I love fan made music videos, and one of the world-wide iconic focus points for them these days is Doctor Who, the new series. So here are just a few that tickled my interest that I felt the need to pass on. A few of these will probably evaporate but more will come to take their place; and doesn’t that Killers quote sum him up so well; He Doesn’t look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young. The scope of the musical styles alone tells you just how wide the appeal of the program ranges, and I selected a few of my favorite tunes for this collection, because selecting tunes I didn’t like would have been both silly and counterproductive. Enjoy!
Most of the best J-Rock I know comes from Anime, and sometimes you get a chance to compare the live action band with the animated representation or the studio take. Here is such a comparison, from Haruhi Suzumiya (the anime character, not the singer), followed by another song or two. If you can name all the anime’s these songs come from, it is too late; you are already an Otaku!
There are a few things this week, but not many. With a rating of 2.5 out of 10 on IMDB, I can’t really recommend War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave, but I felt obliged to mention it at least. Nor do I feel any great desire to endorse Mutant Vampire Zombies from the Hood!, but there is always the chance it has some good comedic chops to deliver.
While not exactly genre, The Spy Next Door is a Jackie Chan film, and those are always fun. Also, When You’re Strange hits the shelves, a film about The Doors, narrated by Johnny Depp and featuring a lot of previously unseen footage.
In Anime, two complete collections that were previously available, but are now out in more cost effective packages. The xxxHOLiC Complete Series Viridian Collection set contains the entire 24 episode run of the series, for about the same price that used to buy you each of the two seasons. Also, the Air TV Series S.A.V.E edition will get you the whole package for $20 if you shop around.
This weekend is the first ever DC Comic Con in the Washington, DC, suburbs. It takes place on Sunday, May 2nd, and has some good guests lined up. This one is a small, one day event, no doubt testing the waters to see if they should expand next year.
Tampa, FL. has the Vulcan Events media con, which interestingly enough does not seem to have a single primary Star Trek actor, but it does have a ton of stars of other programs (and a few have been in Trek episodes or movies). In Charlotte, NC, is this weekends Twighlight Con for those looking for a different flavor of media con.
Nashville Anime fans will be holding forth at the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, which is a much more complex and well rounded event than a first glance would indicate. With a large assortment of tracks, and every one of them full of events and entertainments of all sorts, this is one I need to try to attend next year. I would pay the full price just for the music track concerts, panels, and other events, and wedge in as much other fun as I could squeak in. It looks like staying awake for the full 72 hours would be the only acceptable option for this one.
Other Anime Cons include the No Brand Con in Eau Claire, WI, Chibi Con in Virginia Beach, VA,
This weeks offering, Afterlife, is a thriller on the edge of horror, but it does have a great cast in the form of Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, and Justin Long. I am undecided if this will be worth time in a theater chair, but it may be a moot point since it is in limited release. There are two movies about the history of music coming out this week as well, also in limited release but well worth mentioning. Who Do You Love tells the story of Chess Records, who made records from people like Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Etta James, and Chuck Berry available to the public in the 40s and 50s, introducing America to the blues and leading to the birth of Rock and Roll. The other film is When You’re Strange, a documentary about the Doors narrated by Johnny Depp, and including footage never before seen.
If you are a fan of animation, one program you should try to catch every week is Digista, or in English the Digital Stadium. Each week they have a guest who is a professional in the digital arts field, usually but not always animation. That guest, referred to as the Curator, nominates four works by unknown new talent for the panel and the audience to review and judge. One piece each week is declared the winner and goes into the permanent collection of the Digital Stadium Hall of Fame. Once a year all the entrants to the stadium become part of the annual competition, at which the DIGISTA Awards are handed out.
This program is a wonderful showcase for new animation talent, giving them world wide exposure. You can watch each weeks program anywhere NHK World is available. If your local cable company does not carry them (mine does, if yours doesn’t start calling and writing them to tell them to add it, or you can get them off a satellite), you can watch the animations online from the hall of fame page. Other NHK programs I never miss are Imagine-Nation for the weekly Anime, Gaming, and Manga news and features, and J-Melo for news and performances from the Japan music scene. The animation that won this weeks Digital Stadium entry is called Confessions of Fumiko; enjoy.