After a dismal box office start, The Flash came crashing down even more this weekend. Keith and Britney pick up the pieces and figure out what went wrong at Warner Bros. and why DC just can’t ever seem to get anything right. Later, they break down the first episode of Disney+’s new MCU series, Secret Invasion. All this and more on Hard NOC Life!
A couple weeks ago, we brought you a non-spoiler review of The Flash on our YouTube channel. Now that the movie is out, Keith and Swara dig into all of the spoilers and top secret cameos they couldn’t divulge before on this week’s Hard NOC Life!
I think it needs to be said upfront that due to the controversies surrounding Ezra Miller’s criminal record and unforgivable behavior, we at The Nerds of Color believe that accountability needs to be taken into serious consideration regarding their place and future in this industry.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Flash’ is Fine but Fumbles Frequently”
The Flash is nearly here, and I was joined by Swara on our YouTube channel to discuss our initial, spoiler-free thoughts on the film. Subscribe to the podcast at hardnocmedia.com for the full spoiler-filled review when it drops on June 19!
Continue reading “Yeah… ‘The Flash’ is a Great ‘Batman’ Film”
Keith welcomes Swara back to the podcast to dish on his recent interview with the legendary Emma Thompson and her new movie, What’s Love Got to Do With It. They also break down the latest Flash and Transformers trailers, plus the nightmare fuel that is The Little Mermaid’s “live action” animals.
Let’s go way, way back to a time that maybe a lot of us don’t quite remember. It was a simpler time — before global pandemics, when a worldwide conflict was perhaps a bit less of a certainty — a bygone era known as “2017.”
Continue reading “The Killing of ‘Batgirl’ (and DC’s Dance with Diversity)”
Just moments ago, Leslie Grace revealed on twitter a first look at herself in costume as Batgirl, alongside a dialogue quote from Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty’s classic Batgirl: Year One graphic novel.
Continue reading “Leslie Grace Shares First Look in Costume as ‘Batgirl’”
Looks like the DC Cinematic Multiverse will be in full effect in 2022. With The Flash ready to reintroduce Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne to moviegoing audiences, it was announced today that Keaton will also be appearing in Leslie Grace’s Batgirl film as well.
Continue reading “Michael Keaton Returns as Batman in ‘Batgirl’”
A special DC Spotlight at DC FanDome 2021 featured Leslie Grace, Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, and Christina Hodson giving a bunch of awesome first details about Batgirl. DC FanDome is DC’s free, global virtual fan event featuring a live webcast and activities, for one day only on October 16, where DC showcases their biggest movies, games, shows, comics and more. It was also revealed that the film is currently in pre-production.
Continue reading “Here’s Concept Art for the New ‘Batgirl’ Film From DC FanDome”
Warner Bros. and DC Films have found the lead for their upcoming Batgirl film. After a series of names were leaked the other day, the studio just announced that one of the breakout stars from In the Heights, Leslie Grace, will be moving from Washington Heights to Burnside to take on the role of Barbara Gordon.
Continue reading “Just Breathe: Leslie Grace is the New Batgirl”
It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of Birds of Prey here at The Nerds of Color. Even though the film has been on demand digitally since the pandemic hit, Cathy Yan’s girl-gang opus is finally available to fans of physical media with its release on blu-ray and DVD. To celebrate, we’re giving away a digital copy* of the movie to one lucky follower on twitter!
Continue reading “Follow Us and Get a Digital Copy of ‘Birds of Prey’”
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.
Continue reading “‘Birds of Prey’ is An Asian American Aesthetic Superhero Movie I’ve Always Wanted”
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.
Continue reading “Fantabulous ‘Birds of Prey’ Really Takes Off”
With the release of DC’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of the One Harley Quinn), many have been wondering about one particular scene when Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) describes in detail about obtaining the perfect egg sandwich for her breakfast. The way Harley describes the egg sandwich could almost be told from a sexual point of view or just how we, and many people, describe food. Unfortunately for Harley, she does not get to enjoy the egg sandwich due to the fact she ends up being chased by Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) and it drops to the floor.
Continue reading “The ‘Birds of Prey’ Egg Sandwich Explained”
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.
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.
Continue reading “Changing “Harleywood” with the ‘Birds of Prey’”
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.
Continue reading “New ‘Birds of Prey’ Trailer is Not So Quiet”
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.
Continue reading “15 Things We Learned from the Set of ‘Birds of Prey’”
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.
Continue reading “The ‘Birds of Prey’ Trailer Officially Lands!”
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!
Continue reading “DC and WB Unveil Colorful New ‘Birds of Prey’ Poster!”
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!
Continue reading “‘Birds of Prey’ is Already the Greatest DCEU Movie of All Time”
Several years ago, I wrote about the Transformers movie that broke me. Revenge of the Fallen wasn’t just a bad movie, it soured me on Transformers altogether. I was resigned to let the iconic toys and cartoons of my youth stay there in the past, and accepted that Michael Bay’s overindulgent vision for Transformers — awash in testosterone and jingoism — would never sync with my memories of the property.
Then I saw Bumblebee.
Continue reading “‘Bumblebee’ is ‘Transformers’ Finally Done Right”