Tag Archives: CGI

[Fantasia 2019] It’s Not Quite Endless Love w/ White Snake

27 Jul

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Distributed by GKIDS

The latest animated film from China about the Legend of the White Snake is making its rounds at film festivals, like Fantasia 2019. As a prequel, the setup is simplified. White Snake (白蛇) defines Xiao Bai as the main character. Her story is familiar, and is no different in scope when compared to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet or even Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.

This computer animated work is very Disney-esque–complete with the prerequisite sidekick comic relief. When a medicine-man (not wanting to be a snake catcher) Xuan (Tianxiang Yang) rescues Bai (Zhang Zhe), her anmesia results in her having to figure out who she is. The story begins with us knowing that she is a spirit from the mountains–a white snake–attempting to attain that higher level of harmony (immortality, according to the subtitles–which makes little sense when spirits are technically very long-lived). However, a memory is holding her back and what she learns which makes up the film is one of sorrow and sacrifice.

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New Frozen 2 Trailer Goes North!

11 Jun

Frozen 2 Movie PosterBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

The new teaser trailer for Frozen 2 is exciting for the majesty invoked, and in what it’s telling, Elsa (Idina Menzel) magical powers may have come from other supernatural sources. Or, as the Northern setting suggests, could she be of the faerie folk? I’m only guessing here, but this new offering released today gives fans a lot of reasons to be excited about this film when it plays in theatres in November.

She’s backed by her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf the snowman (Josh Gad) and Sven the reindeer in a quest to save the kingdom. This time, it’s not from human invaders, but rather supernatural ones. Together, they have to go north perhaps to discover her true nature and find out what granted her these powers. Or was she born with it?

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It’s Alive! Fullmetal Alchemist is Alive on Netflix

28 Feb

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Watching a retread of a favourite anime as live action can be hit or miss. The earliest I have seen is Lone Wolf and Cub (1972) which introduced me to the genre. This series of films were awesome. The Guyver (1991) was cheesy and Space Battleship Yamato (2010) was one that barely worked. That piece was difficult to compress an epic story arc into one movie. Netflix’s version of Death Note (2017)  can not compare to the Japanese productions decades prior. It did not have enough meat. When considering the Japanese production of Fullmetal Alchemist is now on Netflix, to see this adaptation is a must.

I have read the first few books, and the tightened narrative and visual design had me captivated. With thanks to current CGI rendering technologies, Al simply looks fantastic. Not every bit of the digital action is top-notch. In later parts, when audiences are staring at armies of the undead, the realism takes a dive and I could swear I’m watching The Mummy Returns all over again.

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The Vintage Tempest’s Top Five CGI Films of 2014

30 Dec

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Plenty of computer animated films have graced 2014 around the world. From Asterix: The Land of the Gods to Postman Pat and even Tinkerbell & The Legend of the Never Beast, not everything will make the grade of being wildly successful. Some of these titles were direct-to-video releases and others saw a limited distribution. But when fans of this new cartoon animation medium are going to be picky, they will find certain animations will properly tug at the heart-strings and others will appeal to an all-ages crowd. There’s even a few that some will miss because it never made a North American Release until now. From an international perspective, presented are the top five films that are notable in no particular order:

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