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Showing posts from April, 2019

Why Captain America's Decision in Avengers: Endgame Works

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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers: Endgame is one of the biggest movies of the 21st Century. So it'd be massively surprising if it didn't leave us with questions and ideas about its most beloved characters - especially Captain America a nd the road he's been on so far since Captain America: The First Avenger . Having seen the film, and reading debates online about its plotholes, I wanted to explore what they mean for Steve Rogers and his journey throughout Marvel's finale for the Infinity Saga. This post contains massive spoilers. Read it your own risk.

Avengers: Endgame (2019) Is A Fine Finale But Not Marvel's Finest Hours

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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures With The Snap of Thanos’s fingers, Avengers: Infinity War flipped from a typical superhero flick into an unforgettable event that no Marvel fan or casual movie-goer would ever forget. To say that Avengers: Endgame  has been an event of its own is massive understatement. Its unbelievable hype has a lot to live to up since we saw half the universe dusted into oblivion in 2018. As Marvel draws its Infinity Saga to a close, this twenty second film is without-a-doubt a funny, action-packed and tender farewell. But in good ways and bad, it doesn’t necessarily capture the same magic of its sister flick. As Paul Bettany once wisely said, “ Snitches end up in ditches ” if they spoiler Avengers: Endgame . Taking my fate into my own hands, I’m breaking with the requests from the Powers that Be (Marvel Studios and co.) to say: this review contains massive spoilers. Read it your own risk.

How Iron Man (2008) Changed Superhero Movies Forever

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Superhero movies weren't new when Iron Man strolled onto the scene in 2008. Superman had been fighting kryptonite since 1976. Throughout the 1990s to early 2000s went either straight-to-video ( Captain America  and  The Death of the Incredible Hulk) or were on their third sequels ( X-Men, Spider-Man ). Though Christopher Nolan's Batman overshadowed 2008 with The Dark Knight , a string of lukewarm movies ( Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and Ghost Rider ) made the superhero genre seem less and less like a gamble worth betting on. But fast-forward ten years from 2008, and generations have grown up knowing and loving the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. With a slew of characters and multiple spin-offs on the way, Iron Man is where it all started and where it changed everything, and where it seems to remain as one of the most underrated Marvel films.

Underrated Women of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is filled with hundreds of characters, all with little to memorable screentime to defend Earth from invaders and supervillains. With the debut of Captain Marvel finally having her own installment, and as the first Marvel film starring a woman, I was reminded of female characters who have flown under the radar.  Here are five underrated women from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Am I missing someone on the list? Let me know in the comments below!

Ekaj (2015) Offers An Intimate Portrayal of Love and Hardship Among LGBTQ Youth

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How do you find a sense of belonging when you’re not accepted by your own family, let alone society? Veteran fashion photographer turned writer and director Cati Gonzalez puts homeless LGBTQ youth under the microscope in a vivid portrayal of a too-often overlooked community. After being kicked out by his homophobic father, a young teenager Ekaj (Jake Mestre) drifts on the hustling streets of New York City struggling to get by. When he befriends Mecca (Badd Idea), a thief and artist diagnosed with AIDS, the naïve Ekaj learns about the hardships of love, loss, and survival.

Top 11 Favorite Game of Thrones Characters

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So many characters on Game of Thrones , so little time to rank all of them. While watching the series for the first time, I wasn't quite sure if I was going to be able to keep track of everyone. For a show of this size with at least a hundred characters, coming up with eleven (with honorable mentions) was difficult.  Throughout its eight seasons, certain heroes and even villains always caught my attention and made me root for them. Like most adaptations, the storylines for a show or movie is immeasurably changed from the books. That said, I haven’t read George R. R. Martin’s series yet, so my choices are entirely based on the television show. The challenge of picking my faves and ranking them in some kind of specific order was hard, but here they are.  Who do you love or love-to-hate? How would you rank your own list if you could? Let me know in the comments below! This post mentions plot and character development from season 1 through seven, and may be considered spoile...

15 Favorite Reactions of Epic Return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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LucasFilm / Disney This weekend the 2019 Star Wars Celebration in Chicago wasted zero time getting fans pumped up for the next long-awaited installment. Opening the weekend ceremony with the title reveal of Star Wars: Episode IX and a teaser with the cast in person, our anticipation and hype was already on edge. While news of the latest actors to join the LucasFilm family was well-established for the better part of 2018, one surprise blew up the internet like the Death Stars being blasted into a million pieces. In case you're avoiding spoilers for the next Star Wars film set for release in December 2019, this post contains info about one legendary character's epic return. Read at your risk!

Avengers: Endgame Trailers Breakdown

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Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures We're in the endgame now. After a year of waiting, we're only a few weeks away from finally discovering the fallout from  Avengers: Infinity War . Can The Avengers make a comeback from the devastating loss after Thanos snapped half the universe away? Since December 2018, Marvel Studios has been steadily releasing more footage. We've all been expecting our favorite characters to retrieve the ones they loved, but it's hard to tell if expectations will match reality. Let's take a look at the trailers so far and talk about what is going on. Once we go through the easter eggs, I don't know if we're going to be able to handle it. Are you ready for Avengers: Endgame? Let me know in the comments!

Meeting Brown (2019) Personalizes the Divide between Love, Race and Racism

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What do you do when the one you love turns out to be the opposite of what you thought? Great relationships can feel like they’re built on honesty and trust, but one brief meeting with her fiance’s best man Richard (Andrew J. Cornelius) changes everything for Alex (Diana Gonzalez-Morett) – a hopeful Latinx bride who sees her white partner’s true colors about their cultural differences. Meeting Brown draws attention to the complex lines drawn between love, race, and racism. Director and writer Ana Lydia Monaco, a rising Latina filmmaker, tackles diversity by bringing representation to women of color to the screen with experiences from her own community. Realizing how often she didn’t see herself and fellow people of color onscreen, Monaco’s transformed her observations with bicultural couples to create a distinct narrative about life as a woman of color. Nervous yet excited for her doubtful maid-of-honor to meet her fiancé John (Sean Dube) and his best man, Alex believes John is ex...

It Was Only A Matter of Time for WWE and #TimesUp to Smackdown

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As a once fervently loyal WWE fan, who struggles with her love of wrestling versus its controversial state of affairs, I never thought I'd wake up to see John Oliver deliver a 23-minute hot-take about WWE’s abhorrent work conditions for its wrestlers. Even at the dawn of the #TimesUp movement, I often said to myself it was only a matter to time before someone put WWE owner's Vince McMahon's ego (or head) up on the chopping block. But this is where we are, it was only a matter of time before attention turned its spotlight on WWE. For those not in the know, on a recent episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , the tv host and self-proclaimed wrestling fan revealed that the independent clauses wrestlers “sign up for” to work for WWE is nothing but unconscionable. Performing 200+ nights a year away from their families and traveling the world, their wrestlers work so tirelessly they barely have a life to save up for when they're not in the ring. Contracted as pract...