‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Sinks More than It Floats

December 14, 2022January 3, 2023 Swara Salih

When James Cameron’s Avatar premiered in 2009, it represented a landmark moment in visual effects for film. Cameron made some of the most effective use of CGI and motion-capture performances since Andy Serkis’ brilliant portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Na’vi, as alien and as CGI as they were, felt real to audiences as their animation took realistic form, as did the stunningly beautiful planet of Pandora. But while these visual effects were a spectacle, the story itself, while moving at times, was simplistic and derivative of other films in the realm of colonists and Indigenous peoples.

Marvel, Movies

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Explores Geopolitics and Shows the MCU Can Go Further

November 22, 2022November 28, 2022 Swara Salih

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is, at its core, a moving drama about the grief of a nation for their lost King T’Challa and the grief of his closes loved ones. But the film also takes a deeper dive into the geopolitics of the MCU, and really our own world and how the legacy of colonialism, European slavery of Africans, Indigenous genocide, and the pillaging of resources of Black and brown countries continues to this day.

DC Comics, Movies, Reviews3 Comments

‘Black Adam’ is Less Than the Sum of its Parts but Still a Fun Time

October 20, 2022October 22, 2022 Swara Salih

“The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change,” we’ve heard for weeks on end from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Did it really change that much with the release of Black Adam? Honestly? Yeah, kind of!

Sports, Streaming, Television8 Comments

How ‘Ted Lasso’ Failed Nate as a Character

November 5, 2021November 6, 2021 Swara Salih

Ted Lasso has taken our pop culture by storm. From its trademark humor to the soccer (AKA football) matches, to the great performances, and an often stunning exploration of mental health (at least for most of its main cast), it’s a show that inspires through showcasing the difficulties that the members of Richmond Football Club endure, and how they ultimately uplift each other through it all.

Movies, Sci Fi6 Comments

Elysium and the 1%

March 30, 2016March 30, 2016 Professor Mex

The reason Elysium is so realistic is because it captures so well the economic disparities of the rich and poor; that the separation between the “haves” and “have-nots” might as well be a chasm as distal between the Earth and space, between the “first” and “third” “worlds.”

Continue reading “Elysium and the 1%”

Animation, Movies, Reviews1 Comment

An Endorsement of Home: It’s Daughter Approved

March 29, 2015September 8, 2019 Shawn Taylor

In the immortal words of Jim Carrey: “How was your weekend?” For the new DreamWorks film, Home, it was a very good weekend indeed. As of this writing, Home has raked in $54 million and is the #1 movie in the U.S. — despite some naysayers‘ predictions. This is the studio’s highest non-sequel opening since 2009’s Monsters vs. Aliens. And it is daughter approved: