Breaking Down ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
Keith invites his DC TV Classics co-host Britney Monae back to Hard NOC Life to break down the biggest movie in the universe: Avengers: Infinity War!
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Tag: Chris Evans
What Worked (and Didn’t) in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
by Benjamin To
I finally understand now why this machine took ten years to assemble. This film is pure spectacle in every best sense of the word. Once the first second starts rolling, it’s all pedal to the metal for 149 minutes.
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Your Move, Marvel
So Misty Copeland and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, two of my favorite superheroes, have spoken out against the Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank for his support of President Donald Trump. The athletic clothing company sponsors both A-list superstars. That’s both awesome and to be expected given that both Copeland and Johnson are the epitome of Black/Asian Excellence.
My question however is this. Marvel CEO Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter gave a $1 million to Trump’s presidential campaign and continues to support his administration. Why aren’t any of the white actors from Marvel Studios stepping up and calling him out like Copeland and Johnson did Plank?
O Captain! My Captain! Chris Evans Battles the KKK (on Twitter)
With the recent confirmation of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General of the United States, Chris Evans has proved to us just how much he is like his film counterpart, Captain America. Evans recently tweeted his disappointment in the confirmation of Sessions. And his argument? David Duke’s praise for Sessions:
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A Non Spoiler Review of Captain America: Civil War
If the first two Captain America films are any indication, I’ve learned not to watch them with any expectations good or bad. Like most of the Marvel Phase One films, I found First Avenger to be a yawn and filler for the payoff that was the first Avengers movie. Winter Soldier blindsided me and years later I’m still trying to process how amazing that film is.
As much as I love Winter Soldier (it along with Avengers and Age of Ultron rank as my favorite Marvel flicks), and even though I knew I would finally get the Black Panther in this film, I still watched with no expectation.
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Thankful for the Captain America: Civil War Trailer
Last night on a special all-Marvel edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live (corporate synergy, yay!), stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. were on to hype next summer’s Captain America: Civil War. Unsurprisingly, Disney and Marvel Studios used the opportunity to unveil the hotly anticipated first trailer, and predictably, the internet lost its shit. But in a good way!
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Captain America: Civil War is the Avengers Sequel I Wanted in the First Place
Marvel Studios has just announced it is starting production on Captain America: Civil War, the first installment of “Phase 3” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Filming is currently commencing in Atlanta, but the production will span the globe with filming to take place in Germany, Puerto Rico, and Iceland. Since it’s also the third film in the Captain America saga — with the Russo brothers returning to direct — you would think that the film would be following up on the events of The Winter Soldier. However, the official plot synopsis and cast list make it sound more like Avengers 2.5.
This is not a complaint by the way.
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The Marvel Studios Empire Strikes Back
About a week and a half ago, Marvel Studios (owned by Disney) and DC Entertainment (owned by Warner Brothers) got into a bit of a pissing contest. Marvel struck first by announcing Robert Downey Jr. would be bringing Iron Man to the Captain America sequel, setting up a “Civil War” story line in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and making it the highest profile superhero vs. superhero showdown of 2016 (sorry, Batman v Superman).
The next day, Warner Brothers unveiled its long-gestating slate of DC Comics-based films that was supposed to satiate fanboys’ appetites through 2020. While a lot of folks found some of the choices in Warner’s ambitious schedule confounding — including yours truly — the one area where DC had a leg up on Marvel was in the diversity of its lineup. In addition to the inclusion of solo movies for Wonder Woman (finally!) and Cyborg (huh?), you also had people of color top-lining two more films — Jason Momoa in Aquaman and Dwayne Johnson in Shazam. As groundbreaking as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, it’s also overwhelmingly white and male. At least until today.
Captain America vs. Iron Man vs. Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of OMG, is This Really Happening?!
That screeching sound you heard last night was the internet grinding to a halt when Variety broke the news: Robert Downey, Jr. was in final negotiations to star in Captain America 3, aka the movie that made the Justice League blink. Now you might be wondering, why is it still a Captain America movie if Robert Downey, Jr. is in it and not, say, Avengers 2.5? Well, I’m glad you asked!
If all the rumors turn out to be true, the casting of Downey essentially confirms that the popular “Civil War” storyline from the comics is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — a move that fans have been clamoring for ever since Stark and Cap almost came to blows in the first Avengers flick.
NOC Reviews Snowpiercer: An Endorsement
This is actually not a review. This is an endorsement of the new South Korean/American science-fiction film Snowpiercer, currently in theaters.
Bong Joon-ho is a director to watch. From The Host in 2006 and Mother in 2009, I’ve been checking for his work for years. He has such a solid visual storytelling style that he elevates even the most middling of scripts. I really cannot wait to see what he does next. If you have yet to see the aforementioned films, you need to handle that as soon as you can.
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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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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