Category: Home Entertainment

How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero: An Analysis and Book Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

images-1

The last four novels in the How to Train Your Dragon series may well form a tetralogy. Although the last volume is not being penned yet, the second to last volume, How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero is proving to be the turning point of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III’s final adventure.

Cressida Cowell has crafted a fun and exciting world that ranks right up there with Harry Potter. When nothing new will be coming for the magical realm anytime soon, readers can enjoy the fascinating world of dragons that this author has crafted.

From book one to number eleven, readers get introduced to a wide menagerie of beasts. But for the story, everyone knows Hiccup will be King. He says so in the first volume. But to see how he became king, that’s part of the ride readers will enjoy discovering in his journey to become a respected leader.

Continue reading “How to Betray a Dragon’s Hero: An Analysis and Book Review”

Blast to the Past with An Adventure in Time & Space, A Review!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Poster

* Spoiler alert

Not every new fan of Doctor Who will know the full story behind the creation of popular culture’s greatest icon from Great Britain. Thankfully, the BBC has taken it upon themselves to create An Adventure in Space and Time to look at the years when this series became a success in a somewhat historical but yet fictional form. In the final day leading up to the 50th Anniversary special, this fascinating docu-drama will get further broadcasts throughout the world as it looks at how the series started.

But this movie also chronicles Verity Lambert’s (Jessica Raine) rise to being a prominent creative force behind the scenes. She helped William Hartnell (excellently played by David Bradley) become an enduring figure that later actors could not even come close to mimicking. Try as these actors might, the goal is to not be what the First Doctor or Bill represented. Instead, it was to make the Doctor Who character their own so that each’s actor’s contribution will be remembered.

Continue reading “Blast to the Past with An Adventure in Time & Space, A Review!”

Qualicum’s Three Hour Tour

To be honest it’s really a two-hour stay. And Dawn Wells best known and loved for portraying Mary Ann Summers from 1960s TV series Gilligan’s Island will be spending those two hours (4 – 6 pm) meeting fans at Qualicum Foods as part of their annual Customer Appreciation Day.

Continue reading “Qualicum’s Three Hour Tour”

Sony’s PS4. On The Bard vs Next Generation Gaming

Sony’s PS4 has some impressive specs and interesting features like using an iPad for a second screen, but that’s not enough to convince me to own a unit yet.

William Shakespeare
“To PS4 or not to Xbox, that is the question:
Whether ’tis better, another console in mind —
Nay a Nintendo. Forsooth a PC?
All be it in gravitas for what
Divine Janus may offer in the New Year.”

— Ed “The Vintage Tempest” Sum

Sony’s PS4 has some impressive specs and interesting features like using an iPad for a second screen, but that’s not enough to convince me to own a unit. Even as they’re planning yet another unit–which is years away–I’m not entirely convinced to buy any new gaming device the first year of its release. When looking at Microsoft’s, Xbox One–which has an improved Kinect–I’m not convinced.

The videos of various games demos for both look great in high-def, but the list of games available during launch week are scant. They are not as wide and varied as I hoped.

The current line of exclusives are not all that interesting, and there will no doubt be some hardware and software kinks that need to be ironed out. There were reports over the weekend about the PS4’s ‘blue light of death,’ an analogy that brings to mind Microsoft’s infamous ‘red ring of death’ back when the Xbox 360 released. At least .4% of the people who bought the system were affected. I suspect the figure is larger but when considering the number of units that flew off the shelves in stores on launch day. That is not a good start.

Continue reading “Sony’s PS4. On The Bard vs Next Generation Gaming”

“The Night of the Doctor” Release by BBC Fills in the Gaps

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

DoctorwhoDoctor Who fans may not want all the answers now, but today BBC has released a short mini-episode, “The Night of the Doctor” which answers one huge question concerning The Doctor’s 8th incarnation — Paul McGann — role in the grand scheme of things. He’s part of the canon despite having only one movie made featuring him and many audio radio plays created by Big Finish. But there’s more to him than the meets the eye. His importance comes into play in this short.

As for how he fits between the “Americanization” of the product to its eventual “reboot” with Christopher Eccleston leading the way, or rather always on the run — that needs to be addressed.

I’ve always followed the principle of Occam’s razor and since this video’s release is official, all I can really say is that I knew it. I even wrote about it, by saying ‘All those dark impulses that makes up the Doctor’s psyche will have to resurface at some point.’

And it makes for anticipation of “The Day of the Doctor” all the more exciting. Fans can check this Doctor Who mini-episode out:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U3jrS-uhuo&w=560&h=315]

 

Note: Readers can also review James’ article “John Hurt Is the Eighth Doctor?” and see that his prediction was also correct.

Is Temple Run “Doomed?”

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Geek)

images

Yes, the inevitable had to happen. Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Warner Bros is in negotiations to bring the video game, Temple Run by Imangi Studios to the big screen with David Heymen, the producer of the Harry Potter series, on board. He can no doubt churn a fun product, but a better question is why this game?

Are audiences starving for some kind of Indiana Jones style action that will wash away memories of the fourth film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? As fans will recall, the first ten or so minutes in Raiders of the Lost Ark made for one great introduction of the world’s luckiest archaeologist, Indiana Jones. He grabs a golden idol from some forgotten tribe and before he knows it, he triggers a trap. Poisonous darts spring from out of nowhere as he races away. Indy has to leap a chasm and dodge a spear trap. But much to his chagrin, can he escape the massive ball of stone that’s tumbling in his direction?

Continue reading “Is Temple Run “Doomed?””