Kevin Smith is going to be building the TV show version of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, all because he did such a good job directing some recent episodes of The Flash. Some people at MGM saw those episodes and offered him a shot at creating a TV show for them, and that is what they decided on. As he said on a podcast at the Kevin Smith Blog: Basically you just do the entire movie for season one, then season two you finally do the sequel we’ve all dreamed about, Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League. I can’t wait! No guesses who might carry it yet, but this is one TV show I have been waiting a few decades for them to make. Thanks to pretty much everyone for the heads up on this, but the first one I saw was from Cheryl Eddy at IO9, which is part of Gizmodo these days.
The one new Movie title isn’t genre, and Janis: Little Girl Blue looks like it actually came out this past week. But it is an excellent documentary about an amazing artist who we lost too soon, so I had to mention it anyways. The IP Man Trilogy puts 3 of the movies in that series into a single box, at a noticeable savings over buying them individually, so if you don’t have them already now might be the time. Likewise DC Universe is releasing a number of their animated feature films two to a box for the price of one this week, including Son of Batman/Batman: Under The Red Hood, All-Star Superman/Superman Doomsday, and Superman vs. The Elite/Superman: Unbound. TV is represented by Nova: Rise of the Robots, also not genre but very worth watching.
We do better in Anime, with some actual new genre titles like Assassination Classroom – Season 1 Part 1 bringing the first 11 episodes of the series home. Akame ga Kill: Collection 2 is the second half of that rather twisted story line, this time with the old enemies working together. Black Butler: Book of Murder has two OVAs about Ceil and the Demon Butler, and a cast that includes legendary author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; that alone should make this an important selection. Finally Gunbuster: The Movie tells the tale of the monsters between the stars, and the humans who go out to fight them. The time dilation caused by their near light speed transitions means the ones they go out to protect may be long dead before the battle is even joined.
The must-have title for this week is Deadpool, absolutely the funniest Marvel film made to date. It is also R rated, so it is no surprise it wasn’t made by Disney, but the folks over at 20th Century Fox. With a sequel already in the works, we might see Deadpool 2 as early as January 2018. Synchronicity is a twisted little time travel story everyone should see; if you missed it in the theaters, now is your chance to catch up with it. Lego Scooby: Haunted Hollywood also deserves a mention.
Killjoys: Season 1 is very much a cross between Firefly and Blade Runner, and one of my 3 favorite shows currently running on Syfy. I am happy to report Season 2 will be along on July 1st. Beauty and the Beast (2012): Season 3 is out just in time to be binged before the next season kicks off on June 2nd. While I am not a horror fan, I should include Scream: The Tv Series Season 1 on this list.
For a change their are fewer Anime titles than the other categories, with Fruit of Grisaia being a school for bad apples as the only actual entry this time. It isn’t exactly genre, but it is strange enough to come close.
Created by Zack Mathew, the animation The Switch was made while he was at the Vancouver Film School back in 2008.
We have two films that look interesting this week: Ratchet & Clank for animated silly fun, and The Man Who Knew Infinity, the story of Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar, a true mathematical genius and pioneer. I am thinking I am going to have to see both films this weekend.
I couldn’t find many genre Movies or TV shows this week, but there is The Driftless Area, a ghost story in which Anton Yelchin is once more getting closure for the dead, but I saw no indication that he had the name Odd Thomas this time. Stella, played by Zooey Deschanel, saves his life so he can avenge her murder. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Tom Drury.
In Anime, Rage of Bahamut: Genesis has all 12 episodes of a story where a charming rogue, a clueless demon, a disgraced knight, and a tiny zombie are the only ones who can save the world, if they can find a way to work together long enough to pull it off. Even though it was made in 2014, a lot of the footage looks like old school Anime from the 1980s. Space Brothers: Collection 8 brings episodes 88 through 99 of that series, completing the story. One Piece: Season 7 Voyage 6 has episodes 446 through 456 of a story line that shows no indications of every reaching a conclusion. Garo The Animation: Season One Part One has the first dozen episodes of the magical knights vs the evil usurper story.
Kamisama Kiss: Season 2 brings back Nanami the Land Goddess, who is finally getting the hang of the world of gods, demons, and spirits, but maybe not fast enough to save her piece of the world. Earl and Fairy is a romantic fantasy adventure in which a fairy doctor and a count are looking for a magic sword. This one was on TV back in 2008 in Japan, but I have found no indication it was previously released in North America.