A Star Wars blaxploitation film about Lando Calrissian?! That’s one prequel I would watch the hell out of. Via

Welcome to the Space Show is the debut feature film from the folks behind R.O.D. Read or Die, and is one of the more well-known anime films to have been released in the last year or so (with the other being Summer Wars). The film follows a group of five children who save the life of an alien while at summer camp, and subsequently, embark on all manner of interplanetary adventures (more info here).

The footage in the trailer below looks absolutely stunning, and there’s both some great action (primarily in the very beginning) and humor (once the kids find the alien). The film had its American premiere at this year’s Otakon Convention, but no word yet on when the film will be released on DVD/Blu-ray. I was interested in the film when I first heard about it a few months ago, but after watching the trailer, this is definitely “must see” material as far as I’m concerned.

Thanks to Sam for the link.

A few days ago, I came across a clip from Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 horror film Hausu that, for lack of a better term, left me gobsmacked. I’ve seen a lot of weird, outlandish cinematic material over the years, but this clip—which, by the way, is not entirely work-safe—immediately rocketed into the top 10.

Now comes the even stranger (and cooler) part: The Criterion Collection, arguably the world’s greatest supplier of art-house home video, has announced that they’ll be releasing Hausu on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 26.

How to describe Nobuhiko Obayashi’s indescribable 1977 movie House (Hausu)? As a psychedelic ghost tale? A stream-of-consciousness bedtime story? An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava? Any of the above will do for this hallucinatory head trip about a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt’s creaky country home and comes face-to-face with evil spirits, a demonic house cat, a bloodthirsty piano, and other ghoulish visions, all realized by Obayashi via a series of mattes, animation, and collage effects. Equal parts absurd and nightmarish, House might have been beamed to Earth from some other planet. Never before available on home video in the United States, it’s one of the most exciting cult discoveries in years.

That, folks, is why I love The Criterion Collection so much. Even with their art-house rep, they’re not afraid to release the occasional genre/cult film. And somehow, I doubt that you can get much more “cult” than Hausu.

True, this re-imagined version of the Firefly opening credits doesn’t mention Simon, but it does feature awesome Commodore 64-style computer graphics and some bitchin’ guitar riffs. In other words, it’s a great way to start your Friday. Via Topless Robot

If those who come to see your movie while dressed as your movie’s characters start dissing your movie, I think that’s a pretty good sign that your movie has gone off the tracks.

I’ve watched this video several times since coming across it on Looking Closer earlier this week, and I’ve gleaned something new from it with each viewing.

Sidenote: I can only hope that someday, my voice is even a fraction as sonorous as Wright’s.

The international trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has just been released and it does absolutely nothing to diminish my movie-crush.