This is almost scary to contemplate; Nimoy, Stewart, and McKellem partied at Coney Island together, and took this photo. Gandalph hanging out with Picard and Spock? The mind boggles, and now I have a burning curiosity to know just which rides they went for. Thanks to Katee Sackhoff for the heads up on this one.
This week brings an amusing animation, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. Evolution has definitely happened in their absence, and there are all kinds of food animals to brave on their way to saving the world.
If the only release I mentioned this week was Iron Man 3, it would be sufficient. It truly gave that particular subset of the Marvel franchise a beginning, a middle, and an end, making each of the previous offerings fulfill a part of the overall story arc, when they appeared to just be stand alone films when they were first made available. The TV series Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series is also being released, but it came out in Part 1 and Part 2 sets a while ago; this is just more cost effective packaging.
In Anime, Is This a Zombie: The Complete 2nd Season brings Ayumu’s problems to the forefront. He was murdered by a serial killer and resurrected by a cute Necromancer who refuses to talk with him. Then a magical girl with a deadly pink chainsaw and a vampire ninja each decided he was worth doing. Between his harem of mystical misfits and his decaying body, Ayumu could end up even deader before he solves the mystery of his own death! The other new anime is Rio: Rainbow Gate!, about the woman on her way to becoming the Most Valuable Casino Dealer in the world. She is Luck Incarnate, but she has a serious set of challenges in front of her. The once noble Queen Claudette has devolved into a tyrant with the support of the court and the church, and a new generation of women warriors are banding together to oust her from power in Queen’s Blade: Rebellion. Like many other programs, you can watch it on Crunchyroll.
There are a few classic anime series being re-released this week as well, including GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka is in a complete series box set, as is Blue Submarine No. 6. The 2004 live action feature film Casshern is an alternate history tale of genetic engineering in the hands of a multinational conglomerate who uses it to create mutants bent on the destruction of humanity, and the hero who emerges to save us all. Dreamworks is putting it back on US shelves for the first time in years, if you missed this when it initially came out now is your chance to catch it. It is based on the 1973 anime Robot Hunter Casshern, in that series it was androids rather than mutants putting humanity at risk.
Silly and offensive… but that actually describes a lot of my favorite movies. Check out the trailer for Ghost Team 1, and see if it doesn’t give you a giggle. They definitely have a new twist to the found-footage mocumentary.
The Colony is about the survivors of humanity, living underground to escape the never ending winter that has taken over the planet. If that doesn’t interest you, The Wizard of Oz: 3D is an IMAX 3D processed run of the original 1939 classic. I am going to be at that one, if only because I have never seen it on the big screen.
World War Z is the US movie this time around with actual high speed zombies who could really catch you when they chased you. The Hong Kong offering this time around is The Last Tycoon, not genre but pretty good.
In TV we have season 1 of Arrow, which was the best new Broadcast TV show of last year in my book. Season 2 rolls out on the CW on October 9th, and I am looking forward to it. We also get Grimm: Season Two, the best new broadcast TV show from the year before that. And to complete this weeks set, we have The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season, kind of a near-genre show what with it’s Not A Psychic screaming through the bullhorn.
In Anime, Sword Art Online: Aincrad Part 2 picks up two years after everyone was trapped in the murderous game, and the challenges get more deadly the further up through the levels they go. The Future Diary, parts 1 and 2 also comes out this week. 12 people now have diaries on their cell phones that can tell them of events in the future, and they are in a race to see which of them can use that foreknowledge to become a god. Only one can win; the rest will die, repeatedly, as their glimpses of the future always include their own deaths. Trust me when I say that even though these two anime’s are not lighthearted, they are both very, very good.
Michiko & Hatchin is also being released with both parts 1 and 2 coming out on the same day. A sexy prison escapee rescues an abused girl, and their lives become entangled as they search for the man in their past they have in common.Naruto Shippūden: The Lost Tower is a feature film length story that has Naruto traveling back in time, visiting ancient civilizations, and getting in trouble while trying to save the day. Finally, Golgo 13: Complete Collection puts all 50 episodes of the TV series starring the assassin’s assassin in a single box set. Mind, there are also two live action movies, an animated feature film, an OVA, a radio play, and six video games all for the same character. Every one of these is based on the Manga Golgo 13, which is the oldest manga still in publication, having started in 1969.