Teeradon “James” Supapunpinyo has a newfound appreciation for meditation. After being cast in Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives as the heroic coach Ekkaphon Chanthawong stuck in the Tham Luang caves in 2018 with 12 of his football players, Supapunpinyo had to do a lot of research for the role.
Continue reading “Teeradon “James” Supapunpinyo on Preparing for His Role in ‘Thirteen Lives’”
When westerners think about Thailand, there are many thoughts that come to mind: the food, Muay Thai, or martial artist Tony Jaa. There are also many harmful stereotypes of the Thai people that Hollywood gets very wrong. Movies like The Beach or The Hangover II that showcase Thai people as dirty, thuggish gangsters and the country as an untrustworthy place. With Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, based on true events from the 2018 Thai Cave Rescue, Thais are finally being seen as they truly are – people who love their country and its people.
Continue reading “How ‘Thirteen Lives’ Represents the Humanity of Thailand and its People”
Playing a real-life tragic hero is never easy, especially when one also needs to reenact their devastating death scene in a large scale production. Sukollawat “Weir” Kanarot felt the pressure of his performance as former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan in Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives.
Continue reading “Sukollawat ‘Weir’ Kanarot on Playing Real-Life Fallen Hero in ‘Thirteen Lives’”
Talking about illness or death is not an easy subject for many families, especially for people of color. In Hannah Marks’ Don’t Make Me Go, John Cho plays Max, a single father who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and is given less than a year to live.
Continue reading “‘Don’t Make Me Go’ Cast/Director on Telling a Universal Story about Parenthood and Grief”
In 2018, in a small rural village in northern Thailand, thirteen lives were changed forever after being trapped in a cave for 18 days. The junior football team, which consisted of twelve children and their adult coach, went hiking along the caves of Tham Luang, but a unexpected rainstorm caused the cave to flood — trapping them deep within the caves. It took a rescue team of over 10,000 people from all over the world to save these boys.
Continue reading “Trailer Revealed for Ron Howard’s Thai Cave Rescue Film, ‘Thirteen Lives’”
Creating an influential and resonating documentary that digs into the heart of cosplay and Geekdom from a Black perspective as her first film wasn’t exactly Cheyenne Ewulu’s plan to begin with. What was supposed to be more of an artistic catharsis to express the frustration with racism and lack of awareness she noticed in the community she called home, became a beacon for Black cosplayers to find hope and admiration in their work.
Continue reading “Cheyenne Ewulu on ‘Shades of Cosplay’ and Artistic Expression”
Hayley Orrantia stars as Emma in the new holiday comedy, Christmas is Canceled, which is currently streaming on Prime Video. She also released a new single for the movie called, “The Same Way.”
Continue reading “Hayley Orrantia is Back to Discuss Her New Movie, ‘Christmas is Canceled’”
After four years since the last time she stopped by, Janina Gavankar returns to the NOC to catch up on the last few years. She and I discuss the projects she’s completed in that time, including the new film starring Riz Ahmed, Encounter, now available to stream on Prime Video.
Continue reading “Janina Gavankar Talks About Her New Film, ‘Encounter’”
Janel Parrish stars as Brandy in the new holiday comedy, Christmas is Canceled. The film will be released December 17 on Prime Video.
Continue reading “Janel Parrish Talks Her New Comedy Film, ‘Christmas is Canceled’”
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.
Continue reading “‘The Manor’ Director Axelle Carolyn Wants to Know Why Everyone is So Afraid to Grow Old”
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.
Continue reading “Gigi Saul Guerrero on Campy Horror and Respecting Your Elders in ‘Bingo Hell’”
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.
Continue reading “The Haunting History of Vampires and Blackness is Captured in ‘Black as Night’”
Director Steve McQueen’s newest Prime Video documentaries on West Indian and Caribbean life in 20th century London are necessary viewing. In a style similar to Ava DuVernay’s 13th, the Academy Award-winning director stitches together archival footage and thoughtful interviews that spotlight the violent history of some of London’s most vulnerable communities. Subnormal: A British Scandal, Black Power: A British Story of Resistance, and Uprising document the racially motivated atrocities that plagued black and brown neighborhoods across London in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, and captures the delicate maneuverings of McQueen’s cinematic eye.
Continue reading “Steve McQueen Highlights Necessary Histories with New Documentaries”
The talented Idina Menzel plays the role of Vivian in the Amazon Original movie Cinderella. The new film is a musically-driven bold version of the traditional story you grew up with, following an ambitious young woman whose dreams are bigger than the world will allow. Cinderella is coming to Prime Video on September 3.
Continue reading “NOC Interview: Idina Menzel Discusses Her New Film, ‘Cinderella’”
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.
Continue reading “‘Nebulous Dark’ Can’t Time Travel Enough to Be a Strong Movie”
Last year, Amazon debuted its groundbreaking anthology series, Modern Love to solid reviews and an enthusiastic fanbase. I’m happy to report that the acclaimed series is coming back for another season, and this time it’s bringing some heavy acting talent with players like Dominique Fishback and Gbenga Akinnagbe, along with Zoe Chao, Kit Harrington, Anna Paquin, and a host of others!
Continue reading “Official Trailer Debuts for the Second Season of Amazon’s ‘Modern Love’”
The new Amazon limited series Solos, set to debut on May 21, consists of seven separate inspiring stories that are all loosely interconnected. The anthology explores the strange, beautiful, heart-breaking, hilarious, wondrous truths of what it means to be human. In the trailer, Morgan Freeman’s voice describes the mutual feeling of loneliness that all of the characters feel, “We all feel alone in different ways; in feeling alone, we are somehow all together.”
Continue reading “Constance Wu on How Her Past and Motherhood Shaped Her for ‘Solos’”
Cinderella wrapped last year and fans have been ready to see it ever since. Now, we can finally get ourselves officially ready for the royal ball because the film will hit Prime Video in September of this year. As if that announcement wasn’t exciting enough, some first look images were also released!
Continue reading “‘Cinderella’ is Arriving on Prime Video in September”
Colson Whitehead’s novel The Underground Railroad is a necessary reading for the ways it transcends a violent history and navigates the magic of self determination and Black personhood. The novel, published in 2016 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book awards for fiction, follows the life of Cora and Caesar, two slaves in 19th century Georgia who take on the treacherous journey that is their freedom. The novel is bold, loving, and powerful, and with its serving as the basis for director Barry Jenkins’ (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) Amazon series by the same name, it has become necessary viewing.
Continue reading “Barry Jenkins and the Cast of ‘The Underground Railroad’ Discuss the Powerful Limited Series”
P!nk’s new film, P!NK: All I Know So Far, is almost here and we are counting down the days! The singer just recently received the ICON Award at the Billboard Music Awards and has a very exciting month, sharing a new song, album, and movie with the world. “All I Know So Far” came out on May 7, while her new live album AIKSF: Setlist and movie will be released on May 21.
Continue reading “Get Ready, ‘P!NK: All I Know So Far’ Hits Amazon Prime Video on May 21”
by Barry Jenkins | Originally published on Vimeo
In my years of doing interviews and roundtables and Q&A’s for the various films we’ve made, there is one question that recurs. No matter the length of the piece or the tone of the room, eventually, inevitably, I am asked about the white gaze. It wasn’t until a very particular interview regarding The Underground Railroad that the blindspot inherent in that questioning became clear to me: never, in all my years of working or questioning, had I been set upon about the Black gaze; or the gaze distilled.
Continue reading “A ‘Gaze’ into the Soul of ‘The Underground Railroad’”
Get ready for Amazon Prime Video’s newest original series, Panic! The show, which was written and created by Lauren Oliver and based on her bestselling novel, will premiere on Friday, May 28. The cast includes Olivia Welch, Mike Faist, Jessica Sula, Camron Jones, Ray Nicholson, and Enrique Murciano. All 10 episodes will hit the streaming service at the same time, making it perfect to be your next binge-worthy show.
Continue reading “See the Thrilling New Trailer for Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Panic’”
The Tomorrow War is a new sci-fi actioner that stars Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, and Sam Richardson. This will be Pratt’s first Executive Producer credit on a feature film. Though they wrapped in January 2020, back in April, Pratt announced the official release date of July 2, 2021 as well as the fact that it would be released on Amazon Prime Video.
Continue reading “First Look at ‘The Tomorrow War,’ Arriving July 2 on Prime Video”