Dominic and Keith are discussing the latest WandaVision, speculating about Monica Rambeau’s future in the MCU, breaking down the Snyder Cut trailer (and its associated Joker memes), revisiting the De La Soul episode of Teen Titans GO!, and getting hyped for digital-first comics set in the Burton and Donner cinematic universes.
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life 204: Why So Serious”
It’s that time of year again where I become irrationally excited for a Batman movie. Last night on twitter, director Matt Reeves sent out a link to camera test footage for his new movie and lit the entire internet on fire.
Continue reading “Matt Reeves Teases Robert Pattinson as ‘The Batman’”
On a brand new episode of Hard NOC Life, Dominic and Keith celebrate the best DC movie ever made, Birds of Prey (that’s right, we said it!)
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life: ‘Birds of Prey’ and a Fantabulous Night at the Oscars”
On Hard NOC Life this week, Dominic and Keith share their thoughts on the Academy Award nominations and break down the latest superhero movie trailers.
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life: Oscar Snubs and Super Villains”
With the holidays around the corner, what better way to celebrate than with news from the anticipated Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. The Nerds of Color was invited to the set of Birds of Prey this past April to explore the dangerously fun production of the all-women led “superhero” movie and chat with the cast and creatives of the film.
Continue reading “15 Things We Learned from the Set of ‘Birds of Prey’”
Hard NOC Life welcomes back Dominic to weigh in on Martin Scorsese and the battle between superhero nerds and film nerds.
Be warned, this is a spoiler-heavy article.
When I saw Joker at the Toronto International Film Festival, the main question I wanted answered was: Do the Black people die in this movie? Spoiler alert: they don’t. At least not on screen. Clearly, the director, Todd Phillips, knew what it would look like if they were to die by the Joker’s hand (even if he doesn’t seem to quite know how to do a press tour). But that doesn’t mean all is well for positive representation in the widely divisive movie.
Are you ready for some killer jokes?
To celebrate the release of Joker, we’ve teamed up with Warner Bros. and Fandango to provide free passes to the showing of your choice at any theater! Winners will receive a voucher good for two people.
Continue reading “Enter to Win Free Passes to ‘Joker,’ Courtesy of WB and Fandango”
Earlier this month, The Nerds of Color, along with several other members of the press, were invited to partake in the madness that is Joker, with a screening of the film and mini-panel with director Todd Phillips (The Hangover trilogy, War Dogs, Old School) and the Clown Prince of Crime himself, Joaquin Phoenix. Together they tackled what it was like to put this project together, and about what it is that separates this film from so many previous comic book adaptations. Here’s what they had to say. (NOTE: Possible light spoilers ahead! Be warned!)
Shawn Taylor makes his triumphant return to Hard NOC Life, joining Keith and Dominic as they break down the week in Nerd Pop.
Hey NOCs! My camera is on the fritz so until I get things fixed, I’ll be going back to written reviews for a bit, starting with our review of Joker, which debuts today at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. Minor spoilers ahead!
Continue reading “NOC Review: Wait ‘Til They Get a Load of This ‘Joker’”
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
DC
DC Who?
D-SEE the new trailer and poster for Joker! (Ok, that was lame…)
Continue reading “Hello Gotham! ‘Joker’ Here! — New Trailer and Poster!”
This morning, while all of you were trying (and mostly failing) to buy Avengers: Endgame tickets, Warner Bros. quietly dropped the first official poster for this fall’s Joker — with the first trailer set to drop any minute now. (UPDATED April 3, 2019 — trailer is below!) How’s that for the Day After April Fool’s?
Maybe I’m being a little hyperbolic with the headline, but Warner Bros. and DC Films set the internet on fire when it released a 20-second “teaser” featuring our first looks at the main cast for the upcoming Cathy Yan-directed Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), including Margot Robbie as the titular Harley, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as The Huntress, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, and Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain. Also, that cast though!
Continue reading “‘Birds of Prey’ is Already the Greatest DCEU Movie of All Time”
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)!
On a new Hard NOC Life, Shawn and Keith are joined by Detective Comics writer Bryan Edward Hill to discuss all things Batman!
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life: Outside the Batcave with Bryan Edward Hill”
On this special San Diego Comic-Con edition of DC TV Classics, Keith sits down with Batman executive producer Michael Uslan over lunch during the convention to talk about the legacy of The Dark Knight and their mutual love for the Batman franchise, from comics to TV to the movies. Michael also teases his new comic book revival of the classics ’80s cartoon Dino-Saucers.
Continue reading “The Legacy of The Dark Knight with ‘Batman’ Producer Michael Uslan”
Since it’s the 29th anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton, we’re rewinding back to this classic Hard NOC episode from 2014 when we had a pre-Fatman on Batman Marc Bernardin as a guest!
Continue reading “NOC Rewind: Marc Bernardin on ‘Batman 89’”
by Benjamin To | Originally published at BANDtogether
In the summer of 2008, there I was: A fresh-faced, 19-year-old pharmacy school dropout, a few months removed from stepping off the plane from humble Oregon and on to hopeful California soil. I had no direction of where I was going or knowledge of how to accomplish my lofty goals, but I knew I wanted one thing and one thing only: I wanted to be a part of cinema.
Continue reading “‘The Dark Knight’ Changed the Way I Watched Movies”
It goes without saying that I haven’t been the biggest fan of Warner Brothers’ approach to the films based on their roster of DC Comics superheroes (also known as the DC Extended Universe). Even before Batman v Superman or Suicide Squad debuted to less-than-enthusiastic reviews, I went on record being against the DCEU’s tone and aesthetic. After BvS failed to become the pop cultural behemoth it was supposed to be, the folks at DC Films attempted a much publicized “course correction” to take their movie universe in a different direction — and if the Comic-Con trailers for Wonder Woman and Justice League are any indication, consider me all in for this new “course.” But as much as I’m looking forward to this new phase of the DCEU, I will never be satisfied until they recast the two characters I feel they’ve bungled the most: Lex Luthor and the Joker.
So let’s talk about Suicide Squad, one of the most highly anticipated films of the year.
Synopsis:
Figuring they’re all expendable, a U.S. intelligence officer decides to assemble a team of dangerous, incarcerated supervillains for a top-secret mission. Now armed with government weapons, Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and other despicable inmates must learn to work together. Dubbed Task Force X, the criminals unite to battle a mysterious and powerful entity, while the diabolical Joker (Jared Leto) launches an evil agenda of his own.
The verdict? There was some pacing issues and the worldbuilding/mythos was a bit rushed, especially considering this is only the third movie in the DCEU universe. Definitely some areas of opportunity in terms of the editing. It made the one scene with Amanda Waller handing out pinkslips gangsta style a bit on the nose.
Stay tuned for a longer conversation between Keith, Raymond, and Jordan Calhoun, from Black Nerd Problems, about all things Daredevil. In the meantime, the trio took a moment to discuss the Batman v Superman trailer and what it portends for DC’s Cinematic Universe.
Continue reading “N.O.C. One-Shot: Batman v Superman and What’s Wrong with DC Movies”
by CG | Originally posted at Black Girl in Media
[Trigger warning in these posts for mention & discussion of: sexual violence, molestation, rape, and violence against women]
Fiction always reflects the cultural temperature of the times. This could be a good thing, and sometimes be a great thing. But most of the time, it leads to us uncovering not so pleasant parts of our society. Comics have always been an accessible part of that cultural narrative, as their mix of visual and written storytelling have led to them being embraced by fans for decades. Comics and superhero culture are very much at the center of dictating societal norms.
So when we have instances of dictating women’s dress, allowing for female oppression and violence against women for book sales, the issue goes beyond just the individual books or characters in question. It’s about questioning the system that we’ve allowed for this behavior and thinking to flourish enough to reach the success that it has with the comics industry.
This is the state of women in comics.
Continue reading “Beyond the Cape: Batgirl and the State of Women in Comics”
