REVIEW: ‘Black Widow’ takes viewers on a much-needed return to the Marvel universe

REVIEW: ‘Black Widow’ takes viewers on a much-needed return to the Marvel universe

Since The Avengers first assembled on the silver screen in 2012, audiences have been clamoring for certain members of earth’s mightiest heroes to have their feature films. Fans have been especially eager for the Russian femme fatale, Natasha Romanov, aka Black Widow, to have her turn in the spotlight. After spending more than 16 years in development and numerous delays, including those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Widow finally was released this summer in theaters as well as premier access streaming via Disney Plus. The film’s setting is a mixture between sequel and interquel as it takes place between Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Following the events in Civil War, Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) is a fugitive and unexpectedly reunites with her estranged younger sister-figure/fellow assassin, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). The tense yet touching reunion is short-lived as a conspiracy involving the Black Widow program — a syndicate that trained female assassins including Romanov and Belova — arises. After spending countless years apart, Natasha and Yelena must put aside their differences to take down General Draykov and his army of Black Widows once and for all. The two sisters can’t do this task alone as they need to form a makeshift team with some of the toughest soldiers Russia has ever known: Their adoptive parents, super soldier Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and veteran Black Widow, Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz). As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)’s first venture into the espionage film genre, Black Widow does an excellent job of recognizing its influences, such as the 007 films, all the while maintaining a slick and...
Review: Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘SOUR’ is a sweet debut

Review: Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘SOUR’ is a sweet debut

Since her debut single “driver’s license” was released in January, Olivia Rodrigo has taken the world by storm. Her first album, SOUR, came out in May and quickly topped the charts, earning her appearances at awards shows and Saturday Night Live mere months into her music career. If you aren’t familiar with Rodrigo, she is the latest in the long series of Disney Channel stars turned pop artists, following in the footsteps of singers such as Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. Rodrigo currently stars in Disney’s High School Musical: The Musical The Series (bet you can’t say that three times fast), a series spinoff of the popular High School Musical movie franchise. Rodrigo’s album SOUR pays tribute to her musical inspirations through the 11 tracks which focus on lyrical themes of heartbreak and the coming of age of the artist and her peers. While SOUR is an impressive debut album, it does leave Rodrigo plenty of room to grow and improve in the future. What really holds SOUR back is that it isn’t sure what to be. Many of the songs are pure pop songs and ballads, but there are a couple of songs that lean into an early 2000s pop-punk sound. While variety can be a good thing, there isn’t really a smooth transition between the different sounds and there isn’t an even balance between the two types of songs (mostly pop with two rock songs). The rock-leaning songs are great, but they feel a little bit out of place here. But SOUR’s biggest issue isn’t its genre confusion; it’s how on-the-nose it...
Disney and Pixar’s newest film, Onward, holds a magic-filled-tale that takes the viewer on a journey full of laughs, growth, and forgiveness

Disney and Pixar’s newest film, Onward, holds a magic-filled-tale that takes the viewer on a journey full of laughs, growth, and forgiveness

Onward features a family of elves with who lost their father before their youngest son was born. Ian Lightfoot, voiced by Tom Holland, and older brother Barley, voiced by Chris Pratt, are two brothers who could not be more different. Single mom Laurel, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, has done her best to raise them in little New Mushroomtown. This is a world full of mythical creatures that have found a content life living without their gifts from nature. Magic has long been forgotten in favor of a more efficient and easier solution: Technology. The film begins on Ian’s 16th birthday, when the viewer sees him living a life with which he’s not quite satisfied. His shy tendencies, and not to mention his embarrassing older brother, make it hard for him to feel accepted and comfortable at school. Laurel reveals that their father had left behind a gift for the two sons, only to be given to them once they were both older than 16: A wizard’s staff, an enchanted stone and a spell to bring back their beloved dad for one whole day. Ian turns out to have a natural talent at casting spells, and is able to bring back their father. Well, the lower half of him. With the enchanted stone destroyed, the boys must embark on a quest to find another stone in order to bring back the entirety father before time runs out. Barley, who has a passion for table-top magic games, Ian with the wizard’s staff, and the hilarious pair of legs that is their father head out on their journey in order to be...
Creator of The Proud Family, Bruce W. Smith, visits Lipscomb to share advice and stories

Creator of The Proud Family, Bruce W. Smith, visits Lipscomb to share advice and stories

Friday night, Lipscomb hosted animator Bruce W. Smith, who won an Academy Award for the animated short “Hair Love” and created the Disney Channel series The Proud Family. Smith spoke about his background, his time as an animator (including why he creates media featuring black stories) and gave some information on the upcoming reboot of The Proud Family on Disney+. Smith grew up in Los Angeles and fell in love with animating from a young age. Drawing was contrary to the culture of the area, and that fueled him to create more. “I was a kid who just loved to draw and had to eventually find an outlet for it,” said Smith. “I grew up in L.A. in gang culture, and you had to assimilate and fit in. You have to learn.” Smith credits his mom for inspiring him to continue to draw despite the community around him. He used her likeness and personality as inspiration for the character Suga Mama in The Proud Family. This desire to create only grew when he started animating professionally, but this time he knew what stories he wanted to tell. He noticed that black representation in animation was few and far between. “I realize that our animation business is probably made up of three to five percent African Americans,” said Smith. “Therefore, you won’t get a lot of African American content on the screen from an African American standpoint because the people aren’t there at the table to put us in primary parts of films.” Smith directed “Bebe’s Kids”, one of the first animated films to feature African Americans in a prominent...
‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ is a true comic book movie

‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ is a true comic book movie

“Spider-Man: Far From Home” returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s roots and delivers a story that feels straight from the pages of a comic. Coming fresh on the heels of “Avengers: Endgame,” “Far From Home” makes for the perfect coda to the story that Marvel wrapped up with “Endgame.” It is important to note that this review will have slight spoilers for “Far From Home,” references to past MCU movies, and spoilers for “Avengers: Endgame.” If you have not seen “Endgame,” a new version was released in theaters last Friday. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” immediately answers the questions that bothered so many after “Endgame.” While the film does not answer them perfectly, “Far From Home” reminds the audience just why the MCU formula is a winning one. After the comedic exposition of how life was for non-superpowered people during “Endgame,” we find Peter Parker (Tom Holland) wanting to return to normal high-school life and work up the courage to ask out MJ (Zendaya). The world has different plans for Spider-Man though, as the burden of being the next Iron Man falls on his shoulders. Peter Parker flees the burden of Spider-Man and goes on a class trip across Europe. The traveling montages hark back to the style of National Lampoon movies and clearly shows director Jon Watts’ love for ’80s teen comedies. While on the trip, Peter is forced to be Spider-Man when creatures known as Elementals start attacking cities that Peter and his class are visiting. A new superhuman called Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrives on the scene to help stop the Elementals’ threat. He is joined by Nick...