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It’s become an annual tradition for A Christmas Story to be endlessly rerun on TV every December. But this year, Fox is giving A Christmas Story fans a new reason to celebrate: a live-action adaptation of the stage musical!
Via CNN, Fox has announced that A Christmas Story: The Musical will be a three-hour special on the network this December. The original production of A Christmas Story: The Musical was scored by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who recently won an Oscar for their work on La La Land; Pasek and Paul are also slated to write several new songs for the Fox production. The original movie was based upon Jean Shepherd’s books In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, and it’s previously been adapted as a non-musical stage play.
The movie chronicled Ralphie Parker’s Christmas time quest for a BB gun, and it has proven to be an endearing classic for almost 35 years. The expanded musical could potentially draw upon more material from the original story. The first stage production reincorporated a hilarious subplot about Ralphie mailing ads for the BB gun to his parents. Ralphie even had a love interest in that version, which was entirely left out of the movie. However, the new original songs are what we’re most excited about. There’s a lot of material to draw upon for those!
Are you excited to see A Christmas Story: The Musical on TV? Don’t put your eye out in the comment section below!
Image: MGM
Maybe this Christmas Story should be next?
It’s become an annual tradition for A Christmas Story to be endlessly rerun on TV every December. But this year, Fox is giving A Christmas Story fans a new reason to celebrate: a live-action adaptation of the stage musical!
Via CNN, Fox has announced that A Christmas Story: The Musical will be a three-hour special on the network this December. The original production of A Christmas Story: The Musical was scored by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who recently won an Oscar for their work on La La Land; Pasek and Paul are also slated to write several new songs for the Fox production. The original movie was based upon Jean Shepherd’s books In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, and it’s previously been adapted as a non-musical stage play.
The movie chronicled Ralphie Parker’s Christmas time quest for a BB gun, and it has proven to be an endearing classic for almost 35 years. The expanded musical could potentially draw upon more material from the original story. The first stage production reincorporated a hilarious subplot about Ralphie mailing ads for the BB gun to his parents. Ralphie even had a love interest in that version, which was entirely left out of the movie. However, the new original songs are what we’re most excited about. There’s a lot of material to draw upon for those!
Are you excited to see A Christmas Story: The Musical on TV? Don’t put your eye out in the comment section below!
Image: MGM
Maybe this Christmas Story should be next?
Brands like Maréna Beauté are featured on Marjani’s website (Image: Marjani Beauty Co.)
Remember the name Marjani Beauty because it just might be the black and brown girl’s answer to Sephora.com. This e-commerce beauty destination, dedicated to the beauty and skincare needs of women of color, was created over a span of six months by Kimberly Smith, a Washington D.C.-based attorney who was tired of seeing big-name makeup brands treat black and brown skin as an afterthought.
“This came out of frustration. I was doing my normal beauty run looking for products and couldn’t find exactly what I needed, I couldn’t find products for my skin tone,” she told Black Enterprise in a phone interview. “I thought it would be cool if women of color had a go-to beauty site where they can find all their products.”
Marjani, which means “coral” in Swahili, aims to be that platform. Launched in February, the digital cosmetics and skin care retailer carries a selection of quality products for women of color made by people of color. The brands are curated from all parts of the world, from Morocco to the Caribbean, the U.S., and even Sweden.
Kimberly Smith, Founder and CEO of Marjani Beauty Co. (Image: Marjani Beauty Co.)
Smith’s avid love of beauty and travel also compelled her to create the site. Whether traversing through countries in Africa, Asia, or South America, she noticed that all women of color face the same challenges.
“Colorism and how fair and dark you are comes into play anywhere. When you’re trying to find a foundation for instance, the darker you are the more difficult it is to find the right shade,” she said. “This is the No. 1 issue when it comes to makeup.”
Though she noted that some brands are extending the brown shades they offer, she stressed that a space like Marjani is still needed; where all of the brands are made by people that look like and understand the unique challenges of their potential customers.
“How cool is it to patronize a brand that from the jump, had you in mind as part of what they were formulating when they were creating that product?” Smith said, noting that when women of color visit Marjani, they can feel confident that every product was created with their specific beauty needs front and center.
To determine which brands will make it to the site, Smith and her team sample products to make sure it reflects a particular brand’s promise.
“The fun part is that I am a consumer, what I would want to see and what I’m interested in, a lot of women like me would want these things too,” she said. “We want people to have that boutique experience. When you go to the site, we want to give a taste of luxury made for you.”
Smith wants Marjani Beauty Co. to be known as a leading global beauty platform, accessible to all black and brown consumers regardless of age, hair texture, skin tone, nationality and geographic location. She also envisions it as a global ecosystem that empowers women and encourages them to realize it’s beyond makeup and more about how they feel about themselves.
This is her first run in retail but she’s fortunate to have the help of loved ones on her journey. Her mother runs the operations part of the business.
“Growing up, she was a mentor; she operated her own small business,” Smith said.
The site has already received a lot of praise via personal emails as well as social media, where Marjani has a following of almost 5,000 on Instagram.
“This shows you that it’s beyond superficial. There are many women who are wanting something more,” she said. “We aim not just to be a retailer, but a community.”
Some of Marjani’s black-owned beauty brands
Marjani currently offers 20 brands from around the world. These products reflect Smith’s natural love of collecting various beauty finds when she travels across the globe, from ayurvedic oils straight out of India to cocoa butter from Costa Rica. Her aim is to introduce American women to brands they don’t usually have access to.
AfroDeity
AfroDeity’s Caribbean Hair Mask (Image: Marjani Beauty Co.)
Since this mother-daughter owned brand hit the site, it’s been a hot seller and is one of Smith’s favorites. The U.K-based Caribbean hair and skin care line is known for their luxury Joliette collection. The ocean-inspired Joliette Caribbean Coconut Hair Treatment Mask is made with sea kelp and prickly pear seed oil. The Joliette Caribbean Radiance Facial Wash offers a two-in-one blend of a cream cleanser and a foaming face wash. It’s perfect for uneven skin and made with natural fruit extracts like coconut.
Urban Skin Rx
Urban Skin Rx’s Purifying Pumpkin Pore Mask (Image: Marjani Beauty Co.)
This skincare brand was designed for women of color and their specific skin care issues, particularly the issues that are faced by women who have more melanin. The Even Tone Cleansing Bar offers a blend of kojic and azelaic acids to help fight inflammation and promote even skin pigmentation. It can be used as a mask or daily exfoliator and the brand’s promise is that with regular use, skin tone appears more even. The Purifying Pumpkin Pore Mask combines minerals, enzymes, and vitamins to reduce pore size while cleansing and hydrating.
AJ Crimson
AJ Crimson’s Chasing Saturday matte lipstick (Image: Marjani Beauty Co.)
One of the most trusted names in the beauty industry, Crimson is usually the first choice for celebrities like Missy Elliot, Regina King, and Angela Bassett. Marjani carries a range of foundations, highlighters, and a finishing powder from this Los Angeles brand. Don’t forget to add his #NoFilter and Chasing Saturday lipstick colors to the cart.
Maréna Beauté
Maréna Beauté’s Blush Tarou (Image: Marjani Beauty Co.)
This Swedish brand formulates products exclusively for darker-complexioned consumers. The highly-pigmented blushes are sure to be a show-stopper whether at the office or on a night out. The Blush Tarou comes in six hues, from high-powered Cambi Berry to the warm, Sweet Brown. The brand was founded by makeup artist, Diarry Maréna who is originally from Senegal.
True Moringa
True Moringa’s Black Soap Moringa (Image: Marjani Beauty Co.)
Named after the Moringa tree in Ghana, which contains numerous health benefits, this brand is 100% vegan. Moringa is rich in zeatin, known for stimulating cell division, growth, and delaying aging of cells. The Magic Black Soap is True Moringa’s modern take on the traditional African black soap. It is handcrafted in small batches using raw shea, moringa, neem, and essential oils. Their Ultra-Light Whipped Body Butter is made of a blend of wild-crafted shea and moringa.
As Mother’s Day is quickly approaching, check out Marjanibeauty.com for some quality last-minute, confidence-boosting gifts.
Few things are more likely to make me feel apprehensive as the combination of the words “indie retro horror.” There’s a lot of well-intentioned material with that self-applied categorical description floating around the […]
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Warning, this post contains spoilers for the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Proceed with caution.
For longtime fans of Marvel Comics, one of the biggest treats in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was seeing the original Guardians of the Galaxy debut on the big screen. Led by Sylvester Stallone in the role of Stakar Ogord, also known as Starhawk, the OG Guardians were re-positioned as Ravagers, much like their former teammate Yondu (the always amazing Michael Rooker).
Created in 1969 by writer Arnold Drake and artist Gene Colan, Guardians of the Galaxy bounced around the year 3000, traveling back and forth in time and battling all sorts of villainous aliens. It was basically a generic superhero comic with a semi-rotating cast until the 1990s and a man named Jim Valentino–the very same who helped found Image Comics.
With a fresh new #1 issue, Guardians of the Galaxy relaunched with Valentino serving as writer and artist. Under his creative direction, the adventures of Starhawk, Aleta, Charlie-27, Yondu, Martinex, and Nikki got weird. Really weird and really awesome.
Guardians of the Galaxy By Jim Valentino from Marvel Comics
Does the inclusion of these characters mean that Marvel plans on showcasing some of their bizarre adventures? It’s certainly possible. With the current slate of Guardians of the Galaxy films, Marvel Studios has proven they ain’t afraid of getting weird, and that’s a good thing. If they plan on exploring the adventures of the original Guardians, things are going to get even weirder.
We encourage you to visit your favorite comic book store and pick up some of the classic Guardians of the Galaxy collections, but in the meantime, we thought we’d share some of our favorite moments from the awesomely crazy ’90s run of the series.
Taserface and the Stark
The real star of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is Taserface, the mutineer Ravager who wages battle upon Yondu. You could be thinking, in the comics, Taserface was a Stark: a race of aliens who worshiped Tony Stark. These folks loved Iron Man so much they named their entire race after him. Unlike his cinematic counterpart, the Taserface of the comics is named as such because he literally shoots a taser beam out of his facial armor–it’s not metaphorical, in other words.
Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino from Marvel Comics
Earth, home of the Punishers
The Guardians find themselves on Earth on a number of different occasions, but the strangest involves a trip to Manhattan and a battle with the Punishers. New York has all but been taken over by this brutal gang of Frank Castle devotees. The Guardians engage in an epic street war with these goons and it basically ends with the Guardians retreating. The Punishers are too vast and too insane.
Guardians of the Galaxy from Marvel Comics
The Mutants of the Future
In the world of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, mutantkind fled Earth and started a new life on a different planet. The series actually lays out a pretty cool backstory for this, but the strangest footnote is that the descendants of Wolverine essentially take over as supreme rulers of all mutants.
Guardians of the Galaxy from Marvel Comics
When the Guardians cross paths with the mutants, they are lead by Rancor. She’s a tyrant who looks exactly like Wolverine – that haircut ain’t a good look, lady – and murders her own father. She then takes over the whole planet and turns all the humans she can find into slaves for mutants. It’s crazy stuff.
Major Victory
The one character that seems to be missing from the lineup of original Guardians in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is Vance Astro. The former astronaut is a time traveler, of sorts. He was in a hypersleep on a ship that veered off course, leaving him in suspended animation for over a thousand years. The Guardians discover him, and he joins up with them, eventually becoming the group’s leader and moral center. He ends up with Captain America’s shield, like the original Captain America, and wields it with telekinetic powers that he gained, uh, somehow. All in all, he’s actually a pretty cool character with a great design, that is, until he is reborn as Major Victory.
Guardians of the Galaxy from Marvel Comics
Yes, Major Victory, the most 90’s superhero ever. Even in the far reaches of outer space, in the distant future, mullets and headbands became fashionable. Just look at this guy! The sleeves trenchcoat, the collar, the thigh-high boots! In a comic series filled with crazy stuff, this just might be the craziest. Major Victory, we salute you and your weird fashion choice.
There are plenty of other bizarre moments in the 62-issue run of the 1990s Guardians of the Galaxy. Sure, most of them won’t make it into any Marvel movies, but some might. Hey, 20 years ago, who would have thought we’d have a big screen version of Rocket Raccoon? Maybe Major Victory is ready for his close-up? I mean, Taserface got his screen time, right? Give Vance Astro his due, Marvel!
Did you read the old-school Guardians of the Galaxy? If you did, sound off in the comments below and let us know your favorite moment from the series!
Images: Marvel Comics