together for the first time.