We welcome Rocky back on the podcast to review Nida Manzoor’s Desi martial arts-comedy-epic, Polite Society! We also discuss the harrowing news out of Sudan, a new African animation anthology that includes Egypt and Egyptian creators, give our recommendations for the week, and much more!
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 53: ‘Polite Society’ Review with Roxana Hadadi”
In anticipation of Nida Manzoor’s thrilling masterpiece Polite Society, premiering this weekend, we speak with the writer/director herself about her career and the messages she aims to convey with her debut feature film.
Continue reading “Nida Manzoor on ‘Polite Society’ and Breaking Barriers for South Asian and Muslim Women”
We welcome Afghan-Filipina-American actress Senzel Ahmady on the podcast, and discuss her taking on the iconic role of Princess Jasmine in the touring Aladdin musical!
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 52: Senzel Ahmady on Playing Princess Jasmine in ‘Aladdin’”
When we find the Hassan family at the start of Ramy Season 3, the son of the family has brought not only shame, but severe consequences for his family that threaten the life they’ve built in the States. Where do they go from here, and will they ever be able to pay back their debts? How will the Hassan family change through their experiences this season?
Continue reading “The Cast of ‘Ramy’ on What’s in Store for the Hassan Family in Season 3”
Ramy is never an easy show to watch. It’s compelling and funny, but it never shies away from showing the (many) faults of its title character, and occasionally those of his family and friends.
Slight setup spoilers for Ramy Season 3 follow:
Continue reading “‘Ramy’ Season 3 is As Funny and Engaging As Ever”
Ramy Hassan’s stated journey has been finding moral clarity on his life and what it means to be a good Muslim. Only problem is, he’s a constantly selfish screw-up. When we left him at the end of last season, he was at his lowest and most morally depraved, having completely humiliated his new (and immediately former) wife Zainab (MaameYaa Boafo), and rightfully enraging her father Sheikh Ali Malek (Mahershala Ali). Where does he go from here, and how will this inform his apparent crisis of faith in Islam?
Continue reading “‘Ramy’ Season 3 Teases a Spiritual Crisis for the Hassan Family”
In his new Netflix series, aptly title Mo, Palestinian American comedian and actor Mo Amer plays a fictionalized version of himself as “Mo Najjar” and his life story in Houston, TX.
Continue reading “Mo Amer on His New Series ‘Mo’ and Palestinian Representation”
We discuss episodes 1-2 of the new MCU Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, starring Iman Vellani!
Ms. Marvel is here! We discuss the first two episodes of the series, discussing how wonderful Iman Vellani is in the main role, how well the series does at portraying Kamala and her family and friends, how well it does on portraying Islam, the change to her powers, and where it can do better in certain fronts.
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 39: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Episodes 1-2 Review”
Ms. Marvel is nearly here! How does one go about translating this beloved character and her story to life? We got to speak with head writer Bisha K. Ali and co-creator Sana Amanat on how they went about doing just that for Kamala’s entry into the MCU.
Continue reading “‘Ms. Marvel’ Creators on Bringing Kamala Khan’s World to the MCU”
As Ms. Marvel approaches our Disney+ screens very soon, we got to sit down with the actors playing Kamala Khan’s family (Saagar Shaikh, Zenobia Shroff, and Mohan Kapur) and friends (Rish Shah, Yasmeen Fletcher, and Matt Lintz) on how they helped bring Kamala’s world to life in the newest MCU series!
Continue reading “The ‘Ms. Marvel’ Supporting Cast on Bringing Kamala Khan’s Friends and Family to Life”
Ms. Marvel is nearly here! The beloved Pakistani American Muslim character millions already love is making her debut to the MCU with her own series this Wednesday, June 8! And we got to speak with her newcomer star Iman Vellani, Kamala Khan herself!
Continue reading “Iman Vellani on Playing Kamala Khan, aka ‘Ms. Marvel’”
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation, based on a book that was explicitly and heavily influenced by Middle East and North African (MENA) and Islamic cultures, is out, and we are joined by our friends and fellow MENA critics Hanna Flint and Roxana Hadadi to review it.
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 31: ‘Dune’ Review”
by Vishavjit Singh | Originally posted at Medium.com
On a hot July summer day in New York City, I was working with a film crew hopping in and out of the subway in my costume as Captain America. We stepped out on one of the stops and after shooting for a few hours in Washington Square Park hopped back on the subway. That is when a couple spotted me and appeared amazed at having seen me a second time on the subway that day. The wife initiated the encounter and I sat down next to them for a few brief moments. The couple was from Arizona, and they were in town primarily to tick an item off the husband’s bucket list. To attend an Arsenal soccer match. They asked me what I doing, and I summarized the motivation of my social experiment. I stepped out on my next stop.
We finished the film shooting the next day. Two days later I received an email titled “Our chance encounter” from a sergeant in an Arizona police department. It was one of the most touching mails I have ever received.
Continue reading “My Chance Encounter as Captain America with a 9/11 Responder”
I admit: I’m a lightweight comic book geek. I was always down for X-Men, Batman, and Wonder Woman. I just watched The Wolverine and Man of Steel* on an ultra-long international flight. My biggest gripe (don’t worry it wasn’t Henry Cavill)? Every story revolves around white men saving the world. So, when I heard that Marvel Comics’ new series, Ms. Marvel, features a 16-year-old Pakistani-American Muslim superhero, I was elated.
In the series, set to debut February 2014, Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old from Jersey discovers her latent superpowers — she shape-shifts — setting in motion her meteoric transformation into Ms. Marvel.
At the heart of it though, she’s just a regular teenager, right?
