One of the choices this Friday is Lucy, the latest Luc Besson science fiction film. Scarlett Johansson is kidnapped and has an experimental drug surgically implanted in her, so she can be used to smuggle it somewhere. But when the container bursts inside her it triggers a series of genetic changes that act like accelerated evolution, and as her power grows she takes on those who tried to victimize her. Also this weekend, another version of Hercules, this time based on the graphic novels from Radical Comics and starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson. They both look like excellent choices to me, but before you make up your own mind about which to see you might want to check out Alan Moore’s call for a boycott of the Hercules film. It seems the writer of the comics, Steven Moore (no relation), wasn’t getting any money for the movie and had no creative input, but the company did agree not to put his name on it. Since his death earlier this year they have been promoting it as Steve Moore’s Hercules without paying his estate for using his name to try to increase their profits.
For action we have The Purge: Anarchy is the sequel to The Purge, with a simple premise: for half a day all crime goes without punishment. This distopia does allow for some pretty exciting footage on the screen as the various protagonists attempt to survive the night, without having to remake Escape From New York yet again. Which allows them the dubious honor of remaking their own movie instead, which was probably inspired by Escape From LA. If you prefer family friendly animated silliness with your fantasy adventures, Planes: Fire & Rescue might be the choice for you this week. The animation work is quite well done, but somehow the planes/cars franchise hasn’t really engaged me, I think because they are a little too heavy handed with their story lines. If you are looking for a film to share with your kids, this is definitely your best choice. Finally, some theaters will get Mood Indigo, a romantic fantasy about an inventor who finally falls in love with a woman, only to discover she is dying from flowers growing in her lungs. I had to grin at the mouse sidekick to the chef, at the very minimum. If this one is playing near me, it will be getting my money as the best film option available. Strangely enough, although the movie is French/Belgium, the working home page I found for it is in Japan; there is also a US Outlet Home Page. The two other films from this director I really enjoyed were The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and this looks like it might be just as good as either of those.
In movies, the animation Rio 2 is a family friendly action/adventure worth the time to check out. Just like the original feature, the new one is very heavy with musical talent, both on the vocal and instrumental levels, as is fitting for the town where it takes place. In both films the animation is integrated with the music to an extent I have hardly ever seen before. I particularly like the aerial ballet work. A Winters Tale is a romantic Fantasy that I missed at the theaters, and am looking forward to seeing on disc.
For TV, Orphan Black: Season Two is the definite winner, and I have a hard time understanding why Tatiana Maslany was not nominated for half a dozen Emmy Awards after the insanely complex series of characters she has been portraying.
In Anime, Deadman Wonderland: Complete Series is a twisted little story about the unjustly imprisoned who are forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of the public and the enrichment of the networks. Not exactly a new premise, the plot has been around since at least 1975’s Death Race 2000, and renewed with The Running Man (the 1987 film with Arnold Schwarzenegger, or the 1982 Steven King book it was based on, your choice). Also this week, Mononoke: Complete Collection is a sequel to 2006’s Samurai Horror Tales, and tells the story of a medicine seller who travels the provinces looking for the evil spirits he is charged with defeating. When he finds one, he goes through a three stage process to banish it, the final step being to wipe it out with his sword. The tale takes place during the Edo period so this is a bit confusing to the locals, since society is broken up into four classes, and only the highest class, the Samurai, are allowed to use swords. The lowest class, merchants such as the medicine seller, would never be allowed near them; and yet, here he is, heavily armed to protect his fellow breathers.
Finally this week, To Love Ru: Darkness brings season three of the battle of the royal daughters of the planet Deviluke over the fate of the human Rito Yuuki. This one is a definite romantic comedy, and when the Golden Darkness shows up with an army of possessed high school students, things get really wild.
Over on the PotterMore site, J.K. Rowling has returned to the world of Harry Potter for a new short story that reunites now-adult Harry with his old friends. You can read the full story here on PotterMore after registering, or over at Today Dot Com without the registration process. She is a wonderful writer, the Potter series is amazing, and I am hoping for lots more from this fun universe. Thanks to Open Culture and another double dozen sites for the heads up on this one.
This appears to be a unique take on the origin story of Dracula, with a bit of the historical Vlad Tepes embedded to explain the forces driving him to make bad choices for good reasons. With the tag line Every bloodline has a beginning, Dracula Untold will be hitting the big screen in October.
Once Upon a Time in Vietnam is a surprising film, because even though Japan, China, and India all have a long history of making epic fantasy adventures, this is the first such film produced in Vietnam that I am aware of. I look forward to seeing how they did, because new sources of epic fantasy are always appreciated. Vamperifica is the story of the reincarnation of a vampire king in the body of a clueless kid, and it definitely looks like a horror/comedy to me. I have been trying to figure out just how you can reincarnate a soulless creature like a vampire, but I suppose that is what suspension of disbelief is for.
In TV Helix: Season 1 is about a team of CDC doctors who travel to a research facility in the arctic, they think to investigate a disease outbreak. Instead they end up fighting for their lives with the survival of humanity at stake, on a much bigger playing field than they thought they were getting into.
In Anime we have a couple of very strong pieces this time. A Certain Scientific Railgun S: Part One is the first half of the sequel to season 1. Mikoto discovers the stories of powerful talents being cloned are true when she runs into herself, and learns that her clones are being brutally murdered in an effort to steal their power. She vows to save her copies and destroy the project, but she will need to call in help to pull this one off. The new season is every bit as good as the original was, I have been enjoying it on the Funimation channel. Equally well done although in a completely different style, Devil Survivor 2: Complete Collection starts with various protagonists getting Death Videos on their smart phones, and watch news reports of how they died… in the next ten minutes. If they manage to figure out a way to avoid getting killed, they join the ranks of the Devil Summoners and get a demon on their cell to call up when they go under attack. The more times they avoid death, the more demons they get. Some are powerful, some are not; but the world is under attack by some very nasty creatures from another dimension, so they will need every one of them to make it through. The entire story takes place across the span of 8 days, which seems a pretty compressed timeline.
Also this week, Shakugan no Shana: Season Two is being released in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means you can pick up all 24 episodes for around $20 or so.