REVIEW: BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER

Ruth 1 Comment

The story of the Black Panther has always been more than just the origins of another superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film itself has become a symbol of grace and beauty; a wealth of black pride that celebrates African culture through the fictional country of Wakanda. Chadwick Boseman was the face of that country; the perfect embodiment of what the Black Panther was meant to be. As an actor, he possessed such a quiet, gentle, yet commanding presence. He could convey so much with the slightest movement or expression and when he entered a room you knew you were in the presence of a king.

I’ll admit that I was a bit apprehensive to watch a Black Panther film devoid of Chadwick Boseman. At the same time, I was curious to know how the film could honor his memory while passing along the mantle of the Black Panther. I can say that the film achieves both tasks beautifully.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever  begins with Shuri (T’challa’s younger sister) pleading internally with whatever powers that be that her brother be saved, only for her prayers to be met with silence. In the first five minutes of the movie, it’s made known that the Black Panther, the protector and king of Wakanda, has passed. It’s heartbreaking enough when it’s purely a fictional death. However, both the audience and cast aren’t simply mourning a fictional character, but Chadwick Boseman. The film portrays a hauntingly beautiful funeral ceremony in remembrance of their leader and then the screen transitions into the Marvel logo. However, instead of the usual frames of marvel movies appearing in the lettering, all the frames were of Chadwick in the original Black Panther film. It was a beautiful tribute that assured the audience that this film would not be brushing past the death of it’s hero.

Throughout the film, we see how different characters struggle and process the grief of losing such an important figure in their lives, however it’s made clear that as important as the Black Panther is, Wakanda is not any weaker because of his absence. The entire world is after vibranium and certain powers believe that they can simply walk into Wakanda and take what they want. However, they are brought to justice swiftly and easily. It’s a beautiful scene in which the audience realizes where Wakanda’s power lies. It doesn’t exist in one person alone, but in all of Wakanda. The country is in mourning, and there is no weakness in that grief. The film makes a point of Shuri not taking on the mantle of the Black Panther until the very end of the movie.

Wakanda is clearly the most powerful country to exist. And yet, a new power lies beneath the depths of the sea, a power that may rival even Wakanda; the civilization of Talokan. Talokan is another Vibranium rich civilization that is deeply inspired by Mesoamerican peoples.  There are beautiful parallels shown throughout the film that tie Wakanda and Talokan together. Both are proud civilizations and both have reason to despise the rest of the world. There is turmoil, there is anger, grief, and human weakness, but there’s also a strength that persists; a strength that exists in seeing the suffering and pain of those around you, having the ability to seek retribution and choosing mercy despite it.

It’s a beautiful film that touches on aspects of material power; what people will do to obtain it and what people will do to protect themselves from others greed.

 

 

 

 

Preview: Don José Marti Open Mic

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This Sunday, November 13th, from 7pm – 10pm at the Rackham Graduate School, The Beta Upsilon chapter of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc. are hosting their second annual Don José Marti Open Mic! 

This Open Mic is inspired by one of Beta’s pillars, Don José Marti, who was a Cuban nationalist, poet, journalist, and publisher who is considered a hero in the Latin American liberation movement. This event will represent a large variety of art forms: They welcome writers, musicians, vocalists, actors, dancers, and visual artists to present their artwork or perform in front of a live audience. I specifically liked that they mentioned that performers of all skill levels are welcomed in the Performance Application form. I’ve been to a few open mic events, and have been wanting to expose myself to more. There will also be food catering by a Latin American Cuban Cuisine. If you like poetry, spoken word, short stories, music, dances, visual arts, acting, and photography, this is the event for you! Seems like it will be an exciting night of appreciating and celebrating the arts! 

Make sure to fill out the RSVP Guest Form!

PREVIEW: Campus Orchestras

Sabrina Kliza 1 Comment

Nothing quite beats a post football game concert. So if you find yourself having free time after shedding your maize and blue, you should head to Hill Auditorium this Saturday at 8 pm. Both the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra and the Campus Symphony Orchestra will be performing. Their performances will include Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Symphony No. 2 in D, movements 1 and 2, Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances, and Sibelius: Finlandia. So be sure to check it out!

 

REVIEW: Wendell & Wild

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Wendell and Wild was well-wended but a bit too wild…

The cast is quite stacked, including Ramona Young who I knew from Never Have I Ever, and Key and Peele (who I quite comically didn’t realize was Jordan Peele as well, until writing this review). Father Bests, the head of Kat’s all-girls Catholic school, is voiced by James Hong, whose voice is recognizable as Mr. Ping, Po’s adoptive father from Kung Fu Panda. But Father Bests’ familiarity still poked at me. I finally scratched the itch when I realized he looks familiar too: he resembles RBG but if she was a dude and a vampire (Father Bests isn’t actually a vampire, just looks like one).

There’s also quite a noticeable bit of diversity and representation within the cast and characters. The students within Rust Bank Catholic are all people of color. In this world, while race doesn’t seem to explicitly reflect our society’s real relationship with racial tensions and injustice (unless the town council members were presumably white (though we can’t tell in their skeletal forms)), the film points out microaggressions towards the trans community, as seen through Kat’s friend, Raul’s experience.

Among the film’s great elements are its music, of which my favorite was “Ghost Town” by the Specials. Listen to the official soundtrack here: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/wendell-wild-official-playlist/pl.6c5f7051b6794938a42a8258a486243f

WENDELL & WILD – BTS. Cr: Ariel Spaugh/NETFLIX © 2022

The animation is also above par. During a set visit from Screen Rant, Henry Selick said, “It’s not all lubricated imagery, perfectly done, that’s just like every other Hollywood CG film.” Yet this somehow makes the animation feel crisp and meticulous, a step even higher than the high-quality claymation of Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I first noticed this during a shot of ice sloshing under the wheel of a car transporting Kat from prison to her new school. The sound along with the depth / detail of the crunching ice was extremely satisfying.

The detail put into the visuals and worldbuilding of Rust Bank was also highly appreciated. From the snowy setting to the hellish creatures, to the wardrobe. The fits felt familiar — from the pooling nuns robes to the schoolgirl skirts and blazers with safety pins cutting through them — yet held an edge. Kat’s fashion is very in right now, though a friend pointed out that her vamped-up, rebellious school uniform felt unrealistic and erroneous of punk culture couture, much of which came out of d.i.y.ing the stuff of second hand stores and rummage sales.

I guess what felt off about the movie was its rating. As a PG-13 stop-animation film on Netflix, just from looking at the cover and synopsis, it presents as a spooky movie for kids. Upon finishing the film, it still seemed like it was meant to be a children’s movie (maybe more for tweens), because of the lack of curse words or other PG-13 things. It felt like the movie had been planned and made that way, but the rating was hiked up last minute because of the dark comedy and subject matter (demons). Maybe the demon brothers Wendell and Wild getting high off of their dad’s hair cream, the juvenile justice system, death, and Kat’s parents’ business that got burnt down (a brewery) also took part in the heightened rating.

A few elements of the script and plot resolution also felt a bit too easy. Kat getting a hold of her power after “owning her memories” and saying to her monster, “I’m in control of my life now, not you,” felt a little cheesy and too forward. The ending – family reconciled, Klax Korp finished, whooo victory! – is packaged up a little too nicely, especially because of the film’s multiple threads. The story opens up too many conflicts in the first half, but couldn’t tie up those loose ends within the 1 hour and 45 minutes, without tackling them in a way that felt forced. Maybe demons and the prison industrial context were a little too much to handle. Jordan Peele’s storyline and dialogue are usually his strong suit, so this felt a little disappointing. I had very high hopes because of the household names, and felt like all of the anticipation wasn’t lived up to. As my friend said, “Maybe he’s better with real people.”

But overall, Wendell and Wild was a cool film to watch, especially on Halloween weekend. Just wouldn’t watch twice.

Sources: https://screenrant.com/wendell-wild-everything-learned-from-set-visit/

REVIEW: Celebrasia

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*The image above is rXn, CSA’s dance group*

Celebrasia is definitely one of the events on campus with the best attendance turnout. The posting wall was flooded with people, truly resembling a night market, and people had already begun waiting in line thirty minutes before the performance. Unfortunately for those who didn’t come early, there weren’t enough seats (even for the performers); the aisles and back of the auditorium were flooded with people too, and they all stood for the entirety of the two-and-a-half-hour show. It was impressive how eager everybody was to watch the student organizations.

Having The Qingyun Chinese Music Ensemble perform first was a good decision; it established Celebrasia’s emphasis on cultural diversity by presenting various Chinese instruments such as the erhu and guzheng. It was also my first time hearing traditional Chinese music performed live; the sight and sounds of their ensemble were captivating with its heart-tugging melodies and gentle rhythms.

One of the most hyped-up performances was by DB3, the all-male K-pop dance group. It’s unsurprising how excited the audience was, as DB3 went hard on promoting their concept: ‘School Daze’. Each member wore a cute school uniform, and on their Instagram, they posted pictures of their group and all members too. 

In contrast, Moli, the female Chinese cultural dance group performed right after, and it was one of my favorite performances. They incorporated their clothing and fans into the dance as if they were extensions of their body and wore multiple outfits throughout their act. It was amazing how they managed to change clothes in such a short time and still keep the audience engaged throughout.

It’s understandable why popular songs and more powerful moves earn the most cheers, but this group stood out to me because of how different they were. While I was extremely excited watching all the hip-hop dances, I was most awe-inspired by Moli’s choreography.

Revolution, however, had a fantastic performance that successfully fused both culture and hip-hop. This group was also extremely memorable because the audience would collectively scream oooh and sigh aww. Unlike other performances, if one of the members stumbled it still added to the cheerful atmosphere in that way. It was so much fun because of that, and I would giggle at how in sync we were as an audience. Revolution is an extremely large group, but no member shined less than the others as our focus was on the Chinese Yo-Yos being tossed and twirled and caught in sync with the music. Their performances always showcase how strong their teamwork is and how much the members need to trust each other because many of the moves rely on one another to be successful. In small groups, that’s already hard, so Revolution is especially extraordinary.

I haven’t touched upon all of the groups that performed, but not because they were lesser in any way. If I did, then this review would probably be 2,000 words. As much as I’d love to do that, I don’t think it’d do justice to every group’s hard work and talent. That’s why it’s up to you, fellow reader, to go check out their performances yourselves! Especially for the groups I haven’t mentioned. If you’re interested in who did perform,

I want to give a special shout-out to those who worked through the technical difficulties at Celebrasia like Female Gayo and Seoul Juice. It showed their professionalism as performers, and they still killed it despite the additional challenges.

Celebrasia is genuinely one of the most special events on campus. If you missed it this time, don’t miss it next year!

REVIEW: COSTUMES – 2022 Fall Ann Arbor StorySLAMS at The Blind Pig

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The Moth StorySLAM was a hit! 

If you’ve never heard of Moth, this is how StorySLAMs work: 

StorySLAMs are a night of storytelling. Ten brave souls volunteer to tell a five-minute story, which are given scores. The story crowned with the highest score moves on to compete at the Moth Grand Slam. In between each five-minute story, there are also story slips (strips?), which are anonymous 140-character micro stories that are shared in between each storyteller. The story slip prompt was, tell us about a time the mask came off. 

 

“True stories. Told. Live. No costumes, props, visual aids.”

The theme of the night was Costumes. This compiled into stories about prized garments, wigs, dyed hair, Halloween, costumes for the sake of survival, and revealing your true self. 

In a way, the clothes we wear are our daily costume, as the event had described. As soon as the host, Amir, described his attire as “recently fired from Hogwarts,” I knew the night could only be going good places.

My friend Isabel and I wrote our story slips with her copywriter skills obliterating my wordy ramble. 

Being one of the youngest people in the room, with big fat sharpied Xs profaning both of my hands, it felt weird to see all the adults of Ann Arbor sip their cocktails on my left and right, laughing boisterously at the host’s jokes. It felt like I was at the filming of a sitcom. All the laughs felt fake, like someone pressed a remote and a ‘LAUGH’ sign lit up and cued a sound effect from the audience. I sipped my water and swallowed this new taste of sophisticated fun.

The three teams of judges were specially handpicked from the audience: people who were completely unburdened by expertise, with no experience whatsoever under their belts. At least one person would be telling a part of their lives to an audience for the first time in their lives.

… And the fate of these storytellers was in the hands of judges named The Ghostbusters, The Mothman (“…Moth is a copywriter trade mark” – Amir), and Witch, please.

I’m afraid I can’t do justice to the ten stories that were told, and I wish you could just hear them yourself. To boil it down, there were stories about clown sex, sexy Beetlejuice Halloween attire and hand-me-down tank tops, a fiberglass back brace from the eighties, designing yoga clothes, working with a trauma patient, a lawyer dying her hair, seeing the sea for the first time, misunderstandings from an eyepatch, a pleated drinking skirt named Alice, and a closeted trans woman who played the part of a male pastor for years until she found the freedom of not pretending.

To our complete shock, Isabel’s anonymous story slip was pulled first, mine second. My first Moth experience was off to a great start.

Amir walked up to the mic, unfolded my slip, and read: “I ran over a grandma with a bike. Wheel punched her leg, my chin got chucked. Mask heavy, soaked red, pooled with blood, it fell off.”

 Silence. 

Then the room exploded. Amir went on a tangent. “You’re not focused on the right mask, it’s not all about you! You’re worried about your mask when Calin’s (the sexy beetlejuice girl) grandma is lying on the ground, clutching her spaghetti straps, wheezing out her last?!!”

A few more of the good ones:

“When I first met my girlfriend I used to hold my farts. Now that she’s in love with me I toot to my heart’s content.”

“Took him home. We did it. My wig came off.” 

By the end of the night I had no idea which story would win; all of them were phenomenal, unexpected, fantastic. A guy did the math on the whiteboard. We drumrolled.

…..It was 3-way tie! (A drunken holler of “3-way!!!” from an audience member.) In this scenario, they decided to take the highest individual score, which had been Johanna’s (the ex-pastor and proud trans woman, who no longer bears the burden of being in costume)!

The night ended with a late night Blank Slate run where we ran into the host of the show. We psyched ourselves up to own up to the stories we wrote (Listen Amir… I’m the one who ran over that grandma…), but he grabbed his cone in a brisk blur and the door jingled on his way out, coattail fluttering before it closed shut. The universe didn’t want us to confess.

I’ll definitely be joining the next StorySLAM in November! There’s no telling how the night will go with Moth, where its wispy wings might take you. The clown sex story is a testament to that.