I have been reading about Robot And Frank making the rounds of the Film Fests for a while now, and am excited that it is finally coming to some regular theaters finally! I say some because it is still only in limited release, but at least it is available.
There are actually 3 excellent choices on the big screen this weekend: the Pixar animated Brave, the politically incorrect Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and the sleeper indi film Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. I pretty much have to be at all three of these, but I don’t think I will have enough time what with everything else going on this weekend. If you ask which one I will see first, my answer will change from one hour to the next; I may end up flipping a coin when I hit the theater, these all look too good to make a decision.
Extraterrestrial looks like a lot of silly fun; you wake up with no memory of the one night stand who’s house you are in, to meet her wacky boyfriend and neighbors, only to discover the Earth has been invaded. While this movie is only opening in New York this weekend (it hits LA next weekend), it is also being released on iTunes, DVD, and VOD on Friday as well, so anyone who wants to can check it out.
This one may be a bit more thinkee but looks every bit as entertaining: Safety Not Guaranteed is a time travel comedy that won awards at Sundance and SXSW, and appears to have a lot of heart. Even though it had it’s initial 4 city release last week, I am mentioning it now because it is going to be on the big screen in my area starting this weekend.
The other interesting choice this week is not genre, but it is entertaining: Rock of Ages is based on the Broadway musical, and also looks a treat.
The life size Gundam Mecha returned to its home in Odaiba recently, and the folks at Darwin Fish 105 did their usual incredible job of filming the event. This time around, the footage was taken at night, with a very nice overlay (if something in the background can be considered an overlay, since it is really in the masked screen areas under the primary video) of wide aperture star fields doing extended time exposures and then compiled into an animated setting. The next video is called Tokyo Heartbeat, and shows some world class utilization of the classic time lapsed photography process. If you ever wondered if a city was alive, wonder no longer; you can see its pulse throbbing in this one. Finally, Ginza At Night completes the triptych, this time using high speed film (or the digital equivalent) along with wide aperture light gathering settings on the camera to render a movie that could never have been created in daylight. I am quite impressed with the Darwin Fish processes and results; great job, gang!
There are several interesting choices this week, with The Darkest Hour leading the pack. An alien race has invaded Moscow and is consuming the power grid and using it as a weapon against us, while five young people are heading up the opposition. Also out, The Adventures of Tintin brings the Belgian adventure hero to life on the big screen. With Steven Spielberg directing from a script written by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright, this one promises to be something special. It doesn’t hurt any that the cast includes the likes of Daniel Craig, Simon Peg, and Nick Frost.
Daniel Craig is also in this week’s Americanized remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, while Simon Peg shows up in this weeks Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. If I was going to see a movie that wasn’t in the first paragraph this time around though it would have to be Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which sounds like it has the potential to be an Oscar contender for multiple awards.
You might not of heard of any of the interesting movies this week, but a few of them are quite good. I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK is a 2006 romantic dramedy from Korea that mostly takes place in a mental institution. Yes, it is every bit as quirky as that description makes it sound, and it goes places you wouldn’t expect; I have owned the subtitled import version of the film for years, and it is quite worth the time to experience. This first domestic release is also subtitled rather than dubbed into English. Lunopolis has won fistfuls of awards at film festivals all over the world and tells a sci-fi drama about lunar occupation, cover ups, and conspiracies. Done documentary style, this one looks quite good. And there is Phase 7, a sci-fi/horror/comedy that has been compared with Shaun of the Dead, all about the end of the world.
In live action TV we have The Bionic Woman: Season 3, the spinoff from the 6 Million Dollar Man. I thought both of those series were campy when they were made, but unlike Knightrider they are still watchable today.
On the animation front, I don’t have a clue why the production team behind Chop Kick Panda are not all in jail for copyright violation, since it is a direct ripoff of Kung Fu Panda, but they have a new one coming out this week as well. On the other hand, The True Story of Puss ‘n Boots is a legitimate original work based on the public domain source material, but this time the cat has a French accent rather than Spanish.
In anime, La Corda D’Oro: The Complete Collection tells the entire story of a slacker girl given a magic violin by an interesting fairy. More interesting for me is Glass Maiden – Complete Collection about an offbeat detective agency and an impossible girl.