You can watch Blade Runner Black Out 2022 streaming for free from Crunchyroll starting today. If you are a Crunchyroll premium subscriber you can watch it in 1080P, if not you get it in Standard definition. It is the third of a set of animations that tell the story of how we got from the original story, which took place in 2019, to the different world that exists in 2049. This is from the director of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, Shinichiro Watanabe, who agreed to create something for it because the original Bladerunner was the film that made him want to tell his ow stories on the large and small screens. The other short pieces bridging that gap are 2036: Nexus Dawn and 2048: Nowhere to Run. My plan on October 6th is to watch the original film (but which version of the many?) and then these three shorts, in chronological order, have a good meal, and descend on the theater fully psyched for the new film. Here are the other two shorts and a trailer:
There isn’t much on offer this week, although Realive has some serious potential if they did it right; I missed it when it was on Sci-Fi, so I don’t really know. I am definitely not going to bother to see the remake of the horror flick Flatliners. The one film that looks like it could be a hoot is Judwaa 2, a variation on the classic Twins, except without Arnie.
Transformers: The Last Knight looks like the best of the action films this week, but 2:22 may give it a pretty good run for its money. For those looking for a western animation, Mune: Guardian of the Moon looks like your best option this time around. We will do our best to pretend no one even mentioned Cyborg 2087, because ouch! The only anime option this time around is HYOUKA – Part 2, and it might just be tasty.
There are a couple of good options this week. I pretty much have to see Kingsman: The Golden Circle because the first one was such a hoot. And I am a big fan of the franchise, so I will probably also check out The LEGO Ninjago Movie, having laughed my way through their Batman endeavor. But there is a wonderful animation I absolutely have to mention: Loving Vincent. This may be the first animated feature film about an artist done in that artists own painting style, and it looks amazing.
The best movie from the DC Cinematic Universe to date, Wonder Woman is riveting, and it looks like they filled the disc version with a TON of features. Up until this movie I have much preferred their television presentations, and we get one of them as well in the form of Arrow: The Complete Fifth Season. Less exciting is the movie The Bad Batch, but it does have some excellent actors so might be better than it appears. Then there is Starship Troopers: Traitors of Mars which was on the big screen for a single day and is machinema, a cinema presentation recorded from a game platform. Anime brings us Matoi the Sacred Slayer, about a Shrine Maiden who becomes a powerful god who can slay demons through no fault of her own. Finally we get One Piece – Collection 20, a series that has been airing forever now.
I didn’t find any genre this week, but In Search of Fellini is pretty surreal, and almost counts as fantasy. It is ‘based on a true story’ of co-author Nancy Cartwright’s own personal journey prior to her nearly 30 year run as the voice of Bart Simpson.
In Search of Fellini Trailer from Spotted Cow Entertainment on Vimeo.