I tweeted this over a month ago from The Nerds of Color handle, when I was excited about the Zendaya news and wanted to quickly hop on the celebrations. Suffice to say the tweet raised… More
Japanese Twitter Account Displays Bruce Lee and Freddie Mercury as the Best of Friends
Bruce Lee was a cultural icon who revolutionized martial arts films. Freddie Mercury was the front man for the legendary rock group Queen and considered one of rock’s greatest all-time entertainers. Both of these artists sadly left the world too soon. But, thanks to a Japanese Twitter account, their memory lives on through a pair of action figures.
Bruce Lee Movie Stars a White Guy Because Of Course it Does
This morning, Deadline unveiled the first trailer for Birth of the Dragon, which recently made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. Ostensibly, the film depicts the legendary fight between Bruce Lee (played by Philip Ng) and Wong Jack Man (Yu Xia). But because this is Hollywood, the movie is going to be told from the perspective of a white dude.
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It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…
I will present to you one of the most beautiful sentences in recent memory: Ava DuVernay is directing the film adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. The sentence itself isn’t beautiful, but what it conveys is. We’ve all seen the hype and hoopla around DuVernay being the first black women to helm a $100 million dollar film. While this is an accomplishment worth lauding, DuVernay can make a beautiful film on half a shoestring and great storytelling. She is also the queen of cinematic #BlackGirlMagic. I’ll get to why this is important in a bit.
TIFF Review: The Birth of a Nation
In watching The Birth of a Nation I was a little destroyed. There’s so much to unpack. Nat Turner is a legendary figure in the Black community — a former slave who removed his own shackles. It’s a story I’ve wanted to see on screen for a long time. The reviews out of Sundance were huge. Then, news of Nate Parker rape charges and acquittal broke. I debated a long time about whether or not to cover the story when I came to TIFF. Eventually, I decided that a film this prominent and this culturally invested couldn’t be ignored. I have mixed feelings about what I saw. I’m going to take it slow.
The Lost Boys of Hook, 25 Years Later
Ready to feel old?
This December, Steven Spielberg’s Hook — the film that imagined what happened to Peter Pan (the late Robin Williams) after he grew up — will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. Recently, Entertainment Tonight reunited the movie’s Lost Boys — who were all child actors at the time — to get back into their Neverland costumes one more time. Fortunately for us, our pal Dante Basco, Rufio himself(!), brought a camera with him and shot some behind the scenes video of the photo shoot!
What I’ve Learned: Star Trek at 50 (Me at 44)
It is no secret that I love Star Trek. My daughter asked me why. I told her the following: I love it for its aspirational nature, its optimistic outlook for humankind, it’s marrying of science and art, and its borderline Shakespearean drama. I also love it for its horrible effects, its over-emoting, and the sheer high-corniness of most of the story lines. To me, Trek is the epitome of important television1. It entertained me. It made me think. It spurred me to action. Trek and Raiders of the Lost Ark are directly responsible for my pursuing undergraduate and graduate education. I learned things from Star Trek. Our conversation got me thinking about what I have learned from Trek.
So in the spirit and honor of Cal Fussman’s “What I’ve Learned” column in Esquire magazine, Star Trek’s 50th and my 44th, I want to share “What I’ve Learned: Star Trek Edition.”
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What Star Trek Meant for My Grandfather
Star Trek has meant a lot to me as a fan of pop culture, science-fiction, and television. It also has meant everything to me as a human being.
My grandfather, who was a WWII veteran, likely served in a segregated unit in the war. He returned home to a nation still refusing to deal with Jim Crow and other societal injustice.
When I was a very young, I recall him watching various genre programs like Wild Wild West, Gunsmoke, Rat Patrol, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and countless other series. However, he especially loved Star Trek.
#RyanPotterForTimDrake the Newest Fan Campaign for Representation
[ED. UPDATE 9/10/16: Ryan Potter’s self-made audition tape has been getting a lot of attention!]
There’s a new fan movement in the works that is determined to get Ryan Potter cast as Tim Drake in the DCEU films. Who is Ryan Potter? Potter, 20, is a young half-Japanese actor who’s best known as the voice of Hiro from Disney’s Big Hero 6. A martial artist himself, Potter has quickly risen to be a fan-favorite choice for Tim Drake amongst DC fans. And it all started with a tweet.
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First Look at Gabriel Luna as Ghost Rider on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
One of the most buzzed about pieces of information to emerge out of San Diego Comic-Con over the summer happened when Marvel dropped a surprise teaser that revealed — some might say “confirmed” — that Ghost Rider was making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut on ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this fall. And the All-New version of Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes, is the one coming to the small screen. Now we know what Gabriel Luna is going to look like on the show.
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Representation Is Heavy (But It Matters)
[Featured image by: Menellaos]
Several weeks ago I had the singular pleasure of substitute teaching for a course in the California College of Arts M.F.A. in Comics program. Yes, you read that correctly. There is an M.F.A. in comics. Where was this X number of years ago when I was on my Higher Ed journey?
