Anna and the Apocalypse is an enjoyable romp around the Christmas tree. There are times we do not know who is chasing whom given the two different villains in this work
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Anna and the Apocalypse is an enjoyable romp around the Christmas tree and it’s a crazy enough concept where making it a musical works. Plus, there are times we do not know who is chasing whom when considering there are the two different villains. Maybe the ornaments or gifts can prove useful to combat zombies but what about the other obstacles?
Not even playing Michael Jackson’s Thriller can prove to stave them off. I have seen dance-offs in a live performance from a different tale and it’s a marvel to watch. The music was rockin and I wanted to hear more. The melodies in this movie are joyous enough to toe tap but ultimately the focus is with the coming of age story.
In this movie, we are immediately warned of an impending (zombie) epidemic but for the titular character, earnestly played by Ella Hunt, she ignores it. Other stakes are at work; she wants to break out of the expected (to go straight to college) after high school graduation and explore the world. But the destiny has other ideas. The world soon falls apart. The coming of it to the small town of Little Haven in Scotland is inevitable. Before she knows it, everyone she cares for will either succumb or die. Such is the norm for this genre.
The Whistler Film Festival is a jam-packed five-day event taking place north of Vancouver, British Columbia. Established in 2001, local talents and industry bigwigs are here not only to ski but also look at the spotlight of refreshing new talents. This show is not for star spotting. I visited this resort to marvel at the Milky Way and get back to Nature; though for others, to mingle with the likes of Kim Cattrall, Ryan Reynolds or Jason Priestley is more enticing. Even Hollywood’s elite might be here looking for the next big thing.
With no surprise, Mary: Queen of Scots is the gala film. Saoirse Ronan plays the title role, and Margot Robbie is Queen Elizabeth I. Both are rivals for the throne, and for who gets it, they can look at John Guy’s book Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart, which posits the theory that Mary and Elizabeth actually met and planned how to rule. Their on-screen tête-à-tête is one to marvel at.
To revisit this mountain resort town has been on my list for a while, and this year has enough reasons for me to go. The following are my genre picks which caught my eye.
The summaries are from this event’s website:
Anna and the Apocalypse
Nov 29 8:30pm Squamish Cultural Center
Sun, Dec 02, 9:00am Rainbow Theatre
Okay, so you want to see something different at a film festival. How about a Scottish Christmas musical zombie movie? Yup. Shaun of the dead meets Glee. This is the wackiest premise for a film since Trey Parker’s Cannibal The Musical (1993) or Darren Lynn Bousman’s The Devil’s Carnival (2012). When a zombie apocalypse threatens the town of little haven at Christmas time, Anna and her teen friends have to slash, decapitate and sing their way through an assortment of undead snowmen, elves, Santas and Christmas shoppers just to make it across town to the safe haven of their high school. The singing and dancing are show-stoppingly good at times as if the players are auditioning for a Broadway play. And if you are a truly twisted soul, maybe this will even put you in the Christmas spirit.
[Editor’s note: This movie will play at select theatres beginning Dec 7 courtesy of Orion Pictures. Please check local listings]
Elijah and the Rock Creature
Dec 02 4:00pm
Village 8 Cinema
A delightful family film that structurally resembles E.T., but on a tiny fraction of the budget. It demonstrates what great costume design and luminescent photography can accomplish when filtered through the eyes of visual artist and painter Jennifer Walden in her first feature, shot near Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories.
Elijah and his mother are grieving a loss when they decide to see the stars in Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest dark sky preserve in the world. Elijah gets separated from his party and wanders the beautiful but marker-less landscape, frightened and lost. Along the way, he encounters a mythological rock creature “from beyond the stars”, who is also trying to find his way home. Together, they become a team. But when Elijah tries to explain the existence of his extraterrestrial guide, the folks back home assume he is suffering from hallucinations.
Using mostly local talent, with a particular nod to costume designer Adrienne Cartwright, this is proof that resonant stories can be made in any part of this country, and it marks the arrival of a major new directorial talent on the Canadian scene.
At Eternity’s Gate
Nov 28, 9:00pm
Nov 30, 12:00pm Rainbow Theatre
Willem Dafoe is Vincent van Gogh. With his sunken cheeks and haunted eyes, it is difficult to imagine any other actor in the role. The film, directed by acclaimed artist Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly), focuses on Van Gogh’s final months, living hand to mouth in the south of France. He drinks too much, is extremely productive, but fails to connect with the locals, who taunt him and tease him. His artistic response to the beauty of the country around him continues to inspire him, even as his daily life and very survival become more difficult. Using lighting and natural settings, Schnabel successfully evokes the artist’s unique way of seeing the world around him. The nature of genius, and of artistic obsession is captured with deep insight in this oft-told story, but it is Dafoe’s performance as Van Gogh that will stay with you, long after the final images from the film have faded. This is the film’s first festival showing in Canada.
Treeline
Nov 30, 9:45pm
Dec 02, 9:45pm
Maury Young Arts Center
Trees are the oldest living beings humans have encountered since our time on Earth. They provide us with sustenance, shelter, fuel, and materials that we cannot live without. This year’s winter film from Patagonia takes us on a journey through the enshrined cypress groves of Japan, into the ancient bristlecones of Nevada and through British Columbia’s own towering red cedar forests. We follow skiers, snowboarders, scientists and healers as they each explore their relationship with the silent giants. Vancouver filmmaker Jordan Manley breathes life into these forests with his stunning cinematography. A unique look into the power of nature, treeline is as visually encapsulating as it is spiritually moving.
Shortwork Series
Up to nine short films make up this unique set of screenings. Beginning November 28th, each day will offer something special. Of note, Girl in the Galactic Sun (see below) and Cedar Tree of Life will certainly sate the sci-fi enthusiast and hedgewitch in me. Guy Maddin is one of three directors in Accidence (Day 2, Nov 30 12pm)
The following make up unit four, of student’s works, (playing Dec 3, 1:30pm). Of these pickings from this category, I find the shorts offered in this collection may well traverse beyond the line of what fantasy, a thriller or science fiction means. Rod Serling must be proud!
EGG – A surreal animation about a woman locked in her home with an egg, towards which she feels both attraction and fear. She eats the egg, she repents; she kills the egg; she lets the egg die of hunger. The woman controls the egg… or does the egg control the woman?
Fantasmagoria – Struggling to cope with the loss of her daughter, a grieving mother embarks on a surrealist journey filled with bizarre characters in search of peace in the realm of lucid dreams. As she gets closer to her daughter, Mara comes to realize what she needed all along.
Girl in the Galactic Sun – A genderless alien who longs for a different life decides to transform into a woman in order to reproduce and save the species. G944 arrives at the Galactic Sun Facility unaware of the risks, and its desperation to understand what it is to be a woman leads it down a dangerous path with unnerving consequences.
The fun new musical feature Lu Over the Wall from anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game, The Night is Short, Walk On Girl) will be released on Blu-ray™ + DVD combo pack, DVD and digital download on February 5, 2019 from GKIDS and Shout! Factory. An official selection of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and winner of the Cristal, the highest prize of the 2017 Annecy International Animation Festival, this film makes its home video debut following a limited theatrical release this year.
This release is presented in both the original Japanese language and English dub versions. Bonus features include audio commentary and an interview with Director Masaaki Yuasa, trailers and TV spots.
This wonderful tale looks at the life of Kai, a teenager uprooted from a small fishing village to go live in the big city. In Tokyo, he needs a way to connect. When his classmates invite him to play keyboard in their band, their jam sessions bring an unexpected guest: Lu, a young mermaid whose fins turn to feet when she hears the beats, and whose singing causes humans to compulsively dance. But when an ancient prophecy threatens Lu and the village, Kai and his new friends must save the day in this toe-tapping adventure for the entire family.
Bonus Features:
· Interview with Director Masaaki Yuasa
· Audio Commentary with Director Masaaki Yuasa
· Trailers
· TV Spots
Not a lot of television episodes or specials made for the Halloween season stand the test of time. Some are developed because the formula for network television requires it (especially for sit-coms). As for those unique one-offs, I ask where are they now? Only two films make this list as they were quite common when rebroadcasted. The rest make up part of what I traditionally loved seeing on either the big or small screen.
I include a complete television series since I recall key episodes taking place on All Hallow’s Eve. Instead of focussing in on one particular country, I hope to give this list an international flair with my choices:
Mad Monster Party (1967)
No list can be considered legit without a reference to this Rankin-Bass stop-motion classic. Along with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, both shows rerun at their respective seasons. Sadly, this is no longer the case. What makes this production such a classic is that Boris Karloff led a monster mash of comedy and music. Its longevity faded because of time, and new audiences not familiar with the all-star lineup. Ask a young person now about who Phyllis Diller is and the response is likely, “Who?”
Location: St Michaels University School 3400 Richmond Road Victoria, BC
Remaining shows: Sept 1
2pm, 7pm
The St Michaels University School Summer Music Intensive program never disappoints. Every year, for the past decade, at least, the team here have put on a show as part of the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival and in the past several years I have been attending, I enjoy seeing new talents rise. This year has been a record year: Twenty-five students enrolled. I noticed one member going over the script and perhaps helping fellow cast-mates with when their cue is coming up.
This year, a Disaster! The Musical is in the making. This play paid homage to 70s disaster flicks and the all the calamities that take place had to be fully imagined than recreated for the stage. This production is high school level at best. No budget exists to recreate tsunamis, earthquakes and killer bees in a grande scale. The students get to switch roles per show, so each of them come out feeling more rewarded in showcasing their talent. No standouts exist this year. They were all equals in my mind. Memorable numbers include “Still the One” and “You’re my Best Friend.”
By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Location:
Langham Court Theatre 805 Langham Crt Victoria, BC
Remaining Shows: Sep 1, 10:00 pm
Sep 2, 2:30 pm
Kitt & Jane is quirky enough to make me wonder if co-creator Ingrid Hansen also drew inspiration from Disney’s Star vs The Forces of Evil. If this cartoon ever gets made into a live action film, I feel she should be cast! The efforts she put into the characters she plays is unfettered and unique. She co-created this show with Kathleen Greenfield. The subtitle to this work is An Interactive Survival Guide to the Near-Post-Apocalyptic Future and I can see where the interactive comes in (more on this later). Other shows this play drew influence include Gravity Falls and Adventure Time. I feel Star is closer to this play than the others when considering I have been recently watching too much of this toon during DisneyXD’s free preview month.
This show is perhaps the most technically extravagant. In between the projection work, lighting effects and musical performances (including a real live streaming event; folks can follow along on #kittandjane. Just where it can be streamed, I could only find older streams than the latest), the tale between two prepubescent teens is especially poignant. I noticed the growing relationship more than the other story beats. Kitt (Hansen) believes the world is coming to an end, and the boy who stands by her side (oddly named Jane, played by the incomparable Rod Peter Jr.) is with her thick and thin!
By Ed Sum
By Ed Sum
By Ed Sum
By Ed Sum