Category: Movie Reviews

[Vancouver, BC] Samuel Beckett’s Foray With “Notfilm” Screening

notfilm-md-webBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Plays at
The Cinematheque
200 – 1131 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC

Thursday, October 27, 2016 – 7:00pm
Tuesday, November 1, 2016 – 7:00pm
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 – 7:00pm

Writer Samuel Beckett is one of those special talents whose works helped influence several generations. As a playwright, theatre director and poet, the material he penned paved the way for Critic Martin Esslin to coin the term, “Theatre of the Absurd.” This categorization of works shows mankind’s reaction to a world that seems to have no meaning. Either he or she is a puppet controlled or manipulated by outside forces. To see this style get represented in cinema requires a person of vision to explore Beckett’s foray into film. The aptly titled documentary Notfilm by director Ross Lipman will be the spotlight starting this Thursday at The Cinematheque in Vancouver, BC.

The product Beckett made, Film is considered by cinema buffs to be an “interesting failure.”

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Swimming to the Mainland for Studio Ghibli’s The Red Turtle

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

When I heard The Red Turtle, a collaborative work between Studio Ghibli, Wild Bunch (distributing) and Michaël Dudok de Wit, is making its rounds at special screenings, I knew I had to jump at the chance to see it as soon as it arrived in North America. Flying to Japan or Toronto was sadly out of the question due to budget, but as soon as I saw that it was playing at the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival, I wanted to hop a ride on a whale to the mainland as soon as my schedule allowed. In the Pacific Northwest, orcas are representative to the region and I do not think one would kindly take to riding her back to English Bay / Vancouver Harbour just for this film. The same might be said for this film’s protagonist when considering his first encounters with the reptile, and he got off lucky!

With this movie, I find Hayao Miyazaki never fails to astound his fans in the talents he recognizes as masters of their craft. After he stated, “All I did was announce that I would be retiring and not making any more features,” in a report by LA Times, he would still be influential in the future of the company he helped co-found. His son Gorō is involved in other co-productions with various studios and Isao Takahata helped with the artistic development of this Dutch animator / director feature-length film debut.

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Count Wind Up’s 13 Coffin Hits for the Living Impaired

James Shaw (The Wind Up Geek)By James Robert Shaw (The Wind Up Geek)

When it comes to Halloween music, I prefer the old and creepy over the new and scary (I’m still wondering whatever happened to the Transylvania Twist). And though my music picks may not be as eclectic as my writing partner’s (which is coming up), there are still some who consider I have good taste in both music and blood type.

Try as I might, narrowing this list down to just 13 ghoulish songs was an extremely difficult task. There are so many artists living, dead and undecided who deserve mention and praise. Perhaps next year I will expand on this list. For now, lay back in your coffin, cross your hands over your chest and listen to Count Wind Up’s 13 songs, guaranteed to bring a little flesh tone to your skin.

“Bogey Wail” – Jack Hylton (1929)

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13

Searching for Howard Lovecraft in the Frozen Kingdom instead of “and” …

frozen_kingdom_blue-ray_coverBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

If the movie Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom (HPL&FK) has not crawled into your collection, perhaps the wait for all the movies that makes up this trilogy will be more worthwhile. Although I’m not chill with the wait, to see how the story introduced in Frozen Kingdom coalesce is what makes me interested. This computer-animated film is the first act to a grander story and it certainly feels like it. As for where the other two parts will go, Howie has a long journey ahead of him.

Last year, Shout! Factory announced obtaining the North American rights to Arcana Studios‘ upcoming movie. This comic book company has an entertainment subdivision to translate their printed products to cinema and this title is not their first. They produced The Clockwork Girl (2014, still awaiting a proper video release) and Pixies (2015).

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Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four Comes to DVD & VOD

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The filmmakers and performers involved in Roger Corman’s ill-fated Fantastic Four can laugh now, but back when it was being made, movie-making was serious business. Their look back at what this film meant to them gives more than an insightful look at Doomed! The Untold Story. This product is going to let it all out, plastic wrap included, about what went on before, during and after the making of the ill-fated project. This documentary is set for release on VOD October 10th and put to DVD for Dec 20th release.

This movie was shelved, never to be seen, and the negative was transferred to some other rights holder – to which Corman let go without too much dispute. If anyone can watch it, only work prints and teases of this cheesy production could be found before the age of the Internet. Anyone enterprising enough can attempt an exhaustive search for a digital bootleg or simply go to a convention to snap up a DVD, but does anyone want to?

Now that comic book movies are in demand, explanations are offered as to why it never got the theatrical treatment. Allusions are made to say the producers were simply holding on to the paperwork required to bank a bigger paycheck.

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