Tag: Family

PIXAR’s Latest is Soulful and Heartfelt

This film leaves you with that knowledge that life can turn around when you open your eyes. In Joe’s case, he’s not as maudlin…

Soul Poster.jpegBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available on Disney Plus

PIXAR’s got Soul in their latest film about Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a musician by trade and teacher when required. He needs a full-time job to pay the bills, but as most people will say, making the big leagues in the entertainment biz is tough and it demands much more.

Gardner wants to make mama happy. But being an instructor leaves him feeling unfulfilled. His dreams of being a professional musician means having a special type of freedom, which he tries to explain to his students: you become part of a special team, and the music made together–the harmonies–infect you. They bring out your soul (this film’s namesake) and when you are in that zone, the effect is an out-of-body experience to which this movie masterfully and colourfully visualizes.

When one of his students points out there’s an opening to become part of Dorothea Williams’ band, he’s on it faster than a honeybee to a flower. She’s a jazz legend, and he’s all willy-nilly. He gets the job, but on the journey home to get ready, he falls down a manhole and the title credits roll!

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The Vintage Tempest’s Picks of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

“2020 marks the 50th anniversary for visual communications,” said Francis Cullado, Executive Director of Visual Communications. “The organization was born because our founders began searching for visual resources to build a greater consciousness of Asian Pacific history in America ….

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film FestivalBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Runs Sept 24 to Oct 31

The complete lineup of the 36th Annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is here! The list is extensive and to figure out what to see for its virtual event took more than days to figure out. Because of this event being region specific, most of these movies are geolocked to those residing in the county to see. However, with a lot of film festivals offering an online component, it’s safe to assume that these films will become available for another region in no time. Failing that, some works are already available on home video for purchase in the country it was made.

Over 225 filmmakers will be featured in the five weeks which starts very soon! There’s three feature film world premieres and plenty of shorts to see.

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The Children of the Sea Arrives on Home Video Sept 1st!

To get the most out of understanding this anime, I recommend watching the companion documentary, Turep – Looking for Children of the Sea.

Children of the Sea Blu-Ray + DVD Case
Available to preorder on Amazon USAChildren of the Sea

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Release Date:
Sept 1, 2020

I’m sure the themes of life, death and rebirth play into the cinematic adaptation of Daisuke Igarashi’s manga series, Children of the Sea. The story simply begins on how Ruka gets kicked to the grind. She’s a bit of an outcast and being with others really doesn’t bode well for her. One troubled incident leads her to be kicked out of summer activities at school and having a crisis of faith.

Mom is no help (she’s an alcoholic) and Dad is too busy at work. He’s been “recruited” by the military to study the strange happenings going on with aquatic life in the seaside town they live in, and they somehow involve Umi and Sora. They’re slightly older boys and a relationship develops between the three.

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There’s No Place Like Home with The Willoughbys … or Not!

The Willoughbys Movie PosterBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available on Netflix

The Willoughbys is a CGI film that doesn’t quite work as a surreal experience like Coraline. It tries, but doesn’t quite nail the fantasy bang-on. It does, however, perfectly hit the various characterizations on the nose. The snobbish bourgeois attitude of the parents is one anyone can easily despise. They are way out there and pay no heed to the children who are left to fend for themselves.

Tim (Will Forte), Jane (Alessia Cara), and twins Barnaby and Barnaby (Seán Cullen) plot to separate from them, but when a very purple toned baby (no reason is given as to why this child is off colour) gets dropped off at their doorstep, all the plans are for naught. The parents hire a nanny, and she gives the kids the love they so need.

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Playing with Fire, or Hero for Hire?

Playing with Fire Movie PosterBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Most of John Cena‘s action films under the WWE Studios banner have been a hit-or-miss affair. When he’s playing a caring individual, the charisma shines. When playing military type characters, it’s easy to see why he was in Transformers: Bumblebee; he was straight and narrow. Fortunately, this character chose to side with him despite an auspicious initial meeting.

He’s hilarious to watch when pitted against youths. You see him tough as nails–not wanting to deal with them–and by the end of the film, he’s softened up. Like similar movies concerning children landing into difficult situations because the adult doesn’t understand them (Despicable Me being the best example), the heart of this movie shows how unlikely individuals find each other and become a family.

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Life on the Penguin Highway is Never Sane

Children of the Sea
Pre-order on Amazon USA hereChildren of the Sea

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

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

The anime adaptation of Tomohiko Morimi’s novel, Penguin Highway, is coming to home video! Those who have not seen this anime last year at Fantasia 2018 either had to wait for a local (film festival) screening or this Tuesday. Life is certainly a highway for young Aoyama (Kana Kita), a 4th grader with an IQ of about 105. He aspires to be a scientist, and hopes to visit the moon one day. But first, he has to answer the question of why penguins–who typically prefer cold arctic conditions–are in a sleepy suburb of humid Japan.

He meets a young woman whom he calls Lady (Yuu Aoi) who works at his dentist’s office, and they form an unlikely friendship. Life at school is rough. He’s rather stuffy since everyone identifies him as a nerd. As a result, he’s constantly teased and bullied. He can stand up for himself but he is stronger when his two friends are there to help. Ultimately, the narrative does not differ from, for example, Trollhunters. His just-as-nerdy pal, Uchida (Rie Kugimiya) tries but Hamamoto (Megumi Han) ends up being more handy. The threesome eventually even has the bully team up to deal with a mysterious orb found in a meadow nestled deep in a forest. Just what it is, nobody knows.

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