Sorry I’m a bit late. I’ll just cut to the chase and get this week’s releases out of the way…
The Adventures of Tintin- This came out in theaters around last Christmas. I was disappointed that it didn’t do as well as it should here in the states - although I’ve heard it did very well overseas where the character is much more recognized. Still, I thought it was very faithful to to the original comics by Herge. I was disappointed that it didn’t get nominated for Best Animated Feature, because it should have (was more deserving than Rango, anyway). But apparently because the Academy considers motion-capture “cheating,” that disqualified it.
BTW, Andy Serkis turns in another bravura performance here; this time as Capt. Haddock. It’s definitely worth your time.
The Three Musketeers- A rather loose re-interpretation, this one by the underrated Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Milla Jovovich. Considering how many times this story has been adapted to the screen, I think I can live with a version that deviates the way this one does and incorporates steampunk elements, though your mileage may vary.
Wizards- The classic by Ralph Bakshi. The movie takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth now populated by magical creatures, as apparently they had all been in hiding during the time of modern civilization, only coming out once again when it had been wiped out. Incidentally, this was the same theory I had about Third Earth…and was pleasantly surprised that this idea was also what Leonard Starr had in mind when I read the book Hear the Roar. Bakshi’s films have always been something of an acquired taste, so they may not be for everybody. But it’s hard to argue that he was a trailblazer; doing adult-oriented cartoons long before Anime became popular and decades before the likes of The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy came along. So in that respect, it’s worth checking out.
Neverland- I kind of liked this Syfy miniseries, which was kind of like a “Peter Pan Begins.” I at least appreciated the attempt to give J.M. Barrie’s characters an origin, because I don’t think that had ever really been done before in a any major way. And on the whole, I thought they did well.
The Tribe, Season 1, Vol. 1- I first saw this show on the cable channel WAM! and found it very intriguing. It’s a post-apocalyptic show from New Zealand about a group of children who band together after a plague has wiped out all the adults in the world. It’s very well-written, with plenty of soap opera-ish elements for those who like that sort of thing. Try to imagine something like The Walking Dead for the tween set without the zombies and with a Mad Max design aesthetic, and you’ll get a fairly good idea of what The Tribe is like.
Doctor Who: The Face of Evil- This is the first time I think that this serial has been released on DVD. The Fourth Doctor lands on a planet and encounters two factions: the primitive Sevateem and the advanced Tesh. Both alternately worship and fear their god, Xoanon. And the Doctor soon learns that all of this is the result of previous actions he took in a heretofore unknown adventure. It’s a significant episode, coming as it does after “The Deadly Assassin” and introduces the companion Leela.
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors- This is a re-release of the Jon Pertwee serial with a few more extras. The Doctor’s home planet of Gallifrey is under attack from a mysterious force, and the Time Lords break the Doctor’s exile on Earth to help them with it, and in doing so bring back his previous two incarnations (William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton). It’s a very significant episode for a variety of reasons: It’s the first multi-Doctor story ever done, it’s the first time we get any kind of look at Gallifrey (We only saw the Time Lords themselves briefly at the end of “The War Games”), and we also get some insight into Gallifrey’s and the Time Lords’ past history with the introduction of Omega (We wouldn’t get a really good look at Gallifrey or its culture until the Tom Baker-era serials “The Deadly Assassin” and “The Invasion of Time.”) Very good episode all around. But if you already have this on DVD, you probably don’t need this version.
Doctor Who: The Robots of Death- Another DVD re-release with a few more extras. In his second adventure with Leela, the Doctor arrives on a large mining crawler manned almost entirely by robots, with only several humans comprising the senior staff. When one of the staff is murdered, all suspicion naturally points to the Doctor and Leela as they are the only strangers on board. But it soon becomes clear that someone is programming the robots to kill, in violation of their programming. It’s a nice little Sci-Fi riff on Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians.”
Doctor Who: Tomb of the Cybermen- This is another DVD re-release with more extras. This one features the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. The Doctor meets up with an archeological expedition on the planet Telos, who are unaware that they are about to open a vault containing an army of Cybermen that have been using Telos’ frozen climate as a natural cold-storage. Significant for introducing the Cyber-Controller and Cybermats into the Doctor Who lore.