Science Fiction Archives | Page 9 Of 121

Nobody Speaks of “MUTUPO” (Or Do They?) in This Mystic Fight Club

Zimbabwe born Kay Rwizi has crafted a world where taking advantage of totem spirits (known as MUTUPO) is bad. Let’s hope there’s redemption for those who realise there’s a chance to turn back…

MUTUPO Graphic Novel — **Available to order on Amazon USA**

TokyoPop is better known for their manga released, based on Japanese properties. And this month, they are changing things up by publishing material from Noir Caesar Entertainment to bring more representation to the mainstream. It all begins with the launch of the graphic novel titled MUTUPO. It’s based on various beliefs from the country of Zimbabwe and that’s enough to catch my interest!

This 162 page work (sans covers) introduces readers to Shingai, a reluctant hero, who kind of reminds me of Monkey King. Here, he gets caught up in a mysterious Fight Club of sorts. But here, these warriors can use augmentation to up their skills and it’s not through cyber implants!

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Taking Aim at NFTs in Futurama “The One Amigo”

Fans will be pleased Futurama has not lost any of its wit and satire in this latest release. And there’s more crazy stuff still to come on a weekly basis!

Airing Mondays on Hulu

These new episodes of Futurama are taking a deeper aim at today’s modern trends and I’m loving it! Not every season tends to be as this nasty, but when compared to the past, I’m glad what’s examined is technically reverent. This series has always been Matt Groening and David X. Cohen‘s way of critiquing what’s wrong with today’s ills, strange digital norms and everything else in between!

“The One Amigo” pokes at what Non-fungible tokens represent. And to make it all about Bender is hilariously perfect! Not only is this episode able to explain what they are to those who don’t understand tech, but also criticise for whether it’s even transferable.

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Taking A Quick Look at Fantasia’s Short Film Selection, 2024 Edition

What’s offered here is a brief taste of Fantasia’s Short Film programs. There’s 17 different collections that’s still continuing to play. They may well appear at your local film festival next!

Fantasia Film Festival 2024 - Fantasia's Short Film As Montreal’s most beloved genre film festival enters its last week of celebrating an eclectic range of genre cinema, Fantasia’s short film celebration will have me keeping an eye out on these up-and-coming talents! Although I didn’t view everything in this category, what I saw so far is a great way to see what may get dreamed up to become feature length works in the future!

These filmmakers have come up with some fairly cool concepts. The following reviews do not make up a top five list, but are a sampler of what is there. I’m thankful to those who provided me with a screener, and I wish them all the best.

The True Shape of a Daisy

George MacDonald‘s narrative, “The Day Boy and the Night Girl,” provides the foundation for the cinematic The True Shape of a Daisy, and I’m fairly sure no one has ever compiled this tale into a book. This short story is available online.

What’s presented is a faithful adaptation, where we meet a witch named Watho, who would shape Photogen and Nycteris’ environments. True to their namesakes, one would live in perpetual daylight and the other at night. They don’t get to meet until later, and in this anime, they don’t live in enormous rooms. Instead, they are from a world of contrasts. The girl is from a beautiful forest, and the boy lived most of his life in a dark dungeon.

As an anime by Naoki Arata, I hope what she produced is more than just a tease, but an examination of how opposites can get along.

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Oh My Heavens: The Boy And His Robot is set to Explode at Fantasia Fest 2024!

Despite being a very cliche-ridden plot, Heavens: The Boy and his Robot is fairly entertaining and worth the watch on the big screen.

Screening July 27, 2024 3:35 PM
Auditorium des diplômés de la SGWU (Théâtre Hall)

Singapore filmmaker Rich Ho has an idea, and that’s to create a franchise that is “Heavens” above all other giant robot films. In Japan, they’re known as mecha, and what I’m seeing in Heavens: The Boy And His Robot is a genuine love letter to the genre. After a very Transformers and Macross inspired introduction to explain how the Second Great War started, Kai (Jonathan See) becomes the focus of this tale. The boyish charm that this actor has sold the fact he’s a fish out of water. Or should I say he’s a small fry?

After his father died in a prior conflict, he’s anxious that his mother won’t come back either. She’s been called to duty, and even though his god parents raise him well, he still wishes mom to come home. Nothing is directly said if she’s dead or not, but I think she’s gone. Upon turning 18 years old, he wants to join the Mecha Corps with the goal of finding his parents. Instead of asking to join the science arm of this military group, he wants to be in the field.

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AstroNots is Ready to Launch at Fantasia Film Festival 2024! An Interview with Andrew Seaton and Matthew Samperi.

Presented with Pendant ce temps sur Terre
July 22, 2024 6:35 PM Auditorium des diplômés de la SGWU (Théâtre Hall)

Not to be confused with other movies bearing the same name, AstroNots is a hilarious Australian short film set to screen at Fantasia Film Festival 2024! Not only has it been screened at the Hollywood Comedy Shorts and Durban International Film Festival earlier this year, but also it got honourable mention at Inner West Film Fest. With this impressive list, director Andrew Seaton and cinematographer Matthew Samperi believe they got a hit.

What I enjoyed from this work is that it pays tribute to many fond sci-fi classics in subtle ways. And to learn more about what they have planned, I got to communicate with them:

For our readers unfamiliar with your work, can I please get an introduction?

MS: Andrew and I grew up together—our parents were friends before we were born. As teenagers, we loved making short films together as a creative pursuit and a way of gathering our school friends together for some fun. This fuelled our combined passion for filmmaking which lasted throughout high school and into our university years. Eventually, when our hobby started to become our profession, we started the company Mint Films together and have since grown it into one of Australia’s top commercial production companies. We produce both commercial and creative work, and over the coming years plan to push into the long form and narrative space.

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12 Hot Films to See at Fantasia Film Festival 2024

Fans of Fantasia Film Festival will also say their shorts, like Anime no Bento 2024, are not worth missing! They offer a celebration of the arts in ways not every film will explore!

Fantasia Film Festival 2024 Montreal City’s Fantasia Film Festival is the destination for all things wild in the pop culture movie scene. Although I love it because of all the Asian style imports, there’s always something unique from another country that’ll catch my interest.

Whether that’s with Les yeux d’Olga or Chainsaws Were Singing (Mootorsaed laulsid) due to what this work promises to entertain with, they help round out this top twelve must see picks! The former is a short which may borrow concepts from Bubba Ho-tep and the latter is a horror musical, a genre which doesn’t receive enough attention, and I hope both succeed!

Presented in alphabetical order are my top picks on what to go see:

Brush of the God (Kaminofude)

Brush of the God (Kaminofude) Sun July 28, 2024
Salle J.A. De Sève

Once a movie earns the label of a kaiju film, I’ll simply watch it, and here, it’s about a young girl who wants to know more about her late grandfather. He’s a model maker who’s worked in many monster movies, and as for how she gets teleported into the worlds that her grandpa made, well, that’s the mystery. I doubt this work will be like the Last Action Hero, but I’m very curious!

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