There are some moments you want to last forever, and some you don’t even want to live through once. The author of About Time was also a writer on Blackadder, and did a few other RomCom flicks like Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Love Actually. This appears to be his first venture into SF/F, but it could be quite amusing. The film is due out in November, and will hopefully get an actual web page before then.
The one that gets my vote this week is Epic, an animated fantasy from the folks who did Ice Age and Rio. They did pretty good on the voice actor department to, with a cast that includes Collin Farrell, Chris O’Dowd, and Beyonce to name a few. If you’re in the mood for something darker, the no budget film No Sanctuary will also be out in at least some theaters.
Movies this week have a genre option, although Lego Batman: The Movie DC Super Heroes Unite can be considered as a commercial for the game of the same name. 2011’s An Assassin is being released in North America this week for those who enjoy Asian action, and if you prefer your action movies in English Parker is probably the way to go.
In TV True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season continues the twisted goings on around America’s favorite telepathic waitress and her never ending collection of non-human boyfriends. Saving Hope: The Complete First Season is also out this week, for those looking for something a bit more serious from their weekly dose of the supernatural. Finally, the funniest secret agent series since Get Smart is out with it’s next round: Spy: Series 2 out of the UK. Sadly, it looks like they have cancelled it before it made it into season 3.
In Anime, Gunbuster 2: Diebuster is the story of Nono, a girl who wants to be a space pilot, but ends up spending her days working the space port diner. Until the monsters attack, when she becomes key to saving the world. Also this week Lupin the 3rd: Green vs Red is an OVA series in which a hoard of Lupin imitators descend on Tokyo to become a one man crime wave.
Another OVA worth watching is Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar, another fun entry in the Tenchi saga. This time the Princess has kidnapped Kenshi (Tenchi’s half brother) to her home planet to be trained on combat mechas and serve as her sauna attendant. If he can’t win the war he will be stuck scrubbing backs the rest of his life. It is being released in two parts of 7 OVA episodes per part, but the episodes are 45 minutes long each so they do add up to a decent story length.
Two last mentions, not Sci-Fi or Fantasy but fun shows in their own way are K-ON! The Movie, and Love <3 Love?, because you got to make room for silly fun sometimes.
The Locus Awards have been handed out for the last 33 years, and often predict who will end up being nominated each year for the Hugo Awards, the prime fan chosen set, and the Nebula Awards, the main industry selected prize group. I should probably also mention that the Nebula Awards will be handed out next weekend in San Jose, CA. for this year. The reason I bring this up is that Worlds Without End posted a wonderful icon/graphics-driven listing of the Locus Fantasy Awards from the beginning on. As usual with such listings, you should look through it for books and stories you might have missed, because these represent some of the best tales created in the last handful of decades.
The first trailer for Gravity has been posted, and it jumps right in. It stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts in trouble, and should be hitting theaters in October. Thanks to SFX for the heads up on this one.
Star Trek Into Darkness is the obvious winner this week! I have been watching trailers since last year, so I am more than ready to see this one. And as much as I loved the initial J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise, with this one we will learn if it suffers from the original even/odd rule where only every other Trek movie was good. Keeping my fingers crossed!