Looking Back with Candice Woodward & Realizing Toy Store Time Machine

12 Jan

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available on Amazon USA, Google Books and at the store, Cherry Bomb Toys.

Toys not only fuel but also power the imagination. Candice Woodward’s debut children’s book, Toy Store Time Machine: Robots in Peril, shows how important they are to any child’s growth and how this philosophy matters. Not only does it teach good wholesome values but also it’s a fun read! She’s the second in her family who’s now published. Her sister, Olivia, has her own dark fantasy series. Getting recognized in the competitive market of children’s literature is difficult, and while she did try with major publishers, this new author realized self-publishing with Balboa Press is the best way to get her ideas out.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

A Cold, Terrible World is Hidden at the Mountains of Madness Vol 2 & What’s Next?

10 Jan
mountains of madness manga

Buy volume one and two
on Amazon USA.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Gou Tanabe‘s adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness certainly delivers winter chills and shows this seemingly unadaptable work of HP Lovecraft can be tweaked for any cross media presentation. All it needs is some kind of resolution instead of a terrible revelation at the end.

Anyone who knows the original story will recall Danforth losing his sanity after seeing a Great Old One rise from the destruction. In what’s key to making that moment work is will this artist attempt to draw this cosmic entity? I won’t spoil what he sees. Instead, I can certainly say the city the Elder Things built may be gone for now, but I feel it also exists in an alternate dimension where Clive Barker’s most hailed creation (the Cenobites) lives!

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , ,

Is it The Finale for the Ip Man franchise?

8 Jan

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Playing in select theatres across North America

Spoiler Alert

Distributed by WELL GO USA

Twelve years is not much of a wait to see Ip Man: The Finale. Thankfully, it’s shorter than following the saga of the Skywalkers in Star Wars, but that’s besides the point! Donnie Yen plays the seminal master of a style of Kung Fu known as Wing Chun. Unnecessarily aggression (charging at your foes) is not part of the way. Those who practice any style of martial arts knows it’s more about defence than outright aggression.

Ip Man is introspective. An Asian chivalric code exists. While we don’t know all the rules, those who are indoctrinated knows them and respects it—even when Ip Man has to fight with one hand. The battles he faces are often not by his choice. It’s to defend honour. Challenges are normal between schools to see who is the ultimate fighter, and usually it does not mean ending an opponent’s life.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , ,

A Look Back & What’s Next for The Loud House & Casagrandes Continuing January!

8 Jan
Image result for the loud house poster

Available to stream on Amazon Prime USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fans of The Loud House will be glad to know the next new set of episodes will begin late January. This series is one of those guilty pleasures to enjoy watching late at night. The Casagrandes is a spin-off that’s showing a lot of promise and both will continue month and I can’t wait! Loud House has new episodes starting Jan 25th and Casagrandes on Jan 11th. As much as I hoped for Nickelodeon to offer a holiday special, it did not happen.

Both grew on me as I regularly have YTV playing in the background late at night and this two-hour block helped those long nights feel shorter. Both series offer better humour and is a better take on examining having a large family than the Cheaper by the Dozen. Here, Lincoln is a 10-year-old boy with a lot to figure out in a household with ten sisters. My favourite episodes are those where he has one of three people to turn to for “manly” advice. There’s his father, best friend Clyde (who is the adopted son of an interracial gay married couple) and “Pop Pop” (the grandfather).

Having John DiMaggio around as Bud, the grouchy neighbour is just perfect. He’s not really like a second grandparent, but the holiday episode explaining why he is always grouchy is the closest thing we can have to a How I saved the Grinch episode. Although typecast (he was Bender from Futurama), I’m loving it!

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →