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Straight up We’ll Climb in this GKIDS Rerelease of The Wind Rises

22 Sep

Watch it online or buy at Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Release Date:
Sept 22, 2020

The question of which North American Studio Ghibli home video release is worthwhile to own depends on how consistent the package design is between each distributor’s release. I tried to obtain all the region two releases but as home video player technologies changed, I adapted because I favoured high definition over a low fidelity DVD format.

The changeover of rights is not confusing. Disney got the license for certain films, and if the title was deemed “too adult,” it was a Touchstone Pictures release. Universal Pictures handled the non-Miyazaki products, and over time the Mouse conceded. GKIDs and Shout! Factory took over distribution. I’m at the point of filing away my cases and making a custom binder to store my many versions and not worrying about how my collection looks on the media shelf. With The Wind Rises now on Bluray, I can say my collection is more or less complete.

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[Vancouver, BC] The Walrus and the Whistleblower is Returning to the Rio!

18 Sep

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! 

Sept 20, 4:30pm

Playing at The Rio
1660 E Broadway

BC Health & Safety Protocols in place. You can buy your ticket in advance here.

Certain documentaries will always remain electrifying. When the topic concerns animal rescue, and saving marine mammals from their aquatic prisons, how can anyone not feel for their pain? Not everyone are activists from the get go but it is always good to learn about what is either socially or morally wrong and what kind of changes are needed.

The documentary The Walrus and the Whistleblower certainly made it mark, and it’s returning to The Rio in Vancouver, British Columbia for an encore performance!

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The Legend of Baron To’a is Returning to Ringside Soon!

16 Sep

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fantasia Film Festival 2020

Coming soon to:
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
October 15, 2020 at 12pm PT to 18th
Geolocked

For the latest screening updates, please visit TLoBT’s Facebook page.

The historical context nestled within The Legend of Baron To’a may well hide a deeper meaning. I found a lesson which speaks about early European-Tonga relations when New Zealand was being settled. No first encounter is ever perfect. This film’s introduction from two of the actors making an apology to the Royal Family and the Tonga suggests to viewers (who know the back history between these two nations) shouldn’t get offended in this satire.

Newcomers unfamiliar with this country will get an interpretation based on how a gang of ruffians can disrupt life in the suburbs. Thankfully, it only stretches a block or two. John Argall and Owen Black’s take had a context director Kiel McNaughton must have liked. When the Europeans first landed, the relationship between the Māori were largely amicable. But as land was sold and traded, tensions rose. Just how this relates to the Tonga isn’t fully clear, though it’s easy to assume Baron To’a’s name borrows from and plays with how to represent this sovereign nation.

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Video

Diving into Weathering With You’s Home Video Release!

14 Sep
Weathering With You Blu-Ray Case & How to Order

Regular and Steelbook limited edition available to preorder on Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Release Date:
September 15, 2020

Shout! Factory

The anime Weathering with You (天気の子) is more than just a movie about climate change. It’s also about relationships and how people handle crises. Here, Hodaka Morishima (Kotaro Daigo) is not happy with his life and runs away from home. He believes he can do better by himself in Tokyo. However, with no valid credentials, nobody will hire him.

A chance encounter with Hina Amano (Nana Mori) turns out to be the best thing to happen for the lad. The two develop feelings and pretty soon a lot of obstacles get in their way to happiness. One of them includes the fact both are orphans and it doesn’t take very long for social services to catch up to them!

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