Tag Archives: Documentary

The Power of Grayskull Hits Home Video Sept 3rd! & Other News

20 Aug

Image result for the power of grayskullAvailable on Netflix
Coming to home video, DVD on Sept 3
High Octane Pictures

When Masters of the Universe is looking like the reboot movie to keep an eye on, perhaps it’s time to revisit the merchandise that inspired it. Mattel once lamented over the missed opportunity when an offer crossed the desk of then CEO Roy Wagner to produce Star Wars toys. After seeing how successful that went, they missed the boat. The race was on by many toy manufacturers to produce the next big thing. Sadly, that meant licensing nearly every fantasy or sci-fi movies made under the sun in that quest to find El Dorado. Thankfully, a few creative minds got the right idea, but to maintain the fan base has been a struggle.

The conflict has always been with having associated media to keep interest alive. Randall Lobb and Robert McCallum‘s documentary, THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe explores the hurdles involved over the years in why this franchise is still reverent. According to a few chiefs at Toys r Us back then, 5-year-olds don’t read comic books. Mattel’s answer was to make a TV show.

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Star Trek DS9: What We Left Behind Lands on Home Video!

6 Aug

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Release Date: August 6, 2019
Distributor: Shout! Factory

* Spoiler Alert

Special Offer: The special edition contains a second Blu-Ray disc with additional material, and is limited to 1,500 copies. It is only available on ShoutFactory.com

The regular home video release of the documentary Star Trek DS9: What We Left Behind includes what’s left on the cutting room floor to make this look back of this series perfect. Usually the amount of clips offered may reach up to six, and sometimes a dozen. I was dumbfounded to find 17 in all! And one of them addressed my most favourite episode, “Take Me Out to the Holosuite.” The set up at the end credits explains it all. I highly recommend watching this work completely to the end.

Not everyone will have seen this work at its limited cinema and convention screenings. When I first heard of it, I did not have the spare funds to support the Indiegogo campaign. For those who did, a bevy of exclusive material can be found in the video vault on the official website.

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[Fantasia 2019] Making that Steampunk Connection with the Everyday

2 Aug

steampunkBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

To find upcoming showtimes, please visit the official website here.

Steampunk may simply be characterized as Victorian age sensibilities with technology powered by steam, but there’s more to it than just that. The literary worlds of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells are just one example of what this genre represents. Another is in how it invites the imagination to ponder alternate possibilities if western civilization went a different way.

The documentary, Steampunk Connection, made its world premiere at Fantasia Fest 2019 on August 1st, 2019 and it describes this genre as a fictitious, futuristic trope that gives us the means to question today’s technological revolution by comparing it to an obsolete technology of a bygone era.

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This Little Light of Mine is on a Free Trip to Egypt

29 Jul

Playing at The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas St,
Victoria, BC 

Runs till Aug 1st, 2019

For showtimes and online ticket purchases, please click here.
Please check local listings for a screening near you.

I will gladly accept a Free Trip to Egypt. Had I learned about Tarek Mounib‘s mission to reverse the xenophobia and reveal the true side of this country, I’ll be there in an instant! I want to take in the ancient wonders of the world and experience the culture as it is now. People forget that the Egypt we know of today differs from the one from the antiquities. They were occupied by at least five other nations when the pharaonic world was fading. My assumption is that some stayed and became citizens. The creative mind behind this project comes from a blended society. Given how old this country is, the mix of Greco, French, Roman, Nubian, Ottoman, and Arab in some bloodlines is no surprise.

Mounib is a Canadian-Egyptian entrepreneur living in Switzerland. In response to increasing levels of xenophobia and portrayal of the predominately Arab world on broadcast media, he reached out to people who fear his culture. Some reactions are straight out of what one would expect in buying into the (sic WW2 era) propaganda and others with trepidation. With those that he found, five people in total, they got an eye-opening trip.

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