deerstalker

https://blackgirlnerds.com/after-two-seasons-on-netflix-the-series-raising-dion-is-canceled/

We’re sad to report the comic book series Raising Dion distributed by Netflix will not come back for a third season.

According to a post on Instagram from Raising Dion star Sammi Haney, she wrote: Sad to say that Raising Dion is CANCELED [sic] Thank you for all of the amazing support we got from all of our wonderful fans! Season 2 was a success, equal to Season 1, even if just looking at how many people watched all of it and wanted a season 3!

Black Girl Nerds recently interviewed actor Rome Flynn on the BGN Podcast to discuss his new role in season 2 of the series. Season 2 of Raising Dion follows the story of Nicole (Alisha Wainwright) and her son Dion (Ja’Siah Young) after Dion starts to manifest several mysterious, superhero-like abilities. Two years after defeating the Crooked Man (Jason Ritter), Season Two follows Dion as he continues honing his powers with the support of his mom and Tevin (Rome Flynn), his Biona trainer who catches Nicole’s eye. After befriending new student Brayden (Griffin Robert Faulkner) — a fellow powered kid — a series of alarming events unfold, and Dion learns that danger is still looming. Navigating twists, turns, and surprise visitors, Dion and Nicole must prevail again — not just to save themselves, but the entire city of Atlanta.

Variety also confirmed the news is true about the series cancelation.

https://blackgirlnerds.com/silka-luisas-shining-girls-delivers-bright-performances/

Apple TV+’s new series Shining Girls is an adaptation of the novel The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. Starring Elizabeth Moss, Wagner Moura, Jamie Bell, and Phillipa Soo, the series visualizes a time-traveling thriller that will have you enthralled to the very end. 

Silka Luisa was at the helm, adapting the popular novel for Apple TV+. Along with a production team of mostly women, Luisa has created a serial killer story where the women are the focal point. The survivors finally have some say in their fates. While she’s mostly acted as a producer, Luisa’s passion projects like Strange Angel and The Wilding have prepared her for her first time as showrunner. 

The series follows Kirby (Elizabeth Moss), aka Sharon, a young aspiring journalist who was attacked in the ‘80s. Since the attack, she experiences unexplainable shifts in her life. She keeps a journal with important facts, like whether she owns a cat or a dog, and her husband’s birthday that she just woke up to find. 

It’s all very disconcerting, and you instantly feel for Kirby and her plight. A murder in the city that mimics her own causes her to investigate and find the killer before he strikes again. With the help of Dan (Wagner Moura), a down-and-out journalist trying to make his way back to respectability, Kirby tries to finally get back the control she’s lost. 

I had the pleasure of zooming with showrunner Silk Luisa about the series themes. 

While reading a synopsis for the book, it mentioned that Harper (Jamie Bell) had to commit the murders to continue traveling. I know that is different in the series and to great effect. Can you tell us about other changes made? 

The message of the book and the themes are very much the same, but I changed the structure. The book is structured so that you’re with Harper for a substantial amount of time, and with multiple female points of view. 

I focused on Kirby’s point of view because she is the character I felt most connected to. In doing that, I actually changed a lot of the mythology to work better for that structure. Much of the reality shifting comes from having an incredibly subjecting point of view. 

I really did like that it focused on Kirby. It was good to hone in on one person’s experience, especially with her being the sole survivor. 

I wanted to talk about trauma more pointedly. All of the mythology was built to mirror the aftermath of her trauma. All these years later, how you, out of nowhere, can just have that violence come and upend your world. It’s very isolating.

What was it like creating the timeline? We go in many different directions. What was the process like?

It was challenging [laughs]! I’m not gonna lie. In a writer’s room, if you try and really crack time, it will not work. You’ll spend days just spinning out. So the way we approached it was to keep it from a very subjective point of view. We only experience time in our narrow view. So it was always, ‘Okay, I’m with Kirby, what was her Monday? What’s her Tuesday?’ For each character, we had different charts about their own chronology.

Kirby wakes up and has several things different about her life. What do you think this says about the future, is it predetermined? Do we have a little more control over it? Or is it somewhere in the middle?

I believe the whole show is about reclaiming your narrative and finding agency. So personally, like my personal philosophy, I feel like you can always change. Just like other people can affect your string, you can affect your own string and alter things in your own life. I’m a big proponent of having agency. 

I also love that it was set in the ‘90s. Not just for the nostalgia trip, but the mechanism of no cell phones and the cars and the clothes. 

We did a lot of research in terms of getting the ‘90s accurate. That was really important because a lot of it was from my memory, but the series is set in a very specific place. I’m from Miami, not Chicago, and it’s set in a newsroom. It’s its own ecosystem. The lack of cell phones is fantastic for a mystery. We toyed with making it modern-day to make all of our lives easier, but having a mystery where you don’t have Google and you have to actually do door to door reporting-

And use microfiche!

Yes! I was incredibly nostalgic for it. It’s so tactile. It gets you out and really talking to people. 

Another nostalgic thing I enjoyed was the way Kirby was regarded as a woman. It was so interesting because although a lot has changed… not a lot has changed. It’s interesting to think about the fact that if you’d pitched this movie back in the ‘90s where it didn’t glorify the bad guy, it probably wouldn’t have gotten made. 

One thing I think Lauren’s book did beautifully was it felt like it wasn’t about the action and violence of the trauma, it was more about the aftermath. It really gave voice to the impact of the attack. It was really tricky carrying that through in terms of Harper. 

I didn’t want him to be a very sexy serial killer or act like he was really smart or exciting. Kirby is the anchor. However, we spend a lot of time with him so we still have to develop him as a character and try and understand why he is the way he is. 

A lot of talent contributed to directing including Elizabeth Moss herself. 

Yes! We had three directors, Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad) who did x episodes, Lizzie (Elizabeth Moss) did two episodes and Deanna Reed, who’s fantastic, did four episodes. This was my first-time show-running which is its own experience and feat. 

There were a lot of elements that were new to me, but at the same time, I’ve worked on the show for five years. So by the time we got to set it felt like I was ready. The show is in my bones. I couldn’t be more fortunate that the first thing I had was something that felt really personal, it just felt like the right thing. 

Shining Girls will premiere on AppleTV+ starting Friday, April 29, 2022. Be sure to check out our season review!

https://blackgirlnerds.com/review-downton-abbey-a-new-era-takes-you-on-a-joyful-ride-back-in-time/

Those nine golden notes of the Downton Abbey theme song are iconic and will hold a special place in my daydreams of traveling around English estates and countrysides. These daydreams only intensify with every viewing party hosted of the Downton Abbey series and the 2019 film, Downton Abbey. Downton Abbey: A New Era is an addition to that list. After laughing, smiling, and crying my way through the film, I walked away feeling like a voyeur of the Crawleys, forever changed by their family-first mentality and grasp of the importance of generational wealth. This family is simply a pleasure to watch on screen (on television or in theaters). It truly is a nice break from the real world.

Downton Abbey: A New Era is brought to you by Focus Features and Carnival Films and written by Julian Fellowes, who created and wrote the series and first film. Directed by Simone Curtis (My Week with Marilyn), Downton Abbey: A New Era catches up with the cast from the first Downton Abbey film. Set in the late 1920s, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville, Paddington) and Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern, Clash of the Titans, 2010) take half of the Crawley family to the South of France to uncover the secrets behind a gorgeous villa that was inherited by the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith, Harry Potter franchise). The other half of the Downton crew are home with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery, Anatomy of a Scandal) while a film crew takes over the estate to make a movie with director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy, Confessions of a Shopaholic) and famous actors Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol: 2) and Guy Dexter (Dominic West, The Crown). The film also stars continued favorites Allen Leech, Joanne Froggatt, Penelope Wilton, Laura Carmichael, Sophie McShera, Phyllis Logan, Raquel Cassidy, Robert James-Collier, Brendan Coyle, Jim Carter, Lesley Nicol, Kevin Doyle, and Michael Fox. Imelda Staunton and Tuppence Middleton take on larger roles as Maud Bagshaw and Lucy Smith. 

As the world changes, Downton tries to keep up. From the sinking of the Titanic to the Spanish flu to the golden age of talkies, Downton has seen it all. The formidable force behind the estate’s success and its continued growth is, and will always be, the Crawleys and their servants. This franchise is absolutely character-driven. 

Downton Abbey: A New Era showcases the inner transformations and the relationships between characters we’ve seen since the start of the television series back in 2010. We have seen their choices and journeys to self-discovery. We have seen them make mistakes and grow into the people they are now. It helps to have seen, at least, the first film because it enhances the way you will experience the story. It’s easy to walk away from this film feeling like you deeply know and understand these characters. They have clear points of view. They have integrity. Tom Branson (Allen Leech, Bohemian Rhapsody) said it best: “They are foolish and silly at times, but I’ve grown to love them.”

One of the things that stands out about writer Julian Fellowes is the attention and love he shows his characters. It is clear he is a fan of them just as much as the audience. I was surprised and thrilled by the care and attention each character received to move their individual story along while also keeping the film’s entire plot intact. I was most impressed with how Violet Crawley, also known as the Dowager Countess, was handled in the story. We found out in the first film that she was dying. A woman of her fortitude and status deserves the best, and that’s what she got from this story. Maggie Smith really can play the grandmother we all want. Tell me you wouldn’t want Minerva McGonagall from Harry Potter, Gunilla Goldberg from The First Wives Club, Granny Wendy from Hook, Mother Superior from Sister Act, and now Dowager Countess of Grantham as your guide to the world. From young Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael, The Spanish Princess) to Granny Crawley, Fellowes can deliver beautiful stories regardless of the character’s age or status.

The most entertaining parts of Downton Abbey: A New Era are the scenes of Downton with a film crew. It’s almost meta in nature as the Crawleys and some of the staff show their disapproval of filming a movie in their beloved home. The real fun of it all comes from scenes that can happen on an actual set. From random walkers in front of the camera to the breaking of non-prop items in the house and the star-struck lookers trying to get a glimpse of the actors, the reactions and interactions only highlight how great the actors, writer, and director are at making these characters come to life. Mr. Molesley has the greatest character arc from these scenes as his clumsiness and pure joy, highlighted in the first film when he speaks out of turn to the King and Queen, clear the way for him to showcase his hidden talents and finally make a move on his long-time crush. I’m not the only one that clapped during that scene. 

Everything about this movie is fantastic. Even what isn’t there is fantastic. The audience gets what it needs from this glimpse into the lives and goings-on at Downton Abbey. It almost feels like you’re watching a documentary where you know the characters’ lives will continue long after the credits have rolled. I would be delighted to have more or be content with where things are at the end. 

Focus Features will release Downton Abbey: A New Era in theaters on May 20, 2022.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/the-good-asian-10-review/

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote / Artist: Alexandre Tefenkgi / Image

It’s been a little less than a year since the first issue of The Good Asian came into the world. It entered the world at an eerily appropriate time, with almost prescient thematics and character. Edison Hark, a Chinese-American detective uncovering a vast conspiracy, has been through quite the gauntlet on behalf of his adoptive family. His surrogate brother, dead. His ex-girlfriend, the mastermind behind the inciting incidents that nearly killed Edison. His adoptive father, somehow implicated in his mother’s murder. We have been through quite the roller coaster, and one way or another, this mystery has to come to an end.

The Good Asian #10, in classic noir form, starts with a flashback that quickly gets the main cast in their places and kicks off the final issue with a kinetic start and emotional jolt. Tefenkgi’s art and Lourghridge’s color do an absolutely spectacular job of staging the non-linear scenes and conveying a full spectrum of expression and shock. There are moments where we are simply observers of the events. Then, there are pages where we get to see the world with Hark’s keen observational skills, spotting key details and making quick connections, and deftly bringing the entire series’ timeline into vivid clarity.

Pichetshote’s ability to weave such a mystery together is nothing short of inspiring. The classic noir monologues and all of the pieces falling into place leave me with a very specific elation because all of the lingering threads are tied with an intense intent. The circumstances involving Ivy Chen’s disappearance manage to dovetail perfectly into the other long-standing question of the series. It all culminates with the imperfect Hark launching into a perfectly justified diatribe against the society that fostered all of this needless death borne of prejudice.

But like other famous film noirs before it, The Good Asian #10 has an ending that is not so perfectly cut and dry. Even though a mystery has been solved, the world is still very much in disarray. However, Pichetshote has manages to bring this chapter of the story to a perfect close.

This is a comic that you’re going to see in classroom’s one day, at least if I had my way. This is a comic that you should buy in singles, and trades, and the fancy hard cover full collections. This is a comic that is so brilliantly executed on a writing and artistic front. Its very core is rooted in the complicated struggle of being an Asian American to the point that even though it’s set in 1936, it speaks to 2022 so perfectly. I love this comic, and I figure I’m going to have to wait a while before I get more, so I’m going to savor this and laud it more in the interim.

10 “Lawful Acts” out of 10

Enjoying The Good Asian? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.

Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram!

The post The Good Asian #10 Finale Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.