Category: Movie Reviews

Going into the Matrix with Insurgent, A Movie Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Insurgent-officialposter2Newcomers to the Divergent series are best advised to see the first film before going to see Insurgent, the sequel of a four-part movie series. Although this young adult series is technically a trilogy, Summit Entertainment (one of the production companies involved) decided to split the last book up. The question of whether that’s just another money grab or not will depend on how well audiences are willing to put up with this constant separation of a final book into two films. This idea is wearing thin and I’m one person who is really tired of it.

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Harry Potter, Funk You Up!

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

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Everyone is jumping on the nostalgia bandwagon and that’s not a bad thing. Wether you are groovin’ to the 70’s disco-influenced song She Keeps Me Up by Nickelback or the pure 80’s funk of Mark Ronson‘s Uptown Funk featuring Bruno Mars, there is something for almost everyone to get down to.

Now even geeks, specifically the Potter fans, have a similar song they dance in their Hogwarts cloaks to. From KFaceTV — the people who brought you last year’s YouTube sensation Talk Nerdy To Me (original Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo) — comes Dark Lord Funk, a parody of Mark Ronson’s previously mentioned work.

The video has so far racked up over 450,000 views.

Looking at the Pieces that Make up CHAPPiE, a Review

Chappie Movie PosterThe difficulties that many audiences may have with Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie is quite simply that nobody knows what kind of story he’s intending to tell. Is it a story about a dysfunctional family coming together or is it a movie about a troubled world besieged by gangsters? The trailers suggest one idea but the movie reveals another. The mix of Robocop with Transcendence does not quite make for an understandable universe and to have the subplots running independently is most likely the issue here. Somehow, it all has to come together.

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Adele Blanc-Sec versus Indiana Jones, A Blu-Ray/DVD Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is a fun roving adventure featuring a very comely adventuress going up against a whole bevy of supernatural creatures. Some are helpful whereas others become a hindrance in her quest to find a cure for her twin sister, who suffers from quite literally a needle in her head. This pain caused her paralysis and ever since that accident, Adèle has taken care of her. Her love for her sibling is above all else, including their rivalry that most siblings have for attention as they grow up.

In a film originally released in 2010 in France, notice elsewhere around the world depended on whether readers of the comic book of the same name kept track of new developments that is still ongoing. Artist/writer Jacques Tardi created this seminal heroine back in 1976 where she dealt with not only the weird but also the what the hell?

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When Vampires Attack! What We Do in the Shadows, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

What_We_Do_in_the_Shadows_posterSpecial Screening
in Victoria, BC (Update)

Feb 27 – Mar 5th
The Odeon Theatre
780 Yates Street

The Vic Theatre

Modern life is very rough for the ancient vampire. In Wellington, New Zealand, just What We Do in the Shadows presents a comical look into what life is truly like for these creatures of the night in a more humanist kind of way. They allowed a small crew of cameramen to follow them around to record their antics and to see them acknowledged time to time gives this movie an air of authenticity that can be appreciated. When the film is presented as a mockumentary, the laughs are well earned, and some horror lore enthusiasts will recognize the world that these creatures, along with the werewolves and zombies, belong in.

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[VFF’15] Exploring China’s Super Boy Contest with I Am Here, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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4:00pm Feb 7
6:00pm Feb 15
The Vic Theatre

Super Boy or Happy Boy (快乐男声) is China’s answer to North American competition television shows like American Idol or Survivor. The cultural impact is huge because the program creates legions of fans pining for their favourite teenaged heart-throb to win, and the marketing potential is high — the winner gets a recording contract, has to tour and generate revenue for the Hunan Satellite Television Network, the broadcaster of this program.

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