The Content Creators Of Otaku No Culture

The Vintage Tempest’s Toy & Tech Wish-List for Santa

ed and zelda — By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Dear Santa,

I’ve been good. Really, I have. I hope it’s in your willingness to consider putting one of these wish list items under my Christmas tree. I want stuff to satisfy my love for toys or tech. I’ve boiled down my list down to five items.

Unlike my best-friend James, I have satisfied my anime craving a long time ago. There really is not much that I want (on video or otherwise) from Japan … well unless you can send me a full size operational Gundam for me to pilot so I can travel anywhere I want (around the world or in space). Or can you please give me an all expense paid trip to visit the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka Park and Fuji-Q Highland Park (I want the ability to spend a full day at each venue). That would be on top of what I really want.

I was there before, but those memories are over a decade old.

Alternatively, if you can find it in your heart to park an AT-AT at my home, well, my grin will be wider than the Grinch and the Cat Bus (from My Neighbour Totoro) combined. But in terms of being realistic, the following items are far more doable:

Continue reading “The Vintage Tempest’s Toy & Tech Wish-List for Santa”

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Preview Trailer Released and Analysis

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Poster

The fantastic looking official trailer for the second movie in the How to Train Your Dragon series was released today. It shows that a danger is in store for the village of Berk. Years have no doubt passed since the first movie and as for how the television series fits in, the emphasis on the main hero becoming a confident warrior is very evident.

In the trailer, Hiccup meets up with a person from his past and the reveal will be a welcome to viewers’ eyes. Spoilers exist and it tells of what happened to his mother. And a terrifying force will invade the Archipelago. That will no doubt cause future ramifications for everyone living within this desolate land. Although the ideas seem far from Cressida Cowell’s books, maybe it is not. Perhaps the force that’s coming is another civilization looking to expand its borders.

In the books, Hiccup will no doubt unite all the local tribes and be crowned king. But in this movie, just who will he be facing is unknown. Writer/Director Dean DeBlois is helming this project without Chris Sanders and his ideas presented in the trailer look confidently strong. To not have the talented Sanders providing additional input should not affect the direction, but his artistic interpretation of the expanded world will be sorely missed.

By all indications, this trailer shows that the CGI will be just as good as the dynamic visuals produced in Disney’s Frozen. All the snow and ice sculptures look alive, and in high-definition resolution, the details are simply stunning. This movie looks like it will no doubt be nominated for technical awards in the 2015 awards season.

Bruce Campbell hits Fan Expo Vancouver!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Bruce Campbell

Groovy will be one of the many words used by fans to describe their feelings about the first guest announcement from Fan Expo Vancouver. Seminal actor, Bruce Campbell is a fan favourite in the convention scene and he should be appearing for all three days, giving some fans more than just a little sugar.

Although he does not attend many shows these days, to see Brisco County Jr. return to the Pacific Northwest will no doubt be wonderfully fun! I vividly recall discovering this talented man through this television series than with Evil Dead. I even caught a very little known film, Goldrush: A Real Life Alaskan Adventure where he was remarkably docile. He was not the atypical smarmy character that he’s well-known for in his movie roles.

And to go see him again will be a pleasure. I attended a book signing from over a decade ago in Vancouver where I had a chance to meet the man. The crowds were not as big back then, but at Fan Expo Vancouver, people should be warned that lineups will no doubt be huge, if not bigger than last year.

With this show now going into its third year and that Rue Morgue Magazine may be involved with bringing Campbell to Vancouver under its mini show, Festival of Fear, this actor will no doubt be a busy man during this show. Maybe during his panel, he can definitively answer if Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires will happen or not.

But maybe the bigger talk that’s going on is in addressing how the Evil Dead reboot is going to continue. The sequence after this new film’s end credits revealed that the original Ash is kicking somewhere around in that crazy multi-verse. One explanation has been offered, but maybe during Fan Expo, Campbell may shed more light about what’s to come next.

Looking At The Hobbit and Beyond The Desolation of Smaug

Fans anxiously waiting for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug may feel dissuaded by the long length, but every moment is well worth the effort.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Poster

Fans anxiously waiting for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug may feel dissuaded by the long length, but every moment is well worth the effort. Peter Jackson has provided a very meaty story that picks up the pace from where the last movie left off. He felt that there needed to be at least a quick summary of what the first film was about, and that was deftly handled without weighing the rest of the film down.

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) finds himself having to deal with Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) more often than with the wise old wizard, Gandalf (Ian McKellen). The mage has to forge ahead and look into more disturbing manners. If this movie was to foreshadow anything about a fellowship, then what it foretells is more like the parting of the ways in order to get the last job done. There will be more issues to come that readers of the book will know about when the final chapter, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, releases at the end of next year.

By then, fans of the cinematic series will have plenty to think about before seeing what Jackson and writers Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro have in store for this cinematic rewriting of J.R.R. Tolkien’s material.

Continue reading “Looking At The Hobbit and Beyond The Desolation of Smaug”

LEGO Marvel Superheroes is Spidey-Centric!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

lego-marvel-maximum-overload-cast The LEGO Marvel universe did more than explode when TT Games announced development of the game LEGO Marvel Superheroes for multiple platforms. Mini-figures began appearing since 2002 with Spiderman and ever since then, interest has been a slow burn. The video game, which released Oct 22 is only testament to the fact that Marvel’s superheroes are a hot commodity. And no sooner than Stan Lee can say, “Make Mine Marvel!” the enviable had to happen: expansion into other media. Toys and an animated series are available for fans of this comic book universe to consume.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (LMSH:MO) is a web series that can be found on Disney and Marvel Entertainment’s Youtube channel, and it’s surprisingly good. The simple reason is that it does not tickle the funny bone too much. The 3-4 minute length is perfectly suited for viewers looking for light-hearted entertainment. That’s how these LEGO videos should be constructed. Movie length LEGO films are hard to pull off. To maintain the humour needs a good wit than silly foreplay, and that’s one reason why LEGO Batman: The Movie failed.

Continue reading “LEGO Marvel Superheroes is Spidey-Centric!”

An Apocalypse is coming for X-Men

by Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Apparently, 20th Century Fox is confident that X-Men: Days of Future Past will be a hit, and hot off the twitter feed of director Bryan Singer is a hint that another movie will happen in 2016! Fans can mark May 27, 2016 for when X-Men: Apocalypse will hit theatres.

But for people who are unfamiliar with who this ancient mutant is, he’s a character introduced back in the mid 80’s in the comic X-Factor. His goal is to remake the world in his own image, and his adage was simply that of survival of the fittest. This grey skinned human was born nearly 5000 years ago in the nation of Akkaba and although he was shunned, he managed to learn how to survive through the ages either by being a progeny of death or by forcing civilizations to worship him. His ability to transform his body into any kind of matter or shape makes him very dangerous!

But in time, he would discover advanced alien technology that would cyberform him and further enhance his mutant ability. He took a page from the Bible and created the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. In the comics that introduced him, he was out to kidnap certain mutants who could aptly represent the Horseman.

In X-Factor, he turned Angel, who lost his wings, into Archangel. Instead of downy feathers, this evil mutant gave Angel, new metallic ones under the promise that he would serve him. Some comic-book readers may have been introduced to this character this way.

Although his origin has not deviated much from more recent comic book releases and in animated form, to see how this character will translate to film will be exciting to follow. As for how much of his origin will get explained, if it does, and how it will follow from the Days of Future Past will depend on which Marvel Universe continuity Singer will choose from.

Apocalypse is a very popular villain. He was ranked as IGN’s #3 most popular X-men villain in 2008. As for where he stands in a broader poll, he’s at #24.