Growing up in the US as an Iraqi Kurdish/West Asian Muslim kid in the ‘90s here in the US, pre-heroes like Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), Zari Tarazi of DC’s Legend of Tomorrow, Khalid Nassour (Dr. Fate), and Green Lantern Simon Baz coming up in the 2000s and 2010s, you rarely, if ever, saw heroes on screen you could identify with.
Continue reading “How Supergirl Inspired this Brown Immigrant Child”
Musician and global superstar Bad Bunny made waves at last night’s 2026 Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, CA. The star added three Grammy wins to his list of awards and now has a total of six Grammys.
Continue reading “Bad Bunny’s Night at the 2026 Grammy Awards”
(in the style of Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, with regards to Watchmen the 2019 HBO adaptation, and also year-end recap lists)
Continue reading “Dr. Manhattan, Your 2026 Recap is Here!”
The nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards were announced last Friday, and the hottest animated film of the year, KPop Demon Hunters, is a five-time contender. Netflix’s most-watched original animated film of all time is in the running for Song of the Year, Best Song Written for Visual Media, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Remixed Recording, and Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. With the exception of the last category, all the others are in recognition for only one particular song from the film: “Golden.”
Continue reading ““What It Sounds Like” is the Underrated, True Heart of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’”
This past week, Egypt unveiled its new Grand Museum with a resounding announcement of their new magnificent structure spotlighting their country’s antiquities. After decades and decades of the West’s cultural theft of their relics, stories, and monopolizing of scholarship on Egypt, the museum’s opening highlights Egypt’s ownership and sovereignty over their rich history, archaeology, and scholarship, serving as a signal forward past the extreme Orientalist narratives the West thrust on it.
Continue reading “At First Glance, Universal’s ‘Mummy’ Sequel is Orientalist Regression”
Earlier this week, the Disney-owned broadcast network ABC abruptly pulled the late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live from the airwaves after being pressured by the U.S. government. A few days prior, Dan Gilroy1 and the show Andor, another Disney-owned entity, was being awarded an Emmy for outstanding writing for this powerful speech delivered by Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma — who was totally snubbed in the acting category, by the way — warning of “the monster who will come for us all soon enough.”
Continue reading “We Have Friends Everywhere”
It’s the 20th anniversary year for Avatar: The Last Airbender, and both fans as well as the cast and creators of the show came together to celebrate at the most recent San Diego Comic-Con. From an anniversary panel to announcements about what’s to come in the future for the franchise, there was a lot to go around.
Continue reading “Recasting Zuko for ‘The Legend of Aang’ is Unnecessary at Best, Tasteless at Worst”
Over here at The Nerds Of Color, Mike Manalo has done an astounding job covering the James Gunn version of Superman and, like him, our opinions are aligned that this is a Superman film for the ages. While there were many things to nitpick, there was undeniable energy and hope that coursed through the film, driven by the excellent David Corenswet. But while watching the film, I could not help but notice that the central conflict between the fictional countries of Boravia and Jarhanpur bore a striking resemblance to that of Israel and Palestine. We’re going to talk about this allegory exclusively, so come with me on this journey!
Continue reading “‘Superman’ and The Quest For Palestine”
To the Los Angeles theatre community, I love you and I adore you. I’ve been part of you for the past 15 years and despite the many challenges I have come across when it comes to meaningful representation and opportunities, I will always cherish the countless memories we have experienced and will continue to experience together as an artist and as a critic. But I think it’s time we desperately need to talk about the one subject that you have been avoiding for so long — Palestine.
Continue reading “Los Angeles Theatre, Let’s Talk About Palestine”