NOC Recaps The Flash: We Didn’t Start the Firestorm
Is it just me, or have the early episodes of both Arrow and Flash felt more like prologues for Legends of Tomorrow than independent, standalone series? Perhaps this is the one drawback of such a wide-ranging shared universe. It’s difficult to serve your own story when you must also plant seeds that will bloom in a completely separate show that will happen several months from now. Like I said in last week’s Arrow recap, “The Fury of Firestorm” felt more like a prequel to Legends of Tomorrow than a self-contained Flash story. Still, there were a lot of things to like from the episode that launches Firestorm 2.0.
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NOC Recaps Supergirl: This Show Flies Up, Up, and Away
It feels like we’ve been riding the Supergirl hype train for more than a year now. Now that the show has finally arrived — behind a massive marketing campaign that made it the most watched new show of the season! — the rest of the general public is finally beginning to see what we’ve been saying since from jump: Supergirl, the show, is legit and the best thing to happen to live action superhero adaptations since The Flash debuted — which also stars a Glee alum and is produced by the same folks, coincidentally.
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And the Nominee Is…..
With October being LGBTQ History month — as well as Black Speculative Fiction Month, the following news seems almost provident.
My sophomore novel, West of Sunset, has been nominated for 2015 Gaylactic Spectrum Award in the best novel category. I’m immensely humbled by this honor. It’s wonderful to be reminded that if you’re willing to dream and put in the work, opportunities manifest as a result.
The Jem and the Holograms Movie was a Bomb
And not, in fact, the bomb.
In fact, Jem and the Holograms’ $1.3 million box office was so low that it was actually a flop of historic proportions. Of course, the lesson Hollywood will take from Jem’s failure isn’t to be more faithful to the source material. Instead, Jem will be used as another example of why a female-led superhero franchise will never succeed; coincidentally on the same day Supergirl on CBS is poised to prove the opposite is true. And no, you did not read that wrong. Jem was — and is — a superhero property.
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Character Study: Zoe Washburne
With October being #BlackSpeculativeFictionMonth, it seemed only appropriate to put the spotlight on an amazing black character. Zoe Washburne, the big damn heroine of Firefly/Serenity, portrayed by Perfection herself, Gina Torres, seemed like an excellent selection.
When Firefly first premiered, I knew the series was going to be something special. Joss Whedon was at the helm, very talented and good-looking cast, wicked cool concept. Of course it wasn’t until I saw the first episode that I realized how special this little series about cowboys in space truly was. A major part of that success was a little cowgirl known as Zoe Washburne.
One on One with Arrow Director Lexi Alexander
Arrow fans, are you ready for next week’s episode, “Beyond Redemption,” directed by fan-favorite Lexi Alexander? Fortunately, the woman behind such films as Green Street and Punisher: War Zone — and one of the best follows on twitter — was kind enough to sit down with Keith to talk media representation, directing superheroes, and whether she should be a permanent guest host of Hard NOC Life.
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Interview with Black Tiger: Hunter Hunted Director Patricio Ginelsa
The same day that the final Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer hit this week, a lesser known project called Black Tiger: Hunter Hunted released its 20-minute pilot episode on YouTube. Black Tiger originally started off as a comic book mini-series in 2004. In 2014, a Kickstarter project to fund a short film based on the comic book was successfully funded. The short film, starring WWE Diva Angela Fong and Robin Shou (Mortal Kombat), premiered at WonderCon in 2014 and went on to screen at other conventions, winning the 2014 Spirit of Comic Con award at the Atlanta Comic Con’s Wizard World Film Festival. Director Patricio Ginelsa took time out to talk to us about the film and the funding effort to continue the web series.
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NOC Recaps Arrow: Lazarus Flush
Going into the 2015-16 television season, there were questions about how Legends of Tomorrow was going to fit in to the timelines established by Flash and Arrow. Little did we know that the first few episodes of both shows were essentially being used as set up for the midseason series.
In the previous night’s Flash, we saw the lead in to two of Legends’ protagonists: Leaonard Snart’s redemption and Martin Stein’s Firestorm dependency. Similarly, most of last night’s Arrow was used to set up another Legends lead: the emergence of the White (not Asian) Canary and the return of Caity Lotz.
Dear John Boyega…
First off, so very many congratulations for your role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I doubt that any of us can be as happy as you are about your casting, but most of us are ecstatic that you are more than just a one-off or a token in the Star Wars universe. Since being cast as Finn you have been rendered, effectively, immortal and omnipresent. You will be in films, made into toys, on posters and trading cards, possibly even comic books, we will be able to play you in video games, your face will be emblazoned on novels… you will be everywhere, for a very long time. Unless something happens where all media is destroyed, you will be famous for the rest of your life. And probably for some time after. Congratulations. I cannot imagine how heady a feeling this must be for you. Continue reading “Dear John Boyega…”
N.O.C. One-Shot: Lexi Alexander on Why Effie Brown is a Superhero
UPDATE: The full conversation with Lexi is now available here.
HBO’s hit documentary series Project Greenlight has been a trending topic on twitter since its season debut featured Matt Damon “whitesplaining” diversity to producer Effie Brown. In an outtake from our forthcoming Hard NOC Life interview with Lexi Alexander, the Punisher: War Zone director explains how Brown’s experience on the show is indicative of how women of color are treated in the film industry and why Effie’s critics are just exposing their white privilege.
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NOC Recaps The Flash: Daddy Coldest
I always look forward to an episode featuring Wentworth Miller as Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold. The Flash’s encounters with Cold always end up with the two of them in a romantic-ish telenovela scene — like a lover’s spat in a moonlit forest or one of them saving the other’s life before fleeing town. I mean, I know SnartBarry (or ColdFlash?) isn’t a real “ship”, but the dynamic between the superhandsome superhero and his superhandsome supervillain entertains me even more than WestAllen or Snowbarry. Yeah, I said it.
This official, non-dream season return of Captain Cold was no different; Family of Rogues was a real (frozen) treat. Their relationship is so complicated.
The People of Color in Back to the Future Part II
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten months, you’re probably well aware that today is Back to the Future Day. Though not a national holiday (yet), today has been so named because it is the day Marty McFly arrives in the future in 1989’s Back to the Future Part II. Though most blogs will be reminiscing about the classic movie trilogy and documenting everything the movie got right (and wrong) about 2015, we’re going to use this space to rank all of the people of color in the movie.
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Character Study: Doctor Martha Jones
In honor of #BlackSpeculativeFictionMonth
[Scene: Attending a party where friends are discussing their favorite Doktah.]
Partygoer 1: I love the Classic Who’s. Tom Baker is my guy.
Partygoer 2: Eccleston, through and through.
Partygoer 3: Tennant. The only 10 I see.
Partygoer 4: My Doctor was Eleven. Denny, who is your favorite Doctor
Denny: stops typing on iPhone Huh?
Partygoer 4: Who’s your favorite Doctor?
Denny: Oh that’s easy. Dr. Martha Jones, followed closely by 10.
Resumes typing on iPhone and departs while others stand in confusion.
Racism Tries to Come For A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Originally posted on Ebony.com
Even a galaxy far, far away can feel the effects of racism and White paranoia. Over the weekend, a group of our less enlightened brethren got the hashtag #BoycottStarWarsVII to trend. Why would anyone want to boycott one of cinema’s most venerable franchises? Well, according to some, the new Star Wars film (to be released on December 18 and helmed by geek-favorite J.J. Abrams) promotes “White genocide.”
Yes, you read that correctly.
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Please, Please, Please #BoycottStarWarsVII
All weekend, Disney and Lucasfilm have been prepping audiences around the world for the forthcoming phenomenon that is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In addition to running a series of trailers for a trailer to premiere during Monday Night Football on ESPN (of all places), but soon, we’ll all be able to reserve our tickets for that midnight showing (or seven-movie marathon) two months in advance. And the entire galaxy rejoices! Well, not everyone. There’s actually a segment of fandom that is boycotting The Force Awakens.
And you know what? If you’re one of those people who aren’t here for Episode VII, all we have to say is…
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D&D and Me
When you’re into comics, science fiction, role-playing games and the rest, people will make assumptions about you. These assumptions are that you’re a nerd (not in the liberating sense that we use here), a geek, a wimp — somehow different or less than the folks who consume and participate in mainstream popular culture. And this applies to white people. When you add race to this, you get doubly othered quite a bit of the time. You like “white shit” and you’re soft. In many cases, you become an ass-whooping magnet. We won’t get into how all of this stuff is now mainstream or how fantasy sports leagues are about as Dungeons and Dragons as you can get, just minus the swords, gold, and magic.
And it is D&D that I want to talk about here. I’ve played for over thirty years. While I am not participating in an active campaign, I would in a heartbeat if I found one that interested me.
The Challenger: No Challenge at All for a Few Minutes of Your Time
I had no interest in watching the first Democratic Party debate without analysis from Democracy Now and commentary from my favorite late night and podcasting comedy crews. So, it worked out well that on the same evening I was introduced to a short film that packs quite the punch: The Challenger.
Pun intended.
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NOC Recaps Arrow: #Queen2016
I’m back guys!! So far, I’ve been cautiously pleased with this season. But that’s probably partly because I’ve avoided all trailers and pre-information about each episode. Of course, certain characters force angry or confused glares (both of the Lances), but so far, so good. I think both episodes one and two of this season so far have been set up episodes. “Green Arrow” got us back to Star City and where everyone is at, but “The Candidate” tells us where everyone is going. I think a lot of what ruined Arrow last season was that it was jumping into plots too fast, leaving themselves with nowhere to go. They wrote themselves in a corner. This season seems to be pacing itself better. Also it’s giving bigger plots to its side characters (but we need more Diggle please), so there is more story to spread around.
The Happy Hour Review: Image Comics’ Paper Girls
Paper Girls #1 is a finely crafted, unpredictable marvel. I haven’t been this hooked this instantaneously on a comic since maybe all the way back to Dark Knight Returns, or the first Eastman and Laird TMNT books, stuff I loved as a kid. Paper Girls gives me that kind of nostalgic sensation, like I’m in middle school again. But I was never as cool as these night-riding, shit-talking 12-year-olds.
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NOC Recaps The Flash: Getting Goosies from Earth-Two(sies)
“I opened up our world to new threats, and I am the only one fast enough to stop them.” You sure about that, Barry?
Barry spends the episode denying the existence of another speedster due to some residual other-speedster trust issues, when he should really be wrapping his mind around the existence of another freaking Earth. It’s official: Earth-2 is a thing and pretty much everyone, except Barry, is running with it. C’mon Barry, it’s exciting! Like Cisco, the king Nerd of Color, we’re getting goosies!
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Knowing Our Passions: More with Marjorie Liu
Yesterday, we published the first part of my sprawling interview with fantasy novelist and comic book writer Marjorie Liu. She was at New York Comic-Con promoting next month’s release of her first creator-owned comic for Image Monstress.
For the second half of our interview, I ask her about her previous career as a lawyer, how she decided to become a writer, and what it means to be a prominent Asian American in the media.
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Scored Too Soon? The Career of Michael Jai White: A Retrospective
In most sports, scoring early is a good thing. If you’re a soccer player or fan, though, you know the woes of scoring too early. If any of you listen to or watch Men in Blazers, you’ve heard this all before from Roger’s unending sadness with his Everton routinely scoring too early. This has happened to me both on the pitch, but mostly watching my beloved teams pay dearly for going up 1-0 in the first five minutes of matches only to be smacked down with three or four unanswered goals once the final whistle blows. It’s part of the roller coaster of emotions that is the world of football. I feel like this could be a metaphor for Michael Jai White’s career.
I recently had an evening to myself and while scrolling through the ever expanding Netflix streaming queue, I noticed a couple of recent Michael Jai White flicks I hadn’t yet seen. Double feature? Sure.
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Making Monstress: An Exclusive Conversation with Marjorie Liu
I spent this past weekend at New York Comic-Con. When I wasn’t manning the Epic Proportions booth, I was able to sneak away and meet with writer Marjorie Liu. She makes her long-awaited return to comics with Image Comics’ Monstress, reuniting her with X-23 artist Sana Takeda.
In the first part of this exclusive, wide-ranging interview, Marjorie and I discuss the origins of the book, her childhood obsession with the apocalypse, the influence of pre-World War II China, and what it was like reuniting with artist Sana Takeda.
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