This is an excellent weekend for movies, starting with R.I.P.D., the Rest In Peace Department from the comic book of the same name. It has Mary-Louise Parker costarring with Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, and Kevin Bacon in this comedy fantasy crime drama. If that wasn’t enough to keep you entertained another action/adventure/comedy based on a comic book is also hitting the big screen, RED 2, in which Mary-Louise Parker is costarring with Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, and Anthony Hopkins. That girl is definitely getting around, and getting some excellent parts in the process. Those are both on Friday, and I am going to have to attend both of them. On Wednesday the 17th Turbo is in the theaters, an animation about a snail who wants to be a race car. I really can’t afford to do three movies this weekend, even though it is from Dreamworks, one of my favorite western animation houses. This time around, the animation loses.
A new Wolverine trailer is out, and it looks like Marvel has another excellent entry into their universe. Somewhat Torchwoodishly, somebody intends to make the character mortal, taking away his ability to heal and regenerate. This one will be in the theaters on July 26th, if you were wondering. Of course, I liked the last Wolverine movie, and it seems a lot of other folks did not, so you might want to mistrust my reaction.
The obvious winner this week is Man of Steel, the latest in a long tradition of Superman movies. I have enjoyed many of them, and sat through the turkeys in the hopes they might get better, and I will be right back in the theater for this one. Strangely enough, the best trailer I have seen for it is from a cell phone company.
I am really looking forward to the new Marvel TV series Agent of SHIELD, and this trailer just kind of helps that along. ABC signed up to carry the series this fall, adding it to the Tuesday night lineup. And Joss is doing it! TV needs more Joss!
These are just amazingly detailed works from Jason B. Thompson, an American Manga artist (yes, there is a difference between Manga, Graphics Novels, and Comics) who has put together a few tasty interpretations of some classic H.P. Lovecraft stories. The White Ship was the first one I looked at, and I knew instantly I would have to read them all. Next I hit The Doom That Came to Sarnath, and again I was sucked right in. These are from the Dream Cycle, as are all of his fully realized stories, but you can find his interpretations of other Lovecraft characters and settings in his Lovecraft Sketches section. Thanks to the folks at io9 for the heads up on this one.
There are a few tasty movies this time, starting with Cloud Atlas, a very complex book turned into a very ambitious movie. I missed this one in the theaters because of real life getting in the way, I am looking forward to finally seeing it. There is also Frankie Go Boom, not a genre flick but a comedy with both Chris O’Dowd and Ron Perlman that sounds like a lot of fun.
Have you seen the 4K TVs yet? They are 4 times more detailed than Blue Ray’s 1080P at 4,000 pixels, the same resolution as the screens in a regular movie theater. Nobody is making the 8Ks yet (the IMAX resolution screens), but at $20,000 for the 85 inch 4K screens and most streaming content for them not coming along until the fall, they are not in big demand. That is now changing, with a 55 inch 4K priced at $5,000 (still noticeably hefty for my budget, especially because with my eyesight I can not see the difference between the 4K and the 1080P at couch distance), and the fist few 4K films being released on Blue Ray DVD format discs holding 4K video files. Movies coming out this week include Ghostbusters, The Amazing Spider-Man, the Toby McGuire Spider Man, Battle: Los Angeles, and the new version of Total Recall. Pricing appears to run $35 a movie for the recent stuff, $14 for things older than a decade. So, once again, just like they did for Blue Ray and then 3D, they want you to buy the same movie you already own for still more money. I think I will pass, at least until the price comes WAY down.
In TV we have Mythbusters: Collection 9 continuing the engineering madness for another season. Speaking of madness, also being released this week is Top Gear: The Complete Season 19. I am not6 a car fanatic, but I never miss this one if I can help it.
In Anime, Tiger & Bunny: Set 2 continues the story of the robot jocks with serious endorsement contracts and a winning record against the bad guys. Darker Than Black: Gemini Of The Meteor is the complete second season with a few OVAs thrown in. BK has lost Yin and is under attack from all sides, when he runs into a girl who’s life was changed the night the Meteor came down.
One Piece Season 4 DVD Part 5 sounds like it ought to be a single volume with a few episodes, but the average part-season of One Piece is 11 episodes, so this set brings us episodes 253 through 263, and we are still nowhere near caught up with the Japanese current season, which is sitting at episode 594 this week (yes, you can watch it streaming at that link). The Straw Hat Pirates are a hit with fans world wide. I should also mention that Kämpfer für die Liebe has an OVA set coming out this week, but it only has two episodes so try not to pay too much for it.
There are two new feature length presentations, starting with The Princess and the Pilot. That one is a story of love, danger, and power politics during wartime. Colorful: The Motion Picture starts at the train station on the other side of death, where one soul will get sent back in a body belonging to someone else to try to resolve the mystery of his death.
Finally, we have two re-releases in new box sets. My Bride is a Mermaid is a S.A.V.E. edition, so you can pick up the entire series for around $20. And Gurren Lagann is coming out in a limited edition special box set complete with music CDs, so expect to pay way more than you were expecting for that one.