October 2014 | Otaku No Culture

Pee-Wee Herman’s Big Oct 18th Event! The Complete Playhouse to open Oct 21st

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Fans of Pee-wee Herman’s Playhouse can get a special sneak peek Oct 18th at 7am PT/10 am ET for a very special live streaming event that will tease at what’s to come in Shout Factory’s release: Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series.

This collection is due to hit shelves October 21st on Amazon, Shout!’s own webstore and select distribution channels around North America.

This Blu-ray set will have all 45 episodes digitally remastered to highlight the wild, colourful, wacky world that’s Pee-wee’s imagination. And for fans of behind the scenes material, there’s 10 featurettes to show how this seminal television series was made. One of them includes seeing Academy Award nominated actor Laurence Fishburne recalling fond times on the set.

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Glass is Still Half Full with Last of the Summer Wine

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

PCCooperandWalsh The BBC may have said its goodbyes to Last of the Summer Wine in 2010, but the cast and crew of the longest running sitcom series in television history are hoping fans of the show will support a spinoff pilot.

Summer Wine’s producer and director, Alan J W Bell, has returned to the series’ roots in the Yorkshire town of Holmfirth to film this pilot. Ken Kitson and Louis Emerick who played hapless police constables Cooper and Walsh are in partnership on this project. And some of the original crew are also lending support to the production and have waived fees in hope to get the project off the ground. The script, according to Afternoon Tea, was written by Roy Clarke and is titled Hobocops.

Now Ken, Louis and Bell have turned to crowdfunding to find financial backers for a feature-length film or short series of their antics.

And they have not ruled out the return of some of the famous characters that made Last of the Summer Wine so popular over the years.

Quoted in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, associate producer Terry Bartlam said:

“…in Cooper and Walsh there was scope for a breakaway series and Alan came up to Holmfirth to make two short films to remind the views of how good Ken Kitson and Louis Emerick are as actors.

“Some of the original crew joined in and refused payment and they are all confident there is a lot of mileage in Cooper and Walsh.”

Ken and Louis have their own two-hour improvisational stage show called An Arresting Night with Cooper and Walsh. In the span of two hours, PCs Cooper and Walsh try to enjoy all the perks a job out in the country offers but the higher crime of the big cities just can’t compare to the strange incidents they stumble across in the Yorkshire countryside.

A sample clip uploaded to YouTube by Terry Bartlam.

The Penguins of Madagascar Unleashes 4 minutes of Hijinks!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

penguinsofmadagascar1 Debuting today is what looks like the first four minutes of Penguins of Madagascar available for fans to watch. This clip shows off the humblest and looniest of origins for the trio. Waitaminute, trio? Well, they have not recruited Private yet, and the main three — Skipper, Kowalski and Rico — are maturing chicks with a high strung desire to embark on adventures.

The threesome protects the adorably cute Private (who still has to hatch from his shell) from some ravenous seals. In what this trailer shows is how the trio are not quite the well oiled team. Just how they become a unit will no doubt be revealed in the film, but to see what they can do now is amusing in a slapstick kind of way.

The best thing about this trailer is that famed producer/director Werner Herzog narrates. People unfamiliar with this documentarian really has to simply google his name up to discover that he’s handled many a renowned documentary that explores the human condition. Other people may remember him best for the 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre.

The reason why Herzog was chosen to open Penguins of Madagascar is that his products are known to feature heroes with the hopes of achieving impossible dreams. When considering what the young Skipper, Kowalski and Rico aspire to, this nod is definitely made to give theatre-goers in the know a worthy chuckle.

If there are any other cameos to be found, audiences will have to wait until November 26.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Gets Animated for 2015!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The writing was on the wall six months ago, ever since the cartoon, Avengers Assemble brought on “Guardians and the Space Knights” last April and Ultimate Spider-Man going into space with “The Guardians of the Galaxy” a month after. Although these animations did not feature the voice cast of the movie, die-hard fans who knew what was coming had to wonder. Once when the live-action film’s success was affirmed, Spidey saw the “Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy” with affirmation made today that a cartoon series is in the works and it will debut next year on Disney XD.

The success of the film is what truly cemented this go-ahead. The question of whether or not the film’s stars will lend a voice is iffy at best, but it would be a boon to fans if Marvel Entertainment can reach an agreement with the performers. Since Jay Baruchel is pivotal to the success of both the How to Train Your Dragon films and Dragons, the spin-off TV series, hopefully the producers will see fit to allow both the toon and live action product blend in.

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The Humanity of Dracula Untold Gets Explored, A Movie Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Dracula_Untold_poster Try as Dracula Untold might, this film does not endeavour to be historically accurate in every detail about how Vlad Dracul the Prince (played by a daunting Luke Evans) saves his people from Turkish rule. There are little nods to recall how he was raised by them to become a brutal soldier and how he earned his reputation (to which he’d become known as the Impaler, hence Țepeș) but a lot of that origin is quickly marginalized than expounded upon.

The reason about to why he was fearsome is missed in favour for a PG-13 rating to show why he was much-loved. When he returns home to Wallachia, he gets warmly embraced as this country’s lost son. All he wants to do for much of the film is to protect them from a darker world at large. He’s experienced a lot of horror and he does not wish to share that. When the Ottoman’s demands are ill met, war and rebellion is inevitable. This movie shows him reverting to his old ways.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Toy & Video Updates and Speculation

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Paul Gitter of Marvel Licensing reveals that more products featuring everyone’s favourite dancing tree will be coming. In an interview to ToyNews, this spokesman revealed that his team knows the demand is there, especially among collectors.

“Anything for collectors and fans [are selling well], like Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line, Funko’s vinyls, and adult t-shirts. And the LEGO construction sets are performing great,” said Gitter, “Several items for kids, especially the LEGO sets and the Rocket plush, are selling well too, and we know the interest with kids will only grow as we get closer to the holidays and especially the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD release (scheduled for Dec 9, 2014 release).”

Thankfully, this video release will include a teaser for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron film along with the usual bevy of extras. Looking at this bonus material will be good, and no details have been revealed if director James Gunn miming the movements he wanted for the end mid-credit sequence was recorded. If this video short is included, that will be a product to purchase!

If fans are still hot for when baby Groot was seen dancing then the next bit of information will have the anxiety for a proper homage product grow.

Gitter revealed that a proper sound activated dancing feature to the Jackson 5 song is being worked on. KIDdesigns should have it ready for the holidays for Walmart stores in the US. As for everywhere else, only time will tell if it can be purchased online for export. Otherwise eBay will be flooded with folks looking to make a huge buck for whatever this “dancing product” is going to be. Chances are high that it will be Groot!