Coming Of Age Archives | Otaku No Culture

Missed Opportunities with Harold and the Purple Crayon. Can Replacing That With A 3D Pen Do The Job?

While one star can continue to charm in Harold and the Purple Crayon, is that enough to carry a film?

Available on VOD
Spoiler Alert

Zachary Levi may well be typecast, because the character he plays in Harold and the Purple Crayon is no different from Billy in Shazam. There’s a youthful exuberance that this actor loves to amp up, but I’d like to see him expand his range.

When I realised Alfred Molina is also involved in this film, I had to give this film a chance, and found myself enjoying this movie more because of his voice than Levi. He’s like that grandfather I want to spend my time with, but when his presence suddenly disappears, I’m like Harold and have to wonder why. After a few hours alone, he’s comes up with the idea to draw a portal to the real world with his magical crayon, where (like in Disney’s Enchanted) what he discovers is pure culture shock!

Everyone calls him a wacko, and even amusingly a Smurf. The only two people who are sympathetic are Mel (Benjamin Bottani) and Terry (Zooey Deschanel) to this child-like individual who needs to find “The Old Man,” the name he gave to the narrator.

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The Bonds Found in the “Spirit in the Blood” Are Far Stronger Than One May Think

When help is needed, perhaps it is best to turn to the Spirit in the Blood rather than relying on those “in the sky” for help.

Elevation Pictures
Coming to select theatres beginning Nov 1

Being a tween can be rough, and for Emerson (Summer H. Howell) to change schools, to go live in a rural community looks problematical if she’s not careful. When the movie is titled Spirit in the Blood and marketing suggests this film may be like Stephen King’s Carrie, I’m ready to see what can happen. That’s because the early moments of this film suggets she has precognitive abilities. As for whether than ca help save her, that’s a question I hope will get answered by the finale.

When not everyone in the small town of St. Belvedere do not take a liking to this new family moving in, I have to wonder what their problem is. Thankfully, attitudes change when the body of a lost child turns up, but is that enough? The idea developed and directed by Carly May Borgstrom suggests there’s a lot going on not only for this young girl, but also the family. However, when the mystery concerning why her parents want to relocate here isn’t fully answered, even I’m curious by the end of act one.

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Surviving The City Can Be Rough. In Volume 3: We Are the Medicine What’s Examined is Based on Real Life.

In this graphic novel series, Surviving the City, isn’t just about how one culture is dealing with colonialism, but rather with how many other lives can get affected at the same time.

HighWater Press
Spoiler Alert

Some knowledge of what the graphic novel series, Surviving the City, wants to educate is required to acknowledge what the latest instalment Volume 3: We Are Medicine, hopes to heal. Ever since the news about finding a mass grave of children near a former residential school in Kamloops broke out in 2021, there were a lot of protests and finger pointing. The world blamed people in prominent positions of power of the atrocity. Even now, the after-effects are still ongoing. Some reconciliation has happened since, but what’s presented here as fiction is coming true in the real world after reading “Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things ‘full circle’” from the Kelowna Capital News.

This story by Tasha Spillett (pictured above left) makes up the backdrop where Miikwan and Dez are thinking about their futures. This author/educator/public speaker strives for a world where multiculturalism is embraced and everyone is treated with compassion. It’s basically what Gene Roddenberry envisioned for Star Trek, and everything Sisko would fight for when he travelled back in time and became part of the protests for equal rights in “Past Tense, Parts One and Two (Deep Space 9).”

In this story, these youths want to make the world a better place. They will soon graduate, and instead of figuring out what to wear for their last prom, these two indigenous teens change their plans and want to help after this news broke out. These are wonderful kids. Even Dez, the protagonist from the first two books, gets involved! After her own dealings with “The System,” how she deals with authoritarianism is important too. Continue reading “Surviving The City Can Be Rough. In Volume 3: We Are the Medicine What’s Examined is Based on Real Life.”

[Fantasia 2024] In Sunburnt Unicorn, What is Alls Well Doesn’t Bode Well for Those Scared of the Future

The big question some people may have is with where in the world does the adventure in Sunburnt Unicorn takes place. It can be the Osoyoos here in British Columbia, or somewhere in Arizona–or could it be further?

Sunburnt Unicorn Movie Poster — **North American premiere at Fantasia Film Festival 2024**

Spoiler Alert

Frankie’s got a horn in Sunburnt Unicorn, and he doesn’t know how to use it. That’s because it may well be a car part embedded on his forehead after an accident has stranded him and his dad in a desert. As. for whether the fever dream that comes from being in the dry world for too long is real or not, I’m enjoying the concept! Here, the fauna identifies him as a saviour. Amusingly enough, I can imagine voice actress Diana Kaarina actually wearing a facsimile during recording.

This boy has issues. He’s not thrilled with the fact he’s going to a new school. Based on what I got from the argument they had preceding the crash, this lad was voicing his dissatisfaction. And with both their eyes off the road, just what he’s dealing with is a rather surreal parable concerning why it’s best not to behave; each talking critter he meets represents an aspect of himself, and what he learns to change his and their attitude makes for an interesting film.

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There’s No What IF, But Rather A Why It’s Best To Remain Forever Young

The best thing about IF is that it makes a lot of callbacks to familiar IPs without directly saying these imaginary friends are them.

Still playing at theatres and available on VOD

Unless the film buff hasn’t seen the promotional material for IF, not everyone will know it’s short for an imaginary friend. And just why they have this nickname is that once they’ve lost their way, their connection with the person who created him/her/it can threaten its existence, and that being will fade away.

Just why this matters in John Krasinski‘s delightful film is that it’s about how to remain true, but yet understand why facing adversity matters.

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Smells Like (Pre) Teen Angst in Inside Out 2. Looking at What’s New But Familiar in PIXAR’s Latest.

It’s rare to find a film that can be better than the original, and in what Inside Out 2 examines is how the Riley grows from being that quiet young girl to a confident woman.

Inside Out 2 Movie Poster Although nine years have passed since the first film, Inside Out 2 shows Riley (Kensington Tallman) only a year older, and needing to learn how to deal with the curveballs that having a social life throws at her! All those emotions awakened overnight after Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green) and Grace (Grace Lu) say they’ll be going to another high school than her. As a result, she’s concerned she may not have any more friends, because how they all met was when they showed compassion for the new kid.

In her mind, the headquarters where her individual emotions live gets rebuilt, and four new feelings join the team! They are Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Adèle Exarchopoulos). It’s not surprising these different groups don’t get along. Anxiety is the worst. This film shows how those what ifs manifest when uncertainty hides in every corner.

Continue reading “Smells Like (Pre) Teen Angst in Inside Out 2. Looking at What’s New But Familiar in PIXAR’s Latest.”