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https://blackgirlnerds.com/tiff-2020-review-david-oyelowos-fantastical-debut-in-the-water-man/
David Oyelowo makes his directorial debut in this fantastical and whimsical tale about a boy searching for hope and immortality to save his dying mother. Oyelowo stars as Amos Boone, the father of Gunner (Lonnie Chavis), who is doing his best to keep his family together in spite of the dire circumstances ahead of them. Amos has a fractured relationship with Gunner, and it’s clear that it’s the mother Mary (Rosario Dawson) who is the glue that keeps them together. When Gunner’s mother’s illness takes a turn for the worst, Gunner is determined to find the cure to keep her alive through a mythic creature referred to as the Water Man.
Gunner meets a young girl Jo (Amiah Miller), who is bold, fearless and has enough bravado to join Gunner’s quest to find the elusive Water Man. The two are willing to risk their lives going into the deep Wild Horse forest to meet the terrifying man notably known from ghost stories and horror folklore. As they meander through the terrain of this forest, which by day looks like a Thomas Kinkade painting and by night feels like a creepy Edgar Allen Poe poem, the two discover strange happenings all around them.
In a statement about The Water Man, David Oyelowo says, “I grew up loving family films that have adventure, fantasy, and jeopardy whilst never patronizing their young protagonists. As a father to four children, I want to share films with my kids that both entertain and equip them for the highs and lows that lie ahead. I relish watching films with them that both transport our family to a different world and then leave us having meaningful conversations. I love films that do that, so I set out to make one for them, other families, and hopefully, the whole world!”
The Water Man delivers in its execution of a story and film that can allow you to escape for a couple of hours. The cinematography is gorgeous with bright hues to illustrate the grandiose forest Gunner and Jo escape to, but also candidly depicts the beautiful tiny town of Pine Mills where this family resides. The gorgeous set design inside of the home of Jim (Alfred Molina) is impressive and reveals the character of this man and his unorthodox beliefs. Gunner confides in Jim shortly after he learns about the history of the Water Man, and when Gunner finds out from Jim that the Water Man cheated death, not only does it pique his interest, but he believes it is destiny that he must seek this mysterious man.
When Amos discovers his child has gone missing, he seeks help from law enforcement through the aid of Sheriff Goodwin (Maria Bello), who begins to track both Gunner and Jo, but knows that time is not on their side as the clock is ticking.
Lonnie Chavis gives a beautiful and brilliant performance in this film as Gunner the lead protagonist who takes us on this journey. David Oyelowo also delivers an incredible performance, dropping his British accent to play Amos, a father who is struggling to reconnect with his son and come to terms with his wife’s mortality.
The Water Man is also a Harpo Films production, which means Oprah Winfrey served as an executive producer on this picture. There are some parallels of fantasy between what The Water Man has and another film Oprah Winfrey was involved with — A Wrinkle in Time: searching and longing for something beyond the bounds of reality and experiencing that in the supernatural. Growth and character development in this story with respect to Gunner’s character and a little of Jo’s is what makes The Water Man such a fully fleshed out, entertaining, and impactful narrative.
Oyelowo’s directorial debut hits the mark, and he’s definitely found his place in this tough genre. To give credit to the writing, The Water Man is based on a script by Emma Needell that was featured in the 2015 Black List.
This is a movie that sticks with you and a story that gives a lesson of coming to terms with death that so many of us (and not by choice) are learning more each and every day. The film is entertaining but also gives an opportunity for children to understand and learn about life and death in fantastical terms that may be hard to explain in more traditional ways.
The Water Man made its premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.
David Oyelowo makes his directorial debut in this fantastical and whimsical tale about a boy searching for hope and immortality to save his dying mother. Oyelowo stars as Amos Boone, the father of Gunner (Lonnie Chavis), who is doing his best to keep his family together in spite of the dire circumstances ahead of them. Amos has a fractured relationship with Gunner, and it’s clear that it’s the mother Mary (Rosario Dawson) who is the glue that keeps them together. When Gunner’s mother’s illness takes a turn for the worst, Gunner is determined to find the cure to keep her alive through a mythic creature referred to as the Water Man.
Gunner meets a young girl Jo (Amiah Miller), who is bold, fearless and has enough bravado to join Gunner’s quest to find the elusive Water Man. The two are willing to risk their lives going into the deep Wild Horse forest to meet the terrifying man notably known from ghost stories and horror folklore. As they meander through the terrain of this forest, which by day looks like a Thomas Kinkade painting and by night feels like a creepy Edgar Allen Poe poem, the two discover strange happenings all around them.
In a statement about The Water Man, David Oyelowo says, “I grew up loving family films that have adventure, fantasy, and jeopardy whilst never patronizing their young protagonists. As a father to four children, I want to share films with my kids that both entertain and equip them for the highs and lows that lie ahead. I relish watching films with them that both transport our family to a different world and then leave us having meaningful conversations. I love films that do that, so I set out to make one for them, other families, and hopefully, the whole world!”
The Water Man delivers in its execution of a story and film that can allow you to escape for a couple of hours. The cinematography is gorgeous with bright hues to illustrate the grandiose forest Gunner and Jo escape to, but also candidly depicts the beautiful tiny town of Pine Mills where this family resides. The gorgeous set design inside of the home of Jim (Alfred Molina) is impressive and reveals the character of this man and his unorthodox beliefs. Gunner confides in Jim shortly after he learns about the history of the Water Man, and when Gunner finds out from Jim that the Water Man cheated death, not only does it pique his interest, but he believes it is destiny that he must seek this mysterious man.
When Amos discovers his child has gone missing, he seeks help from law enforcement through the aid of Sheriff Goodwin (Maria Bello), who begins to track both Gunner and Jo, but knows that time is not on their side as the clock is ticking.
Lonnie Chavis gives a beautiful and brilliant performance in this film as Gunner the lead protagonist who takes us on this journey. David Oyelowo also delivers an incredible performance, dropping his British accent to play Amos, a father who is struggling to reconnect with his son and come to terms with his wife’s mortality.
The Water Man is also a Harpo Films production, which means Oprah Winfrey served as an executive producer on this picture. There are some parallels of fantasy between what The Water Man has and another film Oprah Winfrey was involved with — A Wrinkle in Time: searching and longing for something beyond the bounds of reality and experiencing that in the supernatural. Growth and character development in this story with respect to Gunner’s character and a little of Jo’s is what makes The Water Man such a fully fleshed out, entertaining, and impactful narrative.
Oyelowo’s directorial debut hits the mark, and he’s definitely found his place in this tough genre. To give credit to the writing, The Water Man is based on a script by Emma Needell that was featured in the 2015 Black List.
This is a movie that sticks with you and a story that gives a lesson of coming to terms with death that so many of us (and not by choice) are learning more each and every day. The film is entertaining but also gives an opportunity for children to understand and learn about life and death in fantastical terms that may be hard to explain in more traditional ways.
The Water Man made its premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.
Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
Kenya Moore has put on a few pounds (okay, maybe a little bit more than a few) in quarantine, and she’s not afraid to show them off.
The 49-year-old Real Housewives of Atlanta star revealed the weight gain while sharing a glamorous image of herself during a photo shoot. She said she’s now more than 180 pounds.
“183 lbs!!! The Quarantine has added 25lbs to my 5’10” frame,” she wrote on Instagram. “I don’t mind if you don’t mind.”
Notice any difference?
Moore has always been about her fitness. After birthing daughter Brooklyn, a pregnancy she gained more than 70 pounds with, she quickly bounced back to her original weight. She cited her diet and exercise habits before baby as the reason for the accelerated snapback.
“A lot of it, to be honest, because of the preeclampsia, was water weight gain,” she said in 2019 of the 75 pounds she put on. “So a week after I had given birth, I lost 40 pounds. But I had a C-section so I couldn’t really stand up, I obviously couldn’t work out or do anything like that. But I was a workout person before. I took care of my body. I, what we call just ‘snapped back’ after two weeks. I thought, ‘Wow! My tummy is flat again,’ or nearly flat. I didn’t think that would happen.”
She admitted she was worried that because of her age, she wouldn’t be able to get back to her old self.
“I’m 47 years old. I was worried too,” she said. at the time. “The young girls get to snap back but what about me? [laughs] And so, you take care of your body and you eat well.”
The stress of quarantine has caused many people to pack on the pounds, so Moore’s weight gain is not a shock. We’re sure that with her love of training and regularly eating clean though, Moore will shed those 25 pounds soon enough. If she doesn’t, that’s perfectly fine, too.
We’ve been waiting for this game to drop for years now. I’ve been following along looking at the changes, hopped on the beta, and perked my ears up at every potential announcement. I watched my hopes rise and fall. At the last stretch, after playing the beta, I thought this game was going to be cool but “nothing special”. I am here to say that I was wrong, and I am so glad that I was. Marvel’s Avengers is a game that slowly grows on you, but the minute they’ve captured your heart, you’re in it for the long haul. With great storytelling, engaging missions and plentiful gear with power ups, The Avengers knows its audience and it gives fans what they’ve been asking for.
Dynamic Characters Fit For All Fans
Honestly, my favorite part of the game was the story line and the strength of each character. When they introduced Kamala Khan, I was scared they wouldn’t give her the glory she deserves. But through each fan girl moment, her failures and successes, you get to experience her growth and strength not only through battle but through life. Sometimes when we get POC protagonists, creators make the character so hyper focused on their own oppression that they are not able to experience emotions outside of those problems. Seeing Kamala experience both joy and fear running into the Hulk, and being fully into battle sequences while at the same time admiring the heroes she grew to love, made me root for her more than ever.
Another amazing character that was wonderfully developed was Black Widow. I was absolutely floored because they finally captured her bad ass lifestyle in the way she deserves. Of course, they did all the characters well, especially Bruce Banner, but the star of this game outside of Kamala, is honestly Black Widow. The guns, the sly remarks, even the way they got her fighting style: it was superb. I couldn’t keep my eyes away. I admired how the creators infuse their personalities in the way they carry themselves in and out of combat.
When people map out their characters, sometimes intricate details get muddied around in different aspects. Like, “Character A, wouldn’t say that, it feels like Character C would say that” or “Character B wouldn’t fight like that, if anything they would be stealthier or more aggressive.” For The Avengers, I didn’t second guess the fighting styles, because it felt true to them.
Honestly, when I picked up the controller on release day I came in with mid-low expectations. When I played parts of the beta the controls felt annoying to me. It was stuffy, and it switched in between “story” mechanisms and “battle” mechanisms too much to figure out what I should be expecting. By the time the game came around it felt slightly improved, but not as much to leave me satisfied for the first couple of hours.
A Proud Arsenal, Plus Upgrades for Them All
The Avenger’s battle mechanics looks like it was trying something special, but the movement and concentration towards projectiles and enemies felt like it needed fine tuning. A great example of this would be Iron Man’s flying. When we are introduced to it, at first it felt like “Wow, we’re finally getting it,” but then my attention quickly went from trying to shoot my repulsor beams to trying to control him properly. Sure, the most rewarding part of the process is being able to get a direct hit, but the alignment was confusing and it took awhile to get full control. This happens with every character to a certain extent. The great part is, once you know how to get a handle on those mechanics, your experience improves greatly and you’ll see yourself shine through the characters.
The upgrade system makes the fighting so much fun and it offers variations to whoop some baddies. But another issue is that as of right now there is not enough content to enjoy it for a long period of time. The available boards: desert, city, AIM base and space, seem great right now, but going through them so frequently throughout the game feels kind of repetitive. “Oh yes, another trek through the desert with the Hulk, how fun”. Considering that this is the beginning stages of the game and more updates will come, more variety is inevitable. But when it comes to online multiplayer gameplay, it isn’t the most motivating in regards to coming back day after day. Legendary level weapons and armor are a great push, but until more heroes are released and extra boards are introduced, if you bought this game with the intention of playing online, it feels best to purchase this during the holiday season.
Release That Rage, Hulk Out!
The online mechanics are still kind of murky as they are working on more updates. People have reported that they couldn’t even connect to the game, let alone online play (including myself). The sign of online issues started when some people reported that they bought the deluxe edition and they didn’t get early access as promised. If you’re here for the story as I was and don’t care too much about online play, this is a great investment. If you came mostly for the online play, you should wait just a little bit to have more worth to your money so they can get their goals together. I believe the game would have benefited from a couch co-op mode for the campaign. For those who don’t invest money in online play, this would have been a great game for siblings to fight over who gets to be Cap and go all out on AIM robots in the middle of the city.
The Avengers comes with many side missions catered to each character and side quests within each mission. There are also chances to pick up special items, rescue others and find comics that offer small power-ups. If you love a good story, great battle sequences or even want a different introduction to The Avengers, I believe you would love this game. Granted you might feel a bit iffy about the visuals sometimes. Their attempt at realism makes hair really greasy, and they go in and out of beautiful cinematic cut scenes to “is this the product of budget cuts?” But it doesn’t eliminate the experience.
The improvements to online play are happening slowly. You can still buy special outfits for the characters, or slowly rack up enough resources to get them without shelling out real funds. It’s a great investment for a fan, and I am sure the future content will bring online players back for more as time goes on. I can’t wait to see what campaigns will bring in the future.
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The time has finally come for the NYCC Funko Exclusives. Funko started tweeting this morning and we will update this article with each release. Are you as excited as we are?
Limited edition Pizza Rat Pop!, NYCC Paulie Pigeon Pop!, T-shirt and Pins. These items will be exclusively sold by REEDPOP
Pizza Rat and NYCC Paulie Pigeon
Disney and Pixar’s UP – Carl & Ellie
Ad Icons: Dum-Dums – Drum Man
Harry Potter- The Burrow and Ron At World Cup
The Rise of Skywalker
– Luke and Leia Jedi Training. Items come in individual Pop! boxes but will be sold as a bundle
The Mandalorian – The Child with Necklace
Disney’s Pinocchio: Jiminy Cricket
Disney’s Lilo & Stitch – Stitch as Baker
The Simpsons – Comic Book Guy and Wolfman Bart
Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants – Barnacleboy and Mermaidman
Nickelodeon’s Danny Phantom – Danny
McDonald’s – Captain Crook
Pokémon – Flocked Pikachu and Flocked Growlithe
Fortnite – Bash
SODA – Scott Pilgrim vs The World: Envy Adams
The Princess Bride – Fezzik (Super-Sized)
The Umbrella Academy – Young Ben (BD)
The post NYCC 2020 Funko Exclusives appeared first on The Nerd Element.