More Live Action: The Initial D Movie

Yet another bit of live-action adaption news:

Apparently there is going to be a live action movie adaption to the extremely cool Initial D series. I haven't been able to find much in terms of a definitive or official site for the movie, but in a short search I was able to find a few references -- most of which are from AnimeNewsNetwork:

• Initial announcement
• Director changes hands
• Making-of featurette movie
• Some pictures from movie

I've read some rumors about this for a while, but I always thought it was a hoax. (There actually was a "hoax" out there for a while in the form of a poster parodying Initial D as the 3rd Fast and the Furious movie. But this is totally different.) I'm definitely interested to see how this turns out.

FullMetal Alchemist Website

The highly anticipated Fullmetal Alchemist just opened up its official website with a countdown to its premiere on Cartoon Network. It will be premeiring on November 6 at midnight alongside my current all-time favorite TV series ever Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex which is showing at 11:00pm but is currently available on DVD.

Renting Anime

I was poking around the AnimeNation forums (which I haven't done in a while) and I found an area dedicated to this site called RentAnime.com. It's obviously a anime dvd rental site and, although I haven't actually used it yet, the site appears pretty well-designed and user-friendly. It looks like the rental program works very similiarly to NetFlix (which also has an anime section, though probably relatively limited) where you pay a monthly fee and can rent an unlimited number of DVDs (though only 3 at a time) and you don't have any designated return date. Here's what the site has to say about it's free 2-week trial membership:

Rent as many DVDs as you want for free! After your two week trial ends, you'll pay only a small monthly fee. For only $19.95, you can keep a revolving library of up to 3 DVDs at a time and exchange them for new available DVDs as often as you like. If you don't rent a lot of DVDs and are looking for a plan that is more affordable, try our 1-at-a-time plan for only $9.95.

On the down side, it looks like it takes up to 6 days to get your videos. Though that may vary by location.

Now, I'm not paid to endorse this site or anything. I just happend to stumble upon it and figured it might be useful to people with an under-funded anime obsession. Especially since there are not that many rental programs dedicated to this one genre.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Trailers

Okay, so maybe I'm just catching up on all the stuff that I've seen before I ever got this blog thing, because here's another oldie but goodie.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a movie which is a sequal to the FF7 video game. From all the trailers that I've seen, it looks promising. (Although I never actually finished the game itself, so I might be a little lost as far as knowing the background of the movie. Maybe I'll try going back and work my way through it again.) As of this typing, the official FF7:AC site is down, but you can still find all the trailers at this fan site.

The DVD is supposed to be released some time this year, but some film festivals have already been showing the first 30 minutes of the film -- most recently Montreal's Festival Nouveau Cinema.

There is also a review of this initial screening, from when it was showing at the Venice Film Festival.

Appleseed Movie Site

And in another attempt to add a new posting with old news, here is the Official Site for the Appleseed Movie.

The movie is making its US premere at the Boston Film Festival on Saturday, October 16 at 7:30 pm.

And lastly, here's a very short review of the film off of Slashdot.

Disney Sets Release Date for next Miyazaki DVDs

So apparently now -- according to UltimateDisney.com -- Disney is going to release Nausicaa (1984), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), and Porco Rosso (1992) on February 22, 2005.

This release date has been pushed back a few times before (well, at least once), so hopefully this one will stick. Maybe they pushed it back to coincide with the theatrical release of Howl's Moving Castle.

Live Action Evangelion News Website

The live action Evangelion movie isn't exactly breaking news, and there really hasn't been much in the way of new information on the project since it's initial announcement (short of a few pre-production sketches by WETA). But if you are interested, there is a good website available where you can keep up-to-date on the lates developments relating to this slowly evolving movie. So enjoy.

Sin City Movie Clips/Trailer

Well, I found the trailer for the Sin City movie (and a very extended trailer at that). The movie seems like it's going to be an almost word-for-word and panel-for-panel faithful adaption of the graphic novels. Whether that's a good thing or not, I am not yet sure. Just because something works in graphic novel form, doesn't necessarily mean it will work in live action.

From what I have read the movie will be adapting 3 of Sin City's storylines: The original Sin City, The Big Fat Kill, and That Yellow Bastard. (Unfortunately A Dame to Kill For is nowhere to be seen. Maybe in the sequel?)

The trailer starts out showing an adaption of a Sin City short story which I think is called The Customer is Always Right. However, I am not sure if that short story is actually going to be part of the movie or if it was just made as a promotional item.

Anyway, enjoy the trailer.

WTF??!!! SIN CITY Live Action Movie???????

Excuse my language but Oh my f****** God! A live action Sin City movie??? I just saw this article on ICv2 saying -- in an all too casual manor if you ask me -- that Frank Miller's bad-ass comic book Sin City is going live action, and not only that, but said flick is set for release in April! And the biggest spin is that it is actually going to be directed by comics-god Miller himself. [edit: Miller actually has co-directing credits with Robert Rodriguez of Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids films, The Faculty, From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado] How did I not know this until now?

For anyone who doesn't know Frank Miller's work, he is the mastermind behind the Dark Knight Returns graphic novel, which is credited with having brought Batman back to his dark ass-kicking roots. For more info, check out the following sites:

• USA TODAY article discussing Dark Knight Returns and it's recent sequal.
• Some summaries and images from the original Sin City graphic novels.
• Short biography of Frank Miller

There is also some info about the movie at TheMovieBox.net including a short clip from E!.

Am I the only one who did not know about this movie until now? I so hope this movie doesn't suck.

Dead Leaves Stream

According to Anime News Network:

Manga Entertainment will stream Dead Leaves on their website this Tuesday (The DVD is also released on Tuesday). The online stream will be free all day.

Matrix / Ghost in the Shell Comparison

So we all know that anime was one of the major influences behind the Wachowski brothers creating the Matrix movies right? Right??

Well if you don't or if there is any doubt in your mind, check out this side-to-side comparison of Matrix and Ghost in the Shell.

Preview: Howl's Moving Castle

Another Miyazaki masterpiece in the making. This one is based on a children's fantasy book called Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Ironically enough, the sequel to the Howl's novel is called Castle in the Air, which apparently has no relation to Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky. There seems to be no shortage of movies about mobile fortresses either, as the concept also plays a part in Otomo's upcoming Steamboy anime.

Anyway, Howl's got a good response at the Venice Film Festival where the crowd gave the film a five minute standing ovation.

The movie's coming to the US (through Disney) some time in 2005. Until then, check out these previews.

Cool Cowboy Bebop references

Check out this site and this site for cool details and cultural references in the Cowboy Bebop series and movie. Some things, like the session titles referring to songs/albums/movies are old news, but some of the little details and themes I would have never picked up on even if I was a pop culture guru.

First 8 minutes of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

First post is a goodie. 8 minutes of the soon-to-be-released-in-the-US Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. It's limited release starts Friday September 17. It'll be here in Michigan at the Royal Oak Landmark. I will be there tomorrow. I'll be interested to see how I like this one since I hated the original Ghost in the Shell movie the first time I saw it, but learned to love it after viewing it again years later (probably because I knew more of what to expect -- that and the fact that I actually paid attantion to what was going on).

And just to get your cajones raging for GitS and all the other big time anime hitting the US, check out this article about the three giants of anime bringing their art to the west.