Tag: Mythology

Scaring Up the Monsterverse, Godzilla and Ghidorah

This Monsterverse is better off not bringing in divine figureheads into the fore. Hydras and Cerberus yes, but gods from Babylon or Mesoamerican origins, perhaps not.

Godzilla King of the Monsters Hail the MonsterverseSpoiler Alert

The epic showdown I’ve been craving since Legendary Pictures acquired the license to play with Godzilla is here! In part two of maybe a trilogy, the Monsterverse mankind lives in is filled with hidden agendas and a fear for the future. Our time on Earth may well come to an end. The Titans, monsters capable of mass destruction, will reclaim their territory. Can we live side by side in a symbiotic relationship, as Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) hopes? Or as TOHO Studio’s animated take suggests, will civilization regress to simpler times?

No real continuity exists between these two studio’s works. Legendary’s version is limited. Only a handful of films can be made before the terms of the contract expire. With a bigger budget, fans can see a massively CGI driven apocalyptic take of monsters ravaging each other and the world. Practical effects can only go so far, and motion capture can do a lot more these days. As this sequel takes place five years later, the Monarch organization is ready for the inevitable. In what they know and have uncovered since–humanity better be afraid!

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The Epic Book Tour: Gareth Hinds with Homer’s The Illiad

The IlliadBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Gareth Hinds is a prolific illustrator who worked in the video game industry for over ten years and still found the time to self-publish. Technically, that’s before Candlewick Press discovered him, and when they called him up to offer a deal, it was one he could not pass up!

Some fans know him for the cult hit, System Shock 2, and others may recall his earlier works, namely his adaptation of Beowulf. His artistic interpretations of literary classics are simply spellbinding. He has published ten books in all, including The Odyssey. As the recipient of Boston Public Library’s “Literary Lights for Children” award, his works can be found in use in classrooms across the country. Reading some of these classical works is not always easy, and to have the right kind of art to have young minds interested in the original material makes the process of learning how to read easier. Perhaps, one day, he may attempt Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Personally, I’m quite drawn to his works which looks at classical antiquity. In Poe: Stories and Poems, my taste for the macabre gets satisfied. His latest work is Homer’s The Iliad which took more than two years to produce! When this book clocks in at 270 pages and 95% of it are illustrations, the wait is certainly worthwhile. It is now available through bookstores like AmazonThe Illiad. To coincide with the release is a book tour. The remaining dates can be found at the end of this interview.

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Lego Ninjago, Masters of Spinjitzu Season 9 is Coming! But is it The End?

The IlliadBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

* Mild Spoiler Alert
* This analysis is based on reading online episode summaries.

The wait should not be long for Season Nine of Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu to air in North America. It’s currently broadcasting in Australia, and nearby territories. The previous chapter, Sons of Garmadon, played April of this year in the States and left viewers with one doozy of a cliffhanger. Half of the team were tossed into the Realm of the Oni and Dragon. Meanwhile, back home, the remaining team are rallying resistance fighters.

Lord Garmadon is back and now rules the capital city with a clenched fist. The way he sees life (including his own minions) and that it’s all disposable makes him far worse than Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars. To defeat him will not be easy. He’s pure hatred. When his son confronts him, it gets televised and most of the world believes the boy is dead. Fortunately, the lad is not and the series bounces back and forth between this story arc and the ninjas with baby Wu trapped in a Mad Max type of world.

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High Chinese Fantasy is Alive in Big Fish & Begonia

The IlliadBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Big Fish & Begonia (大鱼海棠) is a beautifully animated film which takes its afterlife seriously. The people living in a mystical Chinese Middle Earth type realm live harmoniously with the elements but when an individual upsets the natural order, the world will retaliate and the cosmic order will need rebalancing.

This movie debuted in 2016 and it got limited play at select film festivals. After two years, it has finally gotten notice by Shout! Factory and FUNimation. Hopefully, another work, I Am Nezha (我是哪吒) will see release. While one is traditionally animated (2D), the other is 3D. Big Fish is a dramatic product whereas Nezha has more comedy action. To catch either work on the big screen is tough; the release from last month only had a handful of theatres doing short runs.

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Peaking into the Layers of Folklore in Pixar’s Coco

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Despite reports of Disney•Pixar having a troubled start in the development of Coco, the movie I saw in all its charming glory and the reveal of how many anthropological experts were acknowledged in the movie credits certainly put any concerns to rest. The fact Hispanic illustrator Lalo Alcaraz was one such person hired on to ensure accuracy made this animated take in what Día de Muertos is about all the more enjoyable. As a group, these people insured this animated film is culturally relevant. Together, with director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 2 & 3) and writers Adrian Molina, Jason Katz and Matthew Aldrich, they made a film that’s true to the spirit of many past Pixar films, where keeping family ties is important.

Not everyone is fully aware about what the Day of the Dead represents. As a film about young Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez) wanting to be a musician instead of a cobbler — against his family’s wishes — just what he has to face in his journey is an adventure. From the land of the living to the city of the dead to find his great-great-grandfather, all he wants is someone’s blessing for what he wants to do for the rest of his life. Upon stealing a guitar in a mausoleum, he inadvertently enters the afterlife and pretty soon, he meets his deceased relatives. They are, pardoning the pun, aghast and side with his great grandmother’s desire to keep the family away from ever enjoying music. None are allowed to listen to it or perform.

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Returning to the Fold: Thoughts on the Ixalan Release

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

As the release of Wizards of the Coast’s Magic the Gathering Ixalan nears and the spoiler card information is fully released, everything I’m discovering about it is hardly exciting. Set one offers a bit of cool narrative, but I’m still not entirely sold in this mixed genre realm. Plus, the news on the incentive promotion cards for Friday Night Magic changing to token cards next month is more of a deterring factor. Because these participation bonuses are not shiny, I’m not as inclined to participate.

The Davy Jones in me thinks the plunder is slim. The last set drained my funds so I can pick up duplicates of certain cards. Ixalan offers very little I truly want to play with. While Sorcerous Spyglass and Revel in Riches are two nice cards, the appeal of fighting dinosaurs is not all that hot. I still feel going Land of the Lost should be its own entity. I do not mind the vampire pirates as much (I was hoping for a few lich types inspired from Pirates of the Caribbean), but I have a burning question: just how much sunblock are they wearing to in order to cross the sea to arrive at a new world? The folklorist in me is appalled by the fact these members of the undead can cross water. This fact goes against tradition.

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