Tag: Fantasia Film Festival

The Vintage Tempest’s Top Five Animated Picks to see at Fantasia Fest 2021

Fantasia Fest 2021 BannerFantasia Fest is the event to keep tabs on about which animations will hit a theatre near you. Between this celebration of genre movies and Annecy, a festival of all things animation, the works featured also means which titles GKIDS & Shout! Factory is likely to pick up for release onto home video.

This year is rife with a lot of Japanese pieces I can’t wait to see. There’s even a very wicked selection of eight shorts in Things That Go Bump in the East 2021 Edition, which tops my list. The most promising is Juan-Diablo-Pablo; It’s a showcase of Asian inspired terror! Also, Circo Animato 2021 should never be missed. It showcases the up-and-coming talents.

On the regular front, I offer my top five picks from the twelve pieces being offered. The titles mentioned in the previous article aren’t included to prevent overlap. I’ll most likely see them all (schedule permitting), and this list is presented in alphabetical order.

Continue reading “The Vintage Tempest’s Top Five Animated Picks to see at Fantasia Fest 2021”

The Vintage Tempest’s Picks on What to See at Fantasia Fest 2021

Fantasia Festival | 2020 Artwork

Fantasia Fest 2021 is now half-and-half, offering in-person and online screenings! People living in Canada have the option to either travel to the East Coast for this genre film celebration or stay at home. The pandemic is still lingering around, and we don’t need real life zombies roaming the streets of Montreal.

Please be aware there’s limited seating options for the in-person events, especially James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (also opening theatrically at the same time). These are bound to sell out fast as sales opened yesterday. Online, most screenings are on demand, with a select group scheduled to broadcast at a select time. These details will be noted as needed.

In this two-part article are my top picks on what to see. There’s a lot to explore, as this festival is very diverse and month-long! I’m including seminars since this year will be honouring Phil Tippitt with a Lifetime Achievement Award (event ticket here). There’ll also be a masterclass with this legend too, where he’ll explain the deeper roots of his art. The bonus is that the online discussion is free to view!

(to note, at time of writing, not every work has a promotional poster to go along with)

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Fantasia’s 25th Anniversary Goes Virtual!

In what’s known is how important Japan’s culture has played across Fantasia’s history. There’ll be an enhanced focus, and this enthusiast can’t wait to see what’s coming! I hope they can secure the rights to show the full run of Evangelion films in its entirety! 

FantasiaBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

For the latest updates, please visit the official website.

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival is going half and half, with a mix of physical events and digital for the genre enthusiast. The 25th Anniversary can’t be just one without the other because of the current global medical crisis, and the organizers can’t say for certain if the pandemic can be contained by the time summer rolls around. This event will include scheduled screenings and premieres, panels, and workshops, with films once again hosted on the leading-edge platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72. The number of physical events will be based on what the province’s health authority says, and this news don’t drop until closer to the event.

In what’s known is how important Japan’s culture has played across Fantasia’s history. There’ll be an enhanced focus, and this enthusiast can’t wait to see what’s coming! I hope they can secure the rights to show the full run of Evangelion films in its entirety! 

Continue reading “Fantasia’s 25th Anniversary Goes Virtual!”

Thoughts and a Review of Malzieu’s Une Sirène à Paris

In Paris, romance is in the air more often than naught, and it’s nice to see the challenges of giving life to a broken heart. To see Gaspard keep it going may require a new drug formed by a mermaid’s tears, but will he take it?

Fantasia

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fantasia Festival 2020

Played Aug 27 & 30th, 2020

Mathias Malzieu is a type of French movie maker whose output is very minimal because he’s the front man to a very active music band, Dionysos. The last film is an exquisite and haunting Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2013). One detail I noticed is in how the soundtrack in his latest film is like this prior work because of one signature tune over variance. It works with the last film because of the cyclic motif, but here it doesn’t quite ring.

More music is needed in the live action Une Sirène à Paris. Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) has one song to win Lula’s (Marilyn lima) heart, and it’s ironic because usually it’s the other way around on who woos whom. The translated title is A Mermaid in Paris, which may seem unusual. Anyone who knows their classical mythology will recognize a siren (usually more bird-like than fish) no matter how it said in another language. She’s a mythical creature whose sweet melody lures sailors to their death.

Continue reading “Thoughts and a Review of Malzieu’s Une Sirène à Paris”

There’s no Shortage of Shorts at Fantasia 2020 on the Last Two Days…

If you haven’t checked out Fantasia’s many movie shorts, there’s not a lot of time left! The following are just my top surprise hits from this category of suspense filled or comedy goodness.

FantasiaBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

If you haven’t checked out Fantasia’s many movie shorts, there’s not a lot of time left! A few works caught my eye late Monday night and they can not go unnoticed without some kind of mention.

This year’s virtual edition is great! I hope the producers will continue to offer some parts of this show online. Eventually, when the pandemic is over, some events will have to consider how to carry on going forward. Those used to waiting in line for entry to the theatre should still get that aspect of what a film festival represents. Those who have come to love just logging into a website and streaming the content to their big screen television shouldn’t be cut short either.

However this event (and any other) progresses will require time to tell, and either way, I think going online is perfect for all the shorts that are out there. Film Festivals who think they aren’t popular and put them in low seating arrangements are quite literally cutting themselves short! Fair play gets those filmmakers noticed. Of the shorts I’ve seen, the following are worth watching! They are listed in no particular order.

Continue reading “There’s no Shortage of Shorts at Fantasia 2020 on the Last Two Days…”

The Kung Fu Credo Shines in The Paper Tigers

The talented up-and-coming writer/director Quoc Bao Tran must have trained too, and he’s taken those lessons he learned at the kwoon (dojo) and put them to heart when penning The Paper Tigers.

FantasiaBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Playing at Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020 on Sept 1st, 5:30pm PST. Buy your virtual ticket here. Canadian Residents only.

Making its US debut at 36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 31st)

All hail The Paper Tigers! This martial arts comedy shows what three former students–now past their prime–are up to since they stopped practising. When their sifu (Roger Yuan, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny) die under mysterious circumstances, they reunite to figure out what’s going on, and along the way, try to get back their mojo.

While the humour is light, the mystery is heavy. However, the heart and soul of the film belong to those aphorisms you’d take away from after certain films or television. In this case, it’s Kung Fu, the original series.

Continue reading “The Kung Fu Credo Shines in The Paper Tigers”