Hugo, Justice League: Doom, M.I.F, Johnny English Reborn [Stuff]

This week marks the DVDBlu-Ray release of the Oscar winning Hugo and several other disks.

1. Hugo (Three-disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy)
2. Justice League: Doom (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + UltraViolet Digital Copy)
3. Johnny English Reborn
4. Mission: Impossible – The ’89 TV Season Mission Impossible: The ’88 & ’89 TV Seasons
5. How The Universe Works [Blu-ray]
6. Princess Jellyfish: The Complete Series (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
7. Spiders: Kino Classics Edition

Hot

1. The Oscar winning Hugo is on DVDBlu-Ray, and after all the accolades I’ll definitely be catching this one.

“Hugo” tells the story of an orphan boy living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. With the help of an eccentric girl, he searches for the answer to a mystery linking the father he recently lost, the ill-tempered toy shop owner living below him and a heart shaped lock, seemingly without a key. Based on Brian Selznick’s award winning and imaginative New York Times bestseller, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” this magical tale is Academy Award-winner Martin
Scorsese’s first film shot in 3D

2. The animated film Justice League: Doom  came out today and it’s chock-full of great voice actors. Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern. Tim Daly as Superman. Kevin Conroy as Batman. That alone makes it ultra-cool.

Here’s the typically long press release.

The grand reunion of actors who provided the voices of the Justice League for the cartoon of the same name and its follow-up, Justice League Unlimited, includes Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Batman, Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Breaking In) as Flash, Susan Eisenberg (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) as Wonder Woman and Carl Lumbly (Alias) as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter. Bumper Robinson (A Different World, Transformers: Animated) joins the cast as Cyborg.

 

The Justice League faces two sets of villainous teams in the film – The Royal Flush Gang and a sextet of notable evildoers. The latter group includes three voice acting alumni of the Justice League animated series: Phil Morris (Smallville, Seinfeld) as Vandal Savage, Olivia d’Abo (The Wonder Years) as Star Sapphire, and Alexis Denisof (Angel) as Mirror Master. Also opposing our heroes are Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911) as Bane, Paul Blackthorne (The Dresden Files) as Metallo, and Claudia Black (Farscape, Stargate SG-1) as Cheetah.

David Kaufman (Danny Phantom) also reprises his Justice League role of Jimmy Olsen.

 

The film is executive produced by Bruce Timm (Batman: Year One), and directed by Lauren Montgomery (Batman: Year One), who is also credited as producer alongside Alan Burnett (Batman: The Animated Series). Justice League: Doom is the final DC Universe film script from the late Dwayne McDuffie (All-Star Superman, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths), who passed away in February 2011. Casting and dialogue direction is once again in the capable hands of Andrea Romano (Batman: Year One, Justice League).

3. British comedian Rowan Atkinson’s film Johnny English Reborn came out today as well. What’s interesting is that it was a blockbuster hit abroad, but barely made a dime in the U.S. I never saw it, but the original was pretty good.

Flashback

4. They tried to bring the old espionage series Mission: Impossible back in the late eighties and you can get it in two flavors. Mission: Impossible – The ’89 TV Season Mission Impossible: The ’88 & ’89 TV Seasons I remember watching it and it was pretty faithful, but the actors didn’t have the same charm. Without Leonard Nimoy its fun, but not as good. Worth watching though.

Science

5. If you’re into sciencey documentary shows, you can check out Discovery Channel’s How The Universe Works.

Anime

6. I’m getting a real education in anime with these posts. Princess Jellyfish: The Complete Series is on Blu-Ray.

Cheese 

7. I hate to call this “cheese,” but didn’t know how else to categorize it. How else to you categorize a silent adventure film from the 1920s called Spiders?

Spiders (German: Die Spinnen) actually sounds poretty good, especially since Fritz Lang made the amazing silent film Nosferatu.

Synopsis: Fritz Lang’s Spiders is about the adventures of high-society adventurer Kay Hoog
(Carl de Vogt, whose gaunt, expressionless face resembles a younger William S.
Hart) and his arch nemesis, a secret criminal organization known as the Spiders.
Part 1 (”The Golden Lake”) is a treasure hunt that takes both Kay and Spiders
mastermind Lio Sha (Ressel Orla) to Peru, where they battle primitive Incas (who
capture Lio for a human sacrifice) and each other for a fortune in hidden gold.
Part 2 (”The Diamond Ship”) is a longer and far more intricate conspiracy
involving a hidden criminal underground beneath the streets of Chinatown, a
legendary lost jewel known as the Buddha Head Diamond, and an ambitious plot to
rule all of Asia. Full of secret passages, coded messages, treasure maps,
double-crosses, and death-defying escapes, Lang’s pulpy action-fantasy borrows
from the wacky serials of Louis Feuillaude (notably the deliriously entertaining
Les Vampires). But behind the wild plots, gorgeous sets, and driving,
breakneck-paced direction lies a dark undercurrent of death and doom that
transforms his gallant hero into a brooding, vengeful spirit.

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