IMAGES COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

If you’re psyched for The Dark Knight (July 18) and you want to see Batman like you’ve never seen him before, check out Batman: Gotham Knight, a six chapter movie that blends beautiful anime with powerful storytelling — all surrounding one of the darkest and most legendary comic book heroes.

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There are some things you just can’t kill.

Take Futurama, for example. The animated series from The Simpsons creator Matt Groening ended years ago, but it’s been brought back to great effect on DVD.

The second direct-to-DVD feature, The Beast With a Billion Backs, just dropped and the third should arrive before year’s end. It’s titled Bender’s Game, in an homage to sci-fi great Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game. (more…)

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery … and they’re wrong.

I discovered these doppelgängers while surfing Netflix recently. They popped up as recommendations in “Sci-Fi & Fantasy” under the “New Releases” category.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! These have got to be some of the most shameless non-pron (I think …) rip-offs in the history of film — right down to the cover design.

AVP (2004, sequel in ‘07) vs. AVH (2007)

Alien vs. Hunter: “An interplanetary hunter tracks the galaxy’s most deadly creature to Earth, where predator and prey square off in a battle to the death — with humanity caught in the middle of the terrible conflict. When a team of commandos is sent to investigate a series of mysterious incidents, they stumble upon the clash between these dangerous aliens and must run for their lives. William Katt and Dedee Pfeiffer star in this exciting sci-fi action film.” [Katt was the star of ’80s TV’s Greatest American Hero.] (more…)

Four action figures based on the Spike TV show Afro Samurai were released this week. Created by DC Direct, the characters Afro Samurai, Kuma, Ninja Ninja and Justice are brought to life with amazing detail and capture the style of the hit anime in every possible way. The scale of each figure is also impressive, ranging from 7 to 8.25 inches tall. If you’re not familiar with the show, Afro Samurai (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is an epic tale of a black samurai’s hunt for Justice (played by Ron Perlman) who murdered his father. Composed by famed artist RZA (from the Wu Tang Clan) Afro Samurai blends traditional Japanese culture, funky technology and hip-hop to create a brutally fresh experience.

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HD DVD or Blue-ray? It’s an important decision we all must make as we enter the world of high-definition DVDs. Anyone who’s seen either high-definition format on a high-definition TV will tell you it looks amazing. Regular DVDs simply do not compare to its crisp and colorful picture, hi-fi audio and cool special features. As the price of individual HD DVD and Blue-ray players decreases, we (the consumers) are still getting screwed because many high definition movies are still being released exclusively on one format. Regardless of who’s winning the war, it doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. Luckily some companies are making dual-format players. Samsung recently announced their BD-UP5000 dual-format high-def disc player is now available for $799–making them the second manufacturer to market a dual player capable of playing HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. LG’s BH100 was the first to hit the market in January of this year. It also has a pricetag of $800 which might seem like a lot to spend but not when you consider most of us will probably have to buy a second player down the road–depending on who wins this frustrating format war.

Samsung BD-UP5000 dual-format Blu-ray/HD DVD player

Fans of Stargate SG-1 may have been left hanging after that series’ recent grand finale. But a pair of direct-to-DVD movies in 2008 will help them find some closure. Stargate: The Ark of Truth picks up where the TV series’ story left off, with the complete cast, and promises to finish the war with the fundamentalist Ori once and for all. Look for it on shelves in March. I’ve embedded a video of the film’s first trailer. (more…)

Fans of Family Guy and Star Wars don’t have to wait too much longer to own the popular parody Family Guy: Blue Harvest on DVD. It’s slated for a Jan. 15 release date.

As you can see above, there will be a deluxe special edition set, retailing for $34.99, that includes special packaging, trading cards, an exclusive brochure, 3-D glasses (why, I don’t know), a T-shirt and more.

The standard edition (just the DVD) will retail for $22.98.

You can find out more at StarWars.com.

The episode was this year’s season premiere of Family Guy and a hilarious send-up of the original 1977 film Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope.) It was made with the full approval and support of Lucasfilm - a sign that the once-restrictive juggernaut has relaxed its litigious ways.

It’s just too bad, in this fan’s opinion, that they couldn’t bring it out in time for the holiday shopping season.

As the HD DVD and Blu-ray high-definition disc format war wages on there have been many victories and defeats. Last week HD DVD fans (that’s me!) were blessed with the exclusive release of Transformers, while on Oct. 30 Spiderman 3 gets released only on Blue-ray. It feels strange to say it, but I think I got the better deal on that tradeoff. Anyway, on Tuesday, five of Stanley Kubrick’s films (or masterpieces if you know anything about good movies) will be released on both high-def formats making all of us 1080p-geeks winners. The movies being released are 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut. These are definitely Kubrick’s best movies (except I’d have to trade Eyes Wide Shut for Dr. Strangelove or Sparticus) and seeing them in high-definition will be a treat. I’m most excited about 2001: A Space Odyssey which I still think is one of the best science fiction movies ever made. Check out this great website to get more info on high-definition movie releases. HAL would approve.

Sometimes in life you just get lucky…really lucky. As a big fan of anime television shows and movies, I’m always on the hunt for something new and exciting from our friends in Japan. Most of my recent findings haven’t been that great, save Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the hit five-part series Afro Samurai shown on SpikeTV earlier this year. Last summer I heard a lot of buzz about a movie called Karas: The Prophecy. I checked it out and it blew my mind. It was the most energetic and beautiful anime movie I’d seen in a very long time. Complete with an amazing, yet cryptic story and a stunning blend of 2-D and 3-D animation, Karas: The Prophecy easily went to the top of my list of favorite anime movies. On Tuesday, the sequel Karas: The Revelation picks up where the original left off, and I can’t wait. To get more info on both of these movies check out the Karas website or see the trailer for Karas: The Revelation below.