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Ed’s Top 10 Picks of the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival starts today and their selection of animated films and nerdy delights is fantastic! From a few television spotlights to films, this year’s event is of particular interest to me because the industry is paying attention to the coming thing — virtual reality. From an industry exchange and VR pass to a discussion on how it affects storytelling in a cinematic medium, I am interested. This new technology to immerse audiences into a virtual world is challenging, and just how storytellers and filmmakers can use the medium certainly needs to be discussed. Does the story work like a choose-your-own-adventure book or is the narrative just that much more difficult to curtail? If the viewer is in total control, they can navigate anywhere. This industry panel will certainly explore it all for much of the day.

With a unique catalog of horror and animation films, I just wonder if I can see it all? or will I have to limit what my budget can allow? At least I have this top ten list of what I has my eye in this year’s programme:

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Thoughts on Justin Lin’s Development Deal Transform Hot Wheels To Screen

Justin Lin By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Famed director Justin Lin (Star Trek Beyond, Fast & Furious movies) is the perfect choice to adapt Mattel’s Hot Wheels toy line for the big screen. Usually, I get critical over big names, but when considering how successful he has turned the latter into one freewheeling and adrenalin pumping action franchise, this news sounds really good. He will not only develop, produce and direct the film but also have the option (with his Perfect Storm Entertainment company) to co-finance the movie, as reported by The Wrap.

Will his idea take away from what Mattel’s product is? Most likely not. There’s no established core theme/mythology to these toys. I played with these miniature cars — admittedly by putting firecrackers under them and using them in Steve Jackson‘s tabletop game, Car Wars — but I’m guessing the live-action deal will have some form of explosions too. When considering how he’s propelled Fast and the Furious, I’m betting there will be a lot of fun involving race cars, regular vehicles and roadsters clambering for a lot of screen time. The product placement can potentially be through the roof, and I’m betting Nascar or Formula One will somehow be involved. To turn this movie into something like The Wachowski’s Speed Racer or even borrow from either PIXAR’s Cars or DreamWorks T.U.R.B.O. will not surprise me. I really hope the team will do their research and offer a different kind of tale.

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The Animated Lineup of Guests Is Growing At Fan Expo Vancouver 2016!

tom-kenny-1-2 By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Fan Expo Vancouver (Nov 11-13, Vancouver Convention Center) is shaping up to be a delight for pop culture fans of all ages. Tom Kenny of Spongebob Squarepants fame will have children coming in troves. For older fans, he is lending his vocal talents in the animated Guardians of the Galaxy as The Collector.

Since coming into the entertainment scene in the late 80’s in How I Got Into College, his career just simply exploded. Followers of his work will remember the many voices he’s offered in the Transformers Animated series and for some, the debate will still continue as who is the best Starscream. Die-hard fans of Generation One cartoon will name Chris Latta but after his passing, other names continued this character’s legacy. From the list of seven (including the live action Bay treatment), Tom Kenny and Steve Blum are by far in the top three whose performances are memorable.

In the anime and animated front, original voice-actor Ryo Horikawa (Vegeta) of Dragon Ball Z will be making an appearance. English voice-actors of this show includes Chris Sabat and Eric Vale. Also appearing are Linda Ballantyne and Susan Roman of Sailor Moon, Cherami Leigh of Sword Art Online, Jamie Marchi of Fairy Tail and Trina Nishmura of Attack on Titan.

For a full line-up of guests coming to this year’s show — especially several returning to the Pacific Northwest if you missed seeing them at Emerald City Comicon in prior years — please check out the guest list here.

Dark Horse Comics to Release Calla Cthulhu Summer 2017!

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

When a webcomic I have not heard of before gets the attention of Dark Horse Comics to publish, I will be callin’ for a preview online. Calla Cthulhu is a digital comic readers have to subscribe to on Stēla (iOS) — a mobile entertainment reader. While not everyone can hop onto every online service out there for their nerdy fixes, to hear some titles are getting a wider distribution makes this fanboy very happy. They are becoming more accessible.

Like other fond favourites which I try to keep up with on the Internet side — Young Lovecraft (sadly it’s finished) and Girl Genius — I find owning a print version better. Being the H.P. Lovecraft fan that I am, to hear about this title coming to print is my dream come true. This latest title influenced by Lovecraft’s work can sit side-by-side with other comics like Littlest Shoggoth and Where’s My Shoggoth? A bigger volume that sits in my comic book section is The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, and all of these are recommended reading.

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Sorry Toy Story, Mr. P – The Story of the Real Mr. Potato Head is Funnier!

1184948_500545486699996_1927149996_n By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

After discovering the wonderful whimsy of Quebec-based Belzébrute’s theatrical productions with thanks to Intrepid Theatre, I’m looking forward to hearing about what they have planned next. They came to Victoria, BC to perform a puppet show, Mr. P – The Story of the Real Mr. Potato Head, to help cure the post-Fringe festival blues (they were invited over, from what I heard) and upon going online to check out what else they have made, I really like to see Manga! This other production is one part comic-book, equal parts anime and inspired by history. Hopefully, they will return and bring this story next time.

But for a night which paid a lovely tribute to the musical entertainment pop culture scene, Mr. P has gone through it all. That is, since the days of silent film, he’s been around and he did it “his way” ala Frank Sinatra. He’s a versatile performer who can channel the best of each era’s best in his own act; from said talent to Elvis to Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury, this potato can win many a crowd! For this vegetable, he’s mimed and played in many a venue. Watching this show is kind of like watching The Swedish Chef live; there’s a bit of nonsense in what he says, and you can hear what he’s saying. Two master puppeteers work hard to make him come alive. You have to see this show to see how it’s done, and when he does the splits, I could not help but grin. Just like the toy, you can change his eyes and ears to change his expressions.

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Travelling The “Long Way North” To Find That Starshine, A Movie Review

1227352_long-way-north By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Releasing in U.S. cinemas (French & English tracks) — LA and NYC, Friday Sept 30

Venues include Village East (New York), and Laemmle Playhouse 7, Laemmle Monica, University Irvine (Los Angeles)

The animated movie Long Way North is a tonally sombre tale where Sacha (voiced by Chloé Dunn) is seeking freedom from the Russian aristocracy she hails from. Her grandfather Oloukine is missing. He’s a renowned explorer seeking to conquer the North pole, and everybody assumes he’s dead. The ship he captains, the Davai, is lost at sea. Fortunately, for audiences in America, this epic film can be found premiering September 30th in the USA, with more dates to come across this country and perhaps also heading north into Canada too.

Shout! Factory is handling the distribution of the English dub, and I’m looking forward to set sail south to catch it on the big screen where it truly needs to be experienced. Failing that, I’m hopeful a video release will be coming mid next year, when I suspect it will come out.

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