When Warner Bros. and Discovery merged last year, consolidating their content into one streaming service was inevitable. So now the media giant unveiled its plans to rebrand HBO Max as Max, and announced the new payment tiers along with their respective features.
Continue reading “Warner Bros. Discovery Rebranding HBO Max Streaming Service as Max”
It’s hard to believe it’s been over 10 years since the final Harry Potter movie debuted in theaters. And since then, we’ve seen the Wizarding World expand significantly. With sites like Pottermore, upcoming games like the highly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy, and of course the Fantastic Beasts film franchise, we know (for better or worse) the Hogwarts Express is just going to continue chugging along, as the stories continue.
Continue reading “The ‘Secrets’ Revealed at the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Press Conference”
This is the week, Wizarding World fans! This Friday, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore hits theaters, and if you haven’t seen it yet, check out our interview with the amazing Jessica Williams. In addition to our interview, you can also check out the latest trailer for the film that WB just dropped today.
Continue reading “Final Trailer Released for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’”
The latest chapter in the Wizarding World saga hits theaters this Friday! After a long awaited delay, due to the pandemic, Newt Scamander and all of his Fantastic Beasts will be returning to screens, and they’re unveiling The Secrets of Dumbledore. Chief among the ranks of Dumbledore’s first army is Ilvermorny professor, Eulalie “Lally” Hicks, played by franchise newcomer, the incomparable and wonderful Jessica Williams. We had a chance to sit down with Jessica to discuss all of the secrets of Dumbledore, as well as her work bringing to life this welcome addition to the Wizarding World!
Continue reading “Jessica Williams Dishes on Lally Hicks and ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’”
The Wizarding World is in peril, both from a narrative standpoint, and a real-world one. Indeed, the franchise has had one hell of an uphill battle to conquer. What once stood as the crown jewel of Warner Bros. has been marred with controversy since the previous installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise debuted in 2018.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Secrets of Dumbledore’ is Not Bad, Not Quite ‘Fantastic’”
After a slight delay last week, today Warner Bros. has released both the new trailer and poster for the next anticipated Wizarding World installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore! The film will be a continuation of the prequel series that began with 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. But the story, it seems, will now expand into the beginning of the Global Wizarding War between Dumbledore’s first army and Grindelwald.
Continue reading “Accio New Trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’”
2021 was a shit of a year. We managed to find a few highlights. We also look forward to as much as we can in 2022 even though it’s an election year which automatically makes it terrible even if things were better.
Continue reading “FDI Cast 129: 2021 Sucked Real Bad, We Try to Find Some Good”
Just to be clear, J.K. does not exist in our dojo. It’s fine if you like her work and if it has made a positive impact on you, but we have taken a stand and we will not support her Fantastic Beasts and Where to Eat Them franchise. Our opinions are our own and do not reflect the opinions of The Nerds of Color. Also we review Shang-Chi and the Legend of Should Have Been About My Sister, Really.
Continue reading “FDI Cast 128: Joanne is Not Welcome in Our Dojo”
This April, a test is coming to the Wizarding World. And it’ll be one that’s bigger than anything the narratives of the films and books may cover. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third installment in the planned 5-film Newt Scamander series, will be debuting. And today, after many delays, the folks at WB have finally debuted the first trailer for the upcoming film. This will be a true test to see if there’s magic left in a franchise that has seen many, many challenges over the past few years.
Continue reading “UPDATED: First Trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ is Revealed”
This October, things are going to get epically spooky on the SYFY Channel! All month long, there will be specials and premieres to give you fun and frights for weeks, including the terrifying premieres of new series, Chucky and Day of the Dead! Additionally, SYFY will be home to the world television premiere of Slumber Party Massacre — a remake of the 1982 slasher classic!
Continue reading “Prepare for Halloween with the SYFY Channel!”
Anyone who knows me knows I love The Wizarding World. My entire family does. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was the first ‘big girl book’ my daughter read. Her first serious Halloween costume was that of a Hogwarts’s student — she is a true Gryffindor. My wife loves the films — they are our Christmas tradition. We’ve been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter more than a few times. The books, the world, have been a part of my life since 1998. But like so many others, I am nursing a huge fan-wound because The Wizarding World’s creator, the TERF Who Must Not Be Named, showed their true colors. Those colors have betrayed the very values and ideals The Wizarding World extols.
After months of anticipation, HBO Max has finally arrived. And while we’re still a year out from Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the latest entrant into the Streaming Wars has a lot to offer, and a few things to work out. Granted, it’s only been available for a few hours, but many of the bells and whistles promised during a WarnerMedia event in October — such as the ability to combine viewing profiles and celebrity-curated recommendations — were not ready at launch.
Our mission at Black Girls Create has always been highlighting Black female creators and being a place for discussions of critical fandom, and one way we’ve decided to converge the two themes is with the Critical Companion series.
Inspired by Doctor Who’s plucky sidekicks (most notably, season 10’s Bill Potts), formal literary Critical Companions discussing an author’s breadth of work, as well as our mission to provide a platform for marginalized creators, the Critical Companion series will feature blog posts written by Black writers. We hope those writers are some of you!
In 2018 we had a monthly topic where we accepted two pitches (paid) that represent two aspects of the idea. Now, we are opening up submissions to be a bit less restrictive, but we are still largely looking for pieces that delve into the idea of critical fandom — how do we as fans analyze our favorite things with care and consider the wider world that the fandom either represents or ignores? We always love personal essays about growing up nerdy, early fandom experiences, and pivotal moments in your own nerdy lives.
Pitches are taken on a rolling basis. Posting will typically occur on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month.
Word Count: approx. 700 words
Price: $50 per post
Email: pitches@blackgirlscreate.org
Continue reading “February 2020: Black Wizard History Month”
NOC guest Porshèa discusses how the Harry Potter franchise and fandom struggle with progressivism in the wake of Fantastic Beasts and its numerous problems. Continue reading The White Progressivism of The Harry Potter Franchises
This year, audiences will grab their portkeys to journey once more into J.K. Rowling’s ever expanding Wizarding World, when Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald comes to theaters November 16, 2018. The sequel continues the enchanting adventures of magizoologist, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), and his colleagues, as they race against time to prevent dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) from fulfilling his goal of wizard domination over non-magical beings. The film, with higher stakes than the first movie and a much darker tone, also features a welcome return to a setting we’ve been missing for seven years: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
In anticipation of the film’s release, The Nerds of Color were able to meet with returning stars Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, and Ezra Miller, as well as franchise newcomer Callum Turner, and producer David Heyman for a fantastic conversation about the film, their characters, and the return of Hogwarts and Albus Dumbledore.
“Who Will Change the Future?” That’s the tagline of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the latest eagerly anticipated installment in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise. It’s also the biggest question surrounding the fate of diversification in Hollywood casting, and one that Rowling’s franchise might be playing a significant role in.
This week on Hard NOC Life, Shawn and Keith are joined by We’re Not All Ninjas co-host Melissa Slaughter to run down all the trailers that just dropped this week (there are so many, we didn’t get to talk about Creed II or X-Men: Dark Phoenix)!
The trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Crimes of Grindelwald is finally out! Here’s hoping the movie can keep up with all of the plot lines that the trailer packed in. Below is a rundown for a few magical extras in this fantastical sequel. Spoilers start now!
Continue reading “The Final ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Trailer is Out Now and Action Packed”
It‘s almost Tony Awards Time, which is a Broadway nerd’s Superbowl. And through the luck of the great wizard Dumbledore, I got last minute tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is nominated for a solid 10 … Continue reading Review: ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ on Broadway
Originally published at Twinjas Book Reviews
One of the questions I’m constantly asked (which admittedly I never get tired of answering) is what my process in terms of world building and developing complex characters.
My approach to world-building and character development ultimately corresponds to my overall approach to storytelling. As a writer, I personally belong to the school of character = story. What truth do we discover along the character’s journey? More than that, whether it’s fiction, articles or blog posts, I generally have three mandates which I dub E-Cubed: Enlighten, entertain and empower.
Needless to say that E-Cubed has led to other techniques which has only enhanced my storytelling abilities over the years.
Continue reading “My Steps To Creating Characters And Building Worlds”
Update 11/25/16: The original version of this post stated that Tina was simply white. I have since realized that Tina’s full name is Porpentina Goldstein, and that she and her sister Queenie are likely of Jewish descent (and thus both have only conditional whiteness). I have updated the post with this information in mind.
The Harry Potter universe is a world that’s followed most of us since we were kids. While in many respects it’s aged along with us — we see Harry grow up and have kids, and the film Fantastic Beasts is certainly aimed at an older audience — in other aspects it has remained disappointingly behind the times. In particular, Fantastic Beasts is yet another example in the Potterverse of how marginalized folks, particularly queer people and/or people of color, continue to be exactly that: marginalized.
Continue reading “Fantastic Beasts is Not So Fantastic with Diversity”
Amongst my friends and family, it is no secret that the only holiday I care about is Halloween. No, it isn’t just because the candy is free and flowing — although this is a huge bonus. What I love the most about he holiday is that there is this unbridled demonstration of ingenuity, creativity, and imagination. People get to step a little outside of their mundane lives and step into the realm of the fantastic.
Another thing I love are the costumes. I don’t think I’m alone in this, especially amongst my fellow NOC. While many of us were too busy to dress up, we made sure that our children did.
I would like to present to you the NOC Parade of Costumes: Our Children’s Addition.
Continue reading “An N.O.C. Halloween: Our Children’s Edition”
