VOD Archives | Otaku No Culture

Spider-Mable is Web Slinging to VOD April 27th!

To know Mable Tooke’s journey means following her plight in the documentary SpiderMable, which won the Best Canadian Film title and the “Best of the Fest” Audience Award at the NorthwestFest International Documentary Festival in 2020 and more recently, the Edmonton Film Prize.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Coming to iTunes, Bell, Shaw, Telus and Vimeo beginning April 27th, 2021 in Canada.

Organizations like the Make-a-Wish and The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada always wants to help children stay positive amidst any crisis. Sometimes they are fighting for their own health like Bat-Kid from 2013 and they make the news because they have a desire to do more than just fight crime for a day. There’s even a documentary made about him by Warner Bros. Pictures, the parent company to DC Comics.

Not every story gets told. Across the country, the most recent hero is 10-year-old Orlando, Florida resident Gaige Pike who is ROBOgaige. In Chicago, Christian Clark’s alter-ego is SuperBlack. who fought villains alongside Batman. Even tweens can dream; before Bat-Kid came along in San Francisco, the Emerald City of the Pacific Northwest knew Erik Martin as Electron Boy, who helped Spider-Man fight crime. There’s no doubt more, and they all make the local media reports to show the encouraging power of the human spirit is everywhere.

In Canada, Mable Tooke is a cancer-fighter and a selfless 6-year-old patient whose desire to help others even while she is in the battle of her life proves even more children can be heroes for a day. It’s less about who the person wishes to become, be it a well known comic book hero or something invented, but more about what they represent. Each Make-a-Wish hero inspires others to stay strong as treatment of their ailment is ongoing. To know this young girl’s journey means following her struggles in the documentary SpiderMable, which won the Best Canadian Film title and the “Best of the Fest” Audience Award at the NorthwestFest International Documentary Festival in 2020 and more recently, the Edmonton Film Prize.

Continue reading “Spider-Mable is Web Slinging to VOD April 27th!”

On How It’s Best Not to Get Lost In “The Tangle”

This film is more of a detective story than a hard boiled crime investigation

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Damn Warrior & SitkaBlu Productions

Available to rent/sell on www.nestofvampires.com.

Amazon Prime Watch party on Facebook
March 19, 2021 6pm PDT
(Not available on all countries)

Big Brother watches over everything, and records every action people do in The Tangle. Just how they manage to record everything is with nanotechnology and micro drones! This chilling world is a well crafted Orwellian style look at what could be in our reality, and thankfully the film by actor / filmmaker Christopher Soren Kelly in his directorial debut in a feature length work knows a few boundaries that should not be crossed… or does it?

That various technologies employed to keep track of people include S.O.L. (Secure OnTangle Line), a quantum encrypted hard drive implanted in the brain of many. The purpose for all this monitoring is to prevent people from committing murder. This is the future of Los Angeles after all. More people are able to live that life they want in a virtual world known as Xanadu.

Continue reading “On How It’s Best Not to Get Lost In “The Tangle””

Bullied: You Are Not Alone on VOD. A Documentary Review

Bullied not only brilliantly shows us how bullying behaviour developed over time, from the cave man days to where we’re at in the 21st Century with cyber-bullying (on any social media platform)–especially concerning the statistics revealed about Americans.

Available On Demand on Select Streaming Platforms

Coming to Tubi on Feb 12, 2021

For updates, please visit their Facebook page.

Bullying in any form is socially unacceptable, and the nerd/geek community is often the target because we continue to love stuff that other people have outgrown. Filmmaker Thomas Keith‘s documentary Bullied: You Are Not Alone examines the nature of the beast, and I feel it’s a must for every high school curriculum to show in Social Studies. It’s important for teachers to also encourage discussion so everyone can have an easier time in school instead of doing something they may regret later, like dropping out of society (and life). This subject really should be relabelled History, but I digress.

This work brilliantly shows us how bullying behaviour developed over time, and the range is from the cave man days to where we’re at in the 21st Century with cyber-bullying (on any social media platform). When looking at the statistics revealed about Americans, the numbers concerning those being harmed are terrible! Correcting this universal problem is not easy and in what makes this work special is that it shows us possible solutions to change this troubling aspect of society.

The stories we see here aren’t about those facing a challenging social life in school. There’s also workplace bullying and how people treat others when one may have a disability or other characteristic (like race) the other doesn’t like.

Continue reading “Bullied: You Are Not Alone on VOD. A Documentary Review”

Monster Force Zero Invents New Heroes!

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Release Date:
October 13, 2020

Wild Eye Releasing
Video on Demand

Nathan Letteer‘s love letter to the comic book convention scene, Monster Force Zero, is more of a fan film than a SyFy movie of the week. It’s evident with the level of experience seen by the performances. This filmmaker got his start in Vancouver by working on the Stargate SG-1 set, and I can’t fault him for where he was earning his wings.

This film was finished because the talents involved saw their product as a labour of love. The Indiegogo campaign was launched so that the production can be finalized, and despite not hitting their goal, new investors must have come forth afterwards to insure this film get delivered.

Continue reading “Monster Force Zero Invents New Heroes!”

The Nail in the Coffin is not Firm on the Fall and Rise of Vampiro, a Wrestling Legend

Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro is a very deep, insightful and tear-jerker of a documentary about this wrestler as a family man.

Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available through: Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Bell, Cineplex and also on iTunes Apple TV

According to Vampiro (aka Ian Richard Hodgkinson), pro wrestling originated in Mexico. A few talents from the WWE got their start there. Lucha Libre, as it’s known, is its own unique world and Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro is a very deep, insightful and tear-jerker of a documentary about this wrestler as a family man. It’s less about the world he’s still involved in, but more about how much he loves Dasha, his daughter.

In his better years, this wrestler flew back and forth from Ontario and Mexico City, from his home life to work, just to earn a living so to help his family out. It’s not just with his daughter, but also his mom. This piece doesn’t dwell too much on all the reasons on why he left the nest, but instead focuses on those lessons he learned as he navigated the harsh realities of life so that he can prepare his own little bird for the eventuality. He won’t be around forever, especially with the way he’s abused his body as this film unfolds.

Continue reading “The Nail in the Coffin is not Firm on the Fall and Rise of Vampiro, a Wrestling Legend”

It’s An Alien Addiction, not Abduction with Shae Sterling!

Rico himself is part Maori and these people are extremely welcoming people. When I designed the aliens, they were naturally inquisitive and not mean spirited at all–quite playful, really. So mixing those two elements together naturally made a unique and fun relationship, the heart of the film.

Spider-Man

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

On Demand, Blu-ray and DVD

Release Date:
September 29

Gravitas Ventures

Shae Sterling is a tremendous talent in New Zealand. He’s worked with international talents like Snoop Dogg and is better known for his music video work with local artists. He’s also collaborated with Stan Walker (The X Factor) and the list does not end there! Plus, he’s the director of the documentary sports racing series High Octane. To become a fully fledged filmmaker, however, means making a proper debut with the crazy stoner comedy, Alien Addiction!

Going into making genre films isn’t without its own unique set of challenges–especially concerning special effects–but I feel he’s done a remarkable job. 15 years is more than enough in one industry to develop one’s skills. A different question is whether this film would play with UFO lore from this region. This country is famous for one instance–The Kaikoura Lights–but as for whether this movie would explore this further or stand on its own is a decision this director no doubt had to figure out. His choice to do sit-com is much needed when the there’s been a lot of similar films released this year.

Continue reading “It’s An Alien Addiction, not Abduction with Shae Sterling!”