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What Does Warner Bros’ Storks Intend to Deliver?

storks-poster By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Mild Spoiler Alert

Warner Bros. animated film Storks does not quite deliver the goods — not the babies as they used to do in the past — just right. There’s a bit of an in-joke with how Cornerstore (i.e. Amazon) is the one and only place to order all goods and it will be sent to your home on time, every time (and returns are just as fast) which I like, but for the average viewer, the narratives flies in your face and fast. There are two tales in this film, and while they run parallel to come together by the finale, just which story is more important feels muddled.

On one side of the coin is a story that seems more fitting for an Angry Birds movie; Junior (Andy Samberg) is a top delivery bird about to get a promotion, but he has to fire the only human Tulip (Katie Crown) living with this flock who never found her parents because of a mess-up in the past. The device containing the information of her forever home is lost.

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Travelling The “Long Way North” To Find That Starshine, A Movie Review

1227352_long-way-north By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Releasing in U.S. cinemas (French & English tracks) — LA and NYC, Friday Sept 30

Venues include Village East (New York), and Laemmle Playhouse 7, Laemmle Monica, University Irvine (Los Angeles)

The animated movie Long Way North is a tonally sombre tale where Sacha (voiced by Chloé Dunn) is seeking freedom from the Russian aristocracy she hails from. Her grandfather Oloukine is missing. He’s a renowned explorer seeking to conquer the North pole, and everybody assumes he’s dead. The ship he captains, the Davai, is lost at sea. Fortunately, for audiences in America, this epic film can be found premiering September 30th in the USA, with more dates to come across this country and perhaps also heading north into Canada too.

Shout! Factory is handling the distribution of the English dub, and I’m looking forward to set sail south to catch it on the big screen where it truly needs to be experienced. Failing that, I’m hopeful a video release will be coming mid next year, when I suspect it will come out.

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A NFB Spotlight at the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival

it9e4l8l_400x400 By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The National Film Board of Canada is coming to the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) with hometown premieres and three fantastic animated short-length movies which explore the human condition.

Ann Marie Fleming’s Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming is going to be the highlight. This feature animation is about the love of family, poetry and history. There’s a blend of Asian and Middle Eastern character designs in this product which offers great contrasts. When the heroine has over-protective Chinese grandparents concerned about her well-being, who is in the right? Will cultures clash? The style looks very colourful and wonderful, and a preview will hopefully be coming soon here at Otakunoculture.com

The voice talents in this film include Sandra Oh, Ellen Page, Don McKellar, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Nancy Kwan.

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Is it the Wild Life in this CGI Take on Robinson Crusoe?

large_robinson_crusoe_ver2

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Don’t ask me why, but after seeing The Wild Life, a computer animated spin on the Robinson Crusoe legend, I now have the Talking Heads‘ 1986 hit song stuck in my head. This band’s track expounds a different kind of adventure of a human sexual variety while the theatrical film takes its inspiration from Madagascar.

One question pops up though: just how the heck did Mak the parrot, Rosie the warthog, Carmello the chameleon, Pango the pangolin, Epi the echidna, Scrubby the goat and Kiki the kingfisher end up on a desolate and mostly rocky island in the middle of nowhere anyways? My guess is that they got washed up after some storm picked them up from their natural habitats and forced them here. They more or less live a contented life until a human comes ashore.

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Ed’s Top 10 Picks In Honour of Star Trek at 50 Years

There’s plenty of product to enjoy when considering all the television broadcasts and novels that’s been put out there. We consider the best of Star Trek at 50 years.

September 8 marks the official date Star Trek came on the air for three years of this original series’ five-year mission. To look at Star Trek at 50 years, we now have various ways to admire the frontiers it has conquered.

Soon, there will be a new series, titled Star Trek: Discovery, which will become available on CBS All Access and other networks around the world. Comics and books are already being planned to expand upon this prequel series. Everyone will be excited and some of us will ask if it will be faithful to creator Gene Roddenberry‘s vision? According to StarTrek.com, yes! Older fans will be thrilled and for a new generation, they get a taste of what made this universe great! To get bold new adventures “on television” after a decade-long absence will be particularly thrilling.

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Soccer Fans in Canada Can Rejoice to the Video Release of Underdogs

Underdogs_2013_animated_film_poster By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Underappreciated in North America but loved elsewhere, Underdogs is a fun computer animated adventure about, what else, the little guy getting the love that he and his friends richly deserves. This tale has a lot of similarity to DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story and if I have to choose which is better, my vote is for the former. In theory, various video releases have been available for a while now, but when looking at release schedules, it’s been pushed back or is not fully out in North America. It’s available through Anchor Bay in the States, and in Canada, according to Tribute.ca, it’s set to hit shelves September 6, 2016 and the long wait is finally over. This movie originally released in 2013 in Argentina. It’s Spanish title is Metegol.

Many releases have come out since then, including a UK one, and to finally get a local release is welcomed. While many a name is changed, no further edits is implied. Amadeo is now Jake, and his love for foozball sets up a bigger game, football (soccer). His rival, Grosso (Ace) returns to their little hometown to take over. When they were kids, these two did not quite see eye-to-eye; one went on to greater things (to become a champion) and the other remained and his life went nowhere (Amadeo). Their dispute happened over a simple game of foosball, and Grosso’s desire for revenge shows how inflated his ego is. Even though he’s loved by the media, there’s a darker desire which shows how ugly he truly is. Some of that still gets conveyed in the translation, but there’s a nuance which always gets lost in the voice direction.

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