January 2021 | Otaku No Culture |

Decoding that “Glitch In The Matrix” The Documentary

As for where our reality rests, the documentary also compares this life to video games, like The Sims. The folks looking for a restart or thinking they can get away with breaking ethical codes got a rude awakening (as one segment about Joshua Cooke showed) and perhaps it’s because nobody can unfollow the Ten Commandments.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Premiered at Sundance 2021

Limited Theatrical Screening & Available On Demand Beginning Feb 5, 2021

Are we living in a simulation? The question raised decades ago by celebrated author Philip K Dick was never fully answered. The debate is ongoing and fiercely explored in Rodney Ascher’s fascinating documentary Glitch in the Matrix–and no it’s not about all the bugs in Cyberpunk 2077 that still needs patching. The whole program, according to multiple sources, is simply bugged!

Because this filmmaker includes respected names from the literary and science fiction community, the ideas presented in this 108 minute work aren’t necessarily far-fetched. Or perhaps, Francis Bacon’s Four Idols of the Mind makes more sense. I recognize a bit of his theory seeping into this documentary about altered realities, sentient machines, what we represent in this system (are we programs or independent thinkers?), and if we can escape from it.

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The “SCOOP” Isn’t Just With UFOs When Sophie Cooper is Involved…

The Everglades holds more than one mystery and with Richard Ashley Hamilton’s graphic novel series, SCOOP, the plan is to see who can find how it all connects!

Scoop, Vol. 1 Insight Editions

Book One is now available and Book Two is scheduled for release Feb 23, 2021 (Available to preorder on Amazon USA)

Sophie Cooper is the next Nancy Drew! Or should that be Lois Lane? Whichever comparison is best, her adventures in SCOOP puts her into dangers that no average television reporter or news journalist would dare face! She hasn’t even earned her wings yet; as an intern, nobody considered that sending her to the archive room to do mundane tasks would lead her to encounters with the paranormal.

This graphic novel series by Richard A. Hamilton also includes aliens and other weirdness. There’s no definitive genre it fits under, as this writer is best known for his fantasy works for DreamWorks/Dark Horse Comics. He authored many supporting novellas for the How to Train Your Dragon and Trollhunters world. I was hooked years ago, as his prose is easy to follow.

This talent also loves his UFO lore, and it shows in this original work. He takes readers to the Florida Everglades and delves into the mysteries hidden there. She is a lot more motivated than anyone else at WMIA 7, a Miami television news station. She will pursue leads to which others won’t, and a lot of the cases she’s on points to a firm connected to all the strangeness going on in Miami.

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We Want to Believe … in Bigfoot!

This latest entry makes this work shine above all other network television attempts since it shows people paying homage like Bigfoot was King Kong.

null By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Believe it or not, JoBlo‘s paranormal investigative program on YouTube, We Want to Believe, is going Bigfoot hunting! This show is, as long-time supporters know, very compact, and I’m very impressed at how well Jason Hewlett‘s introduction touches on the basics and goes further with the legend.

From Patterson–Gimlin’s creature footage from Northern California to its role within Indigenous beliefs where it’s commonly known as the Sasquatch, the gambit is well covered. The latter is important because we rarely think of this beast as a nature spirit. They protect the untamed land from interlopers, namely developers. When feeling threatened, they will throw rocks and emit foul odours to deter humans from coming near.

Part One re-familiarizes newcomers to the lore, including what makes this cryptid unique in Super, Natural British Columbia. We have to focus on what may be out there in the hills of Kelowna because that’s where this show is from. In the next two episodes, more meat will be offered, and all I know is that they obviously survived whatever they faced in them thar hills.

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When Batman Lacks the Soul of the Dragon…

In what makes Batman Soul of the Dragon alive is in how it borrows elements from many James Bond and Bruce Lee films.

Available to view on Amazon Prime

Home Video Release
Jan 26, 2021

The 70s is alive and well in Batman: Soul of the Dragon. This animated film is an original tale and thankfully, it doesn’t take any notes from the campy and beloved 60s television show. Instead, its influence is straight out of many James Bond and Bruce Lee films. This aspect is enjoyable to see. Even rarer to see is Wayne not as the feared hero with a cape. He’s got the skills but not the experience in this outing!

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Faster Than the Speed of Light is Earwig and the Witch’s Home Video Release Date!

Earwig and the Witch Steelbook — Available to pre-order on Amazon USA

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Home Video:
April 6, 2020

Hot after its limited screening in select theatres worldwide in early Feb, Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch will hit digital next month, March 23, for other regions. This is the date to circle for this highly anticipated release for video streamers.

The home video release, set to arrive two weeks after, will be. offered in both a Limited Edition Steelbook™ and a Blu-ray+DVD combo, and the extra features being offered are as follows:

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TheNFB at VFF2021 Part 3: The Myth & Mystery in Altötting, Germany

Andreas Hykade’s Altötting is a very personal story about his first time meeting the blessed Virgin Mary and his experiences. He speaks highly of her, as though she was a lover, but the context is far more allegorical–pertaining to her role in 20th Century history–as a lady in waiting for those seeking salvation.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

National Film Board of Canada
Victoria Film Festival: Animate Me Shorts Program beginning Feb 5th, 2021

Andreas Hykade‘s Altötting is a very personal story about his first time meeting the blessed Virgin Mary and his experiences. He speaks highly of her, as though she was a lover, but the context is far more allegorical–pertaining to her role in 20th Century history–as a lady in waiting for those seeking salvation.

This minimalist animated short is very alluring in its approach of describing the power of her being. The erotic implications are minimal, and whether that was intentional by this filmmaker, it’s hard to say.

As for the experience of seeing the power of her being for the first time, the feelings may well be simliar to how Lucia Abobora, and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, described the angel who came to visit them in Fatima, Portugal and afterwards, the Virgin Mary. But this filmmaker set his piece in a small German town with an equally historical landmark built to honour this person (and be a tourist attraction). The similarity is in how the two are often visited by those in search for a miracle.

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