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Something to Do: Movies, 26Apr13

I know the movie I will be attending this week: Tai Chi Hero, part two of the story of Yang Luchan, who founded the most popular Tai Chi school in the world in the 19th century. This Steampunk story adventure started with the film Ti Chi Zero last year, and has one more film episode to go to complete it. From the creators of IP Man and Detective Dee, this one should really not be missed.

But that is not all; on Thursday, the 25th Fathom Events is cranking out Star Trek The Next Generation: The Best of Both Worlds, on the big screen, in resolution well beyond HD. So I think I will have to attend two film events this weekend, both of them quite tasty.

A Few Favorite Films

I have gathered together a few favorite films to keep me distracted during recovery for the next few days, starting with 2009’s Fish Story. This excellent Japanese Sci-Fi tale covers multiple decades and generations, showing how a punk rock song saved the world through a series of circumstances that don’t at first glance appear to be related. Luc Besson’s Angel-A is also in the collection, a French film about an angel who has fallen to Earth to save the heart and soul of a petty criminal. And then there is Iron Sky, about the Nazi’s who fled to the Moon at the end of WWII and are now returning to invade the Earth, from the Finnish film making team that brought us Star Wreck. That last one even has an English sound track, so I won’t have to read the subtitles, hurrah! If you have missed seeing any of these amazing films you can watch them on many VOD or Streaming services, such as Netflix, and I recommend dong so soonest!

Something to Watch: DVD’s, 16Apr13

Donnie Yen’s movie Dragon (Wu Xia) finally becomes available for the take home market, and if you are looking for some martial arts action it is a good choice. If you are in the market for something with a bit more substance to it, how about a set of films that helped change the worldview of an entire generation from that part of the planet? Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against The System is a collection of four movies by this amazing filmmaker that also becomes available this week: The Thick-Walled Room, I Will Buy You, Black River, and The Inheritance. This is a Criterion Collection release, but it isn’t pricy compared to some single films they have put on the shelves in the past. After surviving WWII in the Japanese military Masaki started making movies that fomented social change in the 1950s and 1960s in Japan, and is probably best known for his 3 part epic The Human Condition. This four film collection includes some of his most important work of that era. Finally, the 1978 classic Message From Space is being re-released in the US, if you haven’t seen this film yet now is your chance.

In TV, Flash Gordon: The Complete Series is the release of the 2007 program, not the earlier works. It is yet another Syfi Channel TV show that no longer has an actual home page, but it was good silly fun and did the original radio drama series based on the comic strip proud. The other show this week is Spies of Warsaw, which is quite well done. Why am I including this non-genre show? Because it is probably the closest anyone will ever come to letting David Tennant play James Bond.

For western animation, A Monster in Paris is quite tasty. Also out Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore. Both of these are feature length films in two completely different styles. If you are looking for quality silly fun I would definitely go with Monster.

In Anime, A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 1 is being released in 2 parts rather than a single box set. This clever series is a good blend of science and psychic powers, and is followed by others, starting with A Certain Magical Index. I really enjoy this series, from the premise to the cast of characters, and can recommend it to anyone looking for a good story. Hiiro no Kakera: Season 1 is about a girl who suddenly learns she is an enchanted princess when she is attacked by creatures she thought mythical while on her way to attend her first day at a new school. The boy who rescues her is both a fellow classmate and a demon, and things just get stranger from there.

Something to Watch: DVD’s, 9Apr13

There are several interesting movies this week, starting with The Sorcerer and The White Snake, the latest of many film versions of the white snake/green snake legend, two demigoddesses who take the form of human women to experience love. First written down during the Ming Dynasty, it has also been made into TV series a number of times, as well as stage plays and operas, the first performed around 400 years ago. I am looking forward to seeing how this version goes, as some of the earlier movies were quite surreal and fantastic. Jet Li is one of the costars in this production. The Four has been referred to as the Chinese X-Men, a team of extremely skilled assassins and detectives working for the Emperor to eradicate evil. Their task in this story is to stop a gang of counterfeiters, and the trailer looks quite tasty. The action sequences alone should be worth the price of admission, as each member of the team reveals their power.

Sexy Evil Genius is a psycho-thriller comedy with an amazing cast of Sci-Fi alumni including Seth Green, Katee Sackhoff, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Anthony Michael Hall. If you are in the mood for wicked fun, this may be the one for you; I know I will be checking it out. Also this week, William Burrough’s Naked Lunch, which was converted into a Fantasy/SciFi film by David Cronenberg in 1991. It stars Peter Weller, and this re-release is part of the Criterion Collection.

In TV, Merlin: The Complete Fifth Season looks to be the only new selection, and also sadly closes out this series. It was quite a fun ride while it lasted, but I think they made the proper choice of shutting it down before it jumped the final shark.

For Anime, Inu X Boku Secret Service is a seriously wacky little series where no one, not even our lovely protagonist, is completely human. The mandatory bodyguards (also not human) just magnify the weirdness for this haunted condominium. Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Reverse rolls out part one of the second season, and if the concept of hive oriented postal workers leaves you confused, trust me when I say it should all make sense shortly. If you happen to be a fan of Gordon R. Dickson’s wonderful novels, his Half Pint Posted story, The Right To Arm Bears, will set the mood for this presentation. There is also a re-release of the 1996 Shamanic Princess for those catching up on their collections.

New Kyrya song

This week seems to be all about the music, so here is Kyary Pamyu Pamyu with her new song Ninja Ri Bang Bang. It is just as kawaii as you would expect, although this time her dancers without faces (why does nobody but Kyary ever have a face in one of her videos?) are animated rather than live action. She performed this live on last week’s episode of Music Station, where it came in ranked number 4 for the week in Japan.

RU Music fun

A couple of tunes in Russian I like, that also have tasty video’s with them. The first is ANA BASTON with her song Li-Lu, the second is Pavlova’s song Часы. I don’t have a clue what they are about, but I like the music and visuals both, and Pavlova is definitely Clockpunk.