Month: February 2016

[VFF ’16] The Grubstake Gets Revisited for Shakespeare!

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempet)

The Grub Stake is a 1923 action-adventure silent film produced by Nell Shipman and directed by Bert Van Tuyle which never saw distribution when it finished production. The distributor went bankrupt and its fate even now is uncertain. Technically, it’s now in the public domain, and perhaps this early Canadian pioneer of the Hollywood scene cannot be any more happier to know from Heaven that it’s been reimagined and titled The Grubstake Remix.

A new musical score accompanies this product and instead of inter titles, performers recant the dialogue with Shakespearean splendour as the film plays in the background! The film takes on an entirely new dimension with dialogue from nearly every one of this bard’s plays — The Tempest, King Lear, Richard III and MacBeth being the most familiar — and no knowledge of each of this playwright’s material is really required to understand what’s going on.

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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow goes “White Knight” or is that Knights? A Commentary

dcs-legends-of-tomorrow-photos-from-white-knightsBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller) is stealing the show in the fourth episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Although he never claims to be a “White Knight” he’s certainly a man of sophisticated colours; from deviously sweeping one lady off her feet, only to swipe her ID card to winning another’s heart in Moscow, Russia. Perhaps he can become the next James Bond. Miller relishes being a man with his own sense of justice and sadly, every one else is beginning to pale in comparison. Technically, the movie is titled “White Knights,” but this film is really emphasizing one future hero instead of a group.

Rip, the person who should be in charge, is really paling. He could be leading the charge ala King Arthur, but he has problems back in a future Camelot (that’s fallen to ruin). He has troubles of his own when the Time Masters catch up with him and say he can not continue on his vigilante mission. I’m wondering if they will put him on full trial, force him to regenerate and send him to remain trapped in one particular era on Earth when the season ends.

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[VFF ’16] The Dangers of Wandering Alone … Into the Forest, A Movie Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Although Patricia Rozema’s on-screen adaptation of Jean Hegland‘s novel Into the Forest is light on the science fiction and heavy on the drama, it hardly feels like a genre product. The world has fallen apart and nobody really cares. Most of the plot is centred around two young ladies, Nell (Ellen Page) and Eva (Evan Rachel Wood) learning how to fend for themselves.

No detailed explanation is given in either version as to why the world power grid failed. A war somewhere in Europe is alluded to but none of that fallout is going to be noticed in the woodlands of North Eastern USA — well, unless an electromagnetic bomb went off in the atmosphere or NASA failed to report one massive solar flare that has taken out much of the continent.

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[VFF ’16] Life with McDull: Me & My Mom, A Movie Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

mcdull-me-and-my-mum-2Unless audiences are from Hong Kong or is familiar with Chinese pop culture, the anthropomorphic pig named McDull (麥兜) may not be as well-known internationally. He’s very popular in parts of China, with plenty of merchandise to collect, and the appeal for this character is because of his perseverance to succeed. Love for this piglet is probably just as big as Japan’s Hello Kitty. Both are cute in their own way but the needs of a piglet do not outweigh the irresistible power of a cat.

At least in the latest film, McDull: Me & My Mum, a look back at this swine’s origins is in order. He is older and perhaps a bit wiser. He’s now a respected detective and is recognized by the name of Bobby Mak instead of his baby name. When he is called in to solve a death, his quick powers of observation save the day. If his deduction is true, no homicide took place. Everyone at the mansion is required to wait, and when the kids arrive, somebody has to entertain them. Mak recounts his life to them and he particularly emphasizes the closeness he had with his mother. From his days as a kid to his formative young adult years, she’s protected, given her sage advice and raised him like any mother would. She even tried to be a superhero, but an astronaut she is not. The metaphors are obvious, because the hospital she goes for that “space training” means she is ill. To a very young mind, to process certain situations can be tough.

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[VFF ’16] The Girl in the Photographs, A Time Capsule to a Lost Sub-Genre, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The-Girl-in-the-PhotographsVictoria Film Festival 2016
Fri, Feb 12th 8:45pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas St,
Victoria, BC

The movie The Girl in the Photographs fondly recalls films like Halloween in it’s no holds barred approach to possibly reigniting the slasher genre. This detail makes this film worth noting. It’s directed by Nick Simon, a relative newcomer to the scene and it was the last movie that Wes Craven (Last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street) had his hands on as an executive producer. Most of his films have a trademark style to them and while it’s sad he’s passed on, the lessons Simon learned will most likely carry on in the next project he works on within the horror film genre.

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[VFF ’16] “Forever is [Not] a Long Time” to see The Smalls Reunited Documentary Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Victoria Film Festival 2016
Fri 12th 6pm
Sun Feb 14, 4pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas St,
Victoria, BC

In 2014, the Albertan punk-metal-country band The Smalls reunited for a true farewell tour and for directors Trevor Smith and John Kerr, they nicely captured the rawness and love Western Canada has for this group in their documentary The Smalls: Forever is a Long Time. Through candid interviews with the band and industry observers, viewers come to understand where each member has come from, where are they now, and why they decided to perform one last time. Whatever the reason was behind the break-up, the explanations are alluded to instead of spelling it out point-blank.

This documentary does not focus on the negative. It sweetly looks at the positive. This product also nicely works as a primer to those who have not grown up with The Smalls. Not everyone was exposed to their music when they were at their height in the 90’s and to follow the scene means being a die-hard enthusiast.

In what this movie presents is a very great look at their work from their rise to their sudden disappearance in the scene. A few conversations include why they did not do as well in Eastern Canada, and as for whether they had a world-wide influence, that’s for the fan to decide. Not every detail is spelled out for viewers to take note of, but at least in terms of how they ended it, the framing of this narrative is on the nose. The Smalls were indeed a phenomenon and when the music ends, what they have given are fantastic, lasting memories. That’s no easy feat.

4 Stars out of 5