Tag: Daniel Wu

Movies, Sci Fi

First Trailer for Lisa Joy’s ‘Reminiscence’ is Finally Here

Keith Chow

The Greatest Showman stars Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson genre-swap the technicolor movie musical for sun-kissed film noir as they reunite for the mind-bending action thriller, Reminiscence. Lisa Joy takes her Westworld sensibilities to the big screen, making her directorial debut — and re-teaming with Thandiwe Newton — with another project that has characters navigating between reality and reverie.

Check out the first trailer for the noir-ish thriller below!

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Martial Arts, Podcasts

Lewis Tan Shatters Through The Badlands

Hard NOC Media

It’s been a hell of a year for Lewis Tan. And for the next seven days, it’s going to be one hell of a week! An O.G. and official Friend of the NOC, Lewis Tan is back on Hard NOC Life.

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Martial Arts, Television4 Comments

Three Reasons Why I’m Giving ‘Into the Badlands’ Another Shot

Monique

Originally posted at Just Add Color

The last time I wrote about Into the Badlands on this site, I was… distressed. Veil died in the Season 2 finale, after being tortured for basically the entire season.

I wrote a very, very long review/autopsy of the finale, which was reposted on Black Girl Nerds, and in it I go over the hows and whys Veil died and why her death was ultimately preventable. I was also able to speak at length to showrunner Al Gough about it too, which you can read about here.

After all of the writing and interviewing, I was still in a lurch as to whether I would pick up the remote and turn to AMC once Season 3 rolled around. I know a lot of black women fans might not be, still feeling the burn of Veil’s death. I’m not going to lie and act like I don’t still feel the sting of her loss.

But, after having a year to think about the show and its upcoming third season, I also don’t feel like it’d be justifiable for me to turn my back on Into the Badlands altogether. For me, it’d be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Here are my reasons why I’m going to watch Into the Badlands this season.

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Martial Arts, Recaps10 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?

Keith Chow

So that happened.

We’ve been singing the praises of Into the Badlands all season, but man, that death was disappointing. I’ll keep the spoiler about which character(s) met their ultimate demise until after the jump. Just know that it has made me reevaluate how I feel about this show.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Martial Arts, Television3 Comments

Waiting for the Into the Badlands Finale

The Nerds of Color

The second season of AMC’s Into the Badlands concludes on Sunday, so our intrepid live tweeter Laura Sirikul joins Keith to look back on one of our favorite shows! Of course, they can’t help juxtaposing Ballands and Iron Fist, but they also explain Daniel Wu’s previous comments about whitewashing and why Oliver Stark needs to be a guest on a future episode. They also share their predictions about the finale and how Keith decided to mashup Badlands and Hamilton for #IntoTheHamLands.

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Martial Arts, Recaps1 Comment

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: Disciplined Dissidents

Keith Chow

In a fateful example of perfect timing, the airing of Into the Badlands episode nine, titled “Nightingale Sings No More,” coincided with Mother’s Day. So how does the Badlands writing crew celebrate mothers? By ripping their babies away from them, locking them in solitary confinement, and having them duel their daughters in deadly sword-to-sword combat, of course! More on that in a minute…

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Martial Arts, Recaps3 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: Equal, Opposite Reactions

Keith Chow

There are few nerdy pursuits that bring me a lot of pure joy anymore.  Hamilton, of course, is one, and Into the Badlands is the other. And like what the homie Shawn Taylor said, sometimes it just feels better to big up a thing you love than to tear down something you don’t. That’s why I love giving these HamLands recaps to you, the people. One, unwarranted Hamilton references is kinda my thing — just ask my poor family. And two, the hashtag Into the HamLands — which was initially designed to house Badlands-specific Hamilton puns, IS BEING USED BY THE CAST AND WRITERS OF THE SHOW! (Badlands, that is. Still waiting for Lin to chime in.)

So when Veil herself tweeted this gem below, I knew it had to be the title of this week’s ‘cap!

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Martial Arts, Recaps4 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: What is a Legacy?

Keith Chow

Apologies for the delay in getting this weeks Badlands recap out1. I know how much you anticipate my weekly Hamilton references! It was probably a good thing that I didn’t watch this episode live though. Not sure I would’ve been able to sleep had I seen Artemis haunt my television right before going to bed!

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Martial Arts, Recaps5 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: A Winter’s Brawl

Keith Chow

Despite my better judgement, I went with a Hamilton pun this week rather than straight up lyrics from the show. Couldn’t help it. The fight scene between the Abbots and Sunny’s old and new sidekicks — juxtaposed against a Christmas-y backdrop, no less — was a highlight! Before settling on “A Winter’s Ball” wordplay, the other obvious number to reference was Jasmine Cephas-Jones’ showstopper “Say No to This,” thanks to twitter user @Bespectacled_Cy!

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Martial Arts, Recaps2 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: A Glimpse of the Other Side

Keith Chow

Another week, another Into the Badlands recap that takes its cue from a Hamilton song. While it’s pretty obvious that I’m quoting Lin-Manuel’s soliloquy from the end of “The World Was Wide Enough” — fittingly about the lead-up and aftermath of a duel not unlike what Quinn and Ryder did last week — this week’s subtitle has as much to do with #GhostRyder as it does with the return of Sunny and Bajie who are just on the other side of the Badlands as well. And speaking of “other sides,” we see some characters aligning with other sides too. But really, it’s all about Quinn’s son on the other side.

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Martial Arts, Recaps5 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: You Don’t Have the Votes

Keith Chow

Once again, we’re venturing back Into the Badlands as we finally get to see the much anticipated Baron Conclave. Last week, if you recall, we saw Minerva and Waldo arrive at Ryder’s estate to take part in the gathering. Basically, this is when all of the barons in the Badlands come together to sign agreements and hash out differences — without swords. Mostly. This particular conclave has been convened to vote on whether the Widow is allowed to even be a baron. Debates ensue, and all I can think of are the lyrics for both “Cabinet Battle” tracks from Hamilton.

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Martial Arts, Recaps4 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: Teach ‘Em How to Say Goodbye

Keith Chow

In my quest to title each Into the Badlands recap after lyrics from a Hamilton song, the writers did me a solid by letting Nathaniel Moon, played by veteran actor Sherman Augustus, say a line from the classic George Washington showstopper:

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Interview, Martial Arts, Television5 Comments

One-on-One with Into the Badlands’ Daniel Wu

Laura Sirikul

AMC’s Into the Badlands is in their second season and are going strong with their viewership, storyline, and martial arts. Unlike other series that attempts the martial arts genre, Into the Badlands’ stellar moves can be attributed to executive producer, and star of the series, Daniel Wu.

The Nerds of Color got a chance to sit down and chat with the actor about the second season and what makes the show so appealing to audiences.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Martial Arts, Television1 Comment

Journey Into the Badlands with Co-Creator Al Gough

The Nerds of Color

In the first part of a special podcast crossover with DC TV Classics, Keith chats with Into the Badlands co-creator Al Gough. They talk about Al’s start in Hollywood with his writing and producing partner Miles Millar; working with Hong Kong cinema legends like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeoh, and Daniel Wu; how difficult it is to accurately portray kung fu on broadcast television; and the importance of representation and why the onus is on producers and directors to find and cast diverse talent.

Subscribe to DC TV Classics or download part two of this interview here.

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Martial Arts, Recaps3 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: Young, Scrappy, and Hungry

Keith Chow

AMC’s Into the Badlands might have gotten a ten-episode second season (up four episodes from season one), but there’s no slowing down narratively. Episode 2 — which is actually chapter 8, proving just how propulsive the story of the Badlands is — wastes no time getting Sunny out of the mines, after a pretty awesome, and gruesome, fight scene to open the show. I would put the rest of the episode into three distinct buckets, that just so happen to coincide with a line from Hamilton‘s “My Shot.” And yes, I’m keeping up these #IntoTheHamLands recap titles all season!

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Marvel, Television5 Comments

Iron Cyst and the Eight Point Strike

Dennis R. Upkins

It’s too bad Iron Fist wasn’t remotely close to being as entertaining and brilliant as the backlash it’s been receiving. If it had, it would’ve been as popular as Daredevil or Luke Cage as opposed to being one of the biggest punchlines of 2017.

I’m sure one day we’ll all be tired of the proverbial “T” Madame Gao is serving us.

However, today is not that day.

Shifting into Midnighter mode, I’m about to demonstrate my 8-point strike on the fustercluck of white mediocrity that is Iron Cyst.

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Martial Arts, Recaps5 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: Friends All Scattered to the Winds

Keith Chow

After more than a year off the air, AMC’s dystopian martial arts epic Into the Badlands has finally returned! And with it, so have these NOC Recaps. Speaking of which, I’m going to try to title each recap with a line from Hamilton because 1.) seriously, have you met me?; and 2.) the Badlands writers have basically challenged me as much. So, appropriately enough, the Season Two premiere is named after a lyric from “Yorktown.”

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Martial Arts, Television6 Comments

Fans Sound Off on Into the Badlands Couple Sunny and Veil

Monique

Originally posted at Just Add Color

Into the Badlands is coming into its second season March 19, and even though we’re psyched about the level of action and and suspense, we’re also focused on the family aspect of the show, which is worrying about how Sunny’s going to get back to his family, Veil and their newborn baby.

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Martial Arts, Television8 Comments

Venturing Into the Badlands

Dennis R. Upkins

One of my favorite television series in the last year is Into the Badlands. The noirish dystopian Wuxia drama is the perfect blend of action, mystery and mysticism that keeps my eyes glued to the flatscreen.

As is the case with all things PoC excellence, Into the Badlands has caught its share of hate from racist white fandom. I’m not talking about legit criticisms but nitpicking and feeble excuses that are never made for legions of lesser white shows.

Needless to say I’m not having it.

When the shade is thrown, I’m honor bound to make the haters day a “Sunny” one.

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Martial Arts, Recaps, Television2 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: Bloody Barons

Keith Chow

After last week’s episode ramped up the stakes for our heroes, we headed into the first season finale with a lot of questions that needed answers. Who poisoned Jade? Will Quinn take advantage of M.K.’s gifts? Will Sunny turn on his young apprentice to secure passage on the River King’s ship? Did the Widow survive her duel with Sunny? Will Veil blame Sunny for the death of her parents? Will the show come back for a second season? And why are there only six episodes for the season?

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Martial Arts, Recaps, Television2 Comments

NOC Recaps Into the Badlands: The Butterfly Effect

Keith Chow

Continuing our recap catch up, the penultimate episode of Into the Badlands was clearly the most interesting of the season. And that’s too bad because after this weekend’s season finale, we don’t know if AMC will be bringing the show back for a second one. We hope so since all the pieces are finally in place for an epic showdown between good, evil, and everything in between.

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Marvel, Television53 Comments

Fear of an Asian Martial Artist: The Thing about Stereotypes & #AAIronFist

Keith Chow

Lately, this site has been All Iron Fist Every Thing, so apologies if you don’t give two shits about that particular character. Also, you might want to click elsewhere because we’re going to drill a little deeper into the reasons why we’ve been on the #AAIronFist train — that would be Asian American Iron Fist and not Alcoholics Anonymous, btw — for the last 20 months. Two things came up in the last week or so that have led to this resurgence in interest in an Asian American Iron Fist. First, Marvel and Netflix finally announced a showrunner for the series. Secondly, Comic Book Resources published this essay by Albert Ching on why Danny Rand shouldn’t be Asian American.

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