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With the X-Men finally saying goodbye (until the inevitable MCU reboot), fans of the chosen family and their epic adventures may well be feeling sad about the lack of X hyphenated entertainment on their screens. Luckily, due to the collective being one of the most influential pop culture inventions of the last century, there are plenty of films and a couple of series that offer up something to fill the X-shaped hole in your soul.

My Hero Academia

This anime adaptation of the manga series of the same name had to come first on our list as it’s as close to Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters as you’re ever going to find outside Westchester County, NY. Set in a reality where super-people with powers known as “Quirks” are revered as celebrities, this series focuses on Izuku, a Quirk-less kid who suddenly finds himself given powers by the most famed hero of all. We follow Izuku to the U.A. High School, which—just like Xavier’s—trains the next generation of superheroes. Chosen family, high school drama, and high action make My Hero Academia a must-watch for X-Fans.

My Hero Academia is currently available on Hulu.

The Darkest Minds

Based on a popular YA novel, The Darkest Minds slipped under many radars as it failed to reach the lofty heights of teen films like The Hunger Games and Twilight. For X-Men fans, though, this tormented tale of oppression, fascistic government oversight, kids with powers, and ultimately rebellion will likely appeal. In tone, it’s closer to Logan than the more family-focused X-Films. It stars Amandla Stenberg as a superpowered young woman who has to hide her true strength in a world that fears her.

The Darkest Minds is currently available on HBO.

Midnight Special

Midnight Special doesn’t have a school of young heroes but it is a film that—just like the X-Men—deals with the concept of superpowers and the people who exploit and protect those who have them. Set in rural Texas, the story centers on a young boy called Alton and the men (including one Michael Shannon) who are trying to save him from an apparent doomsday cult that wants to harness his powers. Midnight Special also works as an interesting reflection of the world that Charles Xavier wants to create, where boys like Alton would never have to go on the run or rely on the kindness of others.

Midnight Special is currently available on Cinemax.

Death Note

One of the defining features of the X-Men comics and the more recent films has been the relationship between Charles Xavier and his friend-turned-enemy Erik Lehnsherr. It’s a dynamic that launched a thousand ships and inspired multiple frenemies in pop culture. Death Note is an example of another such relationship as Light Yagami finds a book which can kill people simply by writing their name and is hunted down by a mysterious young detective named L. This engaging battle of wits is at the center of the brilliant cult supernatural anime.

Death Note is currently available on Netflix, Hulu, Tubi, and Vudu.

Thelma

Thelma is a startling Scandinavian offering that leans into one of the most popular X-Men themes: the repression of teenage sexuality. In the comics, the X-Men’s mutations are an allegory for puberty and the changes that we all go through as we hit the teenage years. Thelma extrapolates this with a searing exploration of a repressed young woman who gains strange powers that manifest with extreme seizures when she falls for a girl in her university.

Thelma is currently available on Hulu.

Ranma 1/2

Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most influential and prolific cartoonists of all time and Ranma 1/2 is a great example of her narrative power. Though the plot about a young boy who falls in a magical well and transforms into a young girl anytime he gets wet may not seem similar to the X-Men, the sprawling sequential story is a radical subversion of the gender binary that explores teenage growth and changes through the lens of strange superpowers. It’s also really good.

Ranma 1/2 is currently available on Hulu and Vudu.

Erased

Another anime entry, this detective series offers up an intriguing mystery perfect for fans of Days of Future Past as a young man learns he has the power to travel into the past and decides that he’s going to save the life of a friend who was murdered when he was a child. Chilly, thoughtful, and addictive, Erased is reminiscent of the beloved Claremont-era X-Men where the stories were elevated by topical themes, superior character work, and, of course, wonderful art.

Erased is currently available on Hulu.

Colossal

Though this entry stretches the definition of superpowers, the Anne Hathaway-starring flick is, just like X-Men, a solid example of fantasy storytelling that surprises you with the deeper themes underneath. After an alcoholic young woman, Gloria, heads back to her hometown and reconnects with an old friend, she realizes that giant kaiju-like monsters that are appearing in cities are controlled by her and others like her. The real story here, though, is about abusive relationships, their power, and how to escape them.

Colossal is currently available on Hulu.

Fast Color

This critically acclaimed but criminally underlooked movie about three generations of black female superheroes does what X-Men has always tried to. One of the biggest flaws of the X-World is that it’s ostensibly built on the idea of mutants as an allegory for the Civil Rights movement but without consistently centering black people, or many marginalized groups at all. Fast Color subverts this by centering black women and their experience of superpowers and everything that comes with them.

Fast Color will be available on Digital as of June 18.

Chronicle

Chronicle is a direct descendant of the X-Men and many of the other comic books that we all grew up on. Though it’s essentially a remake of Katsuhiro Otomo’s amazing anime Akira, it still takes a lot from the classic comics: a group of teens with strange powers, two best friends who end up driven apart by their powers, and a lot of tragic unnecessary death. Also, shoutout Michael B. Jordan, who does such a good Johnny Storm impression here he actually got cast as Johnny Storm in the doomed Fant4stic movie.

Chronicle is not currently streaming, sadly.

Sky High

Preceding My Hero Academia by a decade, this fresh family flick has cult status amongst fans with Kurt Russell killing it as Steve Stronghold, one of the world’s most powerful heroes. The film centers on his son, Will, who gets a place at the titular academy for young supers. Fluffy, fanciful, and filled with fun superpowered hijinx, Sky High taps into some real classic era X-Men vibes with a Silver Age silliness that’s impossible to ignore.

Sky High is not currently streaming either.

Images: Crunchyroll, Faliro House Productions, Nippon TV, Motlys, Studio Dean, Fuji TV, A-1 Pictures, Voltage, Neon, Codeblack Films, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Productions.

The post 11 Non-X-MEN Movies That Are Actually Great X-MEN Movies appeared first on Nerdist.

Southern Fried Asian returns with a brand new episode! Keith is joined by Soman Chainani, the New York Times-bestselling author of the hit children’s fantasy series, the School For Good and Evil. The fifth book in the series, A Crystal of Time, is available now wherever books are sold. http://traffic.libsyn.com/southernfriedasian/SFA_Soman.mp3 Soman kicks off the show […]

It’s arguably one of the coolest moments in Avengers: Endgame. At the finale when everything looks lost for our heroes, Tony Stark wears his own version of the Infinity Gauntlet, and repeats the iconic lines from his first movie outing – “I am Iron Man.” And thus, he snaps his fingers and saves the entire universe from the threat of Thanos. And sadly sacrifices his own life in the process. But we learned that the Iron Gauntlet was now one of the coolest gizmos ever in a Marvel movie.



Fans who want to commemorate that moment of heroic sacrifice can of course buy one of the high end replicas, or maybe one of the toy plastic versions. But what if you want something you made yourself, just like Tony did? Well, thanks to this DIY video from SeansCrafts, (via Geeks Are Sexy)  you can now learn how to make your own Iron Gauntlet. Only not out of metal, out of everyday ordinary cardboard. And a few bottle of acrylic paint as well.

There are a lot of DIY videos out there. Some for making props and costume based on famous movies and TV shows. We’ve seen everything from how to make Wonder Woman’s costume to how to create Freddy Krueger’s infamous gloves. But most of them require products not commonly found in one’s own home to make them. But almost everybody has some form of cardboard gathering dust in their garage.

If the Iron Gauntlet isn’t enough, the same YouTube channel has instructions on how to make a similar version of Spider-Man’s web shooters. He also has a ton of other non movie related cardboard creations, like pinball machines and even a skee-ball machine. To check out those and other videos, be sure to head on over to the SeanCrafts YouTube channel.

Images: SeanCrafts

The post How To Create IRON MAN’s Infinity Gauntlet Out Of Cardboard appeared first on Nerdist.

A whopping $1.3 million was raised by The Gordon Parks Foundation at the organization’s annual award dinner and auction on June 4. The Tuesday night event, held at Cipriani, honored former NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and artist Kehinde Wiley, who immortalized former President Barack Obama in a presidential portrait painting.

Both humanitarians have been paying it forward; Abdul-Jabbar with social activism and Wiley with his ‘art-ivism.’ The two icons were honored alongside Carol Sutton Lewis and William M. Lewis, Jr., Chelsea Clinton, and Raf Simons.

(Sarah Jones, BFA Images)

Other notable African Americans—including Gayle King, Danny Glover, Questlove, Amy Sherald, Dapper Dan, Coach K, and Carrie Mae Weems to name a few—gathered to celebrate the famed photographer’s legacy, honor those who carry a torch in his name, and support artistic and educational initiatives doing creative social justice work. Key speakers were Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault and Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, and Tony Award-winner Sarah Jones.

(The Gordon Parks Awards Dinner, BFA)

“It’s nice to see that Gordon’s legacy is conveyed to many generations after his passing,” Abdul-Jabbar told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “His photographs exemplify and personify the civil rights movement.”

In February, ESPN reported, that the 7-foot-2 inch tall Hall of Famer auctioned four of his six championship rings for $1.2 million to benefit Skyhook, his own foundation that offers “STEM opportunities to underserved communities,” according to the organization’s website. The foundation is named after a shot Abdul-Jabbar perfected throughout his ball-playing days. The all-star athlete is adamant about serving children “a shot that can’t be blocked,” and auctioning the historic memorabilia, Abdul-Jabbar stated: “enabled me to give back in an important way.”

Wiley is shooting winning shots as well. Across the Atlantic, the famed artist rolled out Black Rock Senegal, an artist residency in Dakar, to bring together creatives, producing in a range disciplines, from around the world, to work together and shift the global narrative and perspective of Africa.

(Kehinde Wiley, Swizz Beatz, Sean Zanni/PMC)

In addition to honoring these leaders for their philanthropy and humanitarianism, artist and archivists Guadalupe Rosales and conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas were awarded the 2019 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship. One hundred students received scholarships for their pursuit of the art forms bearing Parks’s “breadth and integrity,” as the Foundation puts it. Disciplines include photography, art history, African and African American studies visual art, and journalism The festivities didn’t stop there. Attendees also celebrated the 20th anniversary of Parks’ iconic photograph, A Great Day In Hip-Hop. Photographer and 2018 Gordon Parks Foundation honoree Jamel Shabazz, known for his documentary-styled images of Black urban life, recaptured the image with several hip-hop artist who were present for the original shoot — including Slick Rick, Pete Rock, Kool Keith, Questlove, Black Thought, Rah Digga, Grandmaster Kas, and hip-hop historian Fab Five Freddy and filmmaker Benny Boom. The cherry on top of the stunning evening was a stellar performance by The Roots.

(Black Thought, Kehinde Wiley, Swizz Beatz, Questlove, Sean Zanni/PMC)

The Gordon Parks Foundation was born out of great loss when the notable photographer transitioned in 2006. The foundation preserves Parks’s work and makes it accessible to the public. The arts organization has been supporting artists and funding arts initiatives with a focus on social justice since 2009. Each year since, funds are raised through auction and at The Gordon Parks Annual Awards Dinner And Auction where individuals are honored for their astounding contribution to the arts and social justice. In 2017, the foundation established the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship to support creatives working in the same vein as Parks. To find out more about Gordon Parks and The Gordon Parks Foundation, click here.