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Something to Watch: DVD’s, 16Apr13

Donnie Yen’s movie Dragon (Wu Xia) finally becomes available for the take home market, and if you are looking for some martial arts action it is a good choice. If you are in the market for something with a bit more substance to it, how about a set of films that helped change the worldview of an entire generation from that part of the planet? Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against The System is a collection of four movies by this amazing filmmaker that also becomes available this week: The Thick-Walled Room, I Will Buy You, Black River, and The Inheritance. This is a Criterion Collection release, but it isn’t pricy compared to some single films they have put on the shelves in the past. After surviving WWII in the Japanese military Masaki started making movies that fomented social change in the 1950s and 1960s in Japan, and is probably best known for his 3 part epic The Human Condition. This four film collection includes some of his most important work of that era. Finally, the 1978 classic Message From Space is being re-released in the US, if you haven’t seen this film yet now is your chance.

In TV, Flash Gordon: The Complete Series is the release of the 2007 program, not the earlier works. It is yet another Syfi Channel TV show that no longer has an actual home page, but it was good silly fun and did the original radio drama series based on the comic strip proud. The other show this week is Spies of Warsaw, which is quite well done. Why am I including this non-genre show? Because it is probably the closest anyone will ever come to letting David Tennant play James Bond.

For western animation, A Monster in Paris is quite tasty. Also out Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore. Both of these are feature length films in two completely different styles. If you are looking for quality silly fun I would definitely go with Monster.

In Anime, A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 1 is being released in 2 parts rather than a single box set. This clever series is a good blend of science and psychic powers, and is followed by others, starting with A Certain Magical Index. I really enjoy this series, from the premise to the cast of characters, and can recommend it to anyone looking for a good story. Hiiro no Kakera: Season 1 is about a girl who suddenly learns she is an enchanted princess when she is attacked by creatures she thought mythical while on her way to attend her first day at a new school. The boy who rescues her is both a fellow classmate and a demon, and things just get stranger from there.

Anime Gateway Series

Have a friend you want to intro to Sci-Fi Anime, but are wondering what a good choice would be to get them into it? Top 10 Gateway Anime Series was posted by Aaron Magulick on his Go Boiano site, and it has the definitive list. And a few of the series listed, like Cowboy Bebop and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are gateways to addict your friends to science fiction as a whole, not just anime, giving you a double edged attack vector. Bet they can’t watch just one!

RWBY Animation ID

I first posted the following a few weeks ago, and thanks to the newsletter from Smith Micro I now know this new project is not Machinima, but is being created in Poser Pro. I didn’t know you could get that kind of Anime style from the software, I find myself quite impressed. RWBY won’t be kicking off until July or so, but I like the trailers and am looking forward to the new project. Here is the original posting:

Rooster Teeth, the folks who brought us that masterpiece of combat comedy Red Vs. Blue, have a tasty new animation project: RWBY. The latest trailer is the top one, the Black trailer. After that are the earlier trailers, the White and Red. They haven’t released the Yellow trailer yet, but this will give you an idea of what the new series is up to. I find the style on these very interesting, almost like they recorded Machinima and then rotoscoped them into Anime. Which wouldn’t be a huge surprise, since Red Vs. Blue was some of the finest machinima ever made.

Streaming Anime: Hulu

Hulu runs an amazing collection of Anime both in its free service and in it’s Plus subscription product.Some shows are only available until the next season comes out, some only while the current season is running, and some titles last for years. As with the other streaming services there is a lot of overlap as to what is available from which service, so you will want to look at what each one offers. It may be that you only need one or two of the ones mentioned over the last week to cover your favorite shows, or maybe two at the paid service level and a few more of the free service level. I actually got my Hulu Plus subscription as the only way to watch Misfits a day after the new episodes air in the UK, and then discovered their Anime section, so I consider that Bonus!

Something to Watch: DVD’s, 9Apr13

There are several interesting movies this week, starting with The Sorcerer and The White Snake, the latest of many film versions of the white snake/green snake legend, two demigoddesses who take the form of human women to experience love. First written down during the Ming Dynasty, it has also been made into TV series a number of times, as well as stage plays and operas, the first performed around 400 years ago. I am looking forward to seeing how this version goes, as some of the earlier movies were quite surreal and fantastic. Jet Li is one of the costars in this production. The Four has been referred to as the Chinese X-Men, a team of extremely skilled assassins and detectives working for the Emperor to eradicate evil. Their task in this story is to stop a gang of counterfeiters, and the trailer looks quite tasty. The action sequences alone should be worth the price of admission, as each member of the team reveals their power.

Sexy Evil Genius is a psycho-thriller comedy with an amazing cast of Sci-Fi alumni including Seth Green, Katee Sackhoff, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Anthony Michael Hall. If you are in the mood for wicked fun, this may be the one for you; I know I will be checking it out. Also this week, William Burrough’s Naked Lunch, which was converted into a Fantasy/SciFi film by David Cronenberg in 1991. It stars Peter Weller, and this re-release is part of the Criterion Collection.

In TV, Merlin: The Complete Fifth Season looks to be the only new selection, and also sadly closes out this series. It was quite a fun ride while it lasted, but I think they made the proper choice of shutting it down before it jumped the final shark.

For Anime, Inu X Boku Secret Service is a seriously wacky little series where no one, not even our lovely protagonist, is completely human. The mandatory bodyguards (also not human) just magnify the weirdness for this haunted condominium. Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee Reverse rolls out part one of the second season, and if the concept of hive oriented postal workers leaves you confused, trust me when I say it should all make sense shortly. If you happen to be a fan of Gordon R. Dickson’s wonderful novels, his Half Pint Posted story, The Right To Arm Bears, will set the mood for this presentation. There is also a re-release of the 1996 Shamanic Princess for those catching up on their collections.

Streaming Anime: Nozomi, Right Stuff

Nozomi Entertainment has a channel full of their own Anime for you to stream and enjoy, as does Right Stuff (even though the latter is all silly). This is yet another streaming source that gives you entire episodes of anime programs, although in this case they save the cost of installing, configuring, and running their own video servers by using the YouTube service as their delivery platform. I like the concept, and appreciate it means they get to supply us with yet more free to watch anime from an amazing range of classic productions. I end up buying the majority of my Anime DVDs from Right Stuf, simply because their prices tend to beat everybody else’s by a noticeable percentage. And as with the other suppliers, being able to watch the shows for free definitely helps me remember why they need to be part of my permanent collection.