Grammy Award-Winning Artist Common to Narrate USA Men’s Basketball Docuseries

July 16, 2021July 16, 2021 Jamal Michel

I told myself I wouldn’t begin this news about the dope new docuseries coming to Peacock mentioning LeBron James and I’ve clearly already failed. While James’ absence from the USA Men’s National Basketball team isn’t new, the real highlights of the highs and lows of the Olympics have been shouldered by the NBA’s new elite squad, specifically younger players like Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, and Bam Adebayo.

Streaming, Television1 Comment

‘Never Have I Ever’ Charms as it Deals with Grief and Growing Up

July 13, 2021July 13, 2021 Laura Sirikul

Never Have I Ever returns this week for its sophomore season, and it seems like our protagonist, Indian American teenager Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), has not learned her lesson from last season on how to be a better person. As shown in the trailers, the second season starts with Devi having to deal with two romantic suitors — Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet) and Ben Gross (Jared Lewison) — and attempting to juggle them both. Of course we know it will lead to heartbreak for the trio and leaves Devi in a really difficult place trying to make things right. There were many times I felt aggravated watching Devi make mistake after mistake and felt like she was never really growing as a person. The thing is, nobody is perfect and as annoying as Devi is when mistakes are made, Never Have I Ever still finds a way to make it as charming and relatable as possible.

Streaming, Television

‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 2 Trailer Ups the Stakes

June 18, 2021June 18, 2021 Laura Sirikul

With the events from last season of Never Have I Ever, we last left Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) making out with Ben (Jaren Lewison) in the car post-scattering her dad’s ashes in the ocean. Paxton (Darren Barnet) was also trying to get ahold of Devi to tell her how he really felt about her. This season, we see Devi trying to figure out her feelings for the two.

Streaming, Television

Everything We Know About ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 2

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021 Laura Sirikul

Netflix’s hit coming-of-age comedy series Never Have I Ever, starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Indian American teenager Devi as she continues dealing with the everyday pressures of high school and drama at home, is getting closer to being released. So we wanted to take this time to share some of the content that has been revealed.

Animation, Interview, Movies

‘Smallfoot’ Layers Fun with Deep Thoughts; Common, Gina Rodriguez Talk Art and Activism

September 28, 2018October 2, 2018 Jason Sperber

What if, instead of humans not believing in Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman, it was the other way around? That’s the surface premise of Warner Brothers Animation’s Smallfoot, opening September 28, and if the humor inherent in that flip-the-script premise, plus amazing computer animation, a star-studded voice cast, and a bunch of songs by Broadway veterans, weren’t enough to make this the rare family film that family members of all ages can actually enjoy together, it gets a little deep, too.

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Fantasy, Television7 Comments

The Wiz Live! Wrap Up: Brand New Day

December 4, 2015December 18, 2019 LaShawn

I had so much fun watching NBC’s airing The Wiz: Live! on network television. Having grown up with the original, I was curious to see how the new version would stand up. And now I’m going to slip into gush mode because you guys. YOU GUYS. IT WAS AWESOME. We sooooo needed this, especially in this time where most news about blacks are seeded with shootings, protests, micro-aggressions, and fear. The Wiz: Live! was a welcome — and very much needed — celebration of black culture in all its forms.

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Movies4 Comments

Oscars 2015: All White Everything

January 15, 2015January 15, 2015 Keith Chow

We try not to stray from the geek-o-sphere too much here at the NOC, but it’s kind of hard to deny that the one pop cultural topic that’s taking up all of the oxygen is the announcement of the 2015 Academy Award nominations, and the near 100% shut out of people of color in all the major categories¹. The most egregious of these snubs was the almost complete dismissal of Selma. The Martin Luther King biopic was pretty much a lock for multiple noms for most of awards season but only managed a Best Song and a (token) Best Picture out of the deal. Star David Oyelowo and director Ava DuVernay were left on the outside looking in.

And if you need a direct connection back to the nerd world, Oyelowo provides the voice for the Star Wars: Rebels baddie Agent Kallus and Topless Robot wants DuVernay to direct a Marvel movie (something the director isn’t opposed to, by the way). So there.

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