Drama Archives | Otaku No Culture

Ed’s Picks of the 2017 Vancouver Fringe Festival

Vancouver Fringe Festival

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

When frequent Fringe theatre attendees can not get enough from one festival, thankfully those living in the Pacific Northwest can hop a ferry over to continue the fun. A few days is definitely needed to rest (thank god for Labour Day) to rest up before going from Victoria to Vancouver, British Columbia, performers included. This mainland side show starts September 7th and lasts for the same amount of days as the capital city.

Now if I can convince a relative to let me crash there for a week, the following are my picks of this show I feel are must see. I’m not repeating those I have seen already. You can click on this link to see my picks from the Victoria show — most of which are appearing in Vancouver.

Please click on the show titles for the show dates and to purchase tickets.

Vancouver Fringe Festival SWORDPLAY: A PLAY OF SWORDS

Chandelier-swinging, dastardly schemes and swordfights, swordfights, swordfights await as Sex T-Rex bring their signature cinematic style to the stage, dancing from The Princess Bride, to Final Fantasy, to Game of Thrones and dipping their rapier wit into all things sordid and sworded.

Pages: 12345678910

Looking Closer at In This Corner of the World & Its Canadian Release

corner-of-world-poster By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

To my knowledge, few Japanese animated movies exist which looks at a part of history from World War II with a perspective not overdone. Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies is the granddaddy of the genre because it’s so depressingly sad, and Barefoot Gen somewhere on the vein of being positive while it looks at the aftermath. With In This Corner of the World (この世界の片隅に), the point of view is from innocent bystanders. The atomic destruction of Hiroshima has not happened yet. This particular fact is not dwelled upon. Nobody is aware except for the viewer. Most of the characters are blissfully unaware.

This film looks at the life of an idyllic young girl, Suzu (Rena Nōnen), living her life through a veil. She wants to be an artist and she describes herself as a daydreamer. A significant part of her life is portrayed and it has a Studio Ghibli like quality during this innocent time. This fact is of no surprise as Director Sunao Katabuchi worked on Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Continue reading “Looking Closer at In This Corner of the World & Its Canadian Release”

Lady Bloodfight Spars Into Theaters May 5th!

Lady Bloodfight Poster

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Lady Bloodfight is finally getting an American release and fans of Bloodsport, its spiritual predecessor, can finally see what the fuss is about. This film is due out in select outlets in North America beginning May 5th and the R rating is earned for the bloodshed found in this movie moreso than the obligatory locker room scowls and hisses. They easily could have been left out without disrupting the film, but this detail is expected when you have men producing the film. While the fights do not hit the same tones as Van Damme’s voraciousness on the mat, the narrative tone is similar to what World Wrestling Entertainment pumps out on a weekly basis. There’s plenty of secondary plots, backstabbing and bets going on.

Fans of martial arts fighting video games will find a bit of familiarity in the screenplay by writers Bey Logan and Judd Bloch. This movie has the feel of DOA: Dead or Alive than Street Fighter — including the obligatory Russian — and although the locales are never exotic, the rooftop battles and fights by the seaside suggests that if only this movie had a bigger budget, the producers would love to go all out and travel part of Polynesia.

Continue reading “Lady Bloodfight Spars Into Theaters May 5th!”

Getting “The Last Word” Out Can Be Tough, A Movie Review

lastword

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Life is not always a bed of roses for three generations of unlikely individuals coming together in The Last Word. Here, this film shows not everyone finds happiness (the lead looks like she has a very lonely life), other folks may well feel stuck in what to do with the rest of their lives because of a dead end job and for the kids, the growing pains are varied. This movie written by Stuart Ross Fink and directed by Mark Pellington explores possible reasons for why some people you meet in life are the way they are.

Octogenarian Harriet Lauler (perfectly played by Shirley MacLaine) is cantankerous and ill-tempered. Just how she survived in a man’s world is because she was willing to burn bridges and fight against the norm (in the 40’s and 50’s) in order to succeed in the business world. Her controlling nature earned her a reputation, and when she realizes she’s at her twilight, something has to change. After reading a death notice in a newspaper, she visits the office and recruits a 20-something writer Anne Sherman (Amanda Seyfried) to pen her obituary. Her job at the newspaper is not a glorious one, but as a droll obit writer, it pays the bills. Lauler wants to be positively remembered and Sherman has her work cut out for her.

Continue reading “Getting “The Last Word” Out Can Be Tough, A Movie Review”

[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] The Lexicon of the Brothers Grimm is Fully Explored in The Untold Tales, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

a3f779_4fb3ff82d5d04029b6c81b4baf8ffed9.jpg_srb_p_259_389_75_22_0.50_1.20_0

VENUE: Metro Studio Theatre
1411 Quadra St. Victoria, BC

LENGTH: 75 minutes

Audiences going to see The Untold Tales of the Brothers Grimm will be treated to lesser known tales from the trio and to quick summarizes of their better known tales. But wait, not everyone will know that the family consisted of nine siblings. Jacob (Josh Sundmann) and Wilhelm (Nich Gulycz) are the duo who achieved wider recognition. Some members passed away before their prime and others were not as involved in these two’s endeavours. What makes this show fascinating is a look into how one of the members of the family really wanted to be part of Jacob and Wilhelm’s life. The mousey Ludwig Grimm (Brooke Baliam) adds an element to the show that helps provide a plot. On the historical front, and perhaps overlooked for this play, is his contribution to the Grimm legacy by providing an illustrative front-piece to a later edition of their book, Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

Continue reading “[Victoria Fringe Festival ’15] The Lexicon of the Brothers Grimm is Fully Explored in The Untold Tales, A Review”

On Bill Murray and St. Vincent, A Movie Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

StVincent Maybe there is a big reason as to why Bill Murray isn’t interested returning to the Ghostbusters universe. He looks ready to retire from the acting world for good after appearing in the movie St. Vincent. However, this film is not going to mark the end of his illustrious career as more films are in the pipeline featuring either him or his voice.

Although he’s the star of this comedic social drama about Vincent, an unlikable misanthrope, there’s a heart of gold that’s gently wanting to come out — hence this film’s title. He takes a liking to Oliver Bronstein (Jaeden Lieberher), a scrawny but very intelligent 12-year old. Lieberher provides some brilliant young Macaulay Culkin type moments and his talent should not go unnoticed, especially when his character is what ultimately wins many an audience’s heart. As Oliver, he’s tossed into a world he’s not ready for. The story mixes in elements of a coming of age tale along with awkward father-son style moments even though these two are not related. In the way they bond, they might as well be grandfather having fun with the grandson he never had much like how PIXAR’s Up, worked.

Continue reading “On Bill Murray and St. Vincent, A Movie Review”