Tag: Based On Book

When Crazy Rich Asians is All About A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Crazy Rich Asians Movie PosterSpoiler Alert

Not every Asian is that rich, and nor are they members of the social elite. In Kevin Kwan‘s novel, Crazy Rich Asians, he is out to satirize that culture. The film of the same name certainly glamorizes what is, and how filthy, stinking rich some can become when they come into positions of power. When they are well connected, these people can advance far, and these nuances show up in the book trilogy. When they do not, just where they sit in this chaste society can either be in the lower echelons or high up.

Ultimately, this movie is more of a romantic comedy than a send-up of a who’s who of Singapore. The cultural notes are well placed and they offer nothing new to those who have studied this region. With the soundtrack, I believe it’s a foregone conclusion that in entertainment, the same old set of tunes are used over and over again instead of producers offering new scores to use. I recognized most of the tunes as I regularly heard them in my household back in the day. The fact they are still popular is scary!

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Bringing Ethel and Ernest to Animated Life, A Movie Review

Despite having some dark overtones in Ernest’s socialist ideals and we have to watch the inevitable (their death) unfold, this movie is one I wish to examine further with a fine tooth comb.

Ethel and ErnestBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Ethel and Ernest (voiced by Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn) is a very nostalgic and sentimental animated film about these two individuals. It has an illustrative style reminiscent of Tintin. Based on the graphic novel of the same name written and illustrated by Raymond Briggs, this product certainly brings to life the ragtime era of Edwardian London in its opening act. Technically, the year is 1928 and all of this era’s sublime and romantic nature is the highlight. The music is recreated in its vintage glory and it steals the show. I was happily humming along.

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On Netflix, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan and Jane is Just Another Spider-Man

Tarzan and Jane has a very good serialized story to bring pulp style adventure to a new generation of youths growing up on Netflix instead of Disney.

netflix-tarzan-and-janeBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Arad Animation, 41 Entertainment and Arc Productions are behind the latest animated adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ heroic couple. Tarzan and Jane has a very good serialized story to bring pulp style adventure to a new generation of youths growing up on Netflix instead of Disney. I enjoyed Disney’s take from 2001-03. It was more of a comedy than tales taken from the original author’s work. This latest version is no different.

Avi Arad is producing this latest venture, and his influence upon the production can be felt. He is better known for overseeing Marvel Studios many animated productions like Spider-man up until 2006 (he resigned and formed his own company) and the style is still there. Instead of swinging through a concrete city on threads of a spider and saving people from crime, this jungle hero uses vines and has illegal animal traders. From a creation episode to explain Tarzan’s supernatural origins to establishing Jane as an equal than love interest, this new animated version has enough to like for the messages it conveys, but you just have to weed through the action to find it. The theme of animal conservation is important because animals do not deserve to be put into private zoos.

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A Street Cat Named Bob, Coming to VOD this week and Animation News

Based on the book of the same name, A Street Cat Named Bob is a very feline film for those looking for inspiration.

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

VOD Release Date: January 17, 2017

Spoiler Alert

Based on the book of the same name, A Street Cat Named Bob is a very feline film for those looking for inspiration. When James Bowen (Luke Treadaway) is a struggling street musician with a history of drug abuse, his life takes a turn for the worse when a buddy convinces him to take a shot, and he overdoses. A support worker Val (Joanne Froggatt) thinks he can do better. She helps him at attaining proper shelter and when a ginger tom breaks in to his flat, life makes a turn for the better for both. Bowen saves the kitty because he finds a leg infection, and in recognition, the two forge a bond that’s far too cute. Some observers may say he’s become this man’s muse. Nothing has changed in the music he plays, but the way the cat is so patient around him has me thinking Bob is Bowen’s guardian angel.

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Kevin Brooks’ Teen Thriller ‘iBoy’ Gets Netflix Upgrade

bill-millner-iboyBy James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Kevin Brooks’ teen thriller book published in 2010 about a boy who gains superpowers after a head collision with his mobile phone is getting the Netflix movie treatment. Starring Bill Milner (Anthropoid) as Tom Harvey and Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) as Lucy, the film deals with the everyday life of inner-city Londoners whose encounters with gangs and their drugs is the norm. Tom who is eking out an existence in one such neighbourhood becomes just another statistic after his mate (friend) Lucy is assaulted by a group of thugs. Waking up from a coma, Tom’s discovered parts of his phone have become embedded into his brain. But Tom’s narrow escape gains him more than his life, it’s gained him new-found powers too. With these abilities Tom is out for justice for what was done to Lucy.

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A Monster Calls. Honouring Fairy Traditions and Keeping the Scares Light

A Monster Calls is a powerfully moving film about young Conor (spectacularly played by Lewis MacDougall) struggling to come to terms with the world around him.

A Monster Calls

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

A Monster Calls is a powerfully moving film about young Conor (spectacularly played by Lewis MacDougall) struggling to come to terms with the world around him. He is isolated. His mother Lizzie (Felicity Jones) is suffering from a terminal illness, his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) is stern, he is bullied at school and he wants to be closer to his father. In the latter, there’s distance between them. His parents divorced when he was young and the split was not without causing some rifts. This story is not as developed as the other three. The demons the boy faces manifest as a yew tree (menacingly voiced by Liam Neeson) who visits him nearly every night at 12:07 am.

This walking behemoth offers him three stories, and there’s a riddle in the parable that Conor never quite figures out. Technically, this creature is this lad’s imaginary friend, and to figure out how he can help is buried in the analogies of the animated tales that make up part of this story. Just how he comes to figure them out requires a stretch of the imagination, or realizing that we are living in a fairy tale world. In this realm, true to Welsh tradition, these mystical figures are portrayed in shades of grey than individuals who are either naughty or nice. The tales Conor hears is supposed to impart a lesson, but the question of whether his experience with the tree spirit is real or not is up to how he sees the world.

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