Editorial
The Lost Art of Summer Blockbuster Counterprogramming
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. In the weeks ahead, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Josh Spiegel discusses the art of counterprogramming and whether studios can still pivot around major tentpoles and blockbusters. All movies are not created equal. For decades, the summer was the domain of the blockbuster: big-budget films with loads of action, special effects, and anchored by some kind of intellectual property. Sometimes, those films were able to boast A-List stars; other times, those films created A-List stars. (Will Smith was well-known for his music career and starring role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but Independence Day made him a star. The fo...
The Rise and Evolution of the Female Action Hero
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. In the weeks ahead, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Jenn Adams traces the rise, evolution, and many tropes of the female action hero. Action movies are the bread and butter of the summer blockbuster. There’s just something about spending a hot summer night in an air-conditioned theater, watching jaw-dropping explosions and epic fight scenes. At the center of these movies is the Action Hero. The trope has been through many iterations over the years. From the brute strength of Rocky and Rambo to the realism of Jason Bourne. The tech savvy of James Bond, the wit of Will Smith, and the otherworldliness of Superman. But argua...
Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois Spins a Tale by the Everyman That’s Still Being Written Today
How does the story of America begin? When encapsulating the country’s essence in musical form, which is the best foot forward with such rich, yet charged, subject matter? The opening moments of a dozen different albums produce a dozen different answers, whether it be a Tom Morello riff or a Boris Gardiner sample. On July 5, 2005, it began with a piano song about a UFO. To be more accurate, it’s as plausibly a biblical allegory as it is an introduction to civilization from the perspective of extraterrestrial life, refracted through the same passage of history like light from a prism. Its abstract lyricism is only matched by its blunt emotional presentation, as gorgeous keys and fluttering flutes propel a chorus of voices — all directed by one unmistakable soft croon. Its owner? Sufjan Steve...
We Didn’t Ask For This: NFL To Play Black National Anthem Before Games In Week 1
Source: Drew Angerer / Getty The NFL has long been a breeding ground for racism and inequity and it appears by most accounts that the league snuffed out Colin Kaepernick for using his given right of expression to boot. Supposedly turning a corner, NFL officials are graciously (expressed with all the sarcasm) allowing the National Black Anthem to be played before all the games held in the first week of the upcoming season, an act nobody needed or asked for. As reported first by The Undefeated via a source, the NFL’s hollow act of solidarity with the plight of Black folks will feature the playing or singing of “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing” and officials will examine other ways to call attention to the same injustices Kaepernick called out during his playing days. That same source said that the...
Racist President Trump Flips His Lacefront Over Black Lives Matter Street Painting
Source: NurPhoto / Getty President Donald Trump has a nationwide pandemic and a crumbling economy on his hands during an election year, but he’s focusing on matters that show his true colors. Via Twitter, the former business mogul went on a covertly racist rant and misframed the Black Lives Matter movement after railing against the painting of the slogan on a New York street. We won’t dignify President Trump’s rant by linking to the tweet but since he never deletes the trash he posts, we’ll share it below. The rant was in response to a Black Lives Matter sign to be painted alongside Fifth Avenue near Trump Plaza, prompting the following on Wednesday (July 1). From Trump’s Twitter: NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, ye...
KKKaren-Antics: White Woman Calls Cops On Black Family For Building Patio On Their Property
Source: Fareed Hayat / facebook It should be common knowledge to most white Americans that calling the police on Black people when they’re simply minding their business is part of the reason the nation is on fire right now. In Montclair, N.J., a woman dubbed as “Permit Karen” tried it with a Black family building a patio on their property, but got expertly handled by the power couple who both know their rights and the law. Via a Facebook post, Fareed Nassor Hayat, a professor of law at CUNY, shared a video of the exchange between him and his neighbor, which he named “Susan” and also used the “Permit Karen” nickname. From Facebook: White entitlement and black hate embodied in Susan who lives on Marion Road and works at the EPA, called the police to lodge a false report of assault against me...
If Michael Keaton Returns to Batman, Why Not Tim Burton? Or Danny Elfman?
Michael Keaton is back in the Batcave — or will be in the near future. On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter shook comic book fans everywhere when they reported that the Oscar-nominated veteran will once again return to Wayne Manor for a series of films in the Warner Bros./DC Extended Universe. The report suggests that the studio is attempting to lock the actor into a multi-picture deal that would see his Batman serve as a mentor to younger heroes. More specifically, he could appear in Andy Muschietti’s much-delayed The Flash starring Ezra Miller and the long-gestating Batgirl movie. While that’s all well and good, it would be a total waste of Keaton’s commitment. Sure, audiences would be stoked to see his mug pop up in an alternate universe of The Flash, but they would be far more stoked...
Governor AbdulRazaq appoints Kayode Aremu as Kwara Radio chief
Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara has appointed the General Manager of Sobi FM, Ilorin, Mr Kayode Aremu, as the new General Manager of Kwara Radio. The governor announced the appointment of Aremu in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, on Friday in Ilorin. According to Ajakaye, the appointment of Aremu, who hails from Ilorin, took immediate effect. The statement said the appointment was based on Aremu’s track record of achievements in the broadcast industry and professional acumen. “Mr Aremu perfectly fits into the vision of the Governor to equip, project and rebrand Radio Kwara as the number one radio station not just in the state, but in the entire north central region. “Aremu has a rich background in the media world as a crack reporter whose profes...
President Donald Trump Fixes Lips To Say He Made Juneteenth Relevant
Source: SETH HERALD / Getty President Donald Trump has made an incredible fool of himself countless times in recent weeks, but this latest move was especially ludicrous even by his standards. Trump had the audacity to say that he made Juneteenth “very famous” which anyone with good sense knows isn’t true. In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, the former business mogul and one-time reality television star talked about a wide range of topics, including former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s tell-all book, the crumbling economy, and other topics. But what was especially maddening occurred is that Trump somehow found a way to make Juneteenth about himself. With an upcoming rally in Tulsa, Okla., the site of one of the most horrific acts of racism known as the Black Wall Stre...
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‘Wakanda’ Is a Myth: We Are Still Dying In Atlanta [Editorial]
Source: Julia Beverly / Radio One Digital Atlanta is painted as a Black utopia with its affluent and successful Black establishments, cultural exporting significance in entertainment and celebrity, and the city’s black ass leadership with a mayor named Keisha. Some, like rapper T.I., affectionately describe it as a real-world Wakanda, partly because Black Panther was filmed there, but in reality, the underbelly of the city led by Black mayors for almost 50 years is quite seedy. George Floyd’s very public execution at the hands of the Minneapolis police galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement in the Twin Cities but Georgia natives were still reeling from the loss of Ahmaud Arbery, who was murdered by white supremacists while jogging in Brunswick, Ga. As the nation became inflamed over wi...
Mad MAGA NASCAR Driver Ray Ciccarelli Quitting Because Black Lives Are Mattering Too Much
Source: Jared C. Tilton / Getty NASCAR introduced plans to promote diversity within the sport, giving drivers like Bubba Wallace opportunities to not only flourish on the track but also take a stand for social justice. A white driver who expressed discomfort over NASCAR’s ban of the Confederate Flag and allowing peaceful protesting has motivated him to quit the sport. As reported by CBS Sports, Ciccarelli, a 50-year-old racer from Ellicot City, Md., voiced his frustrations in a Facebook post stating that he would quit NASCAR after the 2020 season due to the organization’s embrace of kneeling during the National Anthem, and the ban on flying of the Confederate Flag, long seen a symbol of hate and division among African-Americans. From Ciccarelli’s Facebook page: Well its been a fun ride and...
Whitney Houston’s Legacy of Breaking Down Barriers in the Entertainment Industry
Subscribe now to our ongoing Whitney Houston season of The Opus. You can also prep for the experience by listening to Whitney Houston via all major streaming services or enter to win a copy of Vinyl Me, Please’s 35th anniversary Whitney Houston box set. Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Follow on Facebook | Podchaser “After the second album [Whitney], I started thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll do a movie someday,’” Whitney Houston told MTV in 1992 when asked how she had first caught the acting bug. It had taken nearly five years after that initial notion for the R&B and pop superstar to take on the big screen in The Bodyguard alongside Hollywood everyman Kevin Costner. In that time, she was rumored to have turned down working with Robert De ...
