A German TV show based on the most off the wall character Stanislaw Lem ever wrote about? Yes, there is, and it is called Ijon Tichy, Raumpilot, or Ijon Tichy, Spacepilot in English. The animation on the home page says it all, but here is a trailer to go with that image. You can also watch the 15 minute long episodes online, either on the home page or over on YouTube.
This weeks winner is the Dreamworks film Megamind 3D. Staring Brad Pitt, Will Ferrell, and Tina Fey, this looks to be the second animation of the year where you will be rooting for the bad guy (yes, I am referring to Despicable Me). This one looks like a lot of fun. Also out this weekend the Bollywood Time Travel comedy, Action Replayy.
There are no real genre movies coming out this week, but Flickan som lekte med elden (The Girl Who Played with Fire) brings part two of the trilogy that began with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo home. This Swedish series about an investigative reporter and a girl genius hacker is very much edge of your seat thriller to the core, so much so that even if you have to read subtitles it won’t slow down the movie. The third film, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, is hitting the theaters on this Friday, October 29th.
For TV, they are finally releasing War of the Worlds: The Final Season, as well as the complete series in one box set, since it only ran two seasons. This was Adrian Paul’s last Sci-Fi TV roll before he became the Highlander. Someone is re-releasing the surviving episodes of Captain Video And His Video Rangers, America’s first Sci-Fi TV show. It ran live on the DuMont Network for half an hour every night from 1949 to 1954. If you don’t remember, Allen B. DuMont invented the cathode ray tube (also called the Picture Tube) in 1932, the Oscillograph (later called the Oscilloscope) in 1933, and Radar in 1934 (the US military asked him not to patent it so they could keep it secret). But he is best known as the inventor of the Television, and his company was selling the TV sets he invented beginning in 1938, with his TV Network going live in 1946.
Bridging the gap between TV and Anime, the American animation series Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season Two also hits the shelves this week. What I find much more exciting is the fact that Lucasfilm Animation is looking into doing a new animated series with direct creative involvement from Seth Green and Matthew Senreich.
In Anime, Birdy is back with all new adventures in Birdy the Mighty: Decode. Birdy is an interstellar agent with one minor flaw; she is more dangerous to innocent bystanders than the bad guys she pursues, and has been known to take out an entire planet while trying to stop one evildoer. This is part one of the new series, with part two coming out around Thanksgiving. You can watch the first episode online to give you an idea of what the series is like.
In the finest tradition of the Girls with Guns sub-genre, Canaan – Complete Collection takes place after biochemical attacks become common usage, and some assassins have synesthesia, giving them a distinct edge. If you liked Noir, you will love this series. Also in combat mode, Queen’s Blade: The Exiled Virgin – Complete Series takes place in a world where the Queen is chosen by being the last woman standing at the end of a series of battles. All contests are magically transmitted to crystal spheres for the entertainment of the populace. I don’t think either one of these places sounds like somewhere I would want to live, but the shows themselves are fun to watch.
Pandora Hearts part 1 seems to be a twisted variation on Alice in Wonderland meets the Count of Monte Cristo. For his birthday present they put him in a dungeon, with no explanations and no obvious way out. And Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Second Season (Viridian Collection) also becomes available, bringing still more world class timeline jumping steampunk into our hands at a more reasonable price.
Also out this week, Naruto Shippuden: Box Set 4 continues the ninja adventure (although there is some evidence it came out last week, since I already saw it on the shelves), while Hetalia: Season Two continues the rather silly story of WWII nations as schoolchildren. This program could actually be used as a teaching tool for that period of history, not because it is particularly accurate, but because it might catch a child’s attention and make them curious. Every teacher I know considers that the most difficult step in the education process, because once they are interested they seek out new knowledge on their own.
There is a new trailer for the UK show Misfits which is about to launch into season 2. If you enjoyed Heroes back when they were good and you like intelligent comedy, this may just be the show for you. A group of scruffy young folks on a Community Service sentence get struck by lightning and develop strange powers. This program actually won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Drama, awarded in June. So far as I know, no one is currently planning to bring this to the US; I hope that changes soon.
It has been a while since I have posted about reading, mostly because all the flashy visuals kick me into “Shiny, Pretty…” mode, and I get distracted. But two of my favorite authors, Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling, have written a story together that you can read online: Good Night Moon. This is a tasty little story that the two of them obviously had a good time writing, and they do poke more than a little fun at themselves in the course of it. Thanks to the authors and to TOR books for making it a free online read.
A book series I have been enjoying recently is the Parasol Protectorate, a Steampunk treat that has a field day turning the classic Victorian era Gothic novel on its ear, and presenting us with a world that should have been. The creation of Gail Carriger, I tend to think of them as the Less group, since the titles are Soulless, Changeless, and Blameless, with Heartless and Timeless coming soon. The writing is wonderful, the humor is intense, and the attitude is spot on. The description I have read that fits the best to me: They are either Jane Austen doing urban fantasy, or PG Wodehouse doing steampunk. The first novel in the series, Soulless, has already been turned into an Audio Book (you can listen to the first chapter here), and is now in production to become a graphic novel. I would love to see this become a miniseries in the UK; I have seen what they have done with Terry Pratchett, I know they would do these stories justice. You can find out more at Gail’s Blog, or at any of her many online interviews.
This week sees comic book into film Jonah Hex lead the movies onto the shelves, if only for the presence of Selma. The direct to disk Lost Boys: The Thirst was the second attempt to milk some additional box office returns out of the original cult classic. I don’t see how it can hope to cover the original attitude when its immortal vampires have aged so completely; I will not be adding this to my collection, but might Netflix it if they have it streaming. On the other hand, the 1959 classic Hakuôki (Samurai Vendetta in English) does look to be worthy of everyone’s attention, even if some of the sound stage filming is a bit surreal because of the background choices. Also out this week, the feature film animation How To Train Your Dragon from Dreamworks. If you enjoyed the movie and want more, they are also releasing it in a two pack with Legend of Boneknapper for further Dragon/Viking adventures.
Topping the TV choices this week is Dollhouse: The Complete Second Season. This is an amazing series, containing some of the best work of both Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku, and this box completes the set. Also out this week, both the final season and complete box set of Ghost Whisperer.
If you only buy one Warner Brothers classic cartoon collection, make it this one: The Essential Bugs Bunny. This collection includes those musical masterpieces The Rabbit Of Seville and What’s Opera Doc?, and a lot of the top classic Bugs bits, including works with Elmer Fudd and Marvin the Martian. Of course, if you can afford to, you can skip this one and grab the full series of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, which includes everything in this package and a lot more. Whichever way you go, these wonderful shorts never grow old.
Sengoku Basara Samurai Kings: The Complete Series takes you into a brutal world in feudal Japan of the Warring States period. This era was marked by continuous fighting between the various generals and warlords in an environment reminiscent of the city-states of medieval Europe, until the rise of the Devil King, Oda Nobunaga. He proved such a threat to all concerned that there was no choice; everyone else had to band together or be destroyed. And yes, this isn’t quite a pure history; there is enough genre content here to justify its inclusion. The other new Anime release this week is Tytania: Collection 2, finishing up the story of two Galactic Empires that go to war, and the rebel force that battle generates as common people do their best to survive.
Economical re-releases this week include the crossworlds demon combat story Tokyo Majin and the delightfully twisted hikikomori tale Welcome to the NHK, both in S.A.V.E. editions. If you shop around, you can pick up Super Amazing Value Edition complete 26 episode series for less than $20, quite a bargain.