Where’s the Mythology Behind Gods of Egypt?

The movie ultimately felt like a surreal ancient astronaut idea gone wrong. I liked the design of the Solar Barque that Ra lived on, but just where Gods of Egypt sits is with clichéd ideas than to follow the Book of the Dead.

Gods of Egypt Movie PosterI can’t believe the level of hate by movie-goers and critics have for Gods of Egypt is still growing. Not since Fantastic Four has there been such a vile response to a product. The Last Airbender was panned way before it even started pre production. Myself, I have to thank producer Michael Bay for decimating my childhood memories of Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; the bulk of merchandise I see now are based on his work instead of being generation one. With this movie set in an Egyptian-type world, can the director, Alex Proyas, destroy all that I love and admire about Ancient Egypt? I grew up enamoured by the mystique this world represented, especially with its art and myths.

Technically, this film’s plot is a loose interpretation of the story, The Contendings of Horus and Seth. Instead of having a contest of champions, where these deities are tested to see who will be the next King of Egypt, Osiris (Bryan Brown) and Isis (Rachael Blake) are ready to crown Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). However, the always jealous Seth (Gerard Butler) arrives to put a stop to it and kill all the gods. He leads an army who look more like the Persian Immortals from 300 and perhaps that’s the joke everyone is missing. This film is meant to poke fun at mythology instead of being inspired by it. When looking at the mistakes, the film is very silly and mind-numbing, but when looking at the nods to the lore of yore, the connections made will only be familiar to people who knows them.

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Maya the Bee will Keep on Buzzing into Sequels

Australian Movie Poster By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Young children may well be buzzing in delight to know that more Maya the Bee movies is coming. The films are a guilty pleasure, sweetly cute and enduring. Shout! Factory has inked a deal with Studio 100 Media to continue distributing products under this line, beginning with the first sequel, Maya the Bee 2 – The Honey Game in 2017 through this company’s kids & family entertainment imprint, Shout! Factory Kids.

“We’re incredibly excited and honored that Studio 100 has chosen to partner with Shout! Factory on Maya the Bee film series. Over the last year, we enjoyed the continuing success and growing popularity of Maya the Bee – Movie with North American family audience,” stated Melissa Boag, Senior Vice President of Kids & Family Entertainment at Shout! Factory. “We look forward to bringing these exciting new films, starring the beloved character Maya, to a variety of entertainment distribution platforms.”

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Shout! Factory to Distribute Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir! and Review

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Shout! Factory and ZAG Toon has formed an alliance with many other partners, such as TOEI and Disney Channel EMEA, to bring the French-Korean CGI-animated action adventure comedy series, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, to further broadcasting platforms. On May 3, 2016 will be the Shout! Factory Kids home video release of the first seven episodes of 26 for those who do not yet have access to it on television.

This program plays on Nickelodeon (USA), TF1 (France), ABC (Australia), EBS (Korea) and it will soon hit other markets such as Tele-Quebec (Canada), Gloob (Brazil), TVNZ (New Zealand), Proximus TV (Belgium), RTS (Switzerland) and LRT (Lithuania). The series is a fun watch, reminiscent in style to series like Sailor Moon. The anime influence is very noticeable. The main heroine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is rather like Usagi Tsukino. Both are well-meaning and spirited (if not clumsy) individuals. Alya is Marinette’s best-friend and she’s not aware of her besties’ superhero identity. The humour between the two are great, and the costumes are inspired by the designs introduced in PIXAR’s The Incredibles.

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Mitsuyo “Mie” Nemoto Announces Live Shows with Ponta Box

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

PontaBoxIf you know Mitsuyo Nemoto then you know she is one half of late 70’s J-pop group Pink Lady (the other half being Keiko “Kei” Masuda). They were the biggest selling female music group in Japan and quite possibly the world. Pink Lady had nine consecutive million-selling hits and at their peak they performed a Tokyo stadium concert in front of a crowd of over 100,000 people. Their record of over 11 million in single sales would not be broken until 2007 by Morning Musume. It took Morning Musume 10 years to accomplish what took Pink Lady only five.

Since her Pink Lady days (and their subsequent reunions), Mie has enjoyed a successful solo career. Seven albums were released since 1981 and she’s performed with heavy metal band Animetal.

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Russian-Made CGI Film Quackerz is Migrating to North America

unnamedBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Shout! Factory and Planeta Inform Film Distribution will soon be distributing the Russian-made computer animated film, Quackerz (Крякнутые каникулы) throughout North America. Directed and co-written by Victor Lakisov and produced by Rome Animation & Film Studio and A-VFX Studio, this comedy will get a strategic rollout across major entertainment distribution platforms and in packaged media in 2016 through Shout’s kids & family entertainment imprint, Shout! Factory Kids.

“We are looking forward to theatrical release of Quackerz in the domestic market as well as in the international territories. We’re extremely grateful to Shout Factory’s team for introducing our film to the US and Canada audience.  I hope this partnership will become fruitful and long-lasting,” said Ruben Atoyan, Executive Producer of Rome Animation Studio.

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“Star City 2046” is Not So Shiny in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow

legends-of-tomorrow-posterBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

*Spoiler Alert

The Future is not so great in “Star City 2046” on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. That’s not only considering the immediate problems that took place in 2046 but also it may have paved way for how Vandal Savage took over the world in 2116.

In the last episode, Chronos found the Waverider and blasted the ship out of the time tunnel. He should have been able to trace where in time the vehicle crashed. Just where it landed is described as a possible future instead of a definitive one. However, viewers can never be so sure when CW’s The Flash established the fact that alternate time-lines (Earth-1 and Earth-2’s) exist.

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