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Mother Land is More Than Just A Simple Siberian Fairy Tale

What makes this stop-motion animatedmovie magical is in how Mother Land connects us to what’s truly important, the love one has with nature and to not dextoxify it!

July 30 2:00 PM at the Salle J.A. De Sève
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Siberia is a world few people have visited, and to visit it in Mother Land (Eommaui Ttang) is more than a peek into the mystic. This gorgeous stop-motion animated film directed by Park Jae-beom looks at the life of one nomadic tribe as they face common dangers. I’m left wondering if it’s worth moving to live in a modern city. Although the reindeer they heard help sustain them, is that enough?

In this movie, Krisha (Lee Yun-ji) and her younger brother Ggolrya (Kim Seo-yeong) must look out for each other. That’s the advice their mother gave. They are precious to the tribe, and when mama rushed to protect her child from a falling piece of lumber, the injury did more than knock the wind out of her. Something else has taken her spirit too, and the illness is not as simple as the local healer thinks.

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Ready for Fantasia Film Festival 2023? We got our Top 20 Epic Picks!

There’s lots to see and thrill to at Fantasia Film Festival 2023, and we got our choice picks on what fans of animation, horror and fantasy to see!

Fantasia Film Festival 2023 Dates The best genre movie gala in Canada is almost here, and Fantasia Film Festival 2023 has a lot to offer! Over the three weeks, fans of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, drama and animation have a lot to pick from, and we got our list. Just how much one can take in per day depends on how much sleep and culture from this city one wants to take in (and how deep our pockets are to partake in everything). Montreal, Quebec is a mecca for all things classical and noveau.

As this celebration is back to being an in-person festival, so must the digital side disappear. That’s alright, since watching a film must also include the experience of sharing your joy with fellow movie-goers. This year’s spotlight includes a focus on Korean cinema, honouring Nicholas Cage with a career achievement award. (Update: Due to the writer’s strike, all celebrity guests cannot attend). He stars in SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (playing July 22nd at the Auditorium des diplômés de la SGWU). Just when fans thought he was over the top in Renfield, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

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Robotics, Existentialism and Jung_E. So What’s The Glitch?

To truly understand Jung_E may well require a sequel. This android’s future is in question and when it has pictorial moments right out of Gunnm, a Japanese manga I love, the similiarites I’m finding demand it.

jung_e poster Available on Netflix

In the future, the planet Earth is no longer habitable, and humanity’s life in orbital colonies has become harder. A civil war broke out after some of them formed their own government. In the conflict Jung_yi (Kim Hyun-joo) the soldier, not Jung_E the android, become a legend. The movie explores a bit of her life and sadly, she’s no Joan of Arc. I would have appreciated that nod, but she is just another model in the production line.

This replicant whom analysts are studying has this woman’s memories, but it’s tough to figure out what made the woman tick. Her decoration is because she pulled a Hail Mary. Through flashbacks, we learn why she became a soldier. And although this story is solid, I was hoping for more about the current state of affairs between why the Allied Forces want to fully clone her and why this war against the Andrian Republic lasted this long.

At first, I thought this movie may be a take on Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm)’s complex themes of existentialism. To put a consciousness in another body has consequences. But here, it doesn’t go further than to understand Jung’s memories. She’s a skilled fighter and can lead an army. But to replicate all of that to other clones requires digitising those memory engrams that make her tick.

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South Korea’s Alienoid Ready for Invasion in North America Aug 26th! and Sequel News

Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid is more about a kid displaced in time with My Two Dads, but it’s also V the Series with Terminator mixed in.

Alienoid Well GO USA
Coming to Theatres August 26, 2022 (Please check local listings)

Choi Dong-hoon’s ambitious plans for Alienoid are big. In part one, two robots–a very humanoid looking Guard (Kim Woo-bin) and a mechanical Thunder (voiced by Kim Dae-myung)–are tasked to keep watch on certain prisoners. Their bosses are some strange alien species who imprison the essences of their criminals in human vassals. Instead of making the entire planet a penal colony, we have to suspend disbelief and assume Seoul, South Korea, is special for a reason.

Perhaps in each major city, there are other guardians, and their assignment to monitor those prisoners is to make sure they don’t awaken. It’s very possible these criminal aliens can bend the minds of their hosts. They can take them for a very unwilling ride, and for unsuspecting humans, the result can sometimes be ugly. It’s safe to say neither can survive without the other. Or should that be, each criminal can’t last outside their prison without a host.

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Just How Wicked Can The Witch Part Two Can Go? A Tale From The Other One

Seoul, South Korea, could explode into a bubble like in Akira in Park Hoon-jung’s The Witch: Part Two The Other One

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Playing at Select Cinemas (Please check listings)

Park Hoon-jung‘s imagination is bloody dangerous! This screenwriter is better known for the South Korean film, I Saw the Devil and his contributions to the horror and superhero scene are few. When I heard about The Witch, I hoped his version of Firestarter is better and it is. The first film, Part One: The Subversion, is absolutely terrifying. The story ends with a cliffhanger which I thought might continue with Part Two: The Other One.

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What Happens When Gangsters Face a Spiritwalker?

Yoon Jae-geun’s sophomore work continues his love for making gangster films, and what we find here is a man (Yoon Kye-sang) with no memories of who he was.

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The premise behind Spiritwalker (유체이자) is a very intriguing one. Yoon Jae-geun’s sophomore work continues his love for exploring gangster politics, and what we find here is a man (Yoon Kye-sang) with no memories of who he was, and what he’s supposed to do in a jaunt around Seoul, Korea. What he sees in the mirror is not the image of himself. That’s all he really knows, and we’re on the same scary ride he’s in.

A bum calls for help, and he allows himself to be taken to the hospital for treatment. Twelve hours later, he wakes up in another body. The only thing that keeps him grounded is needing to find Jina (Lim Ji-yeon). The only person who believes he’s the same person in different bodies is that homeless man, Haengryo (Park Ji-hwan) he’s met before, who helps him navigate this crazy, mixed up world.

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