May 2016 | Otaku No Culture |

Monkey King Makes A New Journey West (for its US debut)

This retelling of China’s most famous superhero in Monkey King: The Hero is Back is wonderfully stylish and silly.

I suspect the reason why Jackie Chan is in the English dub of Monkey King: The Hero is Back is because he played the Monkey in the Kung Fu Panda movies. To have him play a similar role helps. Although Sun Wukong‘s (孙悟空) personality is a lot more conceited, this hero is respected throughout China. He’s kind of like Lucifer in the sense he’s rebellious. Just like the Morningstar, the reason he was cast out of Heaven by Buddha is because of his rambunctiousness; however, he has a chance at redemption. A handful of novels and legends chronicles various parts of Wukong’s life at becoming a champion for good.

After this film’s critical success in China last year, I wondered when this movie will make the ‘Journey to the West’ to reach English-speaking audiences. He’s expected to arrive at select cinemas July 28, 2016, and hitting video shelves August 30th.

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Discotek Gives Obscure Anime Second Chance at North American Market

MissMachiko By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Discotek Media is looking to muscle in on North America’s tight anime market by offering a new streaming service that will see anime that was a major hit in Japan, but never saw licensing across the Atlantic, get a second chance. This means older anime series like Yaiba!, High School Kimengumi, Candy Candy, and the ever popular Dragon Quest (based off the Japanese video game series) could find a whole new audience. Discotek will offer the anime in a subtitled format with the possibility of releasing such series on DVD should there be enough demand.

The first series Discotek will make available will be Studio Perriot’s Miss Machiko, based off the manga by Takeshi Ebihara. Originally serialized in Shōnen Challenge from 1980 – 82 Machiko debuted as a animated series a year and a half later on TV Tokyo. It ran for a total of 95 episodes:

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An X-Nerd’s Guide and Review of X-Men: Apocalypse

X-Men_Apocalypse_International_Poster By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

* Spoiler alert!

When X-Men: Days of Future Past (DoFP) introduced a young En Sabah Nur building a pyramid in ancient Egypt after the movie credits, I was very excited for the next film. While I knew the film would not be set entirely in the past, the introduction of this character was all too brief in that past instance and only a few new details are revealed in X-Men: Apocalypse.

He’s the world’s first mutant who has a god complex and he wants to wipe out humanity to forge a new empire. In the comics, he’s out to create a new world order and he is a lot more patient about it. Many months passed in his quest to find his ideal knights. In the film, he’s rushing the end of days and whom he chooses to be the four horsemen are not necessarily those of the biblical version of the four horseman of the apocalypse. The title of which, Nur uses as his codename.

Angel (Ben Hardy) transformed into Archangel and he’s easily recognizable as the Horseman of Death. He’s the only character from the original X-Factor comic book arc when the villain made life tough for the team. Unlike the source, Angel lost his wings (those fragile bones were shattered) and Apocalypse offered to regenerate them at the cost of becoming a servant. Little is known about the character in the film. He’s a slave forced into cage sports. He looked very cool at the start, but once he became evil, the punk look does not suit him well.

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Star Trek: TNG Swimwear for the Explorer in You.

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Think Geek has revealed a line of Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) swimwear for women, just in time for the United States‘ Memorial Day weekend. But don’t fret, women internationally will still have the Canada Day long weekend (July 1) and Japan‘s Marine Day (a blessing of the oceans on July 18) to spend on the beach like they’re on an away mission.

Swimsuits come in The Next Generation uniform colours of red, blue, and gold. There is also a Deanna Troi swim shirt for women who burn easily and need to cover up without compromising their TNG look. And for those who are heading to the public pool or to the one in the backyard there is a romper one can wear. Star Trek: TNG swimwear is available now at ThinkGeek.

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Identifying Bast and Sekhmet in Captain America: Civil War, The Black Panther Movie Lore

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Most people who love the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will have seen Captain America: Civil War by now. While long-time comic book readers may grin at the conversation T’Challa has with Natasha (Black Widow), not everyone is going to understand the reference made about how two Egyptian goddesses figure into his belief system. What he said also reveals a potential story direction for his solo movie. The detail is not that much of a stretch to interpret in the context of this movie either.

As T’Challa explained, “In my culture, death is not the end. It’s more of a stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands, and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veld where you can run forever.”

In what I first understood from his statement is that his father’s spirit freely roams the Earth. But there’s a deeper context not many viewers may catch on to. Bastet (her full name) is a peaceful goddess, a divine protector of cats. She represents grace and affection. There is no need for violence unless provoked. She can be used as an instrument of vengeance. In the earliest references to this figure in The Pyramid Texts, she is there to guard, if not protect, the king.

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The Nice Guys Don’t Play Nice, They Get Nasty!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest) The_Nice_Guys_poster

I knew I would be looking for Gil Gerard‘s potential return to the entertainment industry after talking to him about his career last year. He briefly talked about his appearance in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, which wrapped filming but could not say much. This writer/director is also known for movies like Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Lethal Weapon. Due to his contractual obligations, he could not reveal too much about his role, but for an actor I grew to admire since playing two phenomenal leads, in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Side Kicks, I was keeping my eye out for him.

This neo-noir crime drama buddy film set in the late 70’s (there was a Jaws 2 billboard in the backdrop) has all the makings to set up a pair of unlikely detectives going out to solve a crime a la Starsky and Hutch. Although the year 1977 was prominently introduced, the shark movie was released a year later. Goofs aside, the fun energy from Lethal Weapon still carries in this film, and it sets up a nearly similar pairing. When Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is put on the case to find Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley) and she’s hired Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to tell Holland to stay away, the case may seem easy to handle, but it’s not. Suddenly, they are thrust into the snuff film industry where she’s hiding out, and Misty Mountains becomes involved in the shenanigans because Kutner gets involved in a project where she reveals herself to be an activist. She wants to tear down the hold Detroit has in the automobile production and gas industry. Amusingly, March jokes about how electric cars will become the future. The subtext about the pollution problem (smog) in Los Angeles is glossed upon. Maybe a bit of hammering could have helped add to make this story all the more poignant.

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