2017

Supergirl has some pretty awesome female villains making their way to National City, what with Odette Annable playing Reign the worldkiller and Jane the Virgin‘s Yael Grobglas playing Psi. Now, we’ve got another female hero on the way to lend Supergirl a helping hand.

London-born Bollywood actress, Amy Jackson has been cast in the role of Saturn Girl on The CW’s Supergirl. The official description of the character reads: “Saturn Girl, aka Imra Ardeen, is a kind, smart, and strong-willed hero who uses her telekinetic ability to help those in need. She was born on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, and arrives on Earth to help Supergirl battle one of her biggest threats.”

In the Supergirl comics, Saturn Girl is a member of The Legion of Super-Heroes…in the 31st Century. Supergirl travels through time, meets the Legion, becomes a member, and falls in love with Braniac 5, the descendant of one of Superman’s greatest enemies.

On The CW’s Supergirl, we’ve gotten hints about the Legion, like there being a Legion ring in the Fortress of Solitude, or the fact that Mon-El, who has also been a member of the Legion in comics, featured so prominently in Season 2. However, there’s no word on whether or not there will be any sort of time-travel happening this season, or if they’ll even be going by comic book canon in their interpretation of the Legion and its members.

IT MEANS NOTHING TO ME ANYWAY UNLESS THEY GIVE US BRAINIAC FIVE!

Are you excited for the arrival of Saturn Girl? What do you think it means for Supergirl this season? Tell us below!

(via CBR.com, image: Global United Media)

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In sunny Orlando Florida, it can be quite difficult trying to capture that special Halloween feeling. The fall weather does not peak its head out until mid-November (if lucky), and there is a […]

The post Halloween Horror Nights Returns to Universal Orlando and It’s as Spooky as Ever appeared first on Geek.com.

Looking ahead to the return of Roseanne scheduled to air next year, some people are already calling for a boycott of the show. And surprisingly, it’s not because of Roseanne Barr’s history of transphobia, her outspoken love of Donald Trump, or her apparent belief that Nancy Pelosi is a lizard-person.

Nope. Instead, the group One Million Moms (1MM), a subset of the ultra-rightwing American Family Association, has an objection to a casting call for a gender fluid character.

It was announced last week that Emma Kenny (Debbie on Shameless) will play Darlene and David’s daughter. Their other child, Mark (presumably named after Becky’s late husband, since it had been said that Mark’s role would not be recast following the death of actor Glenn Quinn) was reportedly described in the casting notice as “gender creative.” The show was seeking a child actor who was “sensitive and effeminate” and “displays qualities of both young female and male traits.”

1MM wrote in a statement, “Unfortunately, the age of Roseanne’s grandchildren may attract young viewers, so the victims of this outrageous program are the young cast members, not to mention any child who views the show. The sexualization and moral corruption of these children is child exploitation at its worst. No child should be introduced to the experience of mental disorders.”

First of all, fuck you. Gender fluidity is not a “mental disorder.” Second, no one is “sexualizing” anyone. A discussion of gender is not the same thing as a discussion of sexual activity or orientation. But while we’re on the subject, I’d bet good money that the same people clutching their pearls over this “sexualization” are some of the same ones who tell us all to calm down and “get over it” when we call out the actual sexualization of children. Say, for example, this nonsense:

Via children’s sections of Amazon/Walmart

Because what they really want is the heterosexualization of kids, and talk of anything but a hetero binary is threatening to that.

Anyway, these moms are apparently worried about Roseanne leading to the destruction of all humankind because “DNA proves a female is female and a male is male. There is no gray area here and no such thing as “gender fluid.” Confusing young viewers and child cast members with gender dysphoria is destructive. ABC is glorifying gender dysphoria, also known as gender identity disorder, and using a child to promote this mental disorder.”

The one thing I almost but definitely still don’t agree with the group about is the idea that seeing a gender fluid child on television could have a strong impact on children watching. To say that it’s “confusing,” though, is pure ignorance. Hateful groups like these love to say with authority that homosexuality, gender fluidity, transgender people, and whatever else they don’t understand don’t exist–THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT TRUE. And the more examples children (and adults) see of characters that look and act like them, the less “confused” they’re going to be. We’re seeing more and more of these examples in film and TV, even making its way to network television. The first season of The Mick tackled the issue with humor and care, and hopefully, Roseanne does the same.

Let’s also not forget that, despite Roseanne Barr’s perplexing politics, this show was always ahead of its time.

Season 3 of Roseanne addressed:
-mental illness
-gender roles
-women's lib
-LGBT
-definition of consent
DECADES AHEAD OF HER TIME!!

— lauretta (@laurettakraema) August 28, 2017

Fortunately, despite their name, nowhere near a million moms seem to share the group’s bigoted views. As of writing this, their petition to boycott Roseanne only has about 8,000 signatures.

(via HuffPost, image: ABC)

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I’ve been waiting for over a year to say this since I first saw it at the LA Asian Film Festival last May:

The Tiger Hunter is one of the most delightful comedies I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s also one of the best films about the Asian immigrant experience, one that doesn’t mock or ridicule the immigrants but rather honors them for the sacrifices they made to achieve the American dream. These are some mighty high praises and now expectations but I’ll go into detail why this charming indie film starring Danny Pudi and Karen David deserves your attention after a brief synopsis of what this film is all about:

Set in the 1970s, The Tiger Hunter is the story of Sami Malik, a young Indian man who travels to  America to become an engineer in order to impress his childhood crush and live up to the legacy of his father — a legendary tiger hunter — back home. When Sami’s job falls through, he takes a low-end job and joins with a gang of oddball friends in hopes of convincing his childhood sweetheart that he’s far more successful than he truly is… or perhaps ever could be.

A timely and topical comedy that captures a young immigrant’s pursuit for success, love and the American dream with humor and heart, The Tiger Hunter is a charming comedy bolstered by vibrant storytelling and an endearing comic spirit.

For starters, it is a sheer joy to see Danny Pudi take the center stage as a romantic leading man and similar to another film about a South Asian with Kumail Nunjani in The Big Sick, it shows the untapped range these South Asian comedic actors can show when given the chance to truly shine. And shine Pudi does as he effortlessly anchors the film with his unwavering positive charm and earnestness.

But the main lead can’t hold the film all by himself and it is here the surrounding cast does a tremendous job in holding their own weight from Rizwan Manji as the bumbling yet loveable Babu, Jon Heder as Alex Womack, a slacker yet supportive best friend, and Karen David as the absolutely radiant Ruby, who takes command of the scenes that she is present in. Special note must be given that it is refreshing to see the “best friend role” be not a person of color but be played by the white person instead and for a romantic film that has an Asian man/woman as the lead, the romantic interest is NOT a white individual.

The set design, costumes, and cinematography all deserve a mention as they are done so well that they might as well be characters for this film. Each three aspects are so fully realized in such a vibrant manner that one can describe this film as Lena Khan’s homage to Wes Anderson films while still making her own unique stamp on it. As such, serious kudos to the cinematographer Patrice Lucien Cochet, production designer Michael Fitzgerald, and costume designer Justine Seymour.

Humor is abundant throughout the film and the jokes never feel forced as it comes organically. There was rarely a groan or dud moment that I experienced as the most important aspect this film has in spades is that it has heart. A beating, compassionate heart that reverberates throughout the film from the opening scene to the credits.

Though I can nitpick a few aspects about it such as the opening being a tad rough in execution and Jon Heder’s character being a bit too conveniently helpful in certain crucial moments (hello magical cracker), these are very minor things that did not get in the way of my enjoyment of this film. It is, like the synopsis said earlier, a film that is rather timely as the topic of immigration has become a battlefield of sorts for many here in America.

The Tiger Hunter achieves a rare balance of being a film that is both so focused about the lives of South Asian immigrants and at the same time, a film that has such heartfelt and hilarious writing accessible to all types of folks. It is a film that portrays a side of humanity so uncommonly seen in the Hollywood landscape and done so well because it lets its characters breathe with ease, without a concern in the world that it needs to prove itself against stereotypes holding it back or any demand to fulfill a thesis statement about its need to exist in the first place are you still reading this I don’t even know what I’m writing (something about why most Asian American films are bad??) because HOW CAN I NOT THIS MOVIE IS SO GOOD I CRY WITH HAPPINESS EVERY TIME.

Ahem.

If you get a chance to watch this film this weekend (and I truly hope you do), do give them a shoutout at their Twitter handle @TigerHunterFilm as well as follow them on their Facebook page and holler at them there too.

To conclude this review, my fellow writer Josephine Chang and I held a podcast interview with the director Lena Khan herself, which you can check out below. Precaution: We may come off as crazy fangirl/boy squirrels in this as you can easily tell we are very excited about our guest:

All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit “play,” and check this. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Google Play!

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