Tag: Crime

When Sherlock Holmes Turns Hound (Again)

The bigger mystery concerning Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape lay in whether Hong Kong-based writer and directors Matthew Chow and Toe Yuen knew of the animated anthropomorphic take made many decades ago.

Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape DVD CaseShout! Factory
Available to order on Amazon USA or stream on YouTube or Google Play

Spoiler Alert

The bigger mystery concerning Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape lay in whether Hong Kong-based writer and directors Matthew Chow and Toe Yuen knew of the animated anthropomorphic take made many decades ago. Sherlock Hound featured everything I loved about this famous detective as a caring humanitarian. This series had a charm which I adored. The theme song from the localized French television broadcast had lyrics to which I still remember to this day.

It’s rare to transform the sleuth into a canine again, and I suspect Chow and Yuen knew what they were doing. They didn’t bank on everyone knowing the previous work. The character designs of other figures are similar enough, and what’s done art-wise was a change on costumes to avoid law-suits. Plus, a few moments may have been copied from the original. I’d have to search the episodes to verify, but I’m sure I saw this film’s bicycle chase before!

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“You Have My Word” Dark Horse Comics Will Continue Expanding Cyberpunk 2077

This world created by Michael Pondsmith for a role playing game is huge and there’s plenty of side-stories of life in Night City to tell in sequential art form. The medium is perfect since there’s a visual element which really must be seen.

Cyberpunk 2077By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Dark Horse Comics
Available now

Spoiler Alert

Cyberpunk 2077’s continuing comic book series, “You Have My Word,” has gone Hispanic in this second miniseries about life in Night City. This time, the setting is with how one particular gang is running business. To see that the Valentino’s are involved has me pulling out the Art of book from this publisher (review can be found here) to remind myself of what’s going on. The intro page has a lot to pack in. The art style from the team of Jesús Hérvas (artist) and Giulia Brusco (colourist) suggest something meso-American and ancient to come if the murals are telling.

Usually including old world folklore don’t always work with this genre. Anything mystical can be imagined through tech. All any creative hacker needs are devices to project hard light holograms to create whatever he or she imagines.

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Chino Moya’s Undergods Invades Theatres & VOD May 7th!

After a successful run at (virtual) film festivals, Undergods is now headed to theatres near you, and also arrive on VOD the same day.

Cyberpunk 2077By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Please check local listings for screenings near you.
Read our movie review here.

After a successful run at (virtual) film festivals, Undergods is now headed to theatres near you, and also arrive on VOD the same day.

This unique European work is certainly worth the look on the big screen to find what K (Johann Myers) and Z (Géza Röhrig) are trying to find amongst the misery, horror and sadness that is the human condition. Their dystopian future doesn’t have to be ours in the tales they tell each other to keep each other company. They are about the human condition in this science fiction and sometimes crime thriller. Continue reading “Chino Moya’s Undergods Invades Theatres & VOD May 7th!”

Who Minds the Master in Cerebrum?

Movie Reviews 101 | Daily Movie Reviews & ABC Film Challenge | Page 2By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available On Digital HD and
On Demand on May 4, 2021

The idea of transferring the memories to a machine or even to another host in a movie (or television) series is nothing new. The reasons to do so are many, and when the motivation is just, perhaps we may even have a curse for Alzheimer’s! If only the science was real. The movie Cerebrum by the talented Arvi Ragu is a very low-fi approach to examine the ramifications in a modern day setting.

The story is about Tom Davis (Christian James) attempting to reconnect with his estranged father, Kirk (excellently played by James Russo). Any technobabble is left to a minimum and I wished there was more since I’m all for various interpretations in how to preserve the soul (or one’s memories) after death.

This man’s mother died because of the aforementioned condition, and pops just didn’t know how to raise his son on his own. He’s a scientist. Due to the loss of his loved one, he’s tinkered around and may have found the means to save anyone’s memories to a machine. The technology isn’t perfect, and that’s where the son comes in. He comes home since he’s out of work, and volunteers to be a guinea pig. While he’s under the knife, so to speak, he awakens to find dad dead and another victim to which he has to prove his innocence!

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Shine On, Gattaca, You Crazy Diamond! (in a Rough)

Is this 4K edition worth the upgrade? If you don’t have the 2008 release and want the extras, buying the steel book edition (from after owning just the DVD) is a must for any science-fiction movie fan’s library.

Cyberpunk 2077
Available to preorder on Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Sony Entertainment

Release Date:
March 23, 2021

Andrew Nicol’s thought-provoking Gattaca is looking very shiny in its 4K upgrade. Fans of this film will find the Sony’s investment into smoothing out this classic movie–where perfection and subterfuge are central to the plot–a fitting call to the concept of cleaning up the flaws in the film stock.

This movie stands the test of time. It’s a gorgeous film which looks visually sharp on a 4K screen. The science of looking at original film negatives on a computer and the mathematical process involved to make this sleek and deadly thriller look pristine requires both machine logic and humans mutually agreeing which is better. Only the human eye can tell.

This film was shot in 35mm photochemical film stock. Any noticeable grain on the original or intentional use of soft imagery through the lens was light when looking back at my DVD. Also, it doesn’t help when my 4K television does its own upscaling to give a simulated higher resolution on the screener version I examined; a 2160p version wasn’t available at the time. Kudos must still be given to the team behind the colour grading fixes, though.

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On How It’s Best Not to Get Lost In “The Tangle”

This film is more of a detective story than a hard boiled crime investigation

Cyberpunk 2077By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Damn Warrior & SitkaBlu Productions

Available to rent/sell on www.nestofvampires.com.

Amazon Prime Watch party on Facebook
March 19, 2021 6pm PDT
(Not available on all countries)

Big Brother watches over everything, and records every action people do in The Tangle. Just how they manage to record everything is with nanotechnology and micro drones! This chilling world is a well crafted Orwellian style look at what could be in our reality, and thankfully the film by actor / filmmaker Christopher Soren Kelly in his directorial debut in a feature length work knows a few boundaries that should not be crossed… or does it?

That various technologies employed to keep track of people include S.O.L. (Secure OnTangle Line), a quantum encrypted hard drive implanted in the brain of many. The purpose for all this monitoring is to prevent people from committing murder. This is the future of Los Angeles after all. More people are able to live that life they want in a virtual world known as Xanadu.

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