‘Shades of Cosplay’ Brings the Black Cosplay Experience Front and Center

January 18, 2022January 24, 2022 Bray Lawrence

Film director Cheyenne Ewulu directed the 2015 documentary Shades of Cosplay about four Black cosplayers and their experiences during the 2015 Anime-Matusuri convention. Using her background as a cosplayer, Ewulu weaves a story that interacts with the world of cosplay and its issues of racism and inclusiveness in the space. Now in the year 2022, the film is being released online for the first time on February 4, 2022 — to celebrate Black History Month.

Animation, Gaming, Interview

NOC Interview: Reed Shannon is a Voice of the Future

December 20, 2021December 20, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Reed Shannon is the very definition of a performer, and there’s a very good chance you have heard or seen him already. Whether it comes to his acting in the upcoming The Wilds season two, making music like his recent single “Bad Girl,” his stand-up career, or his voice acting as the voice of Cartoon Network and fan favorite Ekko from the hit Netflix show, Arcane, Reed has shown that he is able to do it all and more.

Martial Arts, Movies, Reviews

‘Nightshooters’ is One of the Best Action Films This Year

December 8, 2021December 7, 2021 Bray Lawrence

The trials and tribulations of indie filmmaking are taken to their absurd, action-y, lengths in Marc Price’s Nightshooter, a story about a film crew finding themselves at the scene of a harrowing gang (mob?) execution at an abandoned and soon to be demolished business center on the last night of shooting a zombie film.

Movies, Reviews

‘You Can’t Kill Meme’ is a Genuine Attempt to Pull the Curtain on Meme Magic

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Chaos Magic, 4chan, the 2016 election, and Egyptian gods were not the things I ever thought I would experience all at once but in You Can’t Kill Meme, a documentary film by Haley Garrigus that explores the idea of memes being magic and the magicians who use them. My third eye has been opened and I am looking deeper into the images I find funny and retweet on the internet.

Horror, Movies, Reviews

‘The Advent Calendar’ Proves to be Fun Holiday Horror

December 3, 2021December 3, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. It’s a moment to reflect on one’s life for the past 12 months with the family and friends you cherish, and celebrate another year together. Patrick Ridremont’s new film, The Advent Calendar, however, delivers a deliciously macabre statement that rejects the Yuletide sentiments for horror and gore sensibilities wrapped lovingly in beautiful cinematography and terrible people. This French film gifts the audience with an Advent calendar of terror, each scene opening up to reveal heightening anxious dread, that will leave horror fans happy this holiday season.

Interview, Music

Daniel Park on Representation and Producing the K-drama, ‘IDOL: The COUP’

November 19, 2021November 19, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Success never comes easy and especially when the odds are stacked against you, but with an authentic voice it can shape a generation. Daniel Park knows this personally as he is most notably known for his work with Far East Movement and his production company Transparent Agency. Daniel Park has been pushing the boundary of Asian American media and music into the broader American culture for more than a decade. Now as we are starting to see more Asian and Asian American artists take center stage on the path he helped create, we got sit down and talk with him about his thoughts on representation, the music industry and producing the K-drama, IDOL: The COUP.

Reviews, Video Games

‘Alan Wake Remastered’ Brings a Brilliant Cult Classic to a New Generation

November 17, 2021November 18, 2021 Bray Lawrence

It started like a dream. I never thought I would be playing Alan Wake again after 10 years. Most of the plot, gameplay, and characters felt like mere shadows of a half remembered dream I had. Moments of the sequences I enjoyed mixed with the frustrated “eh” feelings I had for the combat, left me wondering if revisiting this game now that I am closer to the age of the titular character would change the shape my thoughts from what I thought of it before.

Gaming, Video Games

‘Halo Infinite Multiplayer’ and Other Surprises at XBox’s 20th Anniversary Stream

November 15, 2021November 16, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Xbox graced us along with 343 Studios and the rest of Microsoft with some surprise announcements at Xbox’s 20th anniversary special. The special itself was a simple enough stream that was quick to the point with its nostalgia bombs of the history of the console with a few surprises of what Microsoft’s immediate future plans are.

Horror, Movies, Streaming

‘Madres’ Star Ariana Guerra on How Film Can Tell Stories to Inspire Change

October 20, 2021October 20, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Madres is a bit of an enigma as a film. Billed as a horror movie about a Mexican American couple in 1970 who move to California for better opportunities as the due date for their first born approaches, the film takes inspiration from a very real historical tragedy. In the years post WWII, California farm workers were subjected to hazardous working conditions which poisoned them with the deadly pesticides that were being sprayed over the crops. Madres aims to bring awareness to a forgotten disaster and Ariana Guerra wanted to make sure she was apart of this important story when she accepted the role of the film’s protagonist, Diana.

Horror, Interview, Streaming

‘The Manor’ Director Axelle Carolyn Wants to Know Why Everyone is So Afraid to Grow Old

October 19, 2021October 20, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Axelle Carolyn has been a lover of the horror genre from the beginning of her career. Ever since her jump from sitting in front of the screen to being behind the camera as a director, Carolyn has honed her craft to tell human stories through the genre that scares us most. For her new movie, The Manor, premiering on Amazon Prime Video as a part of “Welcome to the Blumhouse,” we were able to sit down and talk with Carolyn about life, death, and the fear of growing old.

Horror, Interview, Streaming

Gigi Saul Guerrero on Campy Horror and Respecting Your Elders in ‘Bingo Hell’

October 15, 2021October 15, 2021 Bray Lawrence

In Bingo Hell, co-writer and director Gigi Saul Guerrero creates a world of horror that harkens to the campiness of early ’80s schlock with a tale that feels as old as time itself. But it’s also a labor of love and reverence for the people in our lives that came before but are often never the protagonist of our stories — our elders.

Reviews, Video Games

‘Tales of Arise’ Review: Rising to the Occasion Never Felt So Good

October 15, 2021October 20, 2021 Bray Lawrence

I have spent most of my life playing Japanese role playing games. From the Final Fantasy series to the Shin Megami Tensei series, I have enjoyed several different JRPG titles from Japan. But one in particular was always hit or miss for me, and that was the Tales series. I bounced off of Abyss and Beseria, never owned a Gamecube to play Symphonia, finished Vesperia and liked it, but never felt the pull of replaying it. So to say that Tales of Arise is one of the best JRPGs to date is an understatement. Tales of Arise captures what makes JRPGs timeless while evolving and creating a new vocabulary of play through its storytelling and combat that I hope other studios take note of.

Horror, Movies, Reviews

‘Ouija Japan’ Summons Greatness but is Cursed with Being Decent

October 14, 2021October 15, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Something that has always fascinated me in horror movies is that through the sheer bombastic embrace of all things repulsive in society, it can often be the best mirror image society has of itself. Whether it be through nightmare dream logic, campy visual stylization, or an over abundance of gore, when you strip the horror genre to its core there is a meaning behind the madness.

Horror, Interview, Streaming

The Haunting History of Vampires and Blackness is Captured in ‘Black as Night’

October 11, 2021October 12, 2021 Bray Lawrence

In the film Black as Night, screenwriter Sherman Payne pens a haunting and alluring tale of vampires and their victims through a lens not much often looked through. Crafting a story that centers Shawna, a 15-year-old African American woman, as she battles vampires in a modern day New Orleans against a backdrop of not only the history of Hurricane Katrina but also the generational and systemic trauma of being Black in America.

Interview, Music

Super Smack is Ready to Smash Stereotypes and the Industry with New EP

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Super Smack is a Filipino American rapper that has been leveling up in the music game ever since his first ep, Neon Red, hit streaming services. With a unique blend of gaming culture, anime references, good vibes, and a message for change, Super Smack’s pens music that blend pop and rap in ways that make the nerd in any of us step on the dance floor.

Movies, Reviews

‘When I’m A Moth’ is Beautiful but Doesn’t Say Anything

September 19, 2021September 24, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Waking from a dream never felt so unfinished as it did when I reached the end credits of When I’m A Moth, an independent film directed by Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak, written by Cotler. It’s a film that on paper has all the markings of being an arthouse darling — a small cast, eerie poetic dream visuals, pontifications on choice and fate with a going nowhere protagonist and yet, as I rose from my seat afterwards, it felt as if I was remembering a half dream. Unable to finish the thought of what it wanted to be but fascinated by the parts I could remember.

Movies, Reviews

‘Language Lessons’ Is A Lesson To Behold

September 8, 2021September 16, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Two people from across different continents use webcams to build a beautiful friendship rooted in understanding each other, both linguistically and emotionally in Language Lessons. Natalie Morales directs, co-writes, and stars alongside Mark Duplass in a film that is both incredibly simple in production execution and completely captivating through its narrative and strong performances.

Interview, Movies

A Beautiful Presidential Conversation w/ Whitney Skauge and Terence Smith

September 7, 2021September 8, 2021 Bray Lawrence

In The Beauty President, Terence Smith retells his ’92 presidential campaign as his drag queen persona Ms. Joan Black in a conversational documentary short film by Whitney Skauge. Smith didn’t realize at the time it would be such a historic moment in political art, and this film captures his surprise and delight at being a part of history.

Reviews, Video Games1 Comment

‘12 Minutes’ Wasn’t Long Enough to Be Compelling

August 28, 2021August 28, 2021 Bray Lawrence

It has been four days, eight hours, fifty minutes and twenty-nine seconds since I played 12 Minutes and I’ve been perplexed as to how to write this review. Normally, this would be kind of a good thing. The moment of reflection that comes after seeing something that feels profound, provoking an introspection as to why it resonated so much doesn’t happen with 12 Minutes.

Movies, Reviews

‘Americanish’ Shines a Heartwarming Light on its Community

August 21, 2021August 20, 2021 Bray Lawrence

Iman Zahawry provides a refreshing and heartwarming romantic comedy centered in a community that is so often ignored in media. What might feel like a run of the mill indie film straight from the early 2010s, the films sets itself apart and elevates itself with its likable characters and message of trying to find one’s independence and what it means to be Americanish.

Movies, Reviews

‘Unapologetic’ is an Unflinching Exploration of Activism

August 20, 2021August 20, 2021 Bray Lawrence

“What is this helping?” is one of the first sentences uttered by a white restaurant patron unsettled in Unapologetic’s first scene, where protestors express the reality of the recent deaths of Black residents in their community to unsuspecting people eating brunch at restaurants. The scene perfectly encompasses the themes and motives of this documentary: a large and triumphant call to arms to make a more honest and equal world while people sit quietly trying to ignore not only the performance, but the actual knowledge of those who are destroyed and subjugated by these injustices.

Movies, Reviews, Sci Fi

‘Nebulous Dark’ Can’t Time Travel Enough to Be a Strong Movie

August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 Bray Lawrence

A nightmare-fueled time-traveling plot unravels in Shahin Sean Solimon’s new film, Nebulous Dark, a sci-fi movie about the world’s last human man as he wakes from deep sleep to find the Earth has been conquered by aliens. This sounds pretty straight forward for a plot, but this is only how I could fully understand the film after watching it and reading the synopsis again. If you were to watch Nebulous Dark after only seeing the trailer, as I did, you would find an almost surreal, nihilist nightmare of a film that I can’t tell if it’s poorly edited and poorly written, or if it’s actively trying to attack the viewer on a subconscious level. What I was left with was an art piece that genuinely intrigues me and is unintentionally funny, by a film that takes itself incredibly seriously.

Movies, Reviews

‘The Beauty President’ is a Beauty to Behold

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021 Bray Lawrence

As I watched the Pride flag waving as the credits ran at the end of The Beauty President, I remembered growing up in the early 2000s and how I knew nothing about what that flag meant then. That 20 years later, I can see it at my city’s town hall flying next to the United States flag. Director Whitney Skauge and the film’s subject, Terrance Alan Smith, bring a beautiful historical moment in LGBTQ+ history to the forefront with an air of grace and love that I hope everyone could see.