This is the best August movie this year: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This is an epic Comic Book classic, and should not be missed; it hits the theaters this weekend. Also this weekend, Tales from Earthsea is the US release of a Miyazaki animation of an Ursula K. Le Guin classic story. Except this time it is Goro Miyazaki, son of genius filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, in the directors chair. The bad news; it is only hitting 3 theaters in the entire country.
I have been waiting for a decade or two to be able to add Max Headroom: The Complete Series to my collection. Depending which web site you believe, this will either be available the 3rd or the 10th of August, but that is a small detail compared to the 1984 to 1987 initial programming dates. As near as I can tell, this box set is only the 14 episode US TV series, which was much wimpier than the original BBC4 TV Movie, and completely different than the BBC TV series. But it is more Max Headroom than has ever been previously available, so it is a great start! Set your TVs for 23 minutes into the future.
On the Movie front, Clone Hunter looks to be an easily forgotten film presentation, but our only option at the moment. I suspect I will pass on this one.
Master of Martial Hearts, the complete series is almost more of an OVA, weighing in at 5 episodes. The 11 women protagonists battle it out for a shot at The Platonic Heart, which is a jewel that can grant wishes. With the tag line The Gloves Aren’t The Only Things Coming Off this series is not designed for younger viewers. Also out this week, Project Blue Earth SOS the complete series is a tale of alien invasion, now in a low cost S.A.V.E. version.
If you are a fan of stop motion animation in general or Robot Chicken in particular, you might want to check out another Adult Swim title, Titan Maximum season 1. This one is a Giant Mecha parody.
One of the more interesting panels at Comic-Con this year was about good and bad science in science fiction TV and Movies. This is the third year I know of this panel has been presented, and they made some great points, as you can see for yourself.
This seems a bit different; the Brainwash Movie Festival in Oakland, a drive-in, bike-in, walk-in kind of outdoor movie event. This also seems different; a movie critic making a rather barbed point about the cost of 3D films; thanks, Chris. Finally, some bozo pulled the fire alarm at Otakon this weekend, and thousands upon thousands of Otakus were dumped onto the streets of Baltimore; it is clear the city, not the fans, will take longer to recover.
There are a few good films coming out in August, starting with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a comic book movie I have been waiting about a year to see. The premise is simple; if it is really love, you will be willing to fight for it. The style is anything but simple; full blown comic book reality mode for this one.
Also in August, Tales from Earthsea is the US release of a Miyazaki animation of an Ursula K. Le Guin classic story. Except this time it is Goro Miyazaki, son of genius filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, in the directors chair. It took this Anime four years to make it to this country, but the wait is worth it.
I am somewhat curious as to just who thought a remake in 3D would salvage this film? I am referring to Piranha 3D, of course, also due out this month. I hold out a bit more hope for Vampires Suck, but only a bit. It is, after all, a spoof of the Twilight franchise, which was pretty bad before anyone decided to poke fun at it on film.
Topping the list of movies released to DVD this week is Kick-Ass, one of the more violent comics made into a movie for this year. I really do hope they make a sequel for this one, although I am not quite sure where else they could take the story. In the non-fiction department, Dragon Masters looks to be the film to beat.
I have been waiting for a decade or two to be able to add Max Headroom: The Complete Series to my collection. Depending which web site you believe, this will either be available the 3rd or the 10th of August, but that is a small detail compared to the 1984 to 1987 initial programming dates. As near as I can tell, this box set is only the 14 episode US TV series, which was much wimpier than the original BBC TV Movie, and completely different than the BBC TV series. But it is more Max Headroom than has ever been previously available, so it is a great start! Set your TVs for 23 minutes into the future. The other TV release worth noting this week is Heroes: Season 4.
On the Anime front, Naruto Shippuden Box Set 3 becomes available. I personally enjoy Shippuden more than I did the previous series with the younger characters, although the gap between what is out on DVD and what is legally streaming online is fairly large. Since I only started watching the streaming stuff in the last 6 months or so, I think there are still about a hundred episodes between the two segments I haven’t seen yet. The Sola box set is also available this week. This strange little story involves a boy with a secret he does not know and an addiction to photography, and a girl who can not coexist with the sun.
Princess Resurrection: Complete Collection is not one of your more upbeat Animes, what with the protagonist dieing at the start of the series. He is brought back to life, but only for as long as he will be the Princesses servant. This one is Subbed, not Dubbed, so you get to hear the original voice actors. If your aggressive side needs some exercise, the Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny complete box set hits the shelves. This one is a modern day retelling of the Romance of the three kingdoms story, with the high schools battling it out for supremacy.