Hard NOC Life: Toy Fair and What’s Nerd Poppin’
Shawn returns to once again join Dominic and Keith to talk about what’s #NerdPoppin, this week on Hard NOC Life!
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Tag: Cassandra Cain
Hard NOC Life: Sir Gawain and the Dark Knight
This week on Hard NOC Life, Dominic and Keith continue their discussion of Birds of Prey and share their thoughts on Robert Pattinson as Batman. Later, Friend of the NOC Preeti Chhibber returns to the show to talk about a couple of new Dev Patel movie trailers.
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Hard NOC Life: ‘Birds of Prey’ and a Fantabulous Night at the Oscars
On a brand new episode of Hard NOC Life, Dominic and Keith celebrate the best DC movie ever made, Birds of Prey (that’s right, we said it!)
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‘Birds of Prey’ is An Asian American Aesthetic Superhero Movie I’ve Always Wanted
Holy batshit, batpeople, Birds of Prey is powerful. It is an action-comedy escapade about a squad of DC Comics’ most beloved women characters, including Harley Quinn, Huntress, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain. The film also does a thing which may befittingly fly under the radar: it displays a distinctly Asian American artistic aesthetic in the context of a modern superhero movie. I’ll belabor the question of “WTF is an Asian American artistic aesthetic?” only upon request, because it is so arguable and amorphous and also other a-words, I would never get to blabbing about the movie. To paraphrase the dude in Gladiator, “anything more than a whisper and it would vanish.” To brutally essentialize it, some artworks are more Asian American** than they are Asian or American, although they still may be both, and neither. I’ll attempt to argue for why Birds of Prey is exactly this.
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Fantabulous ‘Birds of Prey’ Really Takes Off
Separated from the Suicide Squad and dumped by the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), wants to move on but is not sure how. She’s kept the breakup a secret but wants to reveal it’s over. She comes up with the bright idea to blow up the location where they confessed their love for one another. Harley Quinn gets away with just about anything around Gotham because people are scared of the Joker’s wrath. Once that relationship is gone, though, all hell breaks loose for her as this sends a message that she’s no longer under the Clown Prince’s protection. Oops.
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Hard NOC Life: Welcome to the Cassandra Cain-aissance
With Birds of Prey ready to break box office records, and a brand new YA graphic novel from DC Comics, the shadow of Cassandra Cain descends upon a brand new episode of Hard NOC Life!
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Ella Jay Basco is Ready to be Batgirl
When Ella Jay Basco got the call to play Cassandra Cain, aka Batgirl, in DC’s Birds of Prey, the first thing she did was cry tears of joy.
“I didn’t think it was real,” said Basco over the phone. “I broke down into tears. I never really expected that it would be like this because it’s just so crazy. I really broke down into tears. I couldn’t believe it. It was super emotional, but I was so happy.”
Still reveling from the Birds of Prey premiere in London the night before, Basco was enjoying her first full press junket. “It’s a lot of fun,” said Basco as she prepares for a full weekend of questions.
Changing “Harleywood” with the ‘Birds of Prey’
Change is in the air, ladies and gentleman! And this weekend, Los Angeles got a taste of that, when Margot Robbie, director Cathy Yan, and the full cast and crew of Birds of Prey took over Hollywood, in a gloriously chaotic stunt that turned the city into “Harleywood” for four-straight mayhem-fueled days. The massive Hollywood and Highland Center was home to the outfits, vehicles, and props of the film, as well as special photo activations and makeup demonstrations.
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The ‘Birds of Prey’ Wish You a Happy Lunar New Year
This weekend marks the beginning of the Year of the Rat. To celebrate, one of the stars of the upcoming Birds of Prey movie — Cassandra Cain herself, Ella Jay Basco! — recorded a special Lunar New greeting exclusively for The Nerds of Color in front of the latest trailer. Check it out!
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New ‘Birds of Prey’ Trailer is Not So Quiet
We are less than a month away from the premiere of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) so it seems like the right time to drop a new trailer. Fortunately, our friends at Warner Bros. agrees.
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Happy Holidays from the NOC and the ‘Birds of Prey’
Recently, the cast of the upcoming Birds of Prey movie — including Ella Jay Basco, Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Rosie Perez — recorded a special holiday greeting exclusively for The Nerds of Color. Check it out below and have a Happy Holiday season:
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15 Things We Learned from the Set of ‘Birds of Prey’
With the holidays around the corner, what better way to celebrate than with news from the anticipated Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. The Nerds of Color was invited to the set of Birds of Prey this past April to explore the dangerously fun production of the all-women led “superhero” movie and chat with the cast and creatives of the film.
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The ‘Birds of Prey’ Hit ComplexCon
Anyone who visited ComplexCon in Long Beach, CA this weekend was in for a fantabulous surprise, as Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey hit the convention floor! Join them and make yourself a hell of a stylish video! Here’s a look at the fun booth!
Be sure to check it out when you visit ComplexCon between now and November 3!
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) hits theaters in February 2020!
The ‘Birds of Prey’ Trailer Officially Lands!
In anticipation of New York Comic Con coming this week, WB and DC have dropped the first trailer for the highly anticipated return of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, and the introduction of the Birds of Prey. The trailer gives us an awesome, surreal first look at the mayhem to come, including our introductions to the DCEU’s Huntress, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain, as well as Ewan McGregor as the nefarious Black Mask.
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DC and WB Unveil Colorful New ‘Birds of Prey’ Poster!
This week the folks at DC and WB unveiled the first poster for Birds of Prey! The film brings back Margot Robbie in her iconic portrayal of Harley Quinn, but also brings a plethora of amazing actresses into the DC Extended Universe, such as Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Jurnee Smollett as Black Canary, Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain, and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya!
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‘Birds of Prey’ is Already the Greatest DCEU Movie of All Time
Maybe I’m being a little hyperbolic with the headline, but Warner Bros. and DC Films set the internet on fire when it released a 20-second “teaser” featuring our first looks at the main cast for the upcoming Cathy Yan-directed Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), including Margot Robbie as the titular Harley, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as The Huntress, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, and Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain. Also, that cast though!
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Hard NOC Life: Remixing the Classics
On a new episode of Hard NOC Life, Shawn and Keith Chow have another talk about the week in Nerd Pop, with a special focus on rebooting and reimagining classic shows.
Profound Media Lessons Learned By An Impressionable Mind
When it comes to the media, the Original X-Man, First Class, Brother Malcolm said it best:
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The Unlikely Muse
Originally published on Latin Negro
“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
— Toni Morrison
They say necessity is the mother of all invention and by extension, creativity. As a storyteller I’ve certainly found that to be true for the narratives I penned. As a queer geek of color, I’ve learned early on that geek culture is for white people for a number of reasons, and to be a PoC or an LGBTQ means to be treated like a pariah.
More than that, countless marginalized characters are endlessly undercut and buried due to the rampant bigotry that pervades the media. Extraordinary characters such as Storm (the First Lady of Marvel), Renee Montoya, Regina Mills, Freedom Ring, Midnighter, Cassandra Cain and countless others who have been lightning rods for racism, misogyny, and/or homophobia by fandom and the industry alike.
But as any artist will tell you, inspiration can often come in the unlikeliest of forms.
10 DC Comics Superheroes Who Deserve a Vehicle
As more DC Comics projects are announced, it often leads to the question of who deserves his or her vehicle in the form of a movie, TV series, direct-to-dvd animated film, etc.
Contrary to popular belief, DC does in fact have a rich diverse variety of engaging characters. The (most frustrating) problem is that they refuse to properly utilize them. More than a few of said rich diverse superheroes have amassed mainstream crossover appeal. Yet, DC does not capitalize on these opportunities.
But that’s okay. Help has arrived. Help in the form of yours truly. The following is a list of 10 characters (among countless others) who need their own mainstream project like yesterday.
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Why Cassandra Cain is the True Successor to the Bat Mantle
With Batman being the most human of DC’s Trinity, there’s always the looming question of who takes over once Batman either retires or makes his final stand as the Caped Crusader. More than that, who could truly replace the Batman?
Gotham certainly doesn’t lack for champions. From Nightwing to the Robins to the Oracle and Batgirl, the Dark Knight has trained more than capable operatives to continue the good fight in his absence.
But are any of them as driven and intense as the original article?
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Why The Black Panther Is Marvel’s Answer to Batman
As most comic book fans are aware, the success of an adaptation — be it a live action film, a television series, or a cartoon — can prove to be a game changer for the superhero protagonist and their standing in the comic book universe.
A little exposure can result in minor throwaway characters becoming heavy hitters overnight.
This is yet another reason I’m excited about the forthcoming Black Panther movie. This is a character who hasn’t always been properly utilized and this has resulted in more than a few missed opportunities. The highly anticipated film may finally alert the public to one fundamental truth about the Wakandan superhero. For all intents and purposes, the Black Panther is Marvel’s answer to Batman.
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Stretching Spandex Over Melanin Won’t Make Comics More Diverse
Sometimes being a Nerd of Color is difficult. Often, the sci-fi you watch marries awesome next-gen splatterpunk visuals with horrid White Man’s Burden political sentiments, or the games you play offer wickedly fun three-dimensional gameplay with healthy servings of amoral misogyny and racial epithets. But often it’s pretty easy – each and every Wednesday new worlds reveal the secrets of earthbound metahumans and iron-masked despots and immortal ronin and sentient bacteria and techno-organic telepaths and rubber geniuses and fighter pilots with imagination rings. The comic industry may not accurately render tomorrow, but it can always take you somewhere you never thought you could go.
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