We get two wonderful selections this week, in two totally different flavors. Divergent is based on the excellent YA fantasy novels of Veronica Roth, and as far as action/adventure goes, it is the choice for this time around. If you crave something with a noticeably larger humor quotient then Muppets Most Wanted is the way to go. You really can’t go wrong whichever one you decide to see, so I am thinking both might be the correct option.
In movies, I have to vote for Frozen first and foremost, because it is such a wonderful story, with characters I love (and love to hate), music I sing along with, and incredible animation. It also won a boatload of awards, as I suspect you may have heard; if you haven’t seen it yet, now is your chance! Also this week, the lesser known but still important Kill Your Darlings brings together a very young Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac, the three people who would go on to invent the Beat Generation which spawned everything that came after. I have no idea what percentage of this story bears any resemblance to reality, but it is nice someone is exploring the possibilities within it.
In TV, the new series Atlantis makes it to disc, and while I was not as excited by it as I was hoping to be, they have created an interesting premise with some good actors who have some decent production work behind them. To be fair, I have only seen the first 3 episodes so far, I need to return to it and try it again.
In Anime, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Part 2 has Aladdin and Alibaba teamed up to take over dungeons and become very rich in the beginning. But somehow that changes into them trying to protect their country from its own ruler, and protect that ruler from a childhood friend turned Djinn. This box set includes episodes 13 through 25, bringing you to the end of the tale. Shakugan no Shana has released season 1 in a S.A.V.E. edition, which means if you shop around you can pick the first 26 episodes up for right around $20. Shana lives on the border between our world and the spirit realm, her purpose to fight demons who eat humans. When Yuji dies and meets her on that border, they discover he can increase her power, so they team up to protect the living. Finally, Upotte!!: Complete Collection includes all 10 episodes plus the OVA, about a homeroom teacher and his weapons-grade coeds. When your student’s are living weapons, the classroom gets even more dangerous than usual, as the new teacher finds out by winding up in the hospital.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be in theaters on April 4th, and not a moment too soon in My book. This latest trailer just makes me more aware that I need to be in the theater that day. I pretty much feel that way about any portion of the Marvel franchise that Disney cranks out, and the folks generating the Spiderman films are doing just as good a job.
There are no genre entries I have found this week, but the Veronica Mars big screen outing could be fun. It is one of the first mainline motion pictures built from a Kickstarter Project I am aware of, which kind of makes me interested in seeing how well they did with the amount of money they raised.
The only genre movie this week is a parody, The Hungover Games, making fun of The Hunger Games, The Hangover, and Ted, to name just a few. I also have to mention Lost in Thailand, which came out on DVD a week or two back, and is pretty much the Chinese version of The Hangover.
In TV, while there is no genre releases, the BBC series Vikings is a look at what was really driving the repeated Viking raids on the British Isles over the course of several centuries (800 to 1150, give or take 30 years at each end).
In Anime Accel World: Set 2, the combat continues as the Brain Burst Linker’s vie to see who gets to rule the Accelerated World. If Arita can not defeat the new menace he could lose everything and everyone that he cares about.This ox set includes the 12 episodes of the second set, plus 8 mini-episodes of associated silliness. Ikki Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor is the 4th round of battle-induced clothing malfunctions as the Dragon’s Powers determines who wins and who loses. This series gives a whole new meaning to school rivalries, as the street brawlers meet for some reincarnated mayhem.
Justice in Psycho Pass is based on the Dominator, a futuristic weapon that can read minds and assess the probability that a citizen will turn criminal. This tool is wielded by the Enforcers and Inspectors who have replaced police, judges, and jury with heavy caliber instant justice of the extreme prejudice kind. At the other end of the social spectrum, The Pet Girl of Sakurasou: Collection 2 is all about the care and feeding of the terminally unworldly.
The sequel to Frank Miller’s Sin City, called A Dame To Kill For, finally has it’s first trailer. This does not look like it is going to be much more subtle than the first film of the franchise was. It should be hitting the big screen in late August or early September.