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19 Apr

Yasuke Review: Netflix Anime Reclaims The Story of a Black Samurai

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This Yasuke review contains no spoilers. What’s supposedly last known about Yasuke, the documented 16th-century Black samurai of Japan, is that he was brought back into the hands of his former Jesuit owners after his samurai employment was cut short. From there, the African-originated warrior, who remarkably rose to impressive status under the warlord Oda Nobunaga despite his being a foreigner, appears to vanish from history. Both historical and legendary, Yasuke had nary a chance to grace onscreen media, although he allegedly inspired the protagonist of the densely shaded neo-noir Afro Samurai manga-based anime. He was the star of an…
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13 Apr

Black Lightning Gives Us a Glimpse at a Painkiller Spinoff, and We Want More

New DVD release, , , , ,
This Black Lightning article contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 7. This is the final season of Black Lightning, which means the end of Jefferson Pierce’s story. But Jefferson has never been the sole focus of the show… Black Lightning has introduced us to many complex characters whose personal journeys have kept us tuned in week after week. Over the three previous seasons, we’ve watched both Anissa and Jennifer Pierce begin to master their meta abilities and step into their power as protectors of Freeland, alongside their dad. Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning have come a long way, but they…
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24 Mar

Black Widow and Cruella Disney+ Releases Signal Disaster for Theaters

New DVD release, , , , , ,
Earlier Tuesday morning, Regal Cinemas announced that it would be reopening its doors for the first time in half a year on April 2, and additionally they’ve signed an agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures to ensure there is a 45-day theatrical window for the studio’s 2022 film slate. With vaccinations numbers rising, it seemed movie theater owners could see a light at the end of the tunnel… Then Disney announced Black Widow and Cruella were premiering on Disney+ this summer, on May 28 and July 9, respectively. And like that, the ground gave way again beneath cinemas and supporters of…
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16 Mar

Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 6 Review: The Book of Ruin: Chapter 2: Theseus’s Ship

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 6 The Ship of Theseus thought project asks if you replace all the parts of a thing over time is it the same thing or something else. There is no easy answer, except in the case of Jennifer Pierce, who is the same in all but appearance. A person is not just their body; they are the culmination of all of their experiences. And that persists even when the body is altered or damaged—or, in the case of Jen, unmade then made anew. Still the question has to be…
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10 Mar

Why Black Lightning’s Jennifer Pierce Twist Works

New DVD release, , , , ,
This Black Lightning review contains major spoilers for Season 4. Jennifer Pierce flew into the ionosphere and absorbed so much energy, she exploded. This is how “The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Four” ends, with particles that used to be Jen dispersing into space. For one week we sat with the possibility that Jen could be dead. And with China Anne McClain having announced an early departure, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that Jen wouldn’t return in any form. But, in “The Book of Ruin: Chapter One,” Jefferson is able to absorb the particles that make up…
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09 Mar

Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 5 Review: The Book of Ruin: Chapter One: Picking Up The Pieces

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 5 This episode of Black Lightning is impressive, and it raises the stakes in several exciting ways. The family discovers Jennifer blew up in the ionosphere but Jefferson can feel Jen’s energy so he suits up and goes up there to absorb her. The amount of power is almost too much for him, but he is able to capture her particles. They are able to store Jennifer’s essence while they use a hadron particle condenser—which Barry ran over to them, off-screen naturally— to convert her energy to matter. (“I…
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02 Mar

Pacific Rim: The Black Review (Spoiler-Free)

Netflix, New DVD release, , ,
This review contains no spoilers and is based on the first three episodes of PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK season 1. Guillermo del Toro’s neon-drenched monsters-vs-robots epic Pacific Rim wore its influences proudly on its elbow cannon-equipped sleeves, so an anime-style spin-off makes a certain kind of inevitable sense. Pacific Rim: The Black is a seven-episode Netflix Original that seeks to expand the Pacific Rim mythology – think “extended universe” rather than “sequel”. Created by Thor: Ragnarok co-writer Craig Kyle and X-Men: Evolution head writer Greg Johnson, the show follows siblings Hayley (Gideon Adlon) and Taylor Travis (Calum Worthy) as they…
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02 Mar

Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 4 Review: The Book of Reconstruction Chapter Four: A Light In The Darkness

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 4 Black Lightning has been dealing in trauma for the entirety of its run and that has not changed in this, the final season. And while that can be exhausting, writers have used it to a mostly positive effect, driving the emotional core of the show. Jefferson has cocooned himself in his grief and he expels those feelings in fits of violent rage that have left more than one—admittedly deserving— person severely injured. Fighting in Lala’s illegal cage matches may have given Jeff an outlet, but he still carries…
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02 Mar

Link Tank: Why You Need to Watch This Black Hole Documentary on Apple TV

New DVD release, , ,
Black Hole: The Edge of All We Know is the space-time bending documentary you need to watch on Apple TV. “Supermassive black holes lurk at the center of myriad galaxies like spiders at the center of their web. Yet these cosmic behemoths are invisible to our Earthly instruments — we ‘see’ them only via the effect they have on their surroundings. But in 2019, a group of more than 200 astronomers from all over the world managed the inconceivable: They captured the first image of a black hole, rendering the invisible visible.” Read more at Inverse. WandaVision, at its core,…
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23 Feb

Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 3: The Book of Reconstruction Chapter 3: Despite All My Rage

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 3 Jefferson said in the season premiere, “Black Lightning’s dead.” In this episode, Jeff relinquishes his suit to Gambi, putting another nail in the coffin of his vigilante alter-ego. It’s one thing to have the suit and not wear it, and something else entirely to put the suit out of reach. Jefferson is unsure about a lot, but one thing he is sure of is that being Black Lightning endangers his family and wearing the suit does not protect them. When Marcel returns to work after grieving the loss…
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18 Feb

Celebrating Black Voices in Anime with Funimation

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This virtual panel is presented in partnership with Funimation. The anime industry only continues to grow larger and more mainstream with each passing year. It’s remarkable to see the growth, whether it’s through the wider prevalence and variety of dubbed content or the number of anime-based streaming services. Anime has alway been on the fringe of pop culture’s interests, but part of what makes it such an exciting form of art is that it doesn’t just entertain audiences in unpredictable ways, but it often excels with its inclusion of underrepresented groups. This has helped anime become such a universal product…
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16 Feb

Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 2 Review: The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Two: Unacceptable Losses

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This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 2, Episode 4 Nothing in Freeland is the same, but things are a lot like they used to be. Metas are no longer a secret, and Chief Lopez wants to register and tag them like domesticated animals. She is promising to bring in new DEGs (directed energy guns) which are specifically harmful to metas. The 100 and Kobra Cartel are warring in the streets, putting lives in danger, with gun violence and the drugs Lala’s crew pushes. The city is back to where it was when Black Lightning began, but more…
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13 Feb

Judas and the Black Messiah’s William O’Neal Flips Informant Movies’ Script

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This article contains Judas and the Black Messiah spoilers. One of the many powerful things about Judas and the Black Messiah is simply the fact that the movie’s story is being told on such a significant platform. As a dramatization of the final days and months of Fred Hampton’s life, the film draws attention to the struggles of a self-described revolutionary—and how by all accounts from the survivors and witnesses of a guns-blazing police raid, he was executed while incapacitated in his bed. That this horrifying injustice is now streaming in the homes of tens of millions is itself a…
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13 Feb

Judas and the Black Messiah Remembers Fred Hampton Was a Man of His Words

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This article contains Judas and the Black Messiah spoilers. Early on in Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah, Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) meets with a Chicago gang called the Crowns–they’re an amalgamation of several community action groups who rose from the turf battles of the street to become protectors in their neighborhoods. In that pivotal scene, a man named Steel (Khris Davis), an obviously charismatic leader of the South Side’s urban militia, says Hampton is “the great orator of the West Side.” And while Hampton’s “million-dollar words” don’t coalesce into a merger that day, both sides appreciate what they…
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13 Feb

Judas and the Black Messiah Ending Shows Horrific Legacy of COINTELPRO

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This article contains detailed Judas and the Black Messiah spoilers. Read our spoiler-free review here. We don’t even see it happen. Like Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback) and the other seven Black Panther Party members fortunate enough to survive an all-out assault on a Chicago apartment, we only experience the sound of it. Off-screen and out of focus, police officers glibly taunt Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), who is still incapacitated in his bed despite all hell having just broken loose in his home. Then there’s that sickening noise: two shots are fired into Hampton’s head. We only bear witness to the…
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11 Feb

Black Lightning Season 4 Release Date, Trailer, Cast, and News

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Black Lightning is back for its fourth and final season. The CW announced in November 2020 that they would not be renewing the Black-led superhero drama for another season. We still have the 13-episode final season to look forward to, however, and the potential of a Black Lightning spin-off. In a previous statement, showrunner Salim Akil said of the latter: “While Season Four may be the end of one journey, I’m extremely excited to usher in a new chapter and continued collaboration with The CW as we tell the story of Painkiller.” For now, though, Black Lighting is back. Here’s what…
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09 Feb

Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 1 Review: The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter One: Collateral Damage

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This Black Lightning review contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 1. Jefferson Pierce has had enough. His family barely survived the occupation of Freeland by the ASA and the proceeding war with Markovia, a year ago. He lost his best friend, Henderson. And both of his daughters, and his partner, were soldiers on the front line. Blood is on all of their hands, and Jefferson has to reckon with his responsibility in all of that. He couldn’t help being a meta as much as he couldn’t help passing on powers to his daughters, but being a vigilante was a choice.…
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08 Feb

Judas and the Black Messiah

Max SchindlerMovie reviews, ,
FBI informant William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther Party and is tasked with keeping tabs on their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). A career thief, O’Neal revels in the danger of manipulating both his comrades and his handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons). Hampton’s political prowess grows just as he’s falling in love with fellow revolutionary Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback). Meanwhile, a battle wages for O’Neal’s soul. Will he align with the forces of good? Or subdue Hampton and The Panthers by any means, as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) commands? Rated:…
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06 Feb

Judas and the Black Messiah Review: Lead Cast Stuns in HBO Max Release

New DVD release, , , , ,
One of the most striking things about Judas and the Black Messiah, Shaka King’s new Molotov Cocktail of a film, is how it really isn’t Fred Hampton’s story. The movie is obviously about Hampton, the charismatic Black Panther Party leader who’s given sweltering life here by Daniel Kaluuya in the performance of his career. Yet like the title suggests, the Black Messiah of this narrative is observed from afar—and from the vantage of the man who doomed him. It’s a familiar tact for stories about greatness cut short, and figures too large for a movie’s runtime to grasp. That’s how…
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DVD Guide reviews current dvd releases of movies and TV shows. The reviews of these dvd releases are my thoughts and understandings of the movie, dvd releases or TV show and not be taken as fact.

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