FDI Cast 150: We Have to ‘Prey’ Just to Make it Today
We spend a lot of time just gushing about Prey and coming up with some other scenarios we want to see a Predator face.
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NOC Review: Amber Midthunder Hits Her Target Dead On in ‘Prey’
The Predator film franchise centered on the clash between its race of a highly evolved race of aliens who hunt alphas for sport versus man. While its predecessors were as bloody and violent as the next, Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey goes back to basics with a primal and bloody David vs. Goliath story that not only is worthy of being a part of the iconic franchise but something could stand on its own thanks to Amber Midthunder’s astonishing performance that subverts tropes in a way that finally makes indigenous cultures the heroes of their own story.
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‘Prey’ Cast and Crew on Breaking Barriers in the ‘Predator’ Franchise
The Predator movies of the past have featured some soldiers of fortune being hunted by its titular alien race of hunters seeking to add to their trophy case. But in Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg takes a different approach to that dynamic by setting the film 300 years in the Comanche nation and follows Naru (Amber Midthunder), a fierce and highly skilled warrior who will do anything to protect her tribe, including hunting a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal. The result is a primal David and Goliath match unlike anything we’ve ever seen from the Predator franchise.
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The Hunter Becomes the Hunted in New ‘Prey’ Trailer
20th Century Studios has released the first trailer for Dan Trachtenberg’s (The Boys, 10 Cloverfield Lane) Prey, a revival that breathes new life into the cult classic Predator film franchise. But rather than set it in modern-day times, the film steps 300 years back in time, where the fearsome titular hunting alien faces off against Naru (Amber Midthunder), a fierce and highly skilled female warrior of the Comanche Nation.
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Marvel’s ‘Echo’ Begins Production
Marvel’s Echo has begin production in Atlanta and is set to premiere in 2023. The series stars Alaqua Cox as deaf gang leader Maya Lopez aka Echo, who made her debut in the MCU in Marvel’s Hawkeye. The series picks up after finding out the truth about the death of her father — by the hands of Ronin aka Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) — set up by Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio).
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Padma Lakshmi’s ‘Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition’ is Wonderful and Moving
We obviously look forward to the holidays for the food. Whether it’s for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Passover, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Diwali, Día De Los Muertos, Seollal (Korean New Year), Nowruz (Persian New Year), or some other holiday, we always enjoy diving into a scrumptious feast with our loved ones to commemorate these occasions. But how exactly did some of these food traditions develop here in the United States, and what were the specific contributions of Immigrant and Indigenous communities?
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‘Reservation Dogs’ Brings Humor and Realness from Indigenous Perspectives
Just in time for International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, FX on Hulu’s new comedy series, Reservation Dogs, officially premiered yesterday. Created by Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo, the show is centered on four teenagers living on a reservation in Oklahoma. They spend their days finding the easiest avenues to make money — even if it means committing theft — in order to leave for California. However, when a new gang arrives in town and one of the teens starts to have a change of heart about their motivations, things start to get a little interesting.
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‘Bring Your Own Brigade’ Burns Bright
Two cites, two fires, and rising temperatures flare up in Bring Your Own Brigade, an American documentary film by Lucy Walker, following the aftermath of the 2018 California Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire that destroyed Paradise and Malibu, California.
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Elaine Miles Reflects Back on Auditioning, Filming, and Native Representation for ‘Northern Exposure’
On July 12, 1990, the Emmy Award-winning comedy-drama, Northern Exposure, began its run on CBS. Created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, a neurotic Jewish physician (Rob Morrow) from New York is forced to work as a general practitioner in the small, fictional town of Cicely, Alaska, in order to pay the state of Alaska for underwriting his medical school education. Over the course of the series’ six seasons, not only did audiences watch Morrow’s Dr. Joel Fleischman slowly adjust to his surroundings, but they also got to know the quirky residents of the small community and follow their day-to-day lives as well.
Author Rebecca Roanhorse Makes Her ‘Star Wars’ Universe Debut with ‘Resistance Reborn’
Rebecca Roanhorse is no stranger to writing worlds and realities beyond our own. A speculative fiction writer of both novels and short fiction, she is a recipient of both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. Her work often features indigenous characters as the leads; such as her Sixth World series where a Dinétah monster slayer navigates a post-apocalyptic world filled with gods and monsters of legend. Continue reading “Author Rebecca Roanhorse Makes Her ‘Star Wars’ Universe Debut with ‘Resistance Reborn’”
The Asian American ComiCon Presents: A Summit on Art, Action & the Future
In 2009, the Asian American ComiCon was held in New York City, bringing together Asian indie and mainstream comics creators for a historic gathering to celebrate the unique and flourishing graphic storytelling of our community. Now, eight years later, AACC is hosting its second event: a Summit on Art, Action and the Future. In a time where diversity and creativity are both under attack, the Summit will feature diverse creators talking about where we’re going next.
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The Official NOC #CrossLines Reading List
This past weekend in Washington DC, the Smithsonian’s historic Arts & Industries building was home to the most important gathering of artists you have ever seen. The CrossLines pop-up culture lab on intersectionality brought together over 40 artists and scholars to explore race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability, etc.
I was fortunate enough to be invited and helped organize a Reading Lounge and live podcasts — while artist Matt Huynh painted a mural in real time the entire weekend. One of the questions I got asked the most was about the books we included, so after the jump you can find a complete list of books we had in the Lounge!
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Magic in North America: The Harry Potter Franchise Veers Too Close to Home
by Dr. Adrienne Keene | Originally posted at Native Appropriations
Remember back in June when it was announced that the new Harry Potter prequel-of-sorts had an American Wizarding school? Remember how I was concerned? If you don’t, here’s a link to that post.
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‘Pan’ and the Amazing Technicolor Natives
First things first: Pan — opening in U.S. theaters this weekend — is a colorful, action-packed PG-13 reimagining of the origins of Peter Pan and his relationships with and to Captain Hook, Tiger Lily, and Neverland as we know them through J.M. Barrie’s play and novel and their myriad subsequent Broadway, Disney, and Hollywood (re)interpretations.
My daughters, ages 11 and 6, enjoyed the film, and the 6-year-old, who often asks to leave the theater during intense or “scary” action sequences, made it through with only a bit of parental ear-covering during loud bits. The world-building and -design and the effects were beautiful and well-done, with visual call-backs to many fantasy, science fiction, and action films that parents will recognize fondly (the Mad Max films and Avatar being just an example) and original effects like giant bubbles of water containing aquatic life floating in the sky that I will remember for a while. But it’s the twists, and the questions and consequences they bring up, that I want to talk about now. So from here on in, SPOILERS AHEAD.
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An Open Letter to J.K. Rowling about the American Wizarding School in Fantastic Beasts
by Dr. Adrienne Keene | Originally posted at Native Appropriations
Dear J.K. Rowling,
I am unabashedly a huge Harry Potter fan. I first encountered Harry when I was in Junior High, volunteering at the public library (nerd status, I know). The children’s librarian handed me book one, and I was hooked. I even used to frequent Harry Potter message boards back in the day with my friend Kathleen (we were “Parvati” and “Lavender” cause we also shared an interest in divination, ha). Anyway, all this is to say, Harry holds a sacred spot in my heart. But I’m not one of those fans who can recite things verbatim, or remember every tiny detail, so if I’m missing something, I hope one of those fans will help me out.
I’ve been interestedly following the news that there is a new Harry Potter prequel-of-sorts in the works, for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, following “magizoologist” Newt Scamander. I hadn’t been following it closely, but a few days ago, I saw your exchanges on Twitter about the name/location of the American Wizarding School — and I started to get a bit concerned.
Why “Fix” Tiger Lily? Why Can’t We Just Let Her Go?
by Dr. Adrienne Keene | Originally posted at Indian Country Today
On Thursday night, NBC aired their Peter Pan Live! event, a highly publicized three-hour-plus live performance starring Allison Williams as a weirdly sexualized little boy who doesn’t want to grow up. Tucked among the many press releases for the event was the information that the role of Tiger Lily would be played by Alanna Saunders, who is a “descendant of members of the Cherokee Nation.” OK.
Additionally, the show promised us they changed the offensive “Ugg-a-Wug” song to something culturally “authentic” and appropriate. They even hired a Native composer, Chickasaw Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, to consult on the “improved” “Ugg-a-Wug,” causing National Museum of the American Indian director Kevin Gover to praise the production for being, “closer to our heritage, our culture and portrays a deeper sensitivity and helps diminish the many stereotypes surrounding Native Americans.”
I’m going to hope that he said all that before he saw the costume or the number. Because the costume. Oh the costume. Vegas showgirl-meets-Halloween-pocahottie-flapper.
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On Endings and Penny Dreadful
In the latest video, I give a talk about what makes endings great and what works and doesn’t work about the Penny Dreadful finale, including the Apache Pinkerton race-fail.
Why I Teach ‘The Walking Dead’ in My Native Studies Classes
So a friend of mine wrote me a message on Facebook that went a little like this:
Question: how the heck do you get through to someone that thinks natives need to just get over it?
Answer: Shake them? I never advocate shaking people, but maybe something is loose in there. Tell them to take a Native American Studies Course (it ain’t cheap, but it’s worth it).
But if I’m being honest, lately, when this comes up — and isn’t it telling that it comes up often enough that I can begin with “lately” instead of “well the last time, a long time ago, man I can barely remember that time?” — I like to tell them about The Walking Dead.
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Elsewhere Around the Internet
Last week, while we were a little preoccupied with the idea of casting an Asian American actor as Iron Fist, Hollywood — as if on cue — once again proved cross-racial casting is really a one-way street and announced Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star Rooney Mara will be playing Tiger Lily in Warner Brothers’ upcoming live action Peter Pan adaptation.