2023 | Otaku No Culture | Page 58 Of 61

A Quick Look on Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves Second Trailer and Merchandise Updates

Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves has a second trailer! Although it adds one new tease on what’s already known, it’s the humour that’s the highlight here!

How many classic monsters can viewers recognize in Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves second trailer? There’s one add to the list of what’s already known and overall, serves up nothing really news to what’s known which I wrote about some months ago.

Here, we are finally told about the tale: after Edgin the Bard (Chris Pine) and his merry team consisting of Holga the Barbarian (Michelle Rodriguez), Xenk the Paladin (Regé-Jean Page), Simon the Sorcerer (Justice Smith), Doric the Druid (Sophia Lillis) and Forge the Rogue (Hugh Grant), realise they worked for the wrong side, they have to do right. To do good according to the thieves way of living is a must, and it’s good to see some story reveal tie in to the film’s title.

After they accomplished one theft, they have another planned to correct their mistake. But things get hairier when the Red Wizards cometh to bring the end of the world. The plot is nothing special and the vibe suggests that this goofy gang of miscrents will find a way to do what’s right. Even though everything is foreign to them–including the use of the American spelling of the word for better marketing purposes here–they’ll find a way to correct that mistake.

But when this latest trailer reveals the undead will make up a mighty climax, perhaps there will be more surprises. I’d love to see an appearance of a Lich appear to put a wrench into the entire plan!

Continue reading “A Quick Look on Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves Second Trailer and Merchandise Updates”

Gekidan Shinkansen’s Rock n’ Roll Odyssey with Fortress of Skulls Coming to Theatres (Canada-wide)

The choice isn’t hard on which version of Gekidan Shinkansen’s Fortress of Skulls is worth watching. The one now playing across Canada at select cinemas is shorter.

In select theatres Jan 26 and Jan 28 across Canada (ticket link)

Anyone who doesn’t want to watch the nearly three-hour version of Gekidan Shinkansen’s Fortress of Skulls (Wind mix) on Netflix now has an option! This gorgeous production has been edited down to a tighter work, and it’s now playing across Canada at select cinemas.

This theatre company delivers quite the experience when you can see one of their shows live. There, the seating moves with the action (more on this later), but for others going to see it at a movie theatre, the performance has a different feel. While we don’t get the sensation of the stage in motion, we will be assaulted with other terrific bits to make us feel like we’re in the play’s environment. Not only do we get a rousing score that blends rock and roll with traditional music, but also find the lighting design is straight out of a heavy metal concert.

Many cameras are used to track the action with this updated take. One is locked off to frame the entire stage, and the rest are located at strategic spots to nail specific instances, and rest roaming one to nail close-ups. Had this been aired live, the director has to be on his A game to call the camera change. With up to twenty that can be used in total, that’s a lot!

Continue reading “Gekidan Shinkansen’s Rock n’ Roll Odyssey with Fortress of Skulls Coming to Theatres (Canada-wide)”

Robotics, Existentialism and Jung_E. So What’s The Glitch?

To truly understand Jung_E may well require a sequel. This android’s future is in question and when it has pictorial moments right out of Gunnm, a Japanese manga I love, the similiarites I’m finding demand it.

jung_e poster Available on Netflix

In the future, the planet Earth is no longer habitable, and humanity’s life in orbital colonies has become harder. A civil war broke out after some of them formed their own government. In the conflict Jung_yi (Kim Hyun-joo) the soldier, not Jung_E the android, become a legend. The movie explores a bit of her life and sadly, she’s no Joan of Arc. I would have appreciated that nod, but she is just another model in the production line.

This replicant whom analysts are studying has this woman’s memories, but it’s tough to figure out what made the woman tick. Her decoration is because she pulled a Hail Mary. Through flashbacks, we learn why she became a soldier. And although this story is solid, I was hoping for more about the current state of affairs between why the Allied Forces want to fully clone her and why this war against the Andrian Republic lasted this long.

At first, I thought this movie may be a take on Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm)’s complex themes of existentialism. To put a consciousness in another body has consequences. But here, it doesn’t go further than to understand Jung’s memories. She’s a skilled fighter and can lead an army. But to replicate all of that to other clones requires digitising those memory engrams that make her tick.

Continue reading “Robotics, Existentialism and Jung_E. So What’s The Glitch?”

Countdown to Launch and Sending Wandering Earth 2 the Stars

In the second movie, simply titled Wandering Earth 2, we see three tales unfold in this prequel.

Wandering Earth 2

Well Go USA
Now Playing in Theatres
(Please check local listings)

The prequel to Wandering Earth (movie review here) won’t be lost to everyone. In the second movie, simply titled Wandering Earth 2, we see three tales unfold in this prequel. One concerns the geo-political wrangling required to get the Moving Mountain Project going. The second is about who are the pilots of the upgraded International Space Station which will help guide the planet’s sojourn into deep space. And last, dealing with the detractors who are resisting the locations where the rockets are built.

What this story lacks are original names given to these projects. It’s a minor quibble since like today’s studios who hide the name of the production while filming, nobody is supposed to figure the final title of the project. I enjoyed the first movie because it reminded me of other rescue humanity features. Plus, the theme of any Lunar New Year movie is to be positive during a difficult time. To save a planet requires food for thought, which this film offers plenty of!

Continue reading “Countdown to Launch and Sending Wandering Earth 2 the Stars”

The Rabbit Jumped over the Moon and Going Beyond with this Year’s Lunar New Year Top 10 Movies

This list of Lunar New Year Top 10 Movies includes shorts, and must touch upon some aspect of the celebration.

Chinese New Year Rabbit Free Stock Photo - Public Domain Pictures Not every film released during the start of the moon calender truly reflects the celebration, and to put together a proper list that does so is tough. In my Lunar New Year Top 10 Movies list, I consider that the story has to touch on either some aspect of the celebration or extols some virtue from it. To really be reflective upon this South Asian celebration means putting some meaning behind the work rather than releasing it at this time of year.

Sometimes these movies feature the zodiac animal as part of its story and other times, they do not, just to help commercialise it. Those living in China had two films–Legend of a Rabbit and Moon Castle: The Space Adventure to enjoy back in 2011 when this bunny leaped into everyone’s hearts. Jumping twelve years later to now, all I could find is the charming-animated short, “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!” by animation studio Game Science.

Depending on whom you ask, this jubilee can mean one of a few things. The better ideals include wishing others spiritual well-being, celebrating family togetherness, and looking ahead to brighter futures.

While I have a stockpile of Asian films to watch during the 15-day celebration, not all of them are about this special occasion. A few titles from last year took a while to offer up a home video release I could purchase, others are from the Internet (in public domain or hiding on YouTube), and the rest are playing at cinemas for all to enjoy. I could watch a film each day, but I don’t feel there are enough appropriately themed takes to fill a top fifteen. I am adding shorts which are just as great.

The two Wandering Earth films will count as an entry, and before I go into greater detail about the latest that debuted today, I feel the seminal work that really represents the spirit of the day begins with:

Continue reading “The Rabbit Jumped over the Moon and Going Beyond with this Year’s Lunar New Year Top 10 Movies”

New Gods Yang Jian Ushers In Chinese New Year

New Gods Yang Jian not only ups the ante in what Light Chaser Animation can do with the animation medium but also update a traditional tale to the science fiction medium.

GKIDS
Playing at Select Theatres Beginning Jan 20
Coming to Digital on April 11 and Home Video April 25th, 2023.

Light Chaser Animation‘s New Gods cinematic universe has another hero, and his name is Yang Jian (voiced by Wang Kai). He’s also known as Erlang Shen, a god with a truth-seeing eye, but in this film it has even greater power which can’t be defined.

Thankfully, no prior knowledge of who he is or the prior film are needed (Nezha Reborn) is on Netflix and my review can be read here), but it’ll help explain the surprise bits found in this tale. In this second film to this franchise, titled New Gods Yang Jian, he gave up his godhood to become a mortal, a bounty hunter, and for much of the tale, he has no regrets over this decision.

Despite everything we know about how the Divine World fell apart, nobody in this new utopia is truly at peace. The introduction talks about an averted civil war, but all is not well. In Penglai, a futuristic neo-feudal tech city located upon a mountaintop, the people live in relative peace. But this home of the gods may well become a target should a boy assemble the pieces of a destructive lamp. The beauty this location represents is just one of many places this film visits. The look of Ancient China juxtaposed with the industrial age looks wonderful. When the adventure moves to the countryside, the landscapes look like they’re straight from a bamboo tapestry. The softer use of colours is not always pronounced, and that helps with giving this movie a better richness than those highly saturated works other CGI films, like Kung Fu Panda, prefer to emphasise.

Continue reading “New Gods Yang Jian Ushers In Chinese New Year”