NOC Recaps Game of Thrones: Nice Day for a Weird Wedding
Occasionally, it sucks to live on the West Coast: the Purple Wedding damn near broke Twitter hours before I was scheduled to livetweet the episode, and it took all my fangirl strength not to take a peek. But on my honor as a Tully, on my honor as a Stark, I kept my eyes pure until 9:00. Anything for my NOCs!
Let’s cut to the chase: by now you surely have heard that this was the episode featuring the wedding of King Joffrey of House Baratheon and Lady Margaery of House Tyrell. But that wasn’t the biggest news that came out of that wedding by any means: THERE WAS AN ASIAN WOMAN IN ATTENDANCE!
Oh wait, did something else happen as well?
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Six Signs Daenerys Targaryen is Actually Asian
Join us tomorrow, April 13, at 9:00 PST for the live-tweeting of the second episode of Game of Thrones: hashtag #GOTNOC. I’m up to bat this time, though I usually recap The Legend of Korra, I hope I don’t slip and accidentally call Daenerys Targaryen a Firebender. I align Chaotic Good, and therefore am House Targaryen all the way. I’m also a hardcore Brienne-Jaime ‘shipper, but that’s a discussion for another day.
To whet your appetite, I list six reasons why I imagine Dany, Mother of Dragons, just might be Asian… or at least she should be.
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We’re Giving Away Captain America & Wolverine Toys
Last week, we crossed 1,000 “likes” on Facebook and 1,000 followers on Twitter. I mentioned that to thank you all for upping our numbers on both social media platforms, we would be giving away some toys. So, that’s what we’re going to do!
Just passed 1,000 FB likes! To show our thanks, we're gonna give away some Wolverine Mini-Mates next week. Stay tuned!
— The Nerds of Color (@TheNerdsofColor) April 4, 2014
I mention in that tweet that we’ll be giving away Wolverine Mini-Mates, and we are, but since it’s Cap Week, I’m going to throw in a Marvel Legends Infinite Series Captain America figure too. Click through to find our how to win the toys.
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier, A Reflection
Bias Alert #1: I am a sucker for the espionage genre. After Sci-Fi, espionage and Spy-Fi is where you can find me. Favorite non-SF television shows: Spooks (BBC) and The Sandbaggers — another British show. Favorite non-SF comic book: Greg Rucka’s Queen and Country. Favorite espionage films: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Ronin, The Ipcress File, and The 39 Steps.
Bias Alert #2: I am hyper-vigilant when it comes to the portrayal of black folks on screens, especially in Sci-Fi/genre contexts. This is a trauma response induced by too many horrible portrayals.
Now that you are aware of the above biases, let’s get to it. (Minor Spoilers below.)
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Exclusive New Ghost Rider Track by Adam WarRock: “Spirit of Vengeance”
All week, our favorite internet rapper Adam WarRock has been releasing free music based on the Marvel NOW! slate of comics and characters. Yesterday, he premiered the Ms. Marvel track “Marvelous” at Newsarama. Today, it’s our turn!
After the jump, we are happy to bring you the world premiere of WarRock’s latest track, this time about the All-New Ghost Rider: “Spirit of Vengeance.”
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Well, That’s What I Get for Watching S.H.I.E.L.D.
I should have known better.
Shawn tried to warn me on several occasions, but I didn’t listen. After I got out of Captain America: The Winter Soldier over the weekend, one of the first things I thought about was how the events of the movie would affect Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a show that until now, I couldn’t care less about. Sure, I’ve seen every episode since the pilot, but that didn’t mean I cared about it. Most of the time, I just let it pile up on the DVR and binged two or three at a time. Usually letting it play in the background while I was doing something else. On the one hand, watching it this way made the episodes where there wasn’t much plot momentum (and there were a lot of them) more bearable. On the other hand, I still didn’t care about any of these characters.
Then The Winter Soldier happened, and I thought, “huh, maybe I should care” so I tuned in last night and “live” tweeted with the West Coast. Needless to say, spoilers (for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America) follow.
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After Captain America: Connecting Superheroes Across Franchises
So, the one big thing I will say about Captain America: The Winter Soldier is actually about the first end-credits tease. And I admit to being torn on whether I thought it was a good or a bad thing. Referencing a conversation I had earlier this week (ironically, prior to seeing The Winter Soldier late Thursday night), one major contention I’ve always had with big budget studios mucking around with Marvel properties is the legal hurdles of uniting certain character groups in the cinema, considering the way they are linked in the comics themselves.
Obviously, major spoilers follow!
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Lost in Translation Mystery is Finally Solved
For over a decade, cinephiles across the internet and beyond have debated and theorized about what Bill Murray’s character whispers to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Sofia Coppola’s Oscar-winning film Lost in Translation. It’s probably the most famous non-line in cinema history.
Well, I think I’ve finally figured it out. And it’s so obvious, I feel stupid for not ever seeing it before. FYI, there are major spoilers contained below, so proceed with caution before clicking through!
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Sidekickism: Tokens of My Affection
Originally posted at BadAzz Mofo
There was that moment in 2008’s Iron Man, when Rhodey (Terrence Howard) eyeballs one of Tony Stark’s suits and says, “Next time.” Hardcore comic fans went nuts, because we knew that meant Rhodey would most likely return in a sequel, armored up as War Machine. Of course, Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle — no complaints on my part — and he did, in fact, suit up as War Machine in Iron Man 2. Cheadle donned a different suit in Iron Man 3, much to the surprise of some comic fans, and became Iron Patriot. It is difficult to convey the level of excitement I had — first, when Howard hinted at the promise of becoming a costumed superhero, and then when Cheadle made good on that promise. The only problem — at least for me — was that Cheadle never really got to be a superhero. Instead, he got to be a sidekick.
You would think that I’d have tempered my excitement when it was announced that Anthony Mackie would appear in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Sam Wilson/Falcon, and to be honest, I did. And then the first images of Mackie in his exo-skeleton flying rig emerged. Then came the trailers. And though I did my best not to, I went nuts. Not just because the second Captain America looked to be better than the first — which it was — but because we were getting a black superhero.
NOC Reviews ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’
Saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier and really have nothing bad to say at all. There were a few issues with story logic but outside of minor nitpicks, I’d have to say this is as good as The Avengers and definitely the best “solo” Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to date.
The best way to describe this movie is “balanced.” It achieved an almost perfect balance between comic book-style action, humor, character development, and story sophistication. Taking a page from the Robert Ludlum/Tom Clancy school of 1970s-era Cold War espionage pop culture storytelling, The Winter Soldier (at the very least) establishes a formula for Marvel Studios that, if used repeatedly, should guarantee the cinematic dominance of Marvel IPs for the next generation.
Minor spoilers follow.
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NOCs of the Roundtable: Kicking Off Cap Week
If you hadn’t heard, a little indie movie called Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened over the weekend, and to no one’s surprise, its $96 million opening shattered box office records left and right. We at The Nerds of Color have been eagerly anticipating the release of The Winter Soldier for months now. Back when the first teaser hit, I was already claiming it as the best movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And now that it’s at a multiplex near you, we’re going to be celebrating, analyzing, critiquing this game changer of a movie all week.
We’re going to start it off by assembling our own team of top secret agents Nerds around the Roundtable and share our first impressions of the Captain America sequel. Caution: there will be spoilers. Read on at your own risk (but seriously, you should go see this already!)
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NOC Recaps Game of Thrones: Reversal of Fortunes
In the immortal words of Salt-N-Pepa, I’m gonna “Push it… Push it Good…” and recap the season four premiere of Game of Thrones, “Two Swords,” as best as possible. For those who want a review of what’s happened so far and where we left all the main characters, go here, here, and here.
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Awesome Asian Bad Guys with Yuji Okumoto and the National Film Society
Keith (@the_real_chow) brings on Stephen (@Dypiangco) and Patrick (@PatrickEpino) of the National Film Society (@NatFilmSociety) and Yuji Okumoto (Chozen from The Karate Kid II) to talk about their latest project, the webseries Awesome Asian Bad Guys!
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NOCs of the Roundtable: Favorite Asian Bad Guys
This week on Hard N.O.C. Life, I’ll be interviewing our buddies Stephen and Patrick from the National Film Society. They just premiered their Kickstarted webseries Awesome Asian Bad Guys to packed houses last week during CAAMFest in San Francisco, and I was lucky enough to have them on to talk about the series. In addition to the NFS guys, I’ll also be speaking with Yuji Okumoto, aka Chozen from The Karate Kid II.
All this talk about Awesome Asian Bad Guys got me thinking about which iconic Asian villains are most beloved by the NOCs. So we assembled around the old roundtable and shared our own Awesome Asian Bad Guys.
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Sticky post
A Mutant from Planet Cripton, An Origin
In 1974, a baby arrived in the suburbs of Indianapolis, Indiana from the planet Cripton. She looked like the offspring of two Chinese immigrants, Ma and Pa Wong, but something was different.
The Earth’s gravitational force made it difficult for this baby to raise her head. She couldn’t crawl and went straight from sitting to walking. Perplexed, Ma and Pa Wong took their baby to the doctor and found out: she is a mutant from Cripton!
This is her origin story.
Keeping an Eye on Arrow
Almost Human may never come back. Sleepy Hollow is on hiatus. Who knows when Book Three of The Legend of Korra will ever come out? So what’s good and NOC-worthy on TV right now? Well The CW is trying out this show called The 100 that resembles a Hunger Games/Lord of the Flies mashup (s/o Shawn Taylor for the references). It’s a hot mess, but I can see how it might catch on.
But if you’re a NOC and need something to watch between the time you put the kids to bed and when you got to put yourself to bed, I suggest you check out a different show on The CW. What am I talking about? It’s simple. Watch Arrow.
Are You Legendary Enough for TableTop Day?
International TableTop Day for 2014 takes place this Saturday, April 5. What is International TableTop Day? It is a day for fans of tabletop games to come together and celebrate by playing board games whether it be at your friendly local game store (FLGS), a coffee shop, library, comic book shop, or just at home. Perhaps take out an old favorite board game or try out a new game. Find more information at TableTopDay.com.
A game that has hit the table in my home most frequently over the past year has been Upper Deck’s Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game (aka Marvel Legendary). The game consists of a game board and 500 cards. Set in the Marvel Comics universe, you and up to four other players cooperate to build a team of heroes using card decks to battle evil mastermind villains and their minions. With the base game, you can set up with heroes such as Captain America, Cyclops, Hulk, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Spider-Man, Storm, Thor, and Wolverine. For masterminds, you can choose to go up against Dr. Doom, Loki, Magneto, or Red Skull. Each mastermind will bring their own team of villain groups and henchmen groups in an effort to complete one of many possible evil schemes. Can the heroes defeat evil and, if so, which player will become the most legendary?
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Adam WarRock and At-Risk Teens Live in Baltimore
Been sitting on this for a while, but I’m excited to share that the homie Adam WarRock will be back in Bmore in May. Not only that, but for the first time in forever, he’ll be backed by a live band.
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NOC Reviews The Raid 2
Now that I’ve had a day to process it, here’s my take on The Raid 2: Berandal. (Caution: there will be minor spoilers here.)
Let’s get the negatives out of the way — the only thing that (some ADHD-riddled folks) will complain about is the length and the subtitles. Also, a few cinephiles may not be happy about the recycled story concept — it’s a high-octane martial arts re-imagining of the outstanding Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs that was later re-made into the Academy Award-winning Hollywood film The Departed. The plot and characters can get a little labyrinthine with the double-and-triple-crosses but that isn’t a complaint just a heads-up that this action film has a strong component of character development and interaction.
With that said, The Raid 2 picks up right after the end of the first movie and puts main character Rama (Iko Uwais) back into the mix as an undercover agent sent to bring down two Indonesian crime syndicates. I have to say, the acting in this movie is strong from top to bottom. You get to know each character and why they do what they do — and some of them are slimeballs but others are crimelords with a sense of honor and duty.
Why the Bay of Turtles is Not a Failure
So, all of Nerdom is up in arms over the new Michael Bay Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Here’s my stance: “Bring it on.” I am a comic book geek, if you cut me, I bleed four color ink. So, when Hollywood wants to make a movie that’s based on a comic book, I’m all for it.
Listen, I know this TMNT is not “your TMNT.” Heck, it’s not even the Turtles cartoon from the late 80s or the movies from the 90s. It’s not based on Eastman and Laird’s revolutionary vision of four radioactive turtles that were raised by a rat who knew martial arts. No, this is different. And that’s okay.
We Need to Stop Working for Disney and Warner
Originally posted at BadAzz Mofo.
As anyone who knows me — or knows my work — can tell you, I’m something of a pop culture nut. I love movies and comic books and television… okay, not so much television these days… but you get my point. I’m eagerly awaiting the new Captain America movie, I go to the comic book store at least once a month and pick up a variety of titles, and I still buy movies on DVD (because I’m not going to invest in a blu-ray player). And with all the things that I consume as a middle-aged geek, I tend to keep an eye open on any number of websites for news and updates about this thing and that thing that will no doubt take some of my disposable income because, let’s face it, I’m a sucker.
And just like so many other geeks — or, if you prefer, nerds — I have a tendency to post about the things I read, either on Twitter or Facebook, or both. That bit of news a few weeks ago about John Boyenga of Attack the Block possibly being in the new Star Wars movie? I posted about it. The new trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past? I posted it. The preview of some new comic from DC that looks terrible? I posted it. Like so many other people with the unfortunate habit of spending too much time on the Internet and engaging in the insidious time-suck known as social media, I post a ton of stuff.
Here’s the thing that I’ve begun to realize, and it is becoming a problem for me: I am essentially doing public relations work for major corporations, not getting paid for it, and then turning around and giving my hard-earned dollars to those same corporations that I’ve been publicizing for free.
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Bay’s Turtles Are What We Thought They Were
In case you missed it, the trailer for the latest iteration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise has hit the web.
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Bruce Lee on Broadway is Not Your Asian Sidekick
I just got out of the Signature Theatre on 42nd and 10th in New York City where I got to see a performance of Kung Fu — the new play about the life of Asian America’s original superhero Bruce Lee — by renowned playwright David Henry Hwang. And I have to say, I was blown away.
Full disclosure: I’ve been a fan of star Cole Horibe since his turn on Season Nine of FOX’s hit reality competition show So You Think You Can Dance (btw, Kung Fu reunites Horibe with SYTYCD choreographer Sonya Tayeh). In addition to seeing how the play combined martial arts and dance — which was essentially Horibe’s specialty on SYTYCD — I was also interested to see how he would embody the icon. Spoiler Alert: dude is amazing.
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