Month: October 2016

Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals – The Upcoming Halloween Treat is Not all that Sweet

The latest two updates for Pokémon GO has been lacklustre. Either Niantic is simply releasing simple tweaks of the game in hopes players will remain interested or they are struggling to think of creative ways to maintain its user base.

pokemon-go-halloween-169-enBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The latest two updates for Pokémon GO has been lacklustre. Either Niantic is simply releasing simple tweaks of the game in hopes players will remain interested or they are struggling to think of creative ways to maintain its user base.

The October 10th release made the life of a trainer a touch easier with catch bonuses — which is much needed — and a better method to train up a gym from the same team as the player, but that hardly felt like enough to maintain my interest. I still play, but not as much. I’m nearly completing my Pokédex in terms of pocket monsters fought or caught in North America, and I’m still pining for a proper tracker.

The latest fix released this week is merely cosmetic and adds functionality for Pokémon GO Plus users (to which I do not have). I see no reason to upgrade the game because I assume the bonuses offered are being handled server side than local. Beginning Oct 26th and lasting for a week players can continue catching, grinding and walking any Pokémon to net extra candy. More ghostly Pokemon will appear (and Cubones). When there’s only three in the generation one set, why? There’s no Mega Gengar I can evolve. This game is not Pokémon Shuffle — where this spirit’s special ability is useful. Generation two does not add to this category save for one: a Misdreavus. Certain Psychic types will appear more, which means swarms of Drowzees (the city I live in is overpopulated with them and they deserve to be washed away with the torrential rains my hometown often gets). Based on the lists I’ve been seeing, other creatures from this category, namely Abras, are not included. Shame! I do not mind the Zubats. They make sense for the season of the witch. Their evolved forms are said to make appearances too.

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[Victoria, BC] Evil Acres is now Fear on the Pier. So What’s the Story?

banner-fear_on_the_pier-640x360Oct 13 to 31, 2016
Evenings from 6:30pm till 11

Ogden Point
Pier A – 203 Dallas Road
Victoria, British Columbia

Admission: $13
(or $12 w/ non-perishable food item donation)

Monsters Haunted House, the fine purveyors of spooky attractions for Saanich, BC, changed their operation from haunted barns to … one big warehouse for this year’s All Hallows Eve spooktacular. I miss the Evil Acres name. It had meaning for those who have lived in this municipality for most of their life; to witness the transition from farmland to modern housing is scary in itself. Some folks gave up the simpler life for modern conveniences. I watched my neighbourhood change from hothouses and farmland to nothing but homes for as far as the eye can see. To fondly recall those days brings nostalgia. Perhaps nestled in those large fields of grass is a corpse of a lost pet (or part of a human body) and the imagination can have some asking if a wild animal is on the loose.

The gorgeous back story crafted in this company’s previous show made going through an abandoned-looking home all the more chilling. All those murders and bloodbaths could have happened. Nobody could have guessed until local sheriffs and hospice arrived at the abode to investigate and offer relief.

This company’s latest attraction, Fear on the Pier, feels like a work in progress. There is no story to know of before going to this spectacle. Folks are entering a modern warehouse storing a decrepit warehouse which is sealed in black. Did a bunch of octopi expel ink here? Or could mighty Cthulhu have put his tendrils all over it, thus causing it to crumble into claustrophobic nothingness?

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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and The Justice Society of America Collides, But What’s Next?

The second season two episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “The Justice Society of America,” continues to set up the season with even further trials for the entire team with a few spotlights (namely listening to Victor Garber sing).

DC's Legends of Tomorrow --"The Justice Society of America"-- Image LGN202b_0207.jpg -- Pictured: (L-R): Sarah Grey as Stargirl, Kwesi Ameyaw as Dr. Mid-Nite, Patrick J. Adams as Hourman, Dan Payne as Obsidian, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe/Vixen and Matthew MacCaull as Commander Steel -- Photo: Katie Yu/The CW -- © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
(L-R): Sarah Grey as Stargirl, Kwesi Ameyaw as Dr. Mid-Nite, Patrick J. Adams as Hourman, Dan Payne as Obsidian, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe/Vixen and Matthew MacCaull as Commander Steel — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW —  © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The second season two episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “The Justice Society of America,” continues to set up the season with even further trials for the entire team with a few spotlights (namely listening to Victor Garber sing). While the first episode teased at Dr. Martin as being the de-facto leader, the next has Sara doing the opening narration. This entry shows the good doctor is not up to snuff when pressure is coming from everywhere and the team is attempting to deal with Nazi Captain Baron Krieger. Originally a character created under the Fawcett Comics label and a villain dealt with by Captain Marvel, could Shazam be in the future for this television series? I certainly hope so! I loved the original television series and comics (both the original and since the DC acquisition), and to see this callback has the DC nerd in me excited!

In the DC Comics purchase of this company’s heroes and revival, this villain proved to be very formidable. I’m hopeful he will come back, along with Damien Darhk. When considering CW’s Flash was dealing with Flashpoint (Paradox) where the hero created an alternate timeline, I’m guessing the inclusion of this character is not only a nod to the comics but also a building up to an eventual reveal that there will be some kind of Legion of Doom for all the heroes in this CW DC Universe to face. In what Krieger morphs into, both teams — the JSA and Legends — have to work together in order to bring him down.

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Hiddleston Latest In Cast Announcements for Aardman’s ‘Early Man’

hiddlestonnickparkBy James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

It’s been made official, the man known for playing the villanious Asgardian god Loki from Marvel’s The Avengers, will be playing the ridiculously pompous Lord Nooth, Governer of Bronze Age Town in Aardman Animations’ feature film Early Man. In a press release Aardman described Nooth as “a money-loving tyrant and rival to the film’s Stone Age hero, Dug [voiced by Eddie Redmayne].”

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Swimming to the Mainland for Studio Ghibli’s The Red Turtle

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

When I heard The Red Turtle, a collaborative work between Studio Ghibli, Wild Bunch (distributing) and Michaël Dudok de Wit, is making its rounds at special screenings, I knew I had to jump at the chance to see it as soon as it arrived in North America. Flying to Japan or Toronto was sadly out of the question due to budget, but as soon as I saw that it was playing at the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival, I wanted to hop a ride on a whale to the mainland as soon as my schedule allowed. In the Pacific Northwest, orcas are representative to the region and I do not think one would kindly take to riding her back to English Bay / Vancouver Harbour just for this film. The same might be said for this film’s protagonist when considering his first encounters with the reptile, and he got off lucky!

With this movie, I find Hayao Miyazaki never fails to astound his fans in the talents he recognizes as masters of their craft. After he stated, “All I did was announce that I would be retiring and not making any more features,” in a report by LA Times, he would still be influential in the future of the company he helped co-found. His son Gorō is involved in other co-productions with various studios and Isao Takahata helped with the artistic development of this Dutch animator / director feature-length film debut.

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