Tag: Fantasia Film Festival

The Great Yōkai War: Guardians, Trailer and Closing out Fantasia 2021

Instead of seeing the previous hero all grown up and dealing with this new threat, we have a new boy wonder, Kei Watanabe (Kokoro Terada) in The Great Yokai War: Guardians.

The Great Yokai War GuardiansStylistically, The Great Yōkai War (妖怪大戦争) is a movie that only Takashi Miike can imagine. This filmmaker is better known for his ultra violent movies, but for this franchise, he switches gears for a 90s style family friendly product where the spiritual entities aren’t all that terrifying. They’re either muppets or Farscape races. I want to hug the cute ones. Well, mostly the girl who allies with Tadashi, the hero, and the hamster named Sunekosuri. The latter is a “pet” for part of the film. This lad gets tagged during a local festival to become the guardian and the rest of the story becomes something like 3×3 Eyes–but minus the Sanjiyan. 

The film is serviceable, and the franchise world is one I’d love to be taken a bit more seriously. Studio Ghibli‘s Pon Poko got the struggle right. The spectacular yokai parade was a feast for the senses.

Sixteen years later, we may finally have it. The Great Yōkai War: Guardians (妖怪大戦争 ガーディアンズ). Instead of seeing the previous hero all grown up and dealing with this new threat, we have a new boy wonder, Kei Watanabe (Kokoro Terada). He might be back, but he’ll be tough to recognize due to age. Kadokawa Pictures’ press release describes this film as an all new adventure. This time, the plot is about humanity vs nature. We can’t see the spirit world and they’ll have to protect us from a dire threat! 

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[Fantasia 2021] Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story

All Nimfa Dimaano (Angelica Panganiban) needs is love, but it’ll come at a price if the colourful, animated feature film Hayop Ka! Is any sign.

Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story PosterAvailable to Stream On Demand
Tickets can be purchased here

All Nimfa Dimaano (Angelica Panganiban) needs is love, but it’ll come at a price if the colourful, animated feature film Hayop Ka! is any sign. In English, this Filipino word means, “You Animal!” And it’s not meant to be kind. Here, this feline works as a salesperson and when she sells Iñigo Villanueva (Sam Milby), a wealthy entrepreneur, the wrong perfume. He tracks her down instead of going to the store and the problems that erupt between him, her boyfriend and her defines much of the tale.

Her beau, Roger (Robin Padilla) is jealous. He thinks she’s cheating on him and to make matters worse, he’s willing to go to extremes to win her back. We’re dealing with an anthropomorphic take on Fliipino culture and here, the main protagonist is flirting with two huge canines. Roger is of mongrel descent and Iñigo is a husky.

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[Fantasia 2021] Who’s the Master with Mad Dreams and Monsters? A Mad God?

Tippett’s love for bringing still life to animated form all began when he saw The 7th Voyage of Sinbad when it released to theatres in 1958 according to Mad Dreams and Monsters.

Mad God (2021) - IMDbAvailable to Stream on Aug 22 & 24
Tickets purchases available here.

Mad Dreams and Monsters is available in The Monster Collection (Amazon USA Link)

Anyone who saw Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters before going to see Mad God at Fantasia Film Festival is ahead of the game when getting to know how this film came to be. No prior knowledge is necessary, but this documentary by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Ponce will help. It’s a love letter to the man, and every film he made movie magic in. It includes his contributions to television (The Pillsbury Dough Boy) too.

The transition to filmmaking took place when he met Dennis Muren who was looking for talents to staff Industrial Light & Magic. He is the creative mind behind realizing Dejarik, a weird chess-like game that Chewie and R2D2 played in episode IV and since then, his cinematic legacy was set in stone. The fact he had to recreate it for the new trilogy meant looking for those original molds and casts.

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[Fantasia 2021] Are You Lonesome Tonight? All the Moons, A Movie Review

If there’s ever a vampire movie to breathe new life to a subgenre that’s struggling to bring fresh ideas to the fore, I’d have to say All the Moons is it!

All the Moons (2021) — The Movie Database (TMDb)Playing at Cinéma Impérial
Aug 19th, 2021
Montreal, Quebec

Available Aug 21, 2021
to Stream On Demand
Tickets can be purchased here

Spoiler Warning

If there’s ever a vampire movie to breathe new life to a subgenre that’s struggling to bring fresh ideas to the fore, I’d have to say All the Moons is it. Not only do we have a charm in the style of an early del Toro film (Pan’s Labyrinth) but also it takes an idea from Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. The latter goes in a completely different direction with it; we see Claudia’s story unfold too quickly and for this film, it has to be told in 100 mins. The tale that’s presented here is a game changer, as it never once identifies the vampire as pop culture defines it.

The girl we meet here (skillfully played by Haizea Carneros) doesn’t even know what this undead bloodsucker is. She’s rescued. Much of the movie plays out like a dream as she tries to understand her condition. 

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[Fantasia 2021] When the Future is in the Hands of “Yakuza Princess”

Although Yakuza Princess didn’t have the budget to be like Blade Runner, I can only imagine what a blockbuster version would look like.

Yakuza Princess poster.jpgAvailable Aug 18 & 20

There is no honour amongst thieves in the families vying for absolute leadership in Yakuza Princess. This stylish neo-noir revenge thriller establishes that a very young girl, Akemi, will inherit a regime. But after a huge assassination attempt to which many members of the Takikawa clan get slain, she’s taken into hiding.

Instead of a feudal setting, this story by Vicente Amorim (director), Kimi Lee, Tubaldini Shelling and Fernando Toste (writers) sets the tale in modern times and in a world not everyone is familiar with. Akemi (MASUMI) is all grown up now and is being hunted in São Paulo, Brazil. She doesn’t know why until she questions a few people and learns about her heritage. Those that are after her knows she’s the true heir of the Yakuza crime syndicate. They won’t settle for controlling half of the organization and need to dispose of her.

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[Fantasia 2021] On A 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died In 8…

When is a kaijū movie not a kaijū movie in The Monster That Died?

The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8 (2020) - IMDbStreaming online at
Fantasia Film Fest 2021
Tickets can be bought here.

When is a kaijū movie not a kaijū movie? It’s when we’ll never get to see those giant monsters. We’re dealing with a new genre of films because a certain pandemic is changing the rules. The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died In 8 is one of many from filmmakers creating something while under lockdown.

In this story’s case, the fictional version of the filmmakers Iwai Shunji (co-director of Shin Godzilla) and Saitō Takumi believe they can make a monster out of capsule toys he bought online.

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