The Dark Phoenix is coming! And all those in her wake will tremble! However, a select few with gifted abilities will rise up to stop her. They are the X-Men!
Continue reading “‘Dark Phoenix’ Star Kodi Smit-McPhee on Being Nightcrawler”
It’s that time again, Nerds of Color! Con-Season is upon us! And on the first day of WonderCon, Fox gave unto us an awesome Dark Phoenix panel with Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Evan Peters (Quicksilver), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), and writer/director Simon Kinberg.
Continue reading “‘Dark Phoenix’ WonderCon Footage Description”
The early years of Disney Animation are marked by some of the most seminal classics in the history of everyone’s childhood. Among one of the most dear and tearfully sentimental was 1941’s Dumbo. It came at a time when folks had never conceived of the possibility of seeing something as grand as an elephant flying. But Walt Disney, and the first generation of Disney animators, dreamed of what it would look like and brought it to life in vibrant colors and adorable designs. And the results have since become something of legend.
Continue reading “An Afternoon With the Crew Who Brought ‘Dumbo’ to Life”
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend “Incredible Kid Day!” with the cast of Shazam! in Hollywood! The event, sponsored by Warner Bros., Camp Fire, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Kizuna, and Jack and Jill of America, was organized to celebrate the achievements of some of the most impressive youths in the Southern California region, in such areas as science, sports, academia, and responsible citizenship.
Helping these kids celebrate their wonderful achievements were Marta Milans (Rosa), Jovan Armand (Pedro), Grace Fulton (Mary), Ian Chen (Eugene), and Faithe Herman (Darla), who play Billy Batson and Freddie Freeman’s adopted family in the movie. The cast passed out awards and the kids were able to take one-on-one pictures with the whole crew following the conclusion of the ceremony.
Continue reading “Talking with the Cast of ‘Shazam!’ on Incredible Kid Day”
That’s two in a row for the DCEU! At this point in time, given that even other WB/DC properties like The Lego Batman Movie have openly mocked the franchise’s former unnecessarily dark and cynical roots, we’ve certainly seen a gradual shift towards optimism and fun from Wonder Woman to Justice League. Then to the colorful craziness of Aquaman,and now, Shazam!; DC’s lightest and most family-friendly movie to date. And honestly, especially after seeing Shazam!, in my opinion the results work so much more than they did in the earlier stages of the franchise.
In which I wish I could have Monica Rambeau’s fearlessness when it comes to Black women characters in sci-fi, but I’ve been burned twice before.
Continue reading “Maria Rambeau and My Fear for Black Girls in Space”
This morning, Netflix dropped a new trailer for Stranger Things, and of course the internet lost its mind.
Continue reading “New ‘Stranger Things’ Trailer and We’re Giving Away Funko Toys”
Aladdin is one of my favorite films of all time. It gave me, as a brown Middle Eastern kid, heroic representation that’s always stayed with me. I’ve already written at length for about my overall very complicated feelings on the live action remake. While the new trailer is solid, it’s also given more insight into the problematic trends this live action movie seems to perpetuate. Overall, I have little to no confidence that this film will improve upon the problematic aspects of the original (besides the welcome addition of having people of color play the main roles), and in fact will double down on more troubling aspects.
Continue reading “The Live Action ‘Aladdin’ Doubles Down on Orientalist and Colorist Trends”
Hot off of Captain Marvel’s $500 million box office domination, Marvel Studios is already hard at work assembling the future phases of their Cinematic Universe. After announcing Shang-Chi as the next hero to get a feature, Marvel Studios has tapped director Destin Daniel Cretton to helm their first ever Asian American-led superhero film.
Continue reading “Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’ Movie Has a Director”
The joyous sounds of Casey Jr, rolled into Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. The huffing and puffing of the rustic steam engine was an indicator that closely following by would be the promise of magic and wonder as soon as it arrived. For on that train came the legendary cast and director that would bring one of Disney’s most beloved animated classics to life, Dumbo.
Tim Burton, the legendary ringmaster led to the stage his circus troupe of experienced acting veterans. A veritable who’s-who of extraordinary talent — many of whom served as Burton-alumni from various projects — crossed the stage following Burton, including Colin Farrell, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins, Eva Green, Danny DeVito, and Michael Keaton.
Continue reading “Making an Elephant Soar with the Director and Stars of ‘Dumbo’”
MC Frontalot’s new album Net Split: Or, The Fathomless Heartbreak of Online Itself dropped this weekend. (Or, is it still dropping? Is the moment of album-drop an indivisible quantum thing? Probably no one cares.) Five years in the making, Net Split is in some sense a concept breakup album, in which the Godfather of Nerdcore Rap wrestles with all the aspects of the Internet that are increasingly awful: memes, trolls, dating, stalking, dating/stalking, and of course, comments. It’s hooky and at times heart-wrenching, and here I chat about it with Frontalot, co-producer/beatsmith Baddd Spellah (Dave Cheong), guest verse-ologist Lex the Lexicon Artist, and frequent collaborator/keyboardist Gm7 (Gaby Alter).
Idris Elba will replace Will Smith in the James Gunn-helmed Suicide Squad, dropping in 2021. For some reason, to me, this feels like the death knell for Elba to be the monstrous movie star we all know he deserves to be. Don’t @ me, but Elba isn’t where he should and could be. He’s made some career missteps (way more in film and music than on television), but I don’t think this is why he’s bubbled for so long, instead of popping.
Sorry to burst your bubble, haters, but Captain Marvel is really good.
With all the controversy surrounding Captain Marvel, created by internet trolls, it was refreshing to watch the film and see how wrong they were about it. Captain Marvel has been labeled a feminist film, and it is, but it does so without dragging men down. Instead, the film focuses on women empowerment, sisterhood, and friendships.
Continue reading “‘Captain Marvel’ Goes Higher Further and Faster For the MCU”
According to today’s live Q&A event hosted by Marvel Studios at a re-created Tower Records in West Hollywood, which also featured live sets by Bush and L7.
