Tag: Luke Cage

Interview, Movies

‘Plane’ Stars Daniella Pineda and Remi Adeleke Discuss the Film’s Depiction of Filipinos

Mike Manalo

Plane hit theaters this past weekend. And if you’re interested to see what we thought of the film, feel free to check out our review here. While it’s no surprise that I’m personally not the movie’s biggest supporter, I do still admire the talent and work of its stars, and was given the opportunity to speak with Daniella Pineda and Remi Adeleke about the movie.

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Movies, Reviews1 Comment

NOC Review: ‘Plane’ is Just Plain Offensive

Mike Manalo

January is often said to be a dumping ground for studios to release their pretty terrible films. And in some cases you’ll see a movie like M3GAN and be pleasantly surprised when it’s actually quite good. But then a movie like Plane comes along that’s just so horribly offensive and, simply put, bad, that it reinforces the stereotype of this being the month for garbage movies.

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Movies, Trailers

New Trailer for ‘Plane’ Lands Online

Mike Manalo

It’s certainly the magical post-Christmas time of year where only the best tongue-in-cheek, high concept movies arrive in theaters. In addition to getting the trailer for Evil Dead Rise today and dropping our review for M3GAN, the fun continues with the new trailer for Plane starring Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Daniella Pineda, and Remi Adeleke.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Marvel, Streaming, Television

Hard NOC Life: ‘Jessica Jones’ and the End of Marvel Netflix

Hard NOC Media

Guest co-host — and The Defenders greatest, uh, defender — Dominic Mah joins Keith to look back at Jessica Jones season 3 and the end of the Marvel Netflix era.

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Marvel, Television

Sweet Christmas in Summer: A ‘Luke Cage’ Season Two Endorsement

Shawn Taylor

I struggled to write this spoiler free review. I wanted it to stand apart from other reviews, while simultaneously endorsing the hell out of season two of Marvel/Netflix’s Luke Cage. After seven drafts of supernaturally crappy reviews, I decided to do it this way instead — bringing it back to the old school.

The story in brief: In keeping with western metaphor of season one, Luke has matured from gunfighter to sheriff. He is out and about, highly visible, and a pillar of the community. An enemy from “Black” Mariah Dillard’s past shows up to claim his place at the table of the criminal elite. A gang war ensues with Luke Cage ending up where none of us could have predicted.

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Podcasts

Shawn’s New Podcast: ‘That Moment’

Shawn Taylor

Hello NOCers,

I just wanted to let all of you know that may new podcast, That Moment, launched today. I’m happy to be part of the Hard NOC Media cipher.

That Moment is a podcast dedicated to discussing particular moments in a creative’s work. A panel in a comic book, a decision to create a particular thing, an actor’s look or the angle of the camera in a film, a joke in an overall set, or a vocal inflection during a speech are all fair game for exploration. Listen to the first episode featuring Peabody Award-winning journalist Al Letson:

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Comics, Marvel8 Comments

The Cause of Black Panther & The Crew’s Cancellation

Dennis R. Upkins

This weekend news broke that after two issues, Marvel’s Black Panther & the Crew has been canceled.

The series revolved around Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage, Misty Knight, and Manifold who band together to take on a dangerous wave of street-level threats in this new ongoing series by co-writers Ta-Nehisi Coates (New York Times best-selling author of Between the World and Me and Marvel’s Black Panther) and Yona Harvey (Black Panther: World of Wakanda) and legendary artist Butch Guice!

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Animation, Television4 Comments

Super Sixteen: Top Television Shows of 2016

Dennis R. Upkins

It’s one of my favorite times of the year. It’s where I review the best and brightest that television had to offer in the previous year. If you haven’t already, you should check out my Top Films of 2016. Go ahead, check it out, I’ll wait. No really, I’ll wait. You back? Awesome.

As is the standard with my movie year-in-review, my television selections have to pass the Upkins Media Litmus Test.

Without further adieu…

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Marvel, Television9 Comments

Color Commentary: Luke Cage

Dennis R. Upkins

Color Commentary returns and this time we’re taking on the first season of Marvel’s Luke Cage.

In the spirit of MST3K and Honest Trailers, Color Commentary is done in complete satire, is intended for a mature audience and is meant for entertainment purposes only. In other words, if you take any of this seriously, you are a fracking idiot.

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Books, Marvel, Music, Television2 Comments

Luke Cage: Dig a Little Deeper

Shawn Taylor

My sister, Dr. Tara Betts, dropped the Luke Cage syllabus over at Black Nerd Problems. It is a must read. I wanted to add to this wealth of knowledge by offering my own “special features” companion piece to Cage. I will present the following without description as I do not want to taint anyone’s experience. This is only a small amount if what is actually out there. I mentioned other books in my reflections on the series. You can read it here.

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Marvel, Television28 Comments

Luke Cage is the Most Feminist Show on TV

Claire Light

Spoiler warning: spoilers throughout. Best to read this after watching the whole season! Which I recommend!

It was during a small, nearly throwaway scene deep in episode 10 that it hit me like Jessica Jones’ fist: Luke Cage is the most feminist show I’ve ever seen.

The scene, captured in the screen grab above, features four women characters — four black women, not a one of them under the age of 30 (and none of the actresses under 35) — each of whom is in fundamental conflict with the others, but who come together in two temporary alliances to fight a multi-level battle. Yes, it’s complicated.

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Marvel, Television32 Comments

Luke Cage on Netflix: Sweet Christmas in Autumn

Shawn Taylor

[Note: minor spoilers throughout.]

Let me be upfront and get this out of the way, I love Marvel and Netflix’s Luke Cage. I love it for the way it is shot. I love it for the unparalleled beauty of the soundtrack. I love it for its color palette. I love it for its hesitancy and awkwardness. I love it for some of the struggle-performances. But what I love the most about it is how black it is.

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Marvel, Television9 Comments

Diversity on Fire: Thoughts on the Return of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Eric S.B.

I would not fault anybody for not watching or liking Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to its hot mess of a first season. However, it has improved. Does it still have issues? Indeed it does. But with those issues comes the fact that it still remains one of the most diverse casts on TV. Though aside from showrunner Maurissa Tancharoen, I wonder what that diversity looks like behind the cameras. Anyway, now there is Gabriel Luna. With his head on fire. There was a lot of hype about the Robbie Reyes incarnation of Ghost Rider leading up to the season 4 premiere. By and large, it held up. Here are just a few points I remember and talked about with friends in person and via the internets.

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Conventions, Hard N.O.C. Life1 Comment

The Most Diverse San Diego Comic-Con in History

The Nerds of Color

For the second year in a row, The Nerds of Color found our way to San Diego Comic-Con. This time out, we were joined by multiple crews repping in sunny Southern California! To look back on all that went down last weekend, we’re joined by returning champ Constance (@ConStar24) who was covering the Con as Black Girl Nerds’ TV editor, as well as Robyn (@robyn_ravenclaw) from Black Girls Nerd Out and Laura (@lsirikul) whose writing can be found on Nerd Reactor, Legion of Leia, and other sites.

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Guest Post, Marvel8 Comments

Who is Marvel’s Blaxploitation Luke Cage Comic Even For, Exactly?

Guest N.O.C.

by Charles Pulliam-Moore | Originally posted on Medium

Recently, Marvel sent out a press release teasing Cage –  an upcoming Luke Cage solo comic to be written and illustrated by Genndy Tartakovsky with inks by Stephen DeStefano.

The series, Marvel explains, takes places in late ’70s New York City where the “shoes are big, bottoms are belled and crime is rampant!”

Apparently Tartakovsky’s Cage is meant to be a send-up(?) of the era’s wave of Blaxploitation, which wouldn’t be so much of a problem were it not for the decidedly problematic art style the book it set to have:

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Television2 Comments

#LexiTakesFlight on Hard NOC Life (and Supergirl)

The Nerds of Color

Just in time for her directorial debut on Supergirl, one of the most woke directors in Hollywood, Lexi Alexander, returns for another episode of her “favorite podcast” — her words! — Hard NOC Life. Now also available on iTunes and Soundcloud.

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Marvel, Television8 Comments

Misty Knight Cast in Netflix’s Luke Cage

Keith Chow

As we get closer and closer to the late-2015 premiere date of Jessica Jones, Netflix’s follow-up to the mega-successful Daredevil, the rest of Marvel’s Television Universe is starting to take shape. We all know that Luke Cage is the next series in the pipeline; in fact, Cage is part of the main cast of Jessica Jones, played by Mike Colter. Now, news has come out that the next major Marvel character to get the live action treatment will be none other than Misty Knight, who will be played by Southland’s Simone Missick.

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Conventions, Cosplay2 Comments

Awesome Con 2015 Cosplay Gallery

William B West

Originally posted on WilliamBruceWest.com

This past Saturday, I attended the 3rd annual Awesome Con in Washington, DC. I’d actually never been to the show in previous years, though I was aware of it. I kinda hated the name, plus I felt like Baltimore and New York Comic-Con were superior to it, so I spent my time and money going to them instead. This year, however, I’m going to be missing both of those shows due to weddings, so I figured it was time to see what Awesome Con was all about. My verdict? It’s a pretty good show.

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Comics, Origins

Genius Co-Writer Marc Bernardin’s Nerd Origin

Keith Chow

As you know, Image/Top Cow releases the hotly anticipated weekly series Genius today. Before  you head out to your local comic shop, make sure you check out Shawn’s very nuanced endorsement of the series.

The co-creator of the book and friend of the blog, Marc Bernardin, was a guest on Hard NOC Life recently and talked briefly about the series.

He was also asked by Wired to “write a piece charting his childhood voyage through the nerd-culture landscape — a landscape that rarely felt like a place he belonged.”

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