Tag: Zoe Saldana

Movies, Reviews, Sci Fi

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is a Technical Marvel Trapped in a Familiar Story

Michael Lee

Every trip to Pandora brings in a visually stunning new adventure and family drama with Jake Sully and Neytiri. The new Avatar: Fire and Ash doubles down on both, throwing the family into a firestorm of grief, resilience, and jaw-dropping world-building that keeps expanding Pandora in bold, unexpected directions. Unfortunately, despite being epic in scale and scope, the film’s lack of a compelling story frustrates, and its many setups lead to surprisingly few satisfying payoff.

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Animation, Movies, Trailers

‘Elio’ Trailer Reveals What Happens When Universe Finally Calls Back

Michael Lee

Disney and Pixar have released the final trailer for Elio. We’ll have a lot of coverage about the film in the coming weeks leading up to its release. So, expect behind-the-scenes insights, interviews with the creative team, and deep dives into the story, characters, and visual design.

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Movies, Reviews, Sci Fi

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Sinks More than It Floats

Swara Salih

When James Cameron’s Avatar premiered in 2009, it represented a landmark moment in visual effects for film. Cameron made some of the most effective use of CGI and motion-capture performances since Andy Serkis’ brilliant portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Na’vi, as alien and as CGI as they were, felt real to audiences as their animation took realistic form, as did the stunningly beautiful planet of Pandora. But while these visual effects were a spectacle, the story itself, while moving at times, was simplistic and derivative of other films in the realm of colonists and Indigenous peoples.

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Conventions, Movies

D23Expo: New Footage from ‘Avatar’ Panel Shows Us the Way of Cameron

Mike Manalo

What was anticipated to be a gigantic, epic day of announcements at the D23 Expo ended on an unexpectedly more quiet note, as audiences took in footage from what many consider to be the year’s most anticipated film, Avatar: The Way of Water.

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Marvel, Streaming

‘I Am Groot’ Launch Date and Poster Revealed

Mike Manalo

Everyone’s favorite flora colossus is back in a new series of shorts hitting Disney+ later this summer!

In 2014, the world was introduced to the Guardians of the Galaxy! And out of a whole team of amazing breakthrough characters, the biggest breakout was the gentle and hilarious Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Sadly, that iteration of Groot met his end at the conclusion of the first film, but thankfully, a new Groot was spawned, and the world met Baby Groot!

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Marvel, Movies

They’re Back! Production Begins on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Mike Manalo

When it comes to MCU news, I tend to air on the side of caution. Given we aren’t a click bait publication, we don’t (and shouldn’t) report on anything that’s just rumored or speculative without basis or educated reason for speculation (like an officially released trailer or poster). But with that being said, given this morning’s tweets from both director James Gunn and Marvel Studios, we can officially report that production is finally underway on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3!

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Animation, Movies, Streaming

Netflix Has Released the Official Trailer for ‘Vivo’

Sophia Soto

Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation’s Vivo will release globally August 6 on Netflix. The animated film includes the voices of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Zoe Saldaña, Juan de Marcos, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Rooker, Nicole Byer, Ynairaly Simo, and Gloria Estefan. As we get closer to the premiere, Netflix just dropped the official trailer and poster for Vivo, only adding to fans excitement about the movie.

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Animation, Movies, Streaming

Get All the Details on Netflix’s ‘Vivo’

Sophia Soto

Vivo will be released globally August 6 on Netflix! The incredible voice cast includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Zoe Saldaña, Juan de Marcos, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Rooker, Nicole Byer, Ynairaly Simo, and Gloria Estefan.

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Marvel, Music2 Comments

Infinity Rain: An Avengers / Prince Mash-Up, Annotated

Dominic Mah

Note: I made this with the intent to commemorate the third anniversary of Prince’s passing on April 21, 2016. Just so happens, Avengers: Endgame premieres this week on April 25 (if you’re reading this blog you probably have heard about that). The premise was to re-contextualize last year’s rather lengthy Avengers: Infinity War, set to all the songs on 1984’s Purple Rain, in the order they appear on that definitive work of pop music. The thinking was, in terms of emotional/dramatic arcs, Purple Rain the album is more coherent and composed than Infinity War (I wouldn’t make the same claim if we were talking about Purple Rain the film, but in this case we aren’t).

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Marvel, Movies6 Comments

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Dennis R. Upkins

2017 is simply not here for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

First there was epic debacle known as #IronCyst.

Now the shark has substantially been jumped with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Marvel, Movies

Hooked on the Guardians of the Galaxy

The Nerds of Color

The Nerds can’t stop talking about Guardians of the Galaxy! For this week’s Hard N.O.C. Life, the panel tackles the phenomenon that is Marvel Studios’ latest blockbuster success and what that means for the Distinguished Competition across the street.

Joining Keith on the panel are Wall Street Journal columnist Jeff Yang (@originalspin), and former Jeopardy  champ Arthur Chu (@arthur_affect) along with regular panelists N’Jaila Rhee (@blasianbytch) and Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria (@rscpokenword).

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Marvel, Movies11 Comments

If These are Really the Guardians, Let the Galaxy Perish

Shawn Taylor

Let us jump right in: I did not like Marvel’s new engineered “blockbuster,” Guardians of the Galaxy. I have expressed this in several meat and online circles, and I have been accused of ‘Marvel hate’, as if I hadn’t already spent hundreds of dollars on comics, films, and other Marvel branded merchandise. It sucks that when you can show your work as to why you dislike something, you get labeled a “hater.” I counter-argue that Marvel (in association with the Disney machine) knows they can troll the hell out of us and we’ll like it because of the Marvel brand — and most of ya’ll have fallen victim.

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