Rishi Rajani on Producing Diverse Asian Stories in ‘Chang Can Dunk’

Disney+’s Chang Can Dunk is now streaming on Disney+! We speak with the producer Rishi Rajani on the process of getting the film out there and how he sees the landscape changing for Asian American stories.

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With Swords and Shakespeare, ‘That Self-Made Metal’ is a Welcome YA Fantasy Adventure

Magic and superstition swirl around the world of William Shakespeare. While priests at the time decried belief in fairies, the practice of witchcraft, and women speaking on stage, the theater world managed to carve out space where anything was possible.

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‘School Spirits’ Cast and Creators Preview Their New Paramount+ Series

It may be almost spring, but it’s not too late to get spooky! Season 1 of School Spirits premieres March 9 on Paramount+ and we couldn’t be more excited for our newest YA obsession.

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The Best Magic Trick of ‘Mister Miracle: The Great Escape’ is its Heart

Mister Miracle: The Great Escape is a bit of enigma. Like the titular character himself, the book is an incredible romp of humor and excitement with a genuine heart at the center.

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NOC Interview: Midori Francis Talks Netflix’s ‘Afterlife of the Party’

Midori Francis stars as Lisa in Netflix’s Afterlife of the Party. The new film is about second chances and the value of relationships with our loved ones. Afterlife of the Party premiered September 2 on Netflix and is now streaming.

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Watch the Official Trailer for Netflix’s ‘The Kissing Booth 3’

The Kissing Booth 3 stars Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Meganne Young, and Molly Ringwald. The hit Netflix trilogy is based on The Kissing Booth books by Beth Reekles. The new film will begin streaming on August 11. Check out the new trailer and images that Netflix has released below!

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Scholastic’s ‘Miles Morales: Shock Waves’ is Exactly What My Inner Teen Needed

*SPOILERS AHEAD!*

My earliest memories of my elementary and middle school Scholastic Book Fairs saw massive collections of R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps, loads of nonsensical ’90s tech, and the burgeoning mystery genre before it really took off in young adult literature. Super hero graphic novels were almost nonexistent for kids and teenagers in school spaces in the late ’90s and early 2000s, so it goes without saying that best-selling author Justin A. Reynolds (Opposite of Always) and Eisner-nominated artist Pablo Leon’s Miles Morales: Shock Waves is a gift to the teen in me.

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You Can Now Get Updates Straight from ‘Gossip Girl’

We’ve all been dying for updates about HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot, and now you can actually text Gossip Girl to get them! That’s right, those in the US/Canada can text Gossip Girl. While we do not have an official premiere date yet, it is confirmed that the show will release this July. The cast includes Thomas Doherty, Savannah Smith, Tavi Gevinson, Eli Brown, Zión Moreno, Evan Mock, Emily Alyn Lind, Jordan Alexander, and Whitney Peak.

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‘Shadow and Bone’ Official Trailer Expands the Grishaverse and Crow Storylines

Adapted from the successful award-winning fantasy novels by Leigh Bardugo, fans have been wondering just how Netflix was going to mesh the Grishaverse trilogy with the Six of Crows duology for Shadow and Bone. With the release of the official trailer, we get a glimpse of how the beloved Crows play into Alina Starkov’s story.

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Hard NOC Life: DC Celebrates APA Heritage Month with Gene Yang, Sarah Kuhn, and Minh Lê

On a special Asian Pacific American Heritage Month edition of Hard NOC Life, Dominic and Keith are joined by a trio of authors — Gene Luen Yang, Sarah Kuhn, and Minh Lê — who all have AAPI-themed graphic novels out now from DC Comics!

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‘Gotham High’ Breathes Fresh Life into the Bat Mythos

Traditional superhero comics have been part of the American pop culture firmament for eight decades. And more often than not, those stories can feel staid and mired in nostalgia for long bygone eras. Which is why creators who come along with bold new interpretations of these characters are usually met with resistance. To wit, when the book trailer for Gotham HighDC Comics’ latest foray into the young adult book market — debuted, the fanboy set went apoplectic.

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Southern Fried Asian: Marie Lu

Southern Fried Asian is back! This time, Keith is joined by New York Times-bestselling YA science-fiction author Marie Lu. Her new novel, Rebel, the follow-up to her epic Legend series of books, will be available in bookstores October 1 — as will the graphic novel adaptation of her DC Icons story, Batman: Nightwalker.

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Spider-Man, Pokémon, and Star-Crossed Lovers: Mixed Race Characters Take the Lead

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the films, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Detective Pikachu, and The Sun Is Also a Star.

Although Loving v. Virginia officially abolished all remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the United States in 1967, it really hasn’t been until recently where the portrayals of mixed race characters and interracial couples on the big screen have improved significantly. Within the last six months alone, several films have had either mixed race characters as the leads or interracial relationships as the central focus. An added dimension to some of them is that apart from some of the characters being of the younger generation, the focus wasn’t on their race(s). That didn’t, however, stop these films from acknowledging their backgrounds. While it’s good that films like Aquaman are out there that get really real about being mixed, not all mixed race protagonists need to go on a journey of self discovery to that extent.

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Hard NOC Life: Zack Stentz at the ‘Rim of the World’

With the premiere of the new Netflix original movie Rim of the World debuting this Memorial Day weekend, the film’s screenwriter Zack Stentz joins Hard NOC Life to talk about its origins and the current state of pop culture fandom.

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“Melton” Hearts with Charles Melton of ‘The Sun is Also a Star’

What two things do the sun and Charles Melton have in common? They both melt things (the sun melts ice cream, Melton melts teenage hearts), and they’re both stars, since according to this film, The Sun is Also a Star!

The film, based on the best selling book by Nicola Yoon, chronicles a single day between a top-student Korean American poet, named Daniel Bae (Melton), and a spirited African American social justice warrior Natasha Kingsley (Yara Shadidi of Black-ish and Grown-ish fame), who cross paths just one day before Natasha’s family is scheduled to be deported to Jamaica

Corny dad jokes aside, recently The Nerds of Color had the fortunate opportunity to speak with Melton about The Sun is Also a Star, the chemistry between him and his co-star Shahidi, and even got a mini-scoop about his role in Bad Boys For Life. Here’s what he had to say:

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Jake Choi Proves that He’s the Ultimate ‘Bae’

Jake Choi is heating up our television screens as the lovable single dad on ABC’s Single Parents and will be steaming up on the big screen in this week’s release of The Sun is Also a Star.

When the new ABC’s hit series Single Parents was picked up for a full season last year, actor Jake Choi could only think of one word to describe it: surreal.

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The Stars of ‘The Sun is Also a Star’ Answer Your Questions, Plus, a Chance to Attend the LA Premiere

The Sun is Also a Star is set to release next month! So, we got to know the stars from the romantic teen drama, Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton as they answer some questions fans have for them. From their guilty pleasures to their love for their parents, Shahidi and Melton reveal it all just for The Nerds Of Color! 

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‘The Sun is Also a Star’ Trailer: A Timely Love Story

Based on the acclaimed bestseller by Everything, Everything author Nicola Yoon, The Sun is Also a Star has finally revealed their first one-sheet and trailer.

Starring Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish) as Natasha and Charles Melton (Riverdale) as Daniel, The Sun is Also a Star has college-bound Korean American Daniel Bae and Jamaica-born pragmatist Natasha Kingsley fall in love with each other over 24 hours on the streets of New York. With just a few hours until her deportation back to Jamaica, Natasha is fighting against her family’s deportation as fiercely as she’s fighting her budding feelings for Daniel, who is working just as hard to convince her they are destined to be together. In this modern-day love story about finding love against all odds, The Sun Is Also a Starexplores whether our lives are determined by fate or the random events of the universe.” 

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‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,’ aka Lara Jean is a Fashion Icon

Warning: This contains spoilers To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before has finally dropped on Netflix. The film, adapted from Jenny Han’s book of the same name, is about 16-year-old Lara Jean Song Covey (Lana Condor) whose love life goes … Continue reading ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,’ aka Lara Jean is a Fashion Icon