When Baginski is more caught up with Sony’s God of War for inspiration than to bring in full Wuxia style action in Knights of the Zodiac, what’s presented isn’t all that exciting.
Maybe some long beloved classic anime series should not be adapted to live-action. Technically, that hasn’t stopped some American producers from bringing the best IPs to the big screen, like Alita. When the original studio is involved, sometimes what’s made is a mixed bag. To find the right talents to helm a live action take means checking on their credentials. Knights of Zodiac suffers because Tomasz Baginski’s involvement with The Witcher is a far cry from what this IP represents.
I was hoping for more high stake concerns in the vein of Gods of Egypt instead of a cyberpunk style wannabe Power Rangers episode. That’s because there’s often five warriors working together to honour the name of Athena. But even then, there’s others who will tarnish her role in history; she’s hardly a threat if I remember the series premise correctly.
When this Door Mouse (Hayley Law) is a comic book illustrator whose second job is that of a burlesque performer, she better learn another occupation fast!
Available in select theatres and
digitally starting on January 13th
Elevation Pictures
Door Mouse has plenty of Quinten Tarantino and punk rock vibes in its story about Mouse (Hayley Law), a comic book illustrator whose only real paying job is that of a burlesque performer. But when her colleagues get kidnapped, she becomes a gumshoe with a mission–to protect her sisters from the hood. They either wind up dead or much worse. As a result, the cops dismiss the problem as not worth investigating. Instead of waiting to be a victim, she’d rather be a victor in this quirky indie film smartly written and well directed by Avan Jogia.
This movie’s greatest strength lies in how perfect the neo-noir atmosphere is realised. Not only is it coloured in pastel lights, but also we get an appropriate sound design to make the world feel grungy. Additionally, the illustrations are animated to recognize how this lead looks at the world. This approach works to explain why she’s drawing from her life experience to create her comic book. The grittiness that’s visualised makes me wonder if we’ll ever see a sampler as a booklet when the home video release is ready. The sketches I see makes me think this artist is inspired by Robert Crumb.
Two cool cats will grace Fan Expo Vancouver come November 10 to 12th, 2017. Famke Janssen and Henry Winkler (announced this week) are best known as The Phoenix (Bryan Singer’s X-men Trilogy) and The Fonz (Happy Days).
Before being cast in X-men which made her a household name, she appeared in Star Trek TNG (as Kamala), and for me, I took notice when she appeared in movies such as GoldenEye (Xenia Onatopp) and Lord of Illusions (Dorothea Swann). The latter was definitely of interest because of my love for the supernatural in cinema, and this film is written/directed by Clive Barker. This former model took on a variety a roles post X-men and is always a favourite for playing supercharged characters. Other roles include seeing her as the villain Muriel in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and appearing as Olivia Godfrey in the horror series Hemlock Grove on Netflix.
Winkler had very few roles before becoming an American institution on Happy Days. The Fonz cemented him as the coolest character to be on air when this series premiered in 1974. The later half of the series focused on this character’s growth when Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham) left the show, and saw him transition to become a family man. After the show, this actor became a producer and director; his filmography is vast. My top picks include MacGuyver and Sightings; both of which I watched regularly, and he even did voice over work for cartoons like South Park and All Hail King Julian.
Both performers will no doubt help bring several decades of pop culture fandom under one roof because of their diverse appeal. Hopefully I will have a chance to ask Winkler about what led him to produce Sightings and ask if we will ever see a full DVD release of the series.
Happy Days have been made for this fan who watches this show broadcasting on MeTV and tuning into Netflix to binge on paranormal and animated series. Although it’s very doubtful to see The Fonz go toe-to-toe with The Phoenix, a Cosmic Force with different abilities like Mork, perhaps these two will meet and have some fun that some may recognize as a jovial nod to the episode, “My Favourite Orkan”
Maybe some long beloved classic anime series should not be adapted to live-action. Technically, that hasn’t stopped some American producers from bringing the best IPs to the big screen, like Alita. When the original studio is involved, sometimes what’s made is a mixed bag. To find the right talents to helm a live action take means checking on their credentials. Knights of Zodiac suffers because Tomasz Baginski’s involvement with The Witcher is a far cry from what this IP represents.
Available in select theatres and
