August 2014 | Otaku No Culture

The Penguins of Madagascar gets an Adorably Cute Second Trailer

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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More cute details are being unveiled in this new second trailer for DreamWork’s Penguins of Madagascar. Not only do fans get to see Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, and Private as adorable little chicks in a segment revealing their humble beginnings, but also this tease may no doubt be a set up for more squeals of delight to come. Perhaps new merchandise will arise for children who want an adorable stuffed doll of their favourite penguin. If Happy Feet did not succeed in getting children to seek out those dancing toy novelties, this film will certainly do a better job at creating a marketing bonanza with its vast cast of Arctic and aquatic oddities.

Although approximately half of the trailer shows new material, the rest is recycled to help round out what the movie is about. Dave, a mad octopus, is on the rampage and he is intent on destroying the Penguins’ reputation. The trailer suggests that what they will do is going to cement them as legends in the spy world.

Two more trailers may get released when Thanksgiving Day in the States nears. Perhaps its best that the only thing served during this holiday weekend is Dave’s thirst for revenge.

Preparing for TMNT & Any Michael Bay Produced Film

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Watching a Michael Bay produced film is like watching a music video. He drowns audiences with flashy edits and loud bangs. When considering that is how this producer/director started in the entertainment industry, most people will find that his style has never evolved beyond the four-minute exploitative product and that is most likely why his recent works get panned a lot. He actually started making films fairly well. The Rock was actually a decent film that owed its debt to the dynamics that Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage had on screen more so than Bay’s direction. His break out film, Bad Boys, owed everything to the talent of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Bay’s early films were decent wham bam thank you ma’am action flicks. And before the band Aqua files suit, the sexual allegations is less about the metaphors being made but more in what Bay believes is an ideal film. The reason his films are box office earners is simply because he’s a true believer that goes for what he sees in what can sell a film more than in what can earn a film a place in cinematic history. Even back in the golden age of cinema, the filmmakers were not making their movies with the knowledge that their products will get fondly remembered a century later.

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Godzilla vs Old Foes or New?

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Anyone monitoring the news coming from the San Deigo Comic Con 2014 will know by now that a second Godzilla film will be coming after director Gareth Edwards takes a much needed break (that is, to go work on a Star Wars project). But this time around, just who Big G might be facing will include the beasts from Toho Studio’s roster. Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah are confirmed to appear and Toho Studios could not be any more happier. All their famous beasts are getting Americanized.

Good or bad, this sarcasm is intentional. The 2014 film created a different kind of beast for fans to love instead. In Gareth Edwards’ interpretation of what Godzilla represents, he’s no longer a metaphor for the devestation wrought by the birth of the atomic bomb. He’s simply a force of nature who functions as more of an equalizer to the world to restore balance in anything mankind can unleash. That is, no matter what mankind can do to ravage the earth, Godzilla will appear to fix it.

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An Infinity Nerd’s Take on Guardians of the Galaxy

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Once when movie-goers start watching one movie set in the Marvel Comics Cinematic Universe, they will have to see the rest. There`s no denying that fact. In each film, there are little details being offered either before, during or after the credits roll to tease at what is to come. Sometimes a few details are unimportant, like Tony Stark getting psychoanalyzed by Bruce Banner or seeing the team eat shawarma, but only the astute will know that the bonus material that the early films offered were made to build up to The Avengers.

For another set of post-credits scenes, namely what’s seen in Thor: The First Avenger, Avengers, The Amazing Spider Man 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past, the tease is made lead into the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. Guardians of the Galaxy further defines this grander story arc by being a milestone product. Although this tale stands alone very well, all things considered, as a singular product, not everyone is going to understand how important one of the characters, The Collector, is unless they have seen Thor: Dark World or read the original mini-series to which Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is taking from. But it should be noted that most of these films are based on the current run than the 80’s material. Even without this extra knowledge, Guardians is a fun film with lots of grandiose silliness to entrench it as part of this Marvel Comics brand. It’s comic book style kinetics and narrative compares favourably against the Avengers movie, and perhaps the two super-groups will meet after one team deals with Ultron next year.

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IMAX Rewards Guardians Fans with a Special Poster, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Anyone who went to see Marvel Entertainment’s Guardians of the Galaxy Thursday night were given a surprising treat. In select IMAX theatres belonging to Landmark Cinemas and Cineplex in Canada, a slick and glossy 13×19” poster showing off the silhouettes of the rag-tag team of renegades … er Guardians to display on their wall.

This image is not part of the IMAX Fanfix program. Instead, it is a design by Poster Posse, a collective of artists from around the world who design unique collectible art, where their work is truly limited (distribution will vary by region, if not contract). This particular work is created by Marko Manev. It’s certainly worth framing to proudly put in any Marvel Comic’s Universe enthusiast’s den, and display next to the suitcase that holds Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Avengers Assembled collection. The movie certainly kicks off Phase Two with a righteous start!

Any viewers who attended the early exclusive 17min preview of this film will find that even the earlier mini-poster complements this new one in an evolutionary way. The July 7th poster is a study that Andy Warhol can be proud of. And Manev’s work reminds art aficionados that he may be going after a look much like the Band of Brothers — but this time, instead of soldiers silhouetted against a stormy sky, these misfit warriors are proudly ready to take on any challenge with their spaceship ready to transport them to wherever danger will lurk. The cassette tape is symbolic of the 70’s and 80’s to remind onlookers that director James Gunn was aiming to pay tribute to the pulps of a later age — to which he greatly succeeded at doing.

Gunn has confirmed that a second film will happen. With the team’s origin tale out-of-the-way, the real frontier action can begin!