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16 Mar

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Sam Wilson Avengers and MCU History Recap

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Disney+’s Marvel Phase 4 bombardment continues this week with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. While it probably won’t have the mind-bending weirdness of WandaVision, it hopes to make up for it with exciting action. Also, while WandaVision was focused on two characters who never truly got the spotlight in previous movies, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier goes a step further by delving into the absence of one of Marvel’s top names. In the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, Chris Evans has finished up his role as Captain America and Steve Rogers has been given his much-needed retirement. Now there…
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15 Mar

Oscars 2021: Women Directors Make History, Even as Regina King is Snubbed

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It’s never happened before in the previous 92 years. Not since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began handing out little gold men has more than one woman been nominated in the Best Director category. So judging by that unfortunate precedent alone, the Oscars 2021nominations provided more good news than bad, even with a reliable list of snubs this year. Indeed, the most remarkable moment was when Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell were both nominated for Best Director due to their work on Nomadland and Promising Young Woman, respectively. As directors of two of the most talked about…
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01 Mar

How The Mandalorian Challenges Star Wars’ History of Bad Dads

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This Star Wars: The Mandalorian article contains spoilers. On the surface, the story of Star Wars is one of good and evil, oppression and rebellion, failure and redemption – the sort of big, broad themes that have resonated across decades and through generations. In actuality, Star Wars is a story of seemingly unending daddy issues, as a series of men who range from outright horrible to simply neglectful abandon, abuse, and otherwise damage their children to such a degree that the entire galaxy often ends up paying the price for it. Though Anakin Skywalker is probably the franchise’s most egregiously…
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11 Feb

Space Sweepers and the History of Working Class People In Space

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This week saw the release of Space Sweepers, Korea’s first big budget special effects space movie extravaganza. There are a lot of interesting things to say about this movie, but one of the things that makes it stand out is it’s an excellent portrayal of people in space who are skint. See, I hate to break it to you, but you’re probably never going into space. Unless you’re a highly trained technical specialist (well done!) or a billionaire (pay your taxes!), your best shot at seeing Earth from space within your lifetime is the development of realistic-yet-cheap VR headsets. And…
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10 Feb

Link Tank: Josie and the Pussycats Fan Launched Crowdfunding Campaign for Oral History Book

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Entertainment journalist and long-time Josie and the Pussycats fan, Russ Burlingame, is writing an oral history compilation book about the movie—and he could use your support! Josie and the Pussycats was a box office bomb when it first premiered in 2001. Starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, and Rosario Dawson, the movie was based on characters created by Archie Comics. It went on to become a cult classic despite initial failure, gathering a loyal following that’s still active today. As Josie and the Pussycats turns 20 years old this April, entertainment journalist and one of the film’s long-time fans, Russ…
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07 Feb

How Christopher Plummer Became One of the Best Villains in Star Trek Movie History

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Christopher Plummer appeared in over 200 films during a storied career spanning seven decades. Though he first found fame as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, that ultimately provided a springboard to an eclectic career that surprised and delighted in equal measure. Plummer was an accomplished theatre performer with an uncanny knack for stealing the show in minor yet memorable roles; a magnetic presence you simply couldn’t take your eyes off.  Everyone has a favourite Plummer performance whether it be as Rudyard Kipling in John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King or his recent turn in Rian…
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03 Feb

Yesterday Is History: Meet the Latest Addition to the Time Travel Romance Genre

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There’s a reason that time travel romances are popular, and it isn’t just the success of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander (both the books and the television series). The idea of traveling to a different time is, in itself, a bit romantic, and lovers crossed by time and space pluck the heartstrings of hopeless romantics. Kosoko Jackson’s newly released Yesterday Is History hits all the right notes for the genre by both drawing on its predecessors and striking out in a new direction, giving queer readers—especially queer Black men—representation in a genre that’s normally more female-focused. Andre Cobb is a young Black…
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03 Feb

Why Final Fantasy XII’s Story is the Best in Franchise History

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The Xbox team’s recent announcement that Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age will be added to Game Pass in February means that we’re this much closer to being able to experience every main entry into the RPG franchise via Microsoft’s subscription service. It also means that we have a chance to revisit Final Fantasy 12‘s story. It’s a plot that’s been called a disappointment by fans as well as its own creators who felt that the title’s production problems ultimately hindered their efforts. Final Fantasy 12 received a warm welcome in 2006, but there’s long been this asterisk next to…
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27 Jan

How The Long Song Spotlights Ignored Black Caribbean History

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This article contains spoilers for The Long Song. The Long Song is the first miniseries featured in PBS Masterpiece’s 50th Anniversary season, and it’s U.S. arrival nearly three years after airing on BBC One is highlighting themes that some viewers may not be ready to process but that remain incredibly important. The show is an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s 2010 novel recounting the story of how Jamaican slaves gained their freedom in the 1830’s. Levy worked with white screenwriter Sarah Williams on the script for The Long Song before her death in 2019. Although some may want to criticize Williams’ involvement…
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25 Jan

Batwoman Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Prior Criminal History

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This Batwoman review contains spoilers. Batwoman Season 2, Episode 2 This week’s Batwoman doubles down on an idea first introduced in the season premiere: Ryan Wilder is meant to wear the Batsuit. Last week, Ryan was shot with the kryptonite bullet, which she survived, but is still healing from. The wound isn’t normal, and it seems there will be long-term repercussions for her, especially if she continues to ignore the pain or try to treat it with generic ibuprofen. While trying to procure the pain meds, she stops an attempted robbery, which puts her in Sophie’s crosshairs. This isn’t the…
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16 Jan

Marvel’s WandaVision: Vision’s Avengers and MCU History Recap

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WandaVision has been considered one of the more unique concepts for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The new Disney+ show takes two members of the Avengers and puts them in a new setting with a sitcom motif that is intended to be a comforting status quo but is anything but. As the layers begin to peel back on reality, this story of a wise android and his magic-wielding wife is more of a bonkers horror mystery than anything else. To have this as the first step in the long-awaited Phase 4 of the MCU is a ballsy move. A move forced…
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15 Jan

Marvel’s WandaVision: Scarlet Witch’s Avengers and MCU History Recap

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It’s been quite a long break, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back from hibernation in 2021, starting with WandaVision. As the climactic Avengers: Endgame and its denouement Spider-Man: Far From Home concluded Phase 3, we’ve had to wait the entire chaotic 2020 before Phase 4 could start up in 2021. You might have a friend or relative asking you, “What is WandaVision, exactly?” and folks, that is a loaded question. Especially if they haven’t watched many or any of the Marvel movies. How do you explain a plot about an ever-evolving sitcom reality that gradually falls apart due to…
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11 Jan

A Discovery of Witches Season 2: How History Changes Everything

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This A Discovery of Witches article contains season two spoilers. A Discovery of Witches returns for its sophomore season on Sky One and AMC/Sundance and explores a time-travel induced paradigm shift forcing star crossed lovers Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont to gingerly navigate 16th century London. The season two premiere introduces a fascinating new set of historical figures as the search for the Book of Life intensifies, and the romantic entanglement between the witch and the vampire remains at the heart of the tale. As the crisis surrounding the decline of the three creatures rages on in the present, the…
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29 Dec

The Real History Behind Bridgerton

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This Bridgerton feature contains spoilers for the series. Although Netflix’s Bridgerton has actively resisted the label of historical accuracy in favor of a fantasy approach to the era, it is still worth uncovering which scenes, events, and references represent a more creative interpretation to history and which are references to real events.  Dr. Hannah Greig, the historical advisor to the series, describes Bridgerton as “a combination of a historical truth – which is to say that the past is more diverse than we tend to see on screen, and we tend to accept in our popular imagination. But it’s also…
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19 Dec

Scary Christmas Stories: A History of the Holiday’s Ghostly Tradition

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“It always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story” – Jerome K. Jerome, 1891 In the English countryside, dinner had ended, and the company retired to the drawing room. They gathered around the fire as the parson, who sat in a high-backed oak chair, proceeded to tell of goblins and ghosts. The squire, not a superstitious man himself, listened intently  as the parson spoke about the crusader who rose from his tomb for a nighttime ride. The old porter’s wife added to the tale with her own of the crusader’s march on Midsummer Eve, when fairies became visible. Such was…
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17 Dec

Batman and Catwoman’s Daughter Helena Wayne Has a Long History in DC Comics

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This Batman article contains spoilers. Tom King and Clay Mann’s Batman/Catwoman kicked off its complex thread of mysteries earlier this month. In the present, the Bat and the Cat set out to search for Andrea Beaumont’s missing son, while an older Selina Kyle pays a friend a visit in the future, with the first issue concluding with the return of killer vigilante the Phantasm. It’s hard to say just where these threads are going after just one issue, but we do know that at least one new character from Bruce and Selina’s future and DC Comics’ past is set to…
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14 Dec

From Bridgerton to Hamilton: A History of Color-Conscious Casting in Period Drama

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Note: This Bridgerton article contains no book or series plot spoilers. Bridgerton is a unique mix of Shonda Rhimes’ dedication to Black representation on American television and the British period drama tradition. White critics may dismiss this trend as unnecessary “pandering” to Black and POC viewers, but the number of productions designed around reforming all white-casting has increased over the past 10 years—and has only added to the success of the genre. The number one reason driving demand for diverse period dramas is from Black and POC fans of the genre. The impact of seeing an actor that looks like…
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04 Dec

The Mandalorian: Jango Fett and Mandalorian Civil War History Explained

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This Star Wars: The Mandalorian article contains spoilers. Boba Fett is officially back, armor and all, in Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, “The Tragedy.” It’s an action-packed return for the beloved bounty hunter too, as we watch him take down stormtroopers with all of his high-tech weapons as well as a Gaderffii stick most often used by Tusken Raiders. Despite being a bit older and left heavily scarred from his time in the sarlacc pit, Boba Fett has lost none of his skill, as that platoon of stormtroopers quickly learns. Fortunately, he turns out to be a friend to Mando…
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04 Dec

Doctor Who: A History of Dalek Redesigns and Fan Reactions

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I think we can all agree that the 2005 redesign of the Daleks was a huge success, right? Nobody had any issues with them surely? Apart from Raymond Cusick, who originally designed them in 1963, and noted in Doctor Who Confidential ‘To them rivets and bolts are archaic.’ So obviously you can’t please everyone. Last Thursday, which was approximately four years ago, the Radio Times was released with a new Dalek design on the cover. The slightly taller and thinner black Dalek is based on the Reconnaissance Dalek from the 2018 special ‘Resolution’, something which executive producer Chris Chibnall says…
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28 Nov

Warrior: The Real History of the Race Riot that Shook San Francisco

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This article contains Warrior spoilers. In “Enter the Dragon,” the ninth episode of Season 2, Warrior rips a page out from history with its depiction of San Francisco Riot of 1877. On July 23, two nights of racial violence tore through Chinatown, killing four and destroying over $100,000 worth of Chinese-owned property. In Warrior there’s a much higher body count, but the show is “historical fiction” and never set out to be entirely accurate. According to Warrior’s head writer Jonathan Tropper, “What’s important to us are the themes and the characters of the truths of the racism and the difficulty…
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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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