The word came out, not long after word of a pair of sequel films hit, that the Wachowski Brothers would be opening the doors for some of the best animators in the field of animè to play in the Matrix sandbox. It took a little bit of time before this came about, but in hindsight, it’s one of the most inspired ideas to have come along in that franchise’s short history. (more…)

Mark, Jason and the rest of the gang return for two more episodes of saving the world from deadly danger in the third volume of Battle Of The Planets. The two episodes seen here, Ghost Ship Of Planet Mir and Big Robot Gold Grab, are among the more recognizable segments in the series, but once again the real meat of the content here is the Gatchaman episodes, which are simultaneously more violent and funnier than their American counterparts. As deadly serious as Gatchaman was played out, it wasn’t without a healthy sense of humor. (The show’s makers seemed to have a sly sense of how silly it could potentially be to have five kids in spandex saving the world every week, an element which later made the earliest Power Rangers episodes more palatable than later iterations of that series.) (more…)

So…I promise I’m not going to get on the bandwagon bashing this movie. Really, I’m not. I’m just going to talk about what’s on the DVD.

The first Star Trek movie to feature a real live director’s commentary (not an audio track of spliced-together interviews) on its first DVD release, Nemesis – the disc – spends a lot of time massaging director Stuart Baird’s ego. Baird is at the center of most of the featurettes on the DVD, and his stage-whispered commentary manages to be both informative and slightly amusing, just because of the almost sinsiter intensity of his voice! Stu, buddy, we’re not in the theater. You could’ve spoken up. If we’re listening to your audio track, it’s because we want to hear you talk – really. (more…)