There are some great titles this week.
| Ah! My Buddha: Nirvana Collection (AnimeWorks Classics) | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: Media Blasters would really like you to buy this so they don’t go out of business. As it’s a fanservice heavy harem comedy, I can’t totally agree with buying *this* show over, say, Fushugi Yugi. | ||||||||
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Black Lagoon: Seasons 1 & 2 | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: This isn’t totally a complete set, as it’s missing the Roberta’s Blood Trail OVA. | ||||||||
| Bleach: The Movie – Hell Verse | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| Comments | After journeying to Hueco Mundo and back, now Ichigo and company must fight their way into Hell and back. | ||||||||
| The Blue Angel: Remastered Standard Edition | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Heard the term “blue movie?” It started here. | ||||||||
| Brazil (Criterion Collection) | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | This appears in week 14 of our Greatest Science Fiction Film Tournament. | ||||||||
| Butter | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Cagney and Lacey: Complete Season Two | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Cagney and Lacey: The Complete Series – 30th Anniversary | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Catch Me If You Can | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Comic Book Confidential: 20th Anniversary Edition | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| The Dark Knight Rises | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| The Dark Knight Trilogy | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Includes all three Nolan Batman films. | ||||||||
| The Donna Reed Show: Season 5 | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Eastbound and Down: The Complete Third Season | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| eXistenZ | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Comments | This shows up in week 15 of the tournament. | ||||||||
| Finding Nemo | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Comments | Blaine: A delightful children’s film in which the main character’s wife is murdered by a serial killer who also maims his son. When his son is then kidnapped, he must take it upon himself to save the child with the help of a mentally handicapped woman. | ||||||||
| Francis Ford Coppola: 5-Film Collection | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Includes Apocalypse Now, Apocalypse Now Redux, One From the Heart, Tetro and The Conversation. | ||||||||
| The Game: Fifth Season | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: Made for the web live-action film setting up the events of Halo 4. | ||||||||
| Hope Springs | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Hell’s Kitchen: Season Eight | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Kurozuka: Season 1 | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: Amazon & RightStuf are differing on the listings for this. Amazon says this is getting released this Tuesday, RightStuf says it gets released on the week before Christmas. Amazon says that this is a sub-only release, RightStuf says it’s dub-only. All I can say about this show is that it’s about a Samurai from the 12th century who is put into a magical sleep and awakens in post-apocalyptic Japan. | ||||||||
| The Legend of Neil: The Complete Series | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | An amusing series that spoofs Legend of Zelda but is definitely aimed at an older audience than many of those games. | ||||||||
| Mannix: Season Eight / Final Season | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Mannix: The Complete Series | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Mashiroiro Symphony | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: Harem comedy based on a dating sim where as a trial project prior to merging an all boys and all girls school, a small number of boys are enrolled in the girls school. | ||||||||
| McMillain and Wife: The Complete Series | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Adventures in the Crystal Empire | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Season One | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Blaine: I keep hearing great things about the series, but have never actually watched it. | ||||||||
| Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXV | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Includes Robot Holocaust, Operation Kid Brother, Kitten with a Whip and Revenge of the Creature. | ||||||||
| Ninja Scroll | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: One of the three films that gave anime it’s “Not Kiddy Cartoons” image back in the day (and also, unfortunately, it’s “Hyperviolent porn” image as well). Surprisingly, this film hasn’t been reviewed on the site (in spite of having reviewed three other films from it’s director – Yoshiaki Kawajiri). | ||||||||
| Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Vol. 2 | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| The Odd Life of Timothy Green | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Oklahoma! (1999) | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | The stage play starring Hugh Jackman. | ||||||||
| Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Purple Noon (Criterion Collection) | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: Remastered Edition | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Comments | Note that the iTunes link is actually to the “Cult of UHF” podcast which included this copyright expired film as one of its episodes. | ||||||||
| Silent Night | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| The Simpsons: Season 15 | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Space: 1999 30th Anniversary Edition Megaset | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Star Trek: The Next Generation Remastered Season Two | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Blaine: I haven’t watched the first season remastered yet, but I’m jazzed for it. (I’m going through along with Mission Log, so I’ll get there in about a year.) As with the TOS Blu-Ray, we get both versions on the disc. | ||||||||
| Suddenly | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Ultraviolet: Code 44 – The Complete Series | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: Spin-off from the film. As with Kurozuka, the Amazon & RightStuf releases differ on release date and dub/sub content in the same ways. | ||||||||
| Up | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Viper’s Creed – The Complete Series | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Rightstuf | |||||||||
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| iTunes | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: Series about a post-apocalyptic future where law enforcement is done by PMCs. The release information on RightStuf & Amazon similarly differ, as with Kurozuka & Ultraviolet. | ||||||||
| Wu Dang | |||||||||
| Amazon | |||||||||
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| Comments | Alex: Modern semi-wuxia film where a group of people are drawn to a remote Buddhist monestary in search of a great treasure. | ||||||||
Finally, the picks of the week. Blaine says, “Dark Knight Rises was fantastic. Not quite at the level of the second film, but still in excess of any non-Nolan incarnation of the character in live action. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Two is also very promising and I have a soft spot for Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” Alex says, “I’m definitely picking The Dark Knight Rises as my primary choice, though anime fans with the ability to play them might want to get Black Lagoon & Ninja Scroll on Blu-Ray.”
I saw eXistenZ when it was in theaters and liked it, but it didn’t really get a wide release.
Brazil as a science fiction film? Well, I guess so, because it does depict the future (or an alternate reality). But I see it more as a drama.
But it’s good — right up there with Time Bandits.
Brazil is definitely Science Fiction. Doesn’t mean it’s not drama! SciFi without a story is just, you know, speculative science (: