Adilkhan Yerzhanov‘s Night God (Nochnoy Bog) is more than a trippy meditation about the life found in the outskirts of Russia. It’s hard to describe because the plot meanders. The film opens with a pair of workers, just having a conversation, and they see the red tails of what I feel are rockets being launched into space than falling debris–much less a comet (the latter appear as smudges in one point in the sky than wander the horizon). One individual asks, “What is the meaning of it all?”
The response is simply in the fact neither have seen anything like that in their life. They don’t even hint of knowing military exercises are going on elsewhere (the most plausible explanation of what they saw). They are more concerned about their own self being since they believe the world is ready to self destruct. Curiously, we don’t know who everyone is. They’re nameless.
Attendees go to San Diego Comic Con 2019 for many reasons. For some, it’s all about the networking potential to get their feet in the door of the comic book industry (plenty of panels exist to learn from the best). For the casual fan, there’s the crazy shopping experience or discovering new works they have not heard about.
Others want to hear the latest news then wait for the online recap and then there are the special screenings! After parties goes without saying and just nerding out there is the reason some go. However, I was torn as Fantasia Film Festival and SDCC overlap. Looking at both shows remotely was my choice.
Those people curious in what I’m excited for, here’s my top five geek out moments. Sorry Marvel, but I’m not super excited for your Phase 4 action just yet. Black Widow, Loki, and Doctor Strange 2, yes. Everything else, I just do not know.
We offer our top picks on which of Fantasia Festival’s “Things That Go Bump In The East” Shorts Program are must sees.
Runs: July 11 – August 1st Montreal, Quebec
This year, Fantasia Festival‘s “Things That Go Bump In The East” Shorts Program offers an eclectic mix of animated works which I’m savoring like fine wine. This year featured eleven works and plenty are from the Tokyo University of the Arts. Some of these will no doubt screen at other film festivals. We can find a few online, like Shishigari (a wonderful tale of survival with elements of Mononoke Hime tossed in) and the others–they are worth seeking to get your scream on.
Various cinematic and illustration styles are used to deliver the goosebumps. In what makes these films unique is in how the animators push the envelope not only in how 2D Digital Animation can tell the story but also with how Asian filmmakers are defining an age old genre.
Exclusive cover to release
at Emerald City Comic Con 2019 * Released March 6, 2019
Spoiler Alert
Oni Press‘ comic Morning in America introduces a new gang of problem solvers, The Sick Sisters, and they have to figure out what’s going on in their hometown of Tucker, Ohio. Nancy, Ashley, Ellen and Veronica are a tight group of misfits. They have plenty to worry about. If they are not careful, they can be sent to detention hall fast. High school life is rough, but the terrors they will have to soon face will be tougher.
With the first issue, monsters flit about in the night and carry away their victims to somewhere. Nancy is told this incident when selling cigarettes to another punk kid, but she has a hard time believing. Things change when she overhears the police are doing nothing when she realizes this wave of disappearances is nothing to ignore. The bigger challenge is to convince her friends to go investigate. They have a good enough reason to: all high school kids are being targeted and they fear they could be next.
Are you curious about the origins of Project MKUltra and Dr. Brenner’s Hawkins Laboratory? Writer Jody Houser (StarCraft, Orphan Black), penciller Edgar Salazar (Constantine, Smallville), inker Keith Champagne (JSA, Superboy), colorist Triona Farrell (Mech Cadet Yu, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), and letterer Nate Piekos (Fight Club 3, Doctor Star & The Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows) signed on to introduce us to the other subjects trapped in the Hawkins Laboratory in Stranger Things: SIX.
Book launch on Oct 23, 7pm at Bolen Books 1644 Hillside Ave #111, Victoria, BC
Fans of supernatural lore can easily find a wide selection of Barbara Smith’s books collecting ghost stories in many a public library. Each of them focuses on a specific region and as she wrote in her latest work, Great Canadian Ghost Stories from Coast to Coast, “Please know that all my books of ghost stories, including this one, have been written to entertain and inform, not to change anyone’s belief systems.”
From Labrador to Vancouver Island, this work does a great job at offering the best-known tales to read before bed. I found The Isle of Demons from way out East particularly sad — a newlywed family was left to fend for themselves there, but its reputation got the better of sailors when they needed help — and for Victoria, British Columbia, my home, to decide on which story is best to spotlight must have been tough. Two are offered: the shade at Beacon Hill Park (too common of an entry in many works for my taste). I had an experience at Hatley Castle, and that’s my number one choice. Understandably, the administration wants to play that down, but the stories and what I heard says it all.
Another I’m trying to encounter is the Time Slip on Shelbourne street. I drove through this path many an October night for the past several years. The thought of this path becoming country is theoretically an illusion because when tired, the autumn foliage can trick the mind. I have a slip of paper in a plastic mylar bag to drop to test the theory of, “If you find this note, please find me in the years of 1978 and onwards.” My interest in the paranormal started in that decade.
This superlative collection covers favourites like The Dungarvon Whooper, The Ghosts of Fort George and The Banff Springs Hotel. I’m still looking for mention of the Sooke Staircase and feel this piece of folklore is overlooked! Another entry to note about my home province is that no, the doll Mandy did not inspire the Nicolas Cage movie of the same name. The movie took place in the Shadow Mountains of California, and it has its own demons for visitors to deal with.
I particularly enjoyed how this work represents the Great White North as a whole. The folklore from Nunavut is most likely still being pieced together. When considering how widespread and isolated citizens are, I firmly believe we have a lot of cabins in the woods scenarios. To find one that’s not akin to Evil Dead will be difficult.
The content offered in this collection is reading time well spent. Smith’s prose is easy to follow. Although I know more than half the stories already, they are worth revisiting when the mood strikes. She’s been writing these books since 1993, and her experience shows. She tells these tales as though she’s passing knowledge from one generation to another so that certain aspects of Canada’s past are not forgotten. The loss of lives at sea will always be hard-hitting. Mariner tales, especially “Mysterious Rescue,” early in this book sets the tone. Sometimes, those “Ghostly Footsteps” are just that; the dead has no interaction with the living, but are fleeting memories so we can at least acknowledge their presence. The entry on “Historical Hamilton House” hits all the right notes not only about the rise of Spiritualism in Canada and why many took to it, but also explains the Ackroyd connection. This family’s interest spanned generations and the comedian took ideas to pen the comedy classic Ghostbusters.
Barbara Smith’s books are often found in bookstores when the Halloween season arises. This latest work updates a few details. There’s no denying we all love a good ghost story by the campfire, but when we want to go find answers, that’s a different kettle of fish. My advice: just do not try (not many books stand out) and simply enjoy discovering Canada’s past from a supernatural angle. I feel that’s this book’s purpose, as I would love to ride those haunted railways once again.
Additional Screening
By Ed Sum
