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Something to Watch: Discs

In movies this week we get The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which you can pick up as a stand alone or as the full trilogy, all three Hobbit movies in a single box set. The other fantasy worth watching again is Disney’s Into The Woods, the musical made into a wonderful movie.

If you need a dose of silly, there is also Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXXII, which I can never decide if I should be classifying it as a TV show or a collection of movies. If that is not silly enough for you, they are re-releasing Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean: The Whole Bean, which is definitely a TV show and completely silly.

There are a few new anime releases this week, but the only Genre titles coming out are re-releases. I count School Rumble – Season 1 + OVA and Season 2, both in S.A.V.E. editions among them, since it has flying saucers and wild dream sequences. But mostly it is just funny, and is never about anything that rumbles.

Something to Watch: Discs

In movies this week we have Vice (maybe), the Bruce Willis re-imagining of a Westworld-like place. I say maybe because it was originally set for release this week, but when I look up my pre-order it says both that it will be delivered on Tuesday and that it is not available. The critical response and box office were both so bad on this film that they may have decided to give the disc a pass after all. The beautifully animated Academy Award nominated Song of the Sea looks to be the winner among this weeks films, with the rather silly Penguins Of Madagascar also coming out.

In TV we have WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Second Season, a show I couldn’t watch when it first came out because I was always asleep. I had to be awake and alert when I got to the radio station at 11PM to go on air at midnight in those days. A whole lot of folks told me about the show, and asked if I had gotten paid to let them model the character Doctor Johnny Fever on my life. Sadly enough I didn’t see a penny from the show, but they nailed what being on an AOR radio station was like in the late 70s, and it is a favorite of mine. I am looking forward to seeing this new group of episodes.

In Anime we have Devils and Realist Complete Collection, all 12 episodes about the guy who broke into his family vaults to steal his tuition money, only to discover he had to choose the new ruler of Hell. That link will let you stream it at Crunchyroll. Tokyo Ravens: Season 1 Part 1 brings the first 12 episodes of the magic battlefield that is school (OK, that description sucks, watch the show and come up with your own; it is streaming at Funimation). Finally Bleach: Season 24 Uncut Box Set brings episodes 330 through 342 of the Soul Reapers adventures home. We can expect the Disc releases to slow down now, since they have just about caught up with real-time; episode 366 is streaming live this week from Japan on the Viz web site.

Against The Current

When Taka (of One OK Rock fame) decided this was a band he liked so much he wanted to create music with them/her, I figured it was time for me to check them out. The band is Against The Current, which has manifested in a number of different ways over the past 4 years. But it boils down to the talents of Chrissy Costanza and whoever is working with her this time, with Alex Goot managing to keep up with her for a few years, and an assortment of other talented people. The Duet with Taka comes first, of course…

Something to Watch: Discs

In movies, the only real choice this week is Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the conclusion of this world-class trilogy. We lost Robin Williams shortly after this one, but everything else about this film is spot-on! There doesn’t seem to be anything in TV this time, at least not that I have found.

In Anime Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons continues the adventures of the sorceress with very little control of her magic. Her control is so bad that when it came time for her to summon a familiar, she ended up with a human from our world rather than a magical creature. Now Louise the Zero and her familiar Hiraga Saito have to try to rescue the newly crowned Queen Henrietta from her kidnappers while the world plunges into war. In The World God Only Knows: Season Three – Goddesses the demons Keima must capture are hiding inside real goddesses, and even worse, those he has conquered before. How does he defeat them this time?

For those looking to continue a favorite, Fairy Tail: Part 15 brings us episodes 165->175 of some of the most deadly and hilarious magic duels ever recorded. To put that in perspective, the link I included to Hulu’s Fairy Tale collection tops out at 302 episodes at this point.

Sleater-Kinney: A New Wave

This fun little power pop/punk/indi tune by Sleater-Kinney, A New Wave, was done as a Bob’s Burgers animation, and I like both the music and the artwork in this presentation. That wasn’t the first connection between an alt rock band and the show; back in 2013 St. Vincent also made an appearance with their song Bad Girls. Thanks to Nerdist for the heads up on this one.