2011 was an outstanding year, and for me personally the best single event during it was my excursion with a good friend to the UK. I couldn’t possibly list in detail all the things we did and saw, because it was non-stop and overwhelming. So instead I am going to post a few of the more memorable photos.
I had commented previously about the Snake Pliskin inspired Luc Besson new movie, Lockout. Now the movie has a new name: MS One: Maximum Security, and to go with that new name it has a new trailer, which is even more interesting than the last one. Target date to see this on the big screen is April 13, 2012, barring any major problems, and it looks like a serious monster. It still doesn’t have a home page that I can find, but that too is no doubt coming soon.
There are no actual genre films that I could find coming out this week, although there is at least one cult favorite coming back with a final film: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. I don’t even need to describe it; you already either love or hate this series of films, so nothing I say is going to sway you one way or the other to attend this. There were a number of good ones from last week still in the theaters you might want to check out, such as RA.One, the latest Bollywood Sci-Fi romp. This takes the crown from last year’s Robot as the most expensive Bollywood movie ever made, and also like Robot the protagonist is not quite human, and more of a bad guy than otherwise. Interestingly enough, they actually made the game this movie is about, and folks were able to play it before seeing the film. And there is still time to see In Time, a twisted successor to Logan’s Run.
Top movie choice for the week has to be Captain America: The First Avenger. This one actually exceeded my expectations, and it is a suitable prelude to next year’s Avengers movie. Also out this week, Shaolin stars Andy Lau, Wu Jing, Jackie Chan, and Nicholas Tse, in a epic historical drama well worth watching. If it seems like I had already said it was coming out in an earlier week, I had. Which week it is coming out depends on who’s web site you believe, so I figured if I mentioned it both times there was a 50/50 shot I would be right one of the weeks.
There is an amusing looking documentary coming out this week; The People vs. George Lucas.
The TV choice for this week is also the western animation option, in the form of Robot Chicken: Season 5. Do not think this show has become any more subtle recently, it just gets more outrageous and hysterical with each new season.
In Anime I feel a little more confident saying that Himawari! Season 1 will be made available this week. Himawari is going to Ninja school but is not well prepared for the experience, even having to get rescued by a non-ninja teacher on her first day. Another combat high school series comes along in the form of Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians Part 2. In this series, great warriors of the 12 Kingdoms era are reincarnated as modern high school students, and continue their age old conflicts.
There is also a feature length film anime this week: Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds. I am not sure exactly where this fits in the story arc.
Finally a re-release of a classic in a more cost effective package. You can pick up Witchblade – Complete Collection for as little as $21 if you shop around in its new Classic Collection version.
It wasn’t that long ago that I commented on the Bunraku movie showing at Otakon and making the film festival rounds, with a link to the Bunraku homepage. We now have release dates for those of us not able to catch it at a Film Fest. On September 1st it becomes available on VOD (Video On Demand) for home viewing, on September 30th it hits the big screen across the country in at least a limited run basis, and on November 1st you can bring this puppy home as a DVD or Blu-Ray. From everything I have been hearing, this is a fitting successor to Kung Fu Hustle but with a more international cast; I can’t wait!
The folks at Right Stuff/Nozomi have a serious online presence at YouTube, where you can watch their anime online to give you a taste of what their various shows are offering. One of the better series is The Third: The Girl With the Blue Eye, where one girl and her tank show you how good the world could be; the first episode is Sword Dancer, if you want to start at the beginning. Another quality selection is Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars, and Rental Magica is another silly fun selection. While I would dearly love to embed a few of them here, they have embedding disabled due to licensing details, so enjoy them from the source.