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https://www.themarysue.com/who-is-the-voice-of-the-lumon-administration-building-on-severance/
You ever watch a show and think to yourself “Wait, I know that voice” but can’t place it? Don’t worry I am here. At least when it comes to Severance.
The Apple TV+ series is back and while we’re back in action with Mark S. (Adam Scott) and his team at Lumon, the episode took some twists and turns. For the most part, Mark was by himself until he demanded that his team was back together at Lumon. Dylan (Zach Cherry), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) all come back to work and they begin planning their future at Lumon.
You ever watch a show and think to yourself “Wait, I know that voice” but can’t place it? Don’t worry I am here. At least when it comes to Severance.
The Apple TV+ series is back and while we’re back in action with Mark S. (Adam Scott) and his team at Lumon, the episode took some twists and turns. For the most part, Mark was by himself until he demanded that his team was back together at Lumon. Dylan (Zach Cherry), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) all come back to work and they begin planning their future at Lumon.
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival kicks off in just one week.
The Festival will take place from January 23–February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with over half of the projects available online from January 30–February 2, 2025, for audiences across the country to discover bold independent storytelling. Single Film Tickets for in-person and online screenings will be available for purchase at the Festival site at festival.sundance.org/tickets beginning this Thursday, January 16, at 9 a.m. PT/10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT/noon ET.
World premieres of projects across program categories will feature Jennifer Lopez, Benedict Cumberbatch, Diego Luna, Conan O’Brien, Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Ayo Edebiri, Olivia Colman, André Holland, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, Bowen Yang, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Lily Gladstone, Dev Patel, Emily Watson, John Lithgow, Marlee Matlin, John Malkovich, Rose Byrne, Dylan O’Brien, Lili Reinhart, Willem Dafoe, and more.
If you’re attending the Festival in person, visit the Festival site to purchase Single Film Tickets ($35) for the screening of your choice in theaters across Park City and Salt Lake City. If you can’t make it in person this year, select online Single Film Tickets ($35) for feature films and episodic projects or the Short Films Pass: Online ($50) and experience the Festival from wherever you are across the country.
Check out the Festival Program Guide to start planning! There, you can browse the features, episodic works, and short films screening in the Festival, find screening times, and learn more about the stories and filmmakers. Visit the 2025 Sundance Film Festival site for additional information about the Festival and check out the official 2025 Sundance Film Festival merch at store.sundance.org.
WHAT:
2025 Sundance Film Festival Single Film Tickets on sale at festival.sundance.org/tickets
Single Film Ticket: In Person
Discover your next Festival favorite with one ticket to a screening of a feature film, short film, or episode of your choice during the Festival.
Price: $35
Dates Valid: January 23–February 2, 2025
Single Film Ticket: Online
Discover your new Festival favorite with one ticket to a screening of your choice. Enjoy convenient, on-demand access from the comfort of your home during the online Festival (January 30–February 2, 2025).
Price: $35
Dates Valid: January 30–February 2, 2025
WHEN:
Single Film Tickets on Sale: Thursday, January 16, at 9 a.m. PT/10 a.m. MT/11 a.m. CT/noon ET
WHERE:
- In-Person Single Film Tickets – festival.sundance.org/tickets/in-person
- Online Single Film Tickets – festival.sundance.org/tickets/online
For all information related to ticket offerings and more, please visit our official 2025 Festival site: festival.sundance.org/tickets.
The post Experience Sundance 2025: In-Person and Online Ticket Info appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
After what feels like forever the lords of content have delivered the gift of gifts, Castlevania is back in the building! Nocturne: Season 2 returns with the goods and all the pieces needed to craft a beautiful season of animation. We still haven’t recovered from the tsunami that was the Arcane, and Netflix serves up another brilliant season of cartoon gold. Nocturne feels different this time like all the pieces have come together perfectly, in unison, like an orchestra. Pared down, lean, and mean as always, but does it have everything that made the first season so great?
Nocturne S1 Ending Recap [Aria]
Yes, yes it does. Proven, by taking us right where we left off. Things are not so great, city vamps up ten. Erzebet is in full effect with the eclipse-making abilities of a god. The Abbot Emmanuel has this reluctant Forgemaster thing on lock. Tera has been turned into a vampire, Maria is out cold, Richter and Annette got run out of the city. Not much is going right, Alucard popped out last second with a three from the logo and took resident bad biddie Drolta off the board.
This down-on-our-luck, plucky underdogs story is what makes the Castlevania series great. Even from its’ source material, that feeling that the odds are insurmountable but you have no choice but to take on an army of evil, one versus one million. Clive Bradley, Samuel and Adam Deats, Testament, Zodwa Nyoni, and Temi Oh are firing on all cylinders as a creative team. You can tell because the idea that the villains might win is just as present as the feeling that maybe the heroes aren’t ready. There’s a balance that keeps this show going, and it never lets up on the viewer.
Performances [Harmony]
As animation continues to ramp up in acceptance by mainstream media outlets, all of the different art styles used to make up the genre continue to grow and be accepted as well. So much of what is paid attention to is the look and feel. What Castlevania has always done is bring top-tier voice acting to the table. Nocturne season 2 continues that tradition.
Edward Bluemel’s Richter is a Belmont through and through. That playfully cocky affect with righteous vengeance undertones is so key to keeping our band of heroes focused on the fight but still human. A hero is rarely this relatable. Bluemel’s Richter is like Peter Parker: overpowered yet witty enough to joke about it but will also put the beats on you if there’s a life to defend.
Thuso Mbedu absolutely shines as the runaway slave and Haitian revolutionary, Annette. Make no mistake, this character is no throwaway or afterthought. Despite being a character race swapped from the source material, it feels like this is who Annette was meant to be. Mbedu is no stranger to playing fierce women, she brings a steadiness to Annette that makes her feel more like the main character this season.
Everyone brought their A-game to the booth. Zahn McClarnon’s trademark silky and airy voice embodies what makes Olrox so intriguing. Franka Potente is HER as Erzebet Bathory, rightfully proud and regal but also ruthlessly evil and selfish. Potente and Nastassja Kinski (another Film/TV veteran) leaning into the regional accents of their characters added so much authenticity to their performances. Not that fake British voice people do, nah. The cast brings to life the idea that this fight is for the sake of the whole world. No misses across the board.
Character Development [Symphony]
Nocturne season one took place three-hundred years after the events of Castlevania. How do you consider the changes a family can go through in that time? You write that shit out. The deepening of the Belmont legacy was always a tough task for the medium of video games. The team behind Nocturne nailed it in such simple ways. Series favorite Drolta Tzuentes (Ms. Tzuentes if you’re nasty) was all that we needed in the first season, but we were left never knowing how she came to be the sultry vampire baddie of legend. We get that backstory this season. They gave it to us in the most streamlined way possible, and it began a pattern of falling dominoes that spiraled into a wonderfully dizzying tapestry of interconnected storylines.
I’ve watched quite a few pieces of media in my time. The patience shown in revealing Drolta’s history and allowing her’s to lead to learning more about everyone else’s? Masterful. There are no questions about the motivations and desires of any given character, in a story that spans the globe, over thousands of years. Each layer and every nuance comes to life, and it’s ‘all killer, no filler’. Such a streamlined season of animation, so impressive that it harkens back to OG animated features like Vampire Hunter D and Robot Hunter. But this is a streaming TV show! With a budget one-fifteenth of what an episode of Arcane costs to make. How does a team flesh a world like that out? With authenticity.
Cultural Competency [Rondo]
The true greatness of watching this series over all these years (Castlevania premiered on Netflix in 2017!) is being able to vet the show’s consistent attempts to honor the culture it borrows. The series begins in the far eastern European reaches of Wallachia, Romania and eight years later manages to include the story of the Haitian revolt from French occupation. The scope is one thing, but the Old Man Coyote is in the details, right?
Olrox is an Aztec vampire who hails from central Mexico. When he shifts form, it’s not into a dragon – it’s the form of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. And he rocks the gold jewelry that Spaniards traveled to steal from his people. He be in Europe looking down on everybody, like, “Really? You backward fools took my people out?!” How he’s so hands-off as if to display his disgust for the continent that brought pestilence to his. Love to see it. Feels real.
Annette freed herself from slavery in Haiti, comes from the Yoruba people, and practices Yoruba religions. She’s the descendant of Ogun, an Orisha of the Yoruba pantheon. Yes, she can fight, but tapped into Ogun she is also an earth and metal magic user! And she communes with the dead via Papa Legba the Orisha of the crossroads. As a Haitian, it gave me so much life to see this practiced, championed even. Not explained in a joke, but to be walked through the sacred and spiritual understanding of this woman and her people. Her culture, being grounded in it, made her mighty. It’s a bit of justice in animated form. Annette’s spiritual journey is the most profound event that will ever take place in this series.
This will always be what sets this series apart from others; it feels so real even though we’re talking vampires, magic, and such. A special touch for me is the way the intro title card tells you who was the lead writer on a given episode. So in the episodes where Annette, Drolta, or Erzebet are center stage, you find Testament, Zodwa Nyoni, and Temi Oh named for writing their cultural competency into the development of the Black and Brown characters of this world. It doesn’t feel like a white world featuring some elements of color. It feels like we are seeing the world as it truly exists, with everyone represented naturally (or supernaturally).
Knucketh If Thou Bucketh [Portrait]
Another thing that makes this series stand out is the action choreography. It’s expected in most anime-styled shows. A bunch of skirmishes that range from the street fight to the mythical battle for the soul of the world. What I’ve always enjoyed about Castlevania is the way Powerhouse Animation uses everything in the room. Ain’t no “Chekov’s gun” in here. If you see it, it’s getting used to whoop ass. Practicality is just another way that the series adds authenticity to the end product. Welcome to another edition of ‘Fantastic Hands and Where To Catch Them’.
Richter doesn’t just use his ice as a blast, it’s also a defensive shell, a blade, and a conductor for his lightning, to heal his burns, and to cool down Annette. On and on. Not limited to Richter of course, because the standout fighter of this season is Maria ‘Bring Em Out’ Renard (voiced by Pixie Davies)! She brought a hell dragon out the portal and had that thing on a string! Like puppet jutsu! Pantomiming combos like she was shadowboxing and had Erzebet on the ropes! The imagination to design different fighting styles and ground them in the world is something that Castlevania does well and that is made into a sweet science in Nocturne’s second season.
Brass Tacks [Lament]
Castlevania: Nocturne season two is phenomenal and brilliant in its understanding of the complexities of history and relationships. If that’s not your bag, then the beautiful animation and consistently high-quality fight scenes got you. This is a must-see season of a must-see series. It premieres on Netflix on January 16th.
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The post These is Bloody Shoes: ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ S2 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Everyone once in a while, a movie comes along where you find yourself enjoying it so much, you feel like you’re right in the mix. One of Them Days does exactly that as it plays out more like a time we can relate to rather than a movie. Keke Palmer and Grammy-Award-winning artist, SZA, play two best friends, Dreux and Alyssa, who find themselves in a bit of a situation when they are pressed to come up with their rent money after Alyssa’s boyfriend spent it. They have the rest of the day to get it all to their landlord or else they face eviction. Both girls are down on their luck financially with Alyssa (SZA) being an aspiring painter and Dreux (Palmer) working at a diner.
To make matters worse, they are racing against the clock to also have Dreux ready to go for an interview for a big girl job that she has the same day. We are taken through a non stop belly laughing time through the chaos the girls go through as the universe throws everything but the kitchen sink at them. The cast is comprised of some familiar faces including Vanessa Bell Calloway, Lil Rel Howery, Katt Williams, Maude Apatow, Janelle James, and an absolute stand out performance from social media breakout, Joshua David Neal.
Directed by Lawrence Lamont, written by Syreeta Singleton, and produced by the talented Issa Rae, One of Them Days is a R-rated comedy that is destined to be an instant cult classic. Imagine if we had a female version of Friday (which it is already gaining many comparisons to the comedy from 30 years ago), this would be it, especially given the California setting. It’s a semi-raunchy, Black to the core chick flick that embraces what life is like in the hood in every form of the word.
From a tenant doing hair in the courtyard to a snack lady that lives in the building, the film stays true to its roots, with Rae mentioning in a recent interview for the film’s press run, “Fighting to have this movie shot in LA which was huge for us and shout out to Sony for allowing us to do so… it would have broke my heart if you were like ‘They not really on Crenshaw, where is this at?’…”
Besides the location being a big contributing factor to what makes the film so authentic, the relatable scenarios of a toxic boyfriend (Neal) and being low on cash when rent is due are just a piece of the pie. The deep friendship between Dreux and Alyssa is tested when fingers start to get pointed at each other during the blame game for their role in the whole situation. In a full audience, there were many times you’d catch head nods at things that were said or events that happened because we’ve all been there.
While Palmer is no stranger to the big screen with many hit films and even had her own talk show, SZA’s performance is to be highly commended as she held her own on screen as the second lead. This is wildly impressive as it’s her first feature film and you would not be able to tell that at all. It’s fair to say that the character she plays is more of a realistic person rather than a fictionalized character. She’s a super supportive best friend that has a ton of peronsonality and will go to war for you at the drop of a hat.
Regardless of why the role may have been simple to play, SZA is so much fun and a highlight of the film, definitely making her massive fan base extremely proud. One thing about Palmer that has come be very special is her ability to deliver some of the biggest laughs so effortlessly. She is just so naturally funny that the jokes and punchlines she bursts out with don’t even seem written, rather they come off as improvised or just natural reactions to the situations she finds herself in. I forever stand of the hill of Palmer being one of the most underrated actresses of our time, and a true gem in the world of Black Hollywood. The real kicker is she is only 31 years old and has accomplished so much that it’s a solid bet that she will continue to have a long lasting career ahead of her.
While the world may feel a way about influencers or folks that grew famous from social media, it is without question that there are some extremely talented individuals that are using the platform to gain attention for the right reasons. With over 1.3 million followers on TikTok (which it seems he recently removed a lot of his content), Neal has had us laughing at his videos for years and it is really dope that he was cast in the film because he is so deserving of the recognition as he has been at his craft for a long time. Overall, One of Them Days is sure to be a fan fave because of the thrill it brings through the wild ride the girls take us on. The realness of every aspect make it more than a film, it’s a day in the life of some stuff that can really pop off in LA any given day. It’s safe to say Palmer and SZA are the duo we never knew we needed on screen. To see more of our reviews on movies out this year check out the link Best Movie Critic Site.
And also out our interviews below with the cast and director below:
One of Them Days premieres in theaters January 17th.
The post Review: ‘One of Them Days’ Give Us a Relatable Female Version of ‘Friday’ and it Hits appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.