The Doctor Who Domination is now in place; we are talking only days before the 50th anniversary celebration happens, so brace yourself. Starting Monday, BBC America will start the countdown on some killer Doctor Who programming, and the rest of the world will be doing the same thing. I expect to see some excellent video releases, interviews with the principles, and distributions of tons of extra goodies we have never seen before. This next week or two should be very amazing indeed!
In movies, Man of Steel leads off, with the latest retelling of the Superman legend. This one snuck past me in the movie theaters, so I am looking forward to this additional opportunity to check it out. The martial arts offering this time is Ip Man: The Final Fight, also known as Ip Man 4. This pretty much completes his life story, and it is appropriate that it is filmed in Hong Kong, since that is where he lived out his later days. I believe this is the first one that actually talks about his most famous student, Bruce Lee. I missed this one because it was only in my local movie theater for a single week before it was gone, but before China bought the AMC movie chain a few years ago, these kinds of movies were a lot harder to find on the big screen at all. If you are an H.P. Lovecraft fan and looking for some good comedy, you will want to watch Grabbers. This is basically what happens when the Deep Ones invade Ireland, but are terminally allergic to alcohol; the populace rallies at the pub, pitchforks and torches in hand! I missed this one because it would have involved a drive to NYC, or one of the 5 other major cities in the US it played in. And for animated silliness, Dreamworks Animation’s Turbo is also coming out to disc. I missed this one because the trailers and plot line just didn’t grab me, but now that it will be on one of the cable channels or available to stream on one of my services at no additional cost to me, I will check it out.
In TV, Stan Lee’s Superhumans: Season Two continues to be the only comic book based superhero reality show I know of. Plus, it runs on the History Channel 2, which is the part of the whole A&E family of cable stations that gives you some great Sci-Fi/Fantasy based programming. I am not sure if I can count the other two TV releases as being on TV, since they were only available on various streaming services such as Crunchyroll, but both RWBY: Volume 1 and Red vs. Blue: Season 11 will be on disc this week. They are both the products of the fertile minds over at Rooster Teeth, who keep cranking out some of the most innovating animations using products that pretty much anyone with a computer can pick up for under a hundred dollars.
In Anime I normally don’t talk about re-releases unless something truly good has become rare, and this one missed the rare part but is dead center for the truly good. Akira: 25th Anniversary Edition is the definitive release of the Anime that made North America, and most of the rest of the world, realize that they needed to take this art form seriously. This digitally restored HD version of the movie includes both the 1988 and 2001 English audio dubs as well as a Japanese soundtrack with subtitles, and a ton of other extras. Since my own copy is SD, that alone means I need to upgrade. If you haven’t seen this feature length film before, you can watch it online at Funimation for free, and you really ought to do so; this is the production that changed everything about how North America viewed Japanese Science Fiction and Pop Culture.
Maken-Ki! Battling Venus is the complete series (at least until someone decides to finance another season) in a single box set. It is the story of a combat school where the you train with a magic object that gives you powers, called a Maken, and where the women outnumber the men 3 to 1, because they are three times as deadly. Our protagonist is a boy who can’t figure out how to get his Maken to work, and it is a race between getting kicked out of school with failing grades or getting killed by his pretty schoolmates. Being made by the team that did Ikki Tousen, you can expect a lot of fan service, predominately during the combat sequences.
Not the Experience in Seattle, home of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, but a real live Museum of Science Fiction is being built in Washington, DC, and it is yet another project being built by crowdfunding. It will cover the history of the genre in all the various media, and examine its relationship to the real world. As they say on their You Tube page: Our mission is to create a center of gravity where art and science are powered by imagination. This effort is headed up by science fiction authors Greg Bear and David Brin, and their crowdfunding is centered at Indiegogo. They are starting by building a preview museum to open next year, and hoping to open the full scale facility by 2017. The preview museum will have exhibits including Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who artifacts, as both a warm up and an additional fund raising effort. Thanks to USA Today for the heads up on this one.
Yes, there is a Doctor Who: #SaveTheDay hashtag, and you might get some recognition and unlock some sneak peaks at the 50th anniversary celebration. Just upload your most creative content to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #SaveTheDay to get involved. It is also a chance to be featured on the Doctor Who #savetheday web site if they like your creation.
In film, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey leads us off, and if you don’t already know all about this one you haven’t been distracted, you’ve been comatose. Computer Chess is set in a 1980 tournament where some of the best programmers in the world got together to run their programs against one another and determine a winner. A comedy-drama about the first steps on the road to the invention of artificial intelligence and the creation of software that can beat us at our own game. I should probably mention that while this is its DVD debut, it have been available for purchase and download at iTunes and the like for a while. Much as I hate sparkly vampires I suppose I have to mention Twilight Forever: The Complete Saga, for those who somehow missed it earlier, or who absolutely have to have the several minutes of extra footage they stuck back in.
In TV we have Under the Dome, the series based on the Steven King story.
In Anime Hiiro no Kakera – The Tamayori Princess Saga Season 2 tells of Tamaki, the new Tamayori Princess. Which makes her the protector of the universe, with 5 protectors of her own. The five hansom boys devoted to her well being do cause a bit of confusion among her high school peer group, and more than a little amusement for the viewer. Living to inhabit her new role is not at all guaranteed, with lots of things doing their best to kill her. Zetman is about two guys with special powers, who each want to use their gifts in the cause of justice. What justice means is different for them, which becomes a source of trouble as their lives intertwine.
Fate/Zero is about the first Holy Grail War, which took place 10 years before the one covered in Fate/Stay Night. If you are not already following this series, whoever wins the wars gets an item that will make any dream come true, no matter how impossible. This particular special edition is a bit pricy for me, so I will be waiting for a more cost effective release to come out.
What could be more American than Mister Peabody and Sherman? I can’t wait for the new movie to be in the theaters, and once more hear that exciting command: Sherman, set the WayBack Machine! Along with Fractured Fairy Tales, this was something I looked for every week in the Rocky And Bullwinkle Show.