The release of the comic book Bill & Ted Are Doomed is far too perfect of a title for those who know the premise behind the movie Face the Music. It’s a proper sequel to Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. The new misadventures they have nicely fills in the gap to the years leading up to the third film. The tale looks at the decline of the Wyld Stallyns.
Life is not as easy with an enormous weight on their shoulders. They married their respective princesses, and Billie and Thea are born. I would have liked a story which develops how these kids were raised. The toddlers want to have fun and to see how they were raised doesn’t always make for entertaining reading. As much as I would’ve like to see it, the focus is really on Bill and Ted in this work.
BC-based Abbott has been making films about urgent social, political and environmental issues for 25 years, including co-directing the 2003 Sundance award-winning The Corporation. She’s also back at VIFF this year with The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, co-directed with Joel Bakan.
The Great Malaise by Catherine Lepage
In the voiceover for this animated short, a young woman attempts to describe herself, casting her life in the ideal light that society expects. The film’s imagery, however, tells a different story, poignantly illustrating the intense anxiety that comes with the quest for perfection and the pursuit of happiness. A film that’s both funny and moving, and above all, profoundly human.
Comic book artist Gil Kane is a pioneer. not only is he the co-creator of Green Lantern (and many other fan favourite characters) but also is a tour de force. He’s been in the industry since the 40s. In the late 60s, his independent work His Name Is… Savage gave birth to the graphic novel format and a little more than 50 years later, Katie Batchelor is bringing back that legacy with her own interpretation, Her name is… Savage.
This modern take is co-authored with Shane Riches and drawn by Jesus Antonio Hernandez Portaveritas. Not only are they involved in bringing all the hallmarks of a Gil Kane work–to be treated like a cinema—to life, what’s presented presents the violence to something you’d see out of a John Wick movie. We also see a vulnerable side to this protagonist. Her motherly instincts will kick in. It’s not about seeing the flat end of a frying pan when you cross her. With a license to kill, she’s not simply protecting everyone who is close to her.
“This year’s Pop Conference is an exploration and celebration of youth across generations, locations, and disparate contexts; listening with intensity to what is behind the urgent call we’ve heard from multiple artists to remain ‘forever young,’” said MoPOP Manager of Public Engagement Robert Rutherford.
Conversation – September 10 at 3:00 p.m. PT Event Runs September 9-10, 16-17, and 23-24
To kick off “Forever Young: Popular Music and Youth Across the Ages”—this year’s special virtual version of Museum of Pop Culture’s Pop Conference 2020, spanning three consecutive weeks—MoPOP today announced that the Conference keynote conversation would feature seven-time GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette. MoPOP’s annual Pop Conference, first held in 2002, mixes together ambitious music discourse of every kind to bring academics, critics, musicians, and dedicated fans into a collective conversation. This year’s conference was delayed this past spring due to the on-going global health crisis, but returns this month as a purely digital format. Continue reading “[Seattle, WA] Pop Con 2020’s Special Keynote feat. Alanis Morisette!”
Comparisons to the Rocky franchise can easily be made. The hero’s journey is three of Stallone’s films compressed into one; both protagonists developed punch drunk syndrome–hence the title.
By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
North American Premiere
Playing at Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020 On Demand till Sept 2 (5pm EST). Buy your virtual ticket here.
My Punch-Drunk Boxer ( 판소리 복서) could do with a shorter run time if it wants a knockout at the box office. This film is trying to balance being a rom com and sports drama at the same time. As any trainer will tell you, focus!
This Korean film moves to a beat of its own and it can succeed, had it been broken up to two films than one. It almost copies what the protagonist is up to and moves in time to a style that Byeong-Goo (Uhm Tae Goo), a boxer turned ne’er-do-well, developed when he was at his prime. Sadly, an incident ended his career and now he’s doing menial tasks for gym manager, Mr. Park (Kim Hee-won).
In Paris, romance is in the air more often than naught, and it’s nice to see the challenges of giving life to a broken heart. To see Gaspard keep it going may require a new drug formed by a mermaid’s tears, but will he take it?
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Fantasia Festival 2020
Played Aug 27 & 30th, 2020
Mathias Malzieu is a type of French movie maker whose output is very minimal because he’s the front man to a very active music band, Dionysos. The last film is an exquisite and haunting Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2013). One detail I noticed is in how the soundtrack in his latest film is like this prior work because of one signature tune over variance. It works with the last film because of the cyclic motif, but here it doesn’t quite ring.
More music is needed in the live action Une Sirène à Paris. Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) has one song to win Lula’s (Marilyn lima) heart, and it’s ironic because usually it’s the other way around on who woos whom. The translated title is A Mermaid in Paris, which may seem unusual. Anyone who knows their classical mythology will recognize a siren (usually more bird-like than fish) no matter how it said in another language. She’s a mythical creature whose sweet melody lures sailors to their death.
By Ed Sum 
By Ed Sum