Category Archives: film

My Two Cents On The Two Percent :)

Posted on by toddpanther

It’s easy to say that the white right-wing is using these Asian kids (and it is), but the (often-disturbing) doc whose trailer I linked to above slants otherwise in terms of how they think. As someone who watched Try Harder, it does make sense that the young man in the CNBC video wants to become an anti-affirmative action civil rights lawyer–a Bizzaro-world Sherilynn Ifill!–to defend his people so that elite society will accept even more of them, which is what this is really about. I have to assume he celebrated yesterday.

Buffer group or not, does the fact that these young people of color believe only 15 to 20 colleges in the United States matter something that should be discussed? I wish I could say these young Asian-Americans are wrong but when you look at everything from the leadership of tech companies to the Supreme Court itself they are clearly assessing America’s increased stratification.

Interesting That These Rich, Famous Network Anchors/Hosts…..

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…..have openly demoted themselves to special correspondents. I’d like to think it’s a public commentary on the limitations of network anchoring and a true hunger to produce 20th-century, middlebrow magazine-like narrative–and those professional aspects might play a part. But hearing these goodbyes, it really sounds more like the intimate results of a work-life balance self-inventory, a real understanding that they are in a post-COVID/pre-old-age-illness vortex. (I mean, even Amy Goodman–who used to helm Democracy Now! no matter how sick she got!–actually took a day off last week to be part of a relative’s graduation.) In Chuck’s case, it’s almost like someone in his family told him, “You’re missing it.” Well, now he, Judy and Rachel won’t.

SEPTEMBER 10th UPDATE:

The Western Fantasy Construction At The Core Of Writing About Martin Luther King, Jr.

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I’ll try to talk about this on Saturday when I’m on #BlackPowerMedia with Dr. Jared Ball to talk about Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life.

Dhrouba bin Wahad, Circa 1992

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Watching Dr. Jared Ball’s recent series of interviews with Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad on Black Power Media led me to finally check out Passin’ It On, the documentary about his life. It is a clear explanation.

Marvel Studios’ The Marvels | Teaser Trailer

Posted on by toddpanther
x3

Just the trailer makes me want to see this team in its own movie trilogy! And I love this choice from The Beasties!

SEPTEMBER 14th UPDATE:

Jared Ball, Black Power Media and “The Penny Trick:” What I Thought About Peacock’s “Lowndes County and The Road To Black Power”

Posted on by toddpanther

As usual, I’ve gotta come here to fix my many goofs! The “her” I’m talking about @ 00:27:00 is Melissa Haizlip, director of the Mr. Soul film and the niece of the Soul! host/producer.

Some Comments About “Star Trek: Picard” @ The Halfway Point Of Season 3, The Final Season

Posted on by toddpanther

If the last five episodes are as incredible as these first five, this one season of this one streaming show will have made up for:

  • Every bad episode of TOS;
  • Every bad episode of ST:TAS;
  • Every bad episode of TNG (yes, even the race/ethnic stereotyping and overt racism of Seasons 1 and 2);
  • Every bad episode of DS9 (were there bad episodes of that? 🙂 );
  • Every bad episode of Voyager (and I love the fact that there are not many of those 🙂 ),
  • Every bad Trek movie (maybe even including the new ones, depending on how powerful this particular story and series ends!) and 
  • Every misstep of streaming Nu Trek, animated and live-action (including Picard Season Two)

This is an amazing time to love this franchise! Today is a good day to live ðŸ™‚

[UPDATE AFTER SEEING FINALE ON 4/20/23: The finale might have been the weakest. With the amount of time spent, the showrunners are determined to set up Star Trek: Legacy–something that technically doesn’t exist (yet)! I can’t believe the Trek people allowed the showrunners so much setup for nothing. There was less setup for a new movie the Trek folks have already announced! The story as a whole is almost the GOAT, but perhaps time will push this to an A+.]

*****

A Related Aside: Between this and what’s going on with Star Wars streaming shows, it’s beginning to be understood that good writing fixes everything–even bad movie sequels and prequels. The Star Wars streaming showrunners are creating world-building that’s so well done [LINK ADDED 4/20/23] it’s actually showing the greatness of the content of the prequels and sequels. An example of re-evaluating and changing your long-held view of something based on something else new that puts the old in a new context, a la the maxim, “If you change the way you look at things, what you look at changes.” 

“Bearing Witness In The Case Of Mumia Abu-Jamal” Forum

Posted on by toddpanther