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Something to Watch: DVDs

The best two releases this week are animated. Disney’s Tangled was an absolute hoot on the big screen, and will be just as funny and fun filled on smaller screens, I feel certain. If you haven’t seen it, now is your chance. Be warned that in this movie the horse pretty much steals every scene he is in, which I found amazing for one simple fact; he does not get a single word of dialog. This one is being released in every format up to and including 3D.

The TV series worth noting this week is not sci-fi, but science: The Cosmos: A Beginner’s Guide. This one was built as part of the BBC 2 Open University project, and is in fact a collage level course for the price of a DVD TV series.

Evangelion: 2.22 You Can [Not] Advance brings us the updated second quarter of the re-imagined series. When completed, the four feature length films will take less total viewing time than the original 26 episodes and two movies although to be fair one of the movies was a retelling of episodes 25 and 26 to arrive at an alternate ending. Even so, they are getting all the key story line, plot twists, and character development of the original into them. To make it all fit, they are skipping a lot of the less important giant mecha vs. alien battles and just showing the critical ones. Whether you consider this an improvement or not depends to some extent on why you liked the original series, but I find that it makes for a denser story moving at a faster pace. While I haven’t heard of any plans to turn the new Manga series into an Anime yet, I should mention that Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse Graphic Novel 3 is being released by Dark Horse Comics this week as well.

The fantasy epic Guin Saga Collection 1 will also be released this week. Their homeland invaded, their parents slain, the prince and princess of Parro flee by means of a strange device hidden in the palace. It deposits them in the Forest of Rood, where a cat headed warrior named Guin saves them from their enemies; and so the story begins.

New Wonders, 3D Star Wars

I am in the wrong country to watch the trailer for the new show on BBC 2’s web site, Wonders of the Universe, but perhaps you might be able to see it. For those of us on this side of the Atlantic Phil Plait, Mr. Bad Astronomer himself, posted the trailer on the Discovery Channel site from Professor Brian Cox’s previous series, Wonders of the Solar System. That should give you the general idea of what kind of program this will be; hope BBC America ends up picking it up. Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter tells us they have announced the release date for Episode 1 of Star Wars in 3D; February 10th, 2012. The plan is to roll out one a year in Episode order rather than release order. Personally, I fell asleep in the theater during The Phantom Menace, so I will be waiting for 2015 to see the first one I care about.

Firefly back on TV

Yep, Firefly is about to start running on TV again. This time around, it is being hosted on the Science Channel, and the physicist behind the Science of Science Fiction, Dr Michio Kaku, will be explaining the science used inside each episode. It kicks off on Sunday, March 6th, with the pilot and first episode, and continues each Sunday after that… in order and in HD! Of course we have seen these episodes before, but according to Nathan Fillion speaking with EW, he is ready to make more episodes the moment anyone makes the offer. Or if he wins the lottery and can make them himself, whichever comes first.

Primeval: Redeemed?

I loved season one and the first half of season two of Primeval, the Brit time travel show with the cheesy monsters. The second half of season two dragged a little, due to some poor plot line choices, most noticeable at the final episode. And the less said about season 3 the better, as they went desperately grasping after straws trying to keep the franchise afloat.

But it looks like they have found their way again with season 4, at least based on the first few episodes. They have re-introduced the dramatic tension from the previous seasons, and also re-introduced some of the core characters. After a year of living with Dinosaurs, Conner and Abby are both noticeably grimmer and much more focused then they used to be, which sets a new tone. The action sequences in the second episode of season 4 seemed much gripping than anything in season 3 as well. It looks to me like they have a decent shot at pulling it all off this time, and I do appreciate being able to see them on BBC America the same day they air in the UK.

Meanwhile, here is a Science Link that you might find entertaining, particularly if you are into molecular chemistry…