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[Vancouver, BC] Identifying “Sour Grapes” is Not Easy; Premiere @ VanCity Aug 12

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

August 12
Vancity Theatre
1181 Seymour St.
Vancouver, BC

* Spoiler Alert

Not to be confused with the 1998 comedy, there’s a new Sour Grapes. This documentary is touring the festivals and art house theatres and it had its world premiere at Hot Docs. It is now making its way to Vancouver for its official Western Canadian Premiere, opening August 12 at Vancity Theatre in Vancouver. The City of Victoria had a prestigious showing during Feast, Food and Film with local winemakers de Vine offering tastes of both this sparkly film and local cheeses.

This feature by Jerry Rothwell and Reuben Atlas slowly but surely examines the personality behind one of the world’s greatest wine frauds. Rudy Kurniawan was not caught until March of 2012 where he was indicted for allegedly selling fake wines at auction. Many bottles made in the Burgundy region of France were relabelled and sold as expensive wines, like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Clos St. Denis.

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Is Ice Age 5: Collision Course Doomed? A Movie Review

Ice_age_collision_course By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

A thaw is coming for the Ice Age franchise. Interest is melting and if it somehow manages to cling on like The Land Before Time series (now with 14 movies) then maybe another film or two can be chipped out. Whatever the outcome, this fifth outing offers nothing really new to the plate. It’s the same outline. Manny (Ray Romano) is a Mammoth making a life for himself. He once thought he was the last of his species, but in the course of several films, he discovers he is not alone, and the cold wasteland is not as lonely now that he’s paired with a love of his life — and has an extended family. Sid (John Leguizamo) is a sloth and Deigo (Denis Leary) is a saber-tooth tiger who keeps life interesting. Through the course of the first three films, these three have formed a bond where they respectively look out for each other.

Then, there’s the saber-toothed squirrel Scrat (Chris Wedge). He’s an enigma in the series, hardly ever interacting with the protagonists, and all he does is provide hilarious slapstick antics of his love for the acorn. He’s trying to find the best spot to store it, but never has any luck. The humour is starting to pale, and they are not as charming as his earlier attempts. The big reason is because he had to know the lay of the land. To send him to space has to be the worst idea ever. If the Minions, Scrat and Penguins were to compete for the position of number one, Scrat is slipping to bottom place.

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Just Who Is Suicide Squad After? A Movie Review

12489243_1674589672821667_4430624289856009994_o By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

* Spoiler Alert

Suicide Squad is definitely a lot of fun with Deadshot (Will Smith) commanding this team! Technically, it’s Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) but if this individual is going to be the good guy to take care of the bad guys, he certainly needs to learn from Deadshot in how to rile and rouse a team into action. More could have been done in the tale to show these two have a battle of wills and decide who is the most righteous. But instead, the story weaves in and out of identifying who will make up this team and why they are brought together.

The plot felt inspired by Ghostbusters I and II. Certain set pieces were definitely very familiar — where the team has to go into the heart of where the commotion is taking place in a ravaged city. Just who caused the destruction was never revealed in the trailers. It could have been terrorists, another meta-human gone postal or even be an alien invasion. A major reveal follows:

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Young Lovecraft’s name is Howard in Shout! Factory’s “Frozen Kingdom” Release

unnamed By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

From José Oliver (Author) and Bartolo Torres (Illustrator) web comic Young Lovecraft to Sean Patrick O’Reilly (Arcana Studio)’s Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom, both illustrative products have redefined who this seminal master of the macabre is for people of all ages to enjoy.

While there’s no new material for the Young series and The Frozen Kingdom saw an evolution with a film, thankfully to see the latter product get animated has this fan excited. I enjoy both works, and the teaser offered during Free Comic Book Day made me glad a trade paperback of the Frozen Kingdom is getting reprinted and offered late October at comic book stores near you.

The animated version is being released by Shout! Factory September 27, 2016 just in time for my birthday. I could not be any more thrilled. It will be made available on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD and Redbox. The combo pack will include bonus content such as an audio commentary and featurette. More details will be forthcoming as the date nears. As for fans who love O’Reilly’s art style, an exclusive poster will be offered for those who pre-order directly from Shout! Factory’s website.

Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom features the talents of Jane Curtin (3rd Rock from the Sun), Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy), Christopher Plummer (Pixar’s Up), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Kiefer O’Reilly (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) and Alison Wandzura (CW’s Van Helsing). This film is said to be a veritable love letter to H.P. Lovecraft himself as it entwines new storytelling, actual events of H.P. Lovecraft’s life, iconic elements of his writings and literary characters Cthulhu, Shoggoth and more.

Trailer:

Ed’s 10 Nerdy Picks of the 2016 Victoria Fringe Festival (and these Artists Tour Worldwide!)

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

A few fond favourites are back at this year’s Victoria Fringe Festival, and in my picks, I hope to do more than a few “Dick Tricks” to get to each venue spread around the city to get my theatre nerd on. This year is special as this event is celebrating its 30th anniversary! I’m betting there will be cake, and a whole lot more surprises! In order to feast upon the entire list, I do recommend that for locals, to check out the opening ceremonies which takes place at Centennial Square. An entire preview will take place then and if that is not enough to salivate the taste buds, perhaps drinks will be offered too (at cost). This preview night will take place August 24th.

In the following, I offer my selection in what caught my eye and hope you can join me. If not at this particular festival, then perhaps at another Fringe that’s closer to where each person lives. This unique style of theatre can be found nearly worldwide. From Vancouver to Edinburgh (where it first started), this small-scale production offers a better, if not intimate, experience.

Passes can be bought at the Intrepid Theatre’s office on 1609 Blanshard or online through Ticket Rocket:

ON THE FRINGE (DOCUMENTARY FILM)
BROKEN TURTLE PRODUCTIONS

DATES:
Sep 3, 2016

LOCATION: Victoria Event Centre (Fringe Venue 1)

Still don’t know what Fringe Festivals are about? Well, this documentary should tell all! This video documentary began as a chronicle of artists doing the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit and it evolved from there. It goes on a road trip and shows what life is like on the other side of the stage! Best of all, this screening is by donation! All you have to do is present your badge.

6 QUICK DICK TRICKS:
A DIRK DARROW INVESTIGATION
RACING SLOTH PRODUCTIONS

DATES:
Fri Aug 26 – 5:00pm
Sat Aug 27 – 8:00pm
Sun Aug 28 – 10:00pm
Wed Aug 31 – 8:00pm
Fri Sep 2 – 9:45pm
Sat Sep 3 – 2:00pm

LOCATION: The Roxy Theatre (Fringe Venue 7)

I’ve chatted with Tim Motley in the past about his previous shows, and I’m glad to see that he’s coming back to show a few new magic tricks along with a noir narrative to appease the Sherlock Holmes in me to solve. Not every show is going to be exactly the same, as audiences can sometimes trip him up. The laughs are great, and I’ll be in line to see what he has up his sleeve for this year.

AN IMPROVISED
QUENTIN TARANTINO 2 –
THE PLAYFUL 8

DATES:
Thu Aug 25 – 6:45pm
Fri Aug 26 – 10:15pm
Sat Aug 27 – 2:30pm
Wed Aug 31 – 10:15pm
Thu Sept 1 – 8:15pm
Sat Sept 3 – 8:45pm

LOCATION: Victoria Event Centre (Fringe Venue 1)

The first time I saw Paper Street Theatre‘s show, I laughed myself silly. With a title implying that this sequel of sorts is inspired by the latest Tarantino movie, I have to wonder what can go wrong. I suspect a basic plot will keep the night merrily moving along, but as for what happens, feedback from audiences will dictate the performance. Dave Morris leads his ensemble cast and I wonder if how fast the eight will get whittled down to one?

Pages: 1234

Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals — What Needs to Be Fixed and How I think It Should Be Done

maxresdefault By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

I have been playing Pokémon GO for more than two weeks now, and I really have to curb my appetite to catch them all. After filling the Pokedex with a little more than half of the known original 150 pocket monsters, the effort to find and catalogue the rest can fall into any of three options:

a) Simply evolving the set I have now by farming the locally known hotspots of specific Pokémon.
b) Wait for a working minimalist radar to at least point me in the right direction when I’m nearby and the game is running.
c) Travelling off island or venturing into territory to find the elusive types.

The latter is not likely to happen because I do not travel that much. For me, do I really want to be the next Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter or great Detective Holmes? Receiving a clue is needed to at least point me in the right direction. I like to know what I’m encountering and if its close or nearby by 15 feet or 30. Yes, I miss the feature that worked for beta testers and like everyone else, do not like how the feature works now. I feel like I’ve been bitten by an Arbok. Not everyone was enthused at the various changes in the latest update. The only good thing I thought was a change of Pokémon spawning pits.

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