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25 Nov

MST3K Turkey Day: The Long History of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Thanksgiving

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Sometimes a long-running TV show finds itself linked to a certain holiday. Community had Christmas. The Simpsons has Halloween. Brooklyn 99 had Halloween, then changed it to Cinco de Mayo for scheduling reasons. Saturday Night Live has…Election Day, I guess? I probably should have thought this through a bit more. While Mystery Science Theater 3000 has done a handful of Christmas-themed episodes (one major one per host, at least), the series has a much deeper relationship with Thanksgiving. Turkey Day is essentially its legacy. It started on Thanksgiving and it always comes back to that one Thursday in late November,…
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24 Nov

The Other History of the DC Universe Tells a Different Black Lightning Story Than You’d Expect

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The Other History of the DC Universe, John Ridley and Giuseppe Cammuncoli’s new prestige miniseries from DC’s Black Label, has a particularly evocative title. When you hear that name, you think Howard Zinn, something like A People’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. It implies a grand, broad look at the sweep of DC Universe history from the perspective of marginalized people, voices who were not the ones telling the story (in and outside of it). But the book that is out this week is…not quite that. Ridley was “less interested in putting obelisks on the timeline,” he said at a roundtable…
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18 Nov

In Star Trek: Discovery’s New Future, Franchise History Still Matters

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers for “Forget Me Not.” For back-to-back Star Trek projects, director Hanelle Culpepper has been given scripts that require filming on recreated versions of Trek sets that were last seen in the 1990s, more than 20 years ago. First, Culpepper filmed the Picard premiere’s opening scene on The Next Generation‘s iconic Ten Forward. And, now, in Discovery Season 3, Culpepper got the chance to shoot in the Trill Caves of Mak’ala, first and last seen on Deep Space Nine. Interestingly, in both Culpepper’s Picard episode “Remembrance” and in Discovery’s “Forget Me Not,” memories, dreams,…
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14 Nov

The Queen’s Gambit: The Real History Behind Beth’s Green Pills

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This article contains spoilers for The Queen’s Gambit. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit dramatizes the unprecedented rise of (fictional) chess prodigy Elizabeth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) through the grandmaster ranks of chess champions in the 1950s and ‘60s. But as with other prestige television series, there is a dark side to this savant’s talents: While she possesses a natural affinity for complex and creative chess moves, Beth is also constrained by her growing drug addiction, which she believes allows her to prevail in so many harrowing chess matches.  Even before she touches a pawn for the first time, these little green tranquilizer…
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28 Oct

Dog Soldiers: The Wild History of the Most Action Packed Werewolf Movie Ever Made

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There is no shortage of werewolf movies scattered across the century of horror cinema. Whether it’s the original lycanthropic classic The Wolf Man, which spawned the very first shared cinematic universe, or the genre’s still unmatched final form with 1981’s An American Werewolf in London, lycanthropes of all shapes and sizes have loped and howled their way into our hearts through the decades. But even among those highlights, there’s a certain sameness to far too many werewolf movies: The tragic individual, the creeping dread as the full moon draws near, perhaps a prophecy detailing how the poor soul is doomed…
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26 Oct

Titans Season 3 Red Hood Costume Honors Jason Todd’s DC Universe History

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As Titans season 3 is creeping closer to HBO Max every day, Warner has been steadily trickling information out about what to expect from the first season for the show in its new home. The latest update included a look at Red Hood, our first glimpse of a live action Red Hood costume in history. And it’s…about what you would expect from a Red Hood costume. Check it out… Titans is apparently skipping one part of Jason Todd’s road from being Robin to becoming the Red Hood: his death at the hands of the Joker. While Jason (portrayed by Curran…
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25 Oct

The Weird History of A Chinese Ghost Story Franchise

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When A Chinese Ghost Story premiered in 1987, it was already part of a unique category – the fusion of horror, comedy, and Kung Fu. Asian horror films are known as jiangshi, which is the name of a specific spooky hopping ghost found in Chinese folklore that proliferates these films. Part zombie, part vampire, jiangshi are corpses that are usually reanimated by demons or Daoist sorcerers. They hop along mindlessly with their arms outstretched like sleepwalkers, and feed on the life essence – or qi – of the living. Often a jiangshi is blind but can smell breath. This makes…
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16 Oct

Helstrom: The Comic History of Marvel’s Son of Satan

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On Oct. 16, Hulu will be releasing the latest Marvel tie-in series Helstrom. It’s not so much like one of those upcoming Disney+ MCU shows that feature high-profile superheroes telling stories that will be important to the overall fictional universe. It’s more like Daredevil or Runaways where quality be damned, you’re never going to hear anyone in the movies make anything close to a reference to it, but it counts as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe anyway. The series is about siblings Daimon Helstrom and Ana Helstrom, who have seemingly normal lives, but oppose demons and evil people on…
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14 Oct

The Boys Season 3: Soldier Boy Story to Explore Troubled History of America

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This article contains spoilers for The Boys Season 2 finale. The Boys’ demented and thrilling second season opened up a can of Vought International worms by introducing Aya Cash’s fascist Stormfront, and revealing the company’s ties to Nazi experiments during WWII. During a pivotal scene towards the end of the season, Stormfront opened up to Homelander, the current leader of The Seven, showing him her place in Vought’s history as Nazi founder Frederick Vought’s wife. Not only that, she confirmed that she was given the first successful dose of Compound V, turning her into a extremely powerful supe who had…
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08 Oct

Doctor Who: The Faceless Ones Fills in A Key Part of Whovian History

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In a media landscape where it is possible for those with expendable income and a good internet connection to access pretty much any TV they want whenever they want, it’s a unique and interesting dilemma for an episode of television to be inaccessible to literally everyone on the planet. However, this is the reality with which Doctor Who fans must live, as 97 (of 253) of the series’ first episodes continue to be “missing,” a benevolent euphemism for “probably ironically lost to time.” While some of Classic Who‘s missing episodes have been found over the last few decades (and a…
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03 Oct

Ratched: The Real History Behind the Show’s Medical Procedures

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This Ratched article contains spoilers. Ken Kesey’s classic 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has received a fashionable yet twisted facelift in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series, Ratched. With this Sarah Paulson-starring series, the American Horror Story creator follows through on his reputation of gruesome twists and jaw-dropping turns. Ratched forms an interpretation of Nurse Ratched from Kesey’s novel, giving her a backstory that features a clandestine mission and the creation of a monster. Mildred Ratched’s glamorous exterior along with her paradoxical doting behavior towards patients belies her dark side. Nurse Ratched rules the hospital with an iron fist…
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30 Sep

The Real History of Cobra Kai

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Cobra Kai Never Dies!  After Netflix acquired Cobra Kai from YouTube Red, it quickly became the #1 streaming show in America. The renewed interest has fans wondering what styles of Karate are portrayed in the series, just like they did back in the 80s when The Karate Kid first came out. Cobra Kai takes plenty of artistic liberties with its portrayals of martial arts training (it’s a show after all – if a sensei really trained his teenagers in a junkyard, their parents would have conniptions).  Nevertheless, as shocking as it sounds, there really was a Cobra Kai. And it…
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28 Sep

Fargo Season 4: A History of Kansas City Gangsters

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The following contains spoilers for Fargo season 4 episode 1. Loosely inspired by Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1996 film, the FX series Fargo also gets loose inspiration from real events, cryptic though they may be. They say the names are changed out of respect for the living, but everything is told as it happened out of respect for the dead. Season 4 is set in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1950. Chris Rock plays Loy Cannon, the boss of an African American crime family. He’s got an eye to the future, because “Italians, they’re the past.” The season opener gives a…
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17 Sep

Who is Kang the Conqueror? Powers and Marvel Comics History Explained

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Kang the Conqueror is coming! With Jonathan Majors reportedly cast as the villainous master of time in Ant-Man 3, the MCU is picking up a fine replacement to monologuing mass murderer Thanos. But how do you top the man who killed half of all sentient beings in the universe with the snap of a finger? If Kang’s comics history is any indication, you do it with a guy whose ego crosses millennia and multiverses. Kang’s primary ability is there’s…an awful lot of him. And his omega level arrogance. Also he breaks grammar. Or will have breaking grammar. I don’t know,…
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08 Sep

From Mulan to She’s The Man—A History of Gender-Bending Movies

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A young woman pretends to be a man, fearful of what could happen if her deception is found out, but willing to risk everything to keep her father safe. This dramatic tension at the heart of Mulan is both the story’s main draw and the narrative element that makes it one of the most feminist and fascinating stories Disney has ever told. As in so many other gender-bending movies, Mulan’s plan starts out straightforward enough: pretend to be a man in order to keep her father home and alive. It snowballs from there, as she must keep up with training,…
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06 Sep

Lovecraft Country Episode 4 Review: A History of Violence

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This Lovecraft Country review contains spoilers. The episode is available to stream now on all HBO platforms. Lovecraft Country Episode 4 Christina pulls into the Northside in her silver Bentley, unscathed, backdropped by Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money”, perfectly capturing her vibe of wealth and privilege and lack of fucks to give. A mood. Neither the destruction of Ardham Lodge or Tic’s ill-advised murder attempt have slowed her down, and she’s up to her usual cryptic nonsense. She’s looking for Hiram’s orrery, apparently the key to his time machine—because why not?— and has upset the local wizard wannabe, Captain…
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04 Sep

Noughts + Crosses: Why You Should Watch This Afrofuturist Alternate History Romance

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Long before writer Malorie Blackman conceived of the story of the Doctor and her companions meeting civil rights hero Rosa Parks in Doctor Who’s “Rosa,” she imagined another alternate version of history and racism. Noughts + Crosses, the BBC and Mammoth Screen-produced series based on Blackman’s bestselling U.K. YA book series of the same name, is making its U.S. debut on Peacock Friday, and it’s likely already on many a hardcore Whovian’s radar. However, for the rest of the American viewing public, this may be the first time you’re hearing of Noughts + Crosses. Or not. Last week, Peacock dropped…
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03 Sep

Mulan And The Chinese Women Warriors of History and Legend

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While American audiences know the story of Mulan through the 1998 animated Disney film and the upcoming live-action reboot, they may not know that the films are based on a Chinese legend. Hua Mulan is a legendary figure whose story was first told in “Ballad of Mulan,” a folksong first transcribed in the 6th century. In the legend, Mulan is a girl who disguises herself as a man and goes to war in place of her father. Mulan fights for many years as part of the army and, after earning much honor and gifts from the emperor, returns home to…
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03 Sep

Mulan: The Real History of the Chinese Legend

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Disney has been killing it with live-action remakes of their beloved animated movie catalog. While the upcoming Mulan might look like yet another relatively straight adaptation of a previous animated film, it’s not quite the same. Mulan, in 1998 and now, is based on an ancient Chinese legend. Not a fairy tale. Her story was commonly known across Asia long before Disney’s animated feature, and it’s that story (as much as the animated feature) that makes up the inspiration for the new film. When it was announced that the new live-action film would not include the songs or her mini-dragon…
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24 Aug

The Personal History of David Copperfield

Max SchindlerMovie reviews, , ,
The Personal History of David Copperfield re-imagines Charles Dickens’ classic ode to grit and perseverance through the comedic lens of its award-winning filmmakers— giving the Dickensian tale new life for a cosmopolitan age with a diverse ensemble cast of stage and screen actors from across the world. Armando Iannucci and Simon Blackwell lend their wry, yet heart-filled storytelling style to revisiting Dickens’ iconic hero on his quirky journey from impoverished orphan to burgeoning writer in Victorian England. [Searchlight Pictures]Rated: PGRelease Date: Aug 28, 2020
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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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