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recentanimenews · 8 years

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FEATURE: "Mass Effect: Andromeda" Hands-on Impressions

From Valkyria Chronicles to Gears of War to Dishonored, the last console generation gave me a bunch of new game franchises I seriously got into, but none captured my imagination quite like Mass Effect. Hitting a perfect sweet spot somewhere between Star Trek, Farscape, and Firefly with hints of my favorite military sci-fi, Mass Effect really felt like my own adventure--my crew, my mission, my terrible dancing skills.

Yes, I even liked ME3's ending--we'll talk about that another time

After a five-year break, Mass Effect is coming back--or rather, boldly going in a new direction, all the way to a new galaxy with new aliens, new threats, and new mysteries to uncover in Mass Effect: Andromeda. While the story starts during Mass Effect 2, it picks up 600 years later as the frozen-in-cryosleep crew of a human ark ship has made its way to the Andromeda Galaxy, seeking out a new home for humanity. I was lucky enough to get an early chance to play Mass Effect: Andromeda at EA's Redwood City headquarters, and I was surprised at how much changed, even while so much stayed familiar.

For starters, we watched some folks from BioWare guide us through the world of Andromeda and what we could expect to see, telling us about the new worlds, characters, and dangers we'd be facing. Character creation options are much more in-depth this time around, with more cosmetic options thanks to the Ryders' non-military background, and better, more varied skintone and hair options. Shepard had to keep his/her hair in line with regs--Scott and Sara can go with a matching blue undercuts for the full '80s sci-fi anime experience. Instead of codes, you're able to save your uniquely-created characters and upload them directly. Of course, you can choose to play as a male or female character, and you can customize your twin to the level you customize your playable character.

Classes from the previous games return, albeit slightly retooled to match the "explorer" feel of Andromeda. Soldiers are now "Security," Sentinels are now "Leaders," and there are new classes like the "Scrapper," a frontline fighter who gets bonuses to melee weapons (seeing the words "krogan hammer" in my inventory have never made me happier). Andromeda is also moving away from the Paragon/Renegade system with the new "Tone Wheel," going in an almost Dragon Age-like direction with character-building through dialogue. Ryder can give Emotional, Logical, Casual, or Professional responses (QTE interrupts also return, building the "Impulsive" trait), and your responses determine your reputation over time.

After watching Ryder get awoken from cryosleep, the ark ship gets caught on a massive obstruction in space--and the "garden world" we're supposed to land on doesn't look particularly welcoming. We watch Ryder help fix a busted conduit with the new Omni-Tool scanner, a tool you'll end up using a lot in your time playing the game--it's essential to your progress. The menu's the same--your Journal, your Codex, a massive skill tree for characters to develop in--and once the crew headed down to the planet, we were finally given the chance to try Andromeda for ourselves.

It's strange to say, but Andromeda feels a lot like the original Mass Effect, and that's not a bad thing. There's a greater focus on exploration, on scanning as many things as you can, building up resources that you'll later use for crafting and upgrading equipment. The built-in thrusters on your suit now allow for jumping and dashing, giving you more options for traversal and letting you explore greater heights, or safely descend to see what's down low. When the planet's not-too-friendly residents attack, everything's familiar, with one major change: you no longer hit a button to get into cover. Much like ME1, you just run up to cover, and it works quite a bit better for the feel of this game. Dashes and jumping let you quickly take control of each individual battle, claiming high ground or zig-zagging to get close.

Once I finished the first mission, I was skipped ahead a ways into the story, this time checking out a busy port city and investigating the location of an enemy ship. I'm supposed to negotiate with an infamous resistance leader to get a chance to talk to a prisoner in her custody--playing nice with her, she gives me access to him, and I immediately switch gears and play hardball with the prisoner. He gives up the info, revealing the location of a datapad full of information that he hid. We make our way out to the Badlands just outside of hte port city, and I'm given a chance to explore on my own.

The new ground vehicle "Nomad" is a nice callback to the original Mako--not only is it faster, but it can drift, and can change from 4WD to 6WD to navigate insane terrain. Off the beaten path, I immediately run into a massive alien monolith with a central console, similar to Prothean architecture of the original trilogy. Scanning it reveals paths I have to follow, giving me pieces to a puzzle, and once I get those pieces, I have to solve a pretty simple randoku board (get the wrong answer like I did, and it triggers an enemy attack). These monoliths dot the landscape of this planet, and activating all of them will have unique repercussions on the planet's ecosystem--and there are more on other planets. I head back onto the main path, getting attacked by bandits and pirates every few minutes, and I even stop to fight some local wildlife (and scanning all their corpses). Eventually, I locate the datapad and gain access to the enemy ship.

Once on-board, I try to sneak around before I set off a (scripted) alarm, being forced into a running, multi-level gunfight and forcing my way through several ambushes. The last of these was no joke--apparently I took on at least one of each of this race's enemy types in this fight, saving the best (worst?) for last: a biotic-of-sorts protected by a powerful forcefield, with an orbiting drone that could channel the field into huge AOE attacks. Playing a biotic for this demo, I took advantage of the now-easily-identified combo attacks, divided into setup and finisher moves, which you can pull off yourself or set up through your teammates. The amount of verticality is nice--instead of literally having to run complete circles around a room to get into position or kite enemies, you're encouraged to simply hop down a level and leave a trap for them, or take the high ground and shower them with bullets. The action is satisfyingly fast, frantic, and can't be survived on brute force alone (although I certainly tried).

I ended up staying a little longer than I was allowed (EA was very nice to me, and people were watching me John Wick my way through that last fight), but once that was over I had to pack it up and say goodbye to Andromeda until the game's actually out on March 21. I really enjoyed my time with the game, and I can't wait to get my hands on the full release--I and a few friends of mine have asked for time off. We know what's up.

Are you looking forward to Mass Effect: Andromeda? From what we've learned so far, what seems most interesting to you? And what were your favorite moments from the original trilogy? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

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Nate Ming is the Features and Reviews Editor for Crunchyroll News, creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column, and the Customer Support Lead for Crunchyroll. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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recentnews18-blog · 6 years

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New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/maysoon-zayid-interview-i-want-to-be-the-image-of-the-american-you-dont-think-is-american/

Maysoon Zayid interview: 'I want to be the image of the American you don't think is American'

US standup comedian Maysoon Zayid likes to joke that if there were a competition called the Oppression Olympics, she would win gold.

“I’m Palestinian, Muslim, I’m a woman of colour, I’m disabled,” Zayid, who has cerebral palsy, tells audiences, before pausing a beat to hang her head, her long dark hair curtaining her face, “and I live in New Jersey”.

The joke lands laughs whether Zayid tells it in red states or blue, and puts people exactly where Zayid wants them: disarmed, charmed and eager for more. She told it near the beginning of her 2014 TED Talk, which drew nearly 15 million views, became the most-watched TED Talk that year and changed Zayid’s life. She now has a development deal with ABC to create a semi-autobiographical sitcom called Can-Can, starring her.

The show faces daunting odds; only a handful of the dozens of scripts networks order each autumn make it to air. But if Can-Can makes it all the way – Zayid told studio executives that she would end up in an internment camp if it didn’t – it may push two populations, one widely ignored, the other demonised, from the country’s margins into the mainstream.

People with disabilities make up nearly 20 per cent of the population yet account for about 2 per cent of onscreen characters, some 95 per cent of which are played by able-bodied stars. And it is hard to imagine a group more vilified in the United States than Muslims or Middle Easterners, whom, as Zayid’s television writing partner, Joanna Quraishi, said, “Americans see as either terrorists or Kardashians.”

The executive producers of Can-Can include Todd Milliner and Sean Hayes, who plays Jack on Will & Grace, itself a groundbreaking show credited with helping make gay characters mainstream. Milliner and Hayes are well aware of the envelope-pushing potential of Can-Can, but said that was not what sold them on Zayid.

Her energy filled the room, and she was self-aware, super smart, and madly funny. Crucially, she had a singular story. “The whole business is moving even more toward authentic stories that aren’t on TV right now,” Milliner said.

Zayid is a vociferous part of a small, dedicated movement calling attention to disability rights in entertainment, which are consistently overlooked in the quote-unquote diversity conversation.

Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, a philanthropic and advocacy organisation for disability rights (it also works to strengthen ties between American Jews and Israel), said Zayid’s show could crush enduring stigmas disabled people face. “Progress is being made very slowly, but shows can be transformational,” he said.

The Can-Can character will be much like Zayid, a woman who happens to be disabled and Muslim and who grew up in New Jersey with big hair and Metallica T-shirts, navigating love and friendships and the world. “I want to get out there and be the image of the American you don’t think is American, and the Muslim you don’t think of when you think of a Muslim,” she said.

Zayid lives in a bright, plant-filled apartment in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, that she shares with her husband and their cat. She likes to keep her husband’s name under wraps, and publicly refers to him as Chefugee, for he is indeed both a refugee – they met while she was working with refugees in the Palestinian territories – and a chef.

Zayid’s parents, who are from a village outside Ramallah, also raised their family here. Zayid is the youngest of four daughters, and had an idyllic childhood despite a traumatic birth. The doctor botched her mother’s C-section, she said, smothering Zayid. Cerebral palsy is not genetic; it’s often caused by brain trauma before or during birth, and manifests differently in people. Zayid shakes all the time, though yoga has lessened the severity, and can walk but cannot stand for very long (she calls herself a sit-down standup comedian).

Her parents treated her no differently from her siblings. Her father, a gregarious salesman, taught her to walk by having her stand on his feet. She was sent to dance and piano lessons because the family could not afford physical or occupational therapy, and she became a popular high achiever. “I lived in a bubble,” she told me, “and that is very much related to who I am now”.

At college, her bubble burst. She went to Arizona State University on an academic scholarship, and on her first day in an English literature class, her professor stunned her by asking, “Can you read?” She majored in theatre – her lifelong dream has been to appear on General Hospital – yet despite wowing teachers she was never cast in school productions. Even when the theatre department mounted a play about a girl with cerebral palsy, a non-disabled student was chosen over Zayid for the part.

“It was devastating, because I knew I was good,” Zayid said. “The girl who got it was a great actress. But why would anyone want to see her fake cerebral palsy, when I’m sitting right here?”

It was a light-bulb moment, and she realised that the movies she loved with disabled characters, like Born on the Fourth of July, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and Rain Man, all had visibly non-disabled stars. She pursed acting after graduation, until a forthright acting coach told her she would never get cast, and ought to do a one-woman show.

leftCreated with Sketch. rightCreated with Sketch.

1/25 Bojack Horseman

A cartoon about a talking horse, starring the goofy older brother from Arrested Development… on paper little about BoJack Horseman screams “must watch”. Yet the series almost immediately transcended its format to deliver a moving and very funny rumination on depression and middle-age malaise. Will Arnett plays BoJack – one time star of Nineties hit sitcom Horsin’ Around – as a lost soul whose turbo-charged narcissism prevents him getting his life together. Almost as good are a support cast including Alison Brie (Glow, Mad Men), Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad, and Amy Sedaris as a pampered Persian cat who is also BoJack’s agent. Season five touches the live rail of harassment in the movie industry, offering one of the most astute commentaries yet on the #MeToo movement with an episode based centred around an awards ceremony called “The Forgivies”.

Netflix

2/25 Stranger Things

A valentine to the Spielberg school of Eighties blockbuster, with Winona Ryder as a small town mom whose son is abducted by a transdimensional monster. ET, Goonies, Close Encounters, Alien and everything Stephen King wrote between 1975 and 1990 are all tossed into the blender by Millennial writer-creators the Duffer brothers. It was clear Stranger Things was going to be a mega-smash when Barb – the “best friend” character eaten in the second episode – went viral the weekend it dropped.

Netflix

3/25 Daredevil

Netflix’s Marvel shows tend towards the overlong and turgid. An exception is the high-kicking Daredevil, with Charlie Cox’s blind lawyer/crimefighter banishing all memory of Ben Affleck’s turn donning the red jumpsuit in 2003. With New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood as backdrop, Daredevil is caked in street-level grit and features a searing series one performance by Vincent D’Onofrio as the villainous Kingpin. The perfect antidote to the deafening bombast of the big screen Marvel movies.

Netflix

4/25 The Staircase

Did he do it? Does it matter considering the lengths the Durham, North Carolina police seemingly went in order to stitch him up? Sitting through this twisting, turning documenting about the trial of Michael Peterson – charged with the murder in 2003 of his wife – the viewer may find themselves alternately empathising with and recoiling from the accused. It’s a feat of bravura factual filmmaking from French documentarian Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, which comes to Netflix with a recently shot three-part coda catching up with the (very weird) Peterson clan a decade on.

Netflix

5/25 Dark

Stranger Things: the Euro-Gloom years. Netflix’s first German-language production is a pulp romp that thinks it’s a Wagner opera. In a remote town surrounded by a creepy forest locals fear the disappearance of a teenager may be linked to other missing persons cases from decades earlier. The timelines get twisted and it’s obvious that something wicked is emanating from a tunnel leading to a nearby nuclear power plant. Yet if the story sometimes trips itself up the Goonies-meets-Götterdämmerung ambiance keeps you hooked.

Netflix

6/25 A Series of Unfortunate Events

The wry and bleak Lemony Snickett children novels finally get the ghastly adaptation they deserve (let’s all pretend the dreadful 2004 Jim Carrey movie never happened). Neil Patrick Harris gobbles up the scenery as the vain and wicked Count Olaf, desperate to separate the Baudelaire orphans from their considerable inheritance. The look is Tim Burton by way of Wes Anderson, and the dark wit of the books is replicated perfectly (Snickett, aka Daniel Handler, is co-producer).

Netflix

7/25 Maniac

If you’re curious as to how Cary Fukunaga will handle the Bond franchise, his limited series, starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, drops some delicious hints. It’s a mind-bending sci-fi story set in an alternative United States where computers still look like Commodore 64s and in which you pay for goods by having a “travel buddy” sit down and read you adverts. Stone and Hill are star-crossed outcasts participating in a drugs trial that catapults them into a series of trippy genre excursions – including an occult adventure and a Lord of the Rings-style fantasy. It is here that Fukunaga demonstrates his versatility, handling potentially hokey material smartly and respectfully. 007 fans can sleep easy.

Netflix

8/25 Better Call Saul

The Breaking Bad prequel is starting to outgrow the show that spawned it. Where Breaking Bad delivered a master-class in scorched earth storytelling Saul is gentler and more humane. Years before the rise of Walter White, the future meth overlord’s sleazy lawyer, Saul Goodman, is still plain old Jimmy McGill, a striving every-dude trying to catch a break. But how far will he go to make his name and escape the shadow of his superstar attorney brother Chuck (Michael McKean)?

AMC Studios/Netflix

9/25 Black Mirror

Don’t tell Channel 4 but Charlie Brooker’s dystopian anthology series has arguably got even better since making the jump from British terrestrial TV to the realm of megabucks American streaming. Bigger budgets have given creators Brooker and Annabel Jones license to let their imaginations off the leash – yielding unsurpassable episodes such as virtual reality love story “San Junipero” and Star Trek parody “USS Callister”, which has bagged a bunch of Emmys.

Netflix

10/25 Mindhunter

David Fincher produces this serial killer drama based on the writings of a real-life FBI psychological profiler. It’s the post-Watergate Seventies and two maverick G-Men (Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany) are going out on a limb by utilising the latest psychological research to get inside the heads of a motley assembly of real-life sociopathic murders – including the notorious “Co-Ed” butcher Ed Kemper, brought chillingly to live in an Emmy-nominated performance by Cameron Britton.

Netflix

11/25 The Crown

A right royal blockbuster from dramatist Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost / Nixon). Tracing the reign of Elizabeth II from her days as a wide-eyed young woman propelled to the throne after the surprise early death of her father, The Crown humanises the royals even as it paints their private lives as a bodice-ripping soap. Matt Smith is charmingly roguish as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby has ascended the Hollywood ranks on the back of her turn as the flawed yet sympathetic Princess Margaret. Most impressive of all, arguably, is Claire Foy, who plays the Queen as a shy woman thrust unwillingly into the spotlight. Foy and the rest of the principal cast have now departed, with a crew of older actors – headed by Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies – taking over as the middle-aged Windsors for season three.

Netflix

12/25 Narcos

This drug trafficking caper spells out exactly what kind of series it is with an early scene in which two gangsters zip around a multi-level carpark on a motorbike firing a machine gun. Narcos, in other words, is for people who consider Pacino’s Scarface a touch too understated. Series one and two feature a mesmerising performance by Wagner Moura as Columbian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar, while season three focuses on the notorious Cali cartel. Reported to be one of Netflix’s biggest hits – the company doesn’t release audience figures – the fourth season turns its attention to Mexico’s interminable drugs wars.

Juan Pablo Gutierrez/Netflix

13/25 Master Of None

A cloud hangs over Aziz Ansari’s future after he was embroiled in the #MeToo scandal. But whatever happens, he has left us with a humane and riveting sitcom about an Ansari-proximate character looking for love and trying to establish himself professionally in contemporary New York.

K.C. Bailey / Netflix

14/25 Bloodline

One of Netflix’s early blockbusters, the sprawling soap opera updates Dallas to modern day southern Florida. Against the edge-of-civilisation backdrop of the Florida Keys, Kyle Chandler plays the local detective and favourite son of a well-to-do family. Their idyllic lives are thrown into chaos with the return of the clan’s black sheep (an unnervingly intense Ben Mendelsohn). The story is spectacularly hokey but searing performances by Chandler and Mendelsohn, and by Sissy Spacek and the late Sam Shepard as their imperious parents, make Bloodline compelling – a guilty pleasure that, actually, you shouldn’t feel all that guilty about.

Rod Millington/Netflix

15/25 The Alienist

You can almost smell the shoddy sanitation and horse-manure in this lavish murder-mystery set in 19th New York. We’re firmly in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York territory, with a serial killer bumping off boy prostitutes across Manhattan. Enter pioneering criminal psychologist Dr Laszlo Kreisler (Daniel Brühl), aided by newspaper man John Moore (Luke Evans) and feisty lady detective Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning).

Kurt Iswarienko

16/25 Love

Judd Apatow bring his signature gross-out comedy to the small screen. Love, which Apatow produced, is a masterclass in restraint compared to 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up etc. Paul Rust is Gus, a nerdish movie set tutor, whose develops a crush on Gillian Jacobs’s too-cool-for-school radio producer Mickey. Romance, of a sort, blossoms – but Love’s triumph is to acknowledge the complications of real life and to disabuse its characters of the idea that there’s such a thing as a straightforward happy ending. Hipster LA provides the bustling setting.

Netflix

17/25 Queer Eye

Who says reality TV has to be nasty and manipulative? This updating of the early 2000s hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has five stereotype-challenging gay men sharing lifestyle tips and fashion advice with an engaging cast of All American schlubs (the first two seasons are shot mostly in the state of Georgia). There are laughs – but serious moment too, such as when one of the crew refuses to enter a church because of the still unhealed scars of his strict Christian upbringing.

Netflix

18/25 Chef’s Table

A high-gloss revamping of the traditional TV food show. Each episode profiles a high wattage international chef; across its three seasons, the series has featured gastronomic superstars from the US, Argentina, India and Korea.

Charles Panian/Netflix

19/25 Arrested Development

A disastrous group interview in which actor Jason Bateman “mansplained” away the bullying co-star Jessica Walter had suffered at the hands of fellow cast-member Jeffrey Tambor meant season five of Arrested Development was fatally compromised before it even landed. Yet Netflix’s return to the dysfunctional world of the Bluth family stands on its merits and is a worthy addition to the surreal humour of seasons one through three (series four, which had to work around the busy schedules of the cast, is disposable by comparison).

Netflix

20/25 Altered Carbon

Netflix does Bladerunner with this sumptuous adaptation of the cult Richard Morgan novel. The setting is a neon-splashed cyberpunk future in which the super-wealthy live forever by uploading the consciousness into new “skins”. Enter rebel-turned-detective Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), hired to find out who killed a (since resurrected) zillionaire industrialist while dealing with fallout from his own troubled past. Rumoured to be one of Netflix’s most expensive projects yet, for its second run, Anthony Mackie (aka Marvel’s Falcon) replaced Kinnaman as the shape-shifting Kovacs.

Netflix

21/25 Rick and Morty

Dan Harmon, creator of cult sitcom Community (also on Netflix), finds the perfect outlet for zany fanboy imagination with this crazed animated comedy about a Marty McFly/Doc Brown-esque duo of time travellers. Every genre imaginable is parodied with the manic energy and zinging dialogue we have come to expect from Harmon.

Netflix/Adult Swim

22/25 GLOW

Mad Men’s Alison Brie is our entry point into this comedy-drama inspired by a real life all-female wrestling league in the Eighties. Ruth Wilder (Brie) is a down-on-her luck actor who, out of desperation, signs up a wrestling competition willed into being by Sam Sylvia (podcast king Marc Maron). Britrock singer Kate Nash is one of her her fellow troupe members: the larger than life Rhonda “Britannica” Richardson.

Netflix

23/25 Archer

Deadpan animated satire about an idiot super spy with shaken and stirred mother issues. One of the most ambitious modern comedies, animated or otherwise, Archer tries on different varieties of humour for size and even occasionally tugs at the heart strings.

24/25 Ozark

Breaking Bad for those with short attention spans. The saga of Walter White took years to track the iconic anti-hero’s rise from mild mannered everyman to dead-eyed criminal. Ozark gets there in the first half hour as nebbish Chicago accountant Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) agrees to serve as lieutenant for the Mexican mob in the hillbilly heartlands of Ozark, Missouri (in return they thoughtfully spare his life). Bateman, usually seen in comedy roles, is a revelation as is Laura Linney as his nasty wife Wendy. There is also a break-out performance by Julia Garner playing the scion of a local redneck crime family.

Netflix

25/25 The Good Place

A heavenly comedy with a twist. Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) is a cynical schlub waved through the Pearly Gates by mistake after dying in a bizarre supermarket accident. There she must remain above the suspicions of seemingly well-meaning but disorganised angel Michael (Ted Danson) whilst also negotiating fractious relationships with do-gooder Chidi (William Jackson Harper), spoiled princess Tahani (former T4 presenter Jameela Jamil) and ex-drug dealer Jason (Manny Jacinto).

Netflix

1/25 Bojack Horseman

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2/25 Stranger Things

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3/25 Daredevil

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4/25 The Staircase

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5/25 Dark

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6/25 A Series of Unfortunate Events

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7/25 Maniac

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8/25 Better Call Saul

AMC Studios/Netflix

9/25 Black Mirror

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10/25 Mindhunter

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11/25 The Crown

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12/25 Narcos

Juan Pablo Gutierrez/Netflix

13/25 Master Of None

K.C. Bailey / Netflix

14/25 Bloodline

Rod Millington/Netflix

15/25 The Alienist

Kurt Iswarienko

16/25 Love

Netflix

17/25 Queer Eye

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18/25 Chef’s Table

Charles Panian/Netflix

19/25 Arrested Development

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20/25 Altered Carbon

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21/25 Rick and Morty

Netflix/Adult Swim

22/25 GLOW

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23/25 Archer

24/25 Ozark

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25/25 The Good Place

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Zayid took comedy classes instead, began to get gigs, and after 11 September started the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival with Dean Obeidallah. “The simplest way for me to describe Maysoon is fearless,” Obeidallah said.

She also toured with the standup comedy show Arabs Gone Wild, landed a part in Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, and became a political commentator on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which proved a revelation.

Zayid had long understood that some non-disabled people recoiled at disabilities out of fear. “They’re one popped blood vessel or car accident away from being this way,” she said. But her Olbermann appearances drew hateful online comments calling her, she said, “a Gumby-mouth terrorist” and “an honour killing gone wrong”. It was the first time Zayid had been mocked for being disabled, and made her suddenly aware of the abuse that disabled people routinely faced.

After Zayid’s TED Talk went viral, she became one of the most booked speakers at the huge talent agency WME, and used her bigger platform to push questions forward: Where were the visibly disabled news anchors and talk-show hosts? Why, outside a handful of shows – among them Switched at Birth, Breaking Bad, American Horror Story and Speechless – were visibly disabled actors largely absent from television? Why was it OK for non-disabled stars to play disabled characters – a practice nicknamed “CripFace” – and win big awards?

While performances by, say, Joaquin Phoenix as a wheelchair-using cartoonist or Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking largely go unquestioned, and even lauded, by non-disabled people, Zayid said that for many people with disabilities, their acting looks cartoonish, exaggerated, offensive and inauthentic.

“You can put on makeup to look Asian or Latino or black, but black, Asian and Latino people know you’re not,” she said. “And disabled people watching their disabilities being poorly portrayed know it’s not them either.” Or, as she says onstage, if a person in a wheelchair can’t play Beyoncé, Beyoncé can’t play a person in a wheelchair.

Zayid will find out in January whether her show is to be made into a pilot. In the meantime, she is zipping around the world. In recent years, her gigs have included performing at the Team Beachbody Coach Summit – it’s for workout fiends – in Nashville, Tennessee; opening for rapper Pitbull in Las Vegas; and doing comedy, in both Arabic and English, in the United Arab Emirates (“They loved me,” she said).

At every turn, she slaps down people for using a particularly dreaded word. “If you think I’m inspirational because I go and do sit-down standup comedy uncovered and uncensored in the middle of the Arab world, I’ll take it,” she said.

“If you think I’m inspirational because I wake up in the morning and don’t weep about the fact that I’m disabled, that’s not inspirational,” she continued. “That’s like I make you feel better about yourself because you’re not me. I want to make you feel better about yourself because I made you laugh.”

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Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/maysoon-zayid-interview-comedian-standup-disability-activist-ted-talk-can-can-show-a8626201.html

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thecrimsontimes · 6 years

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"Back to the 90s"

FILM REVIEW by Nicolette Page '20

As renowned actor Jonah Hill's’ directorial debut and A24s’ latest release to theaters, “Mid ‘90s” will take you back in time. Set in the summer of LA, the nostalgic movie stars Sunny Suljic, as Stevie, a kid who has no real place in the world. The film tells a story about friendship, community, and the hardships of being a kid. Stevie finds a group of skaters around his town who he looks up to; wanting to be just like them. Having to navigate his troubled life at home, he finds skating as a distraction and his friends guide him through the new experiences he faces throughout the movie. Based on some of, director and writer, Hills’ own childhood experiences, the film is extremely authentic and true to itself. It's not necessarily just a movie about skateboarding or another coming of age film; there is a rich story behind it.

The films spectacular cast makes the story come to life. Pro skaters Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, and Ryder Mclaughlin, all play a group of close knit friends who bonded over their love and passion for the sport. Having been under some of the same brands and management like Illegal Civilization, most of the cast knew each other for some time before they took the screen. This made the dialogue and relationships between the characters look seamless and natural.

Hill made sure to get the setting right with every little detail. From the clothing, to the food the characters ate, and the soundtrack. Stevie trades his older brother, played by Lucas Hedges, his game boy games for an old plastic skateboard his brother had. Stevie wore Street Fighter t-shirts and his brother listened to Jay-Z mixtapes. The soundtrack takes you straight into the movie. Every emotion and beat matches each scene beautifully.

After the screening, during a Q&A with cast members, Sunny Suljic, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, and Ryder Mclaughlin, the cast shared their experience working on the film together. They talked about how they studied skating and the culture of it in preparation. When asked about what it was like working with Hill, the cast had only good things to say. “I learned alot from Jonah, I am just really excited that I’m in his first film he ever directed.” Suljic said. Hill would have movie nights where they would all watch films, like other 90’s movies to teach them about the time period. “Before we even got the script and just character adjusting, Jonah would invite us out to movie night or we’d go eat , there was just a lot of interaction. And also the environment Jonah created on set was a certain place where everyone was just connected.” Prenatt said.

The cast had a lot to say about what the movie meant to them. “This movie gave me a better perspective on not being afraid of who you really are and finding your group of friends where you all have something in common with.” Galicia said.

Mid ‘90s is a must see for every kid that may going through the same thing or had in the past. Its extremely sincere and Hill executed it with integrity.

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goldcoastdreams · 6 years

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Lance Franklin fires for Sydney Swans against GWS, Hawthorn Hawks edge out St Kilda

Updated August 18, 2018 22:33:14 Map: Australia The Swans secure an AFL final berth with a win against the Giants and the Hawks scrape home against the Saints, as the Magpies, Cats and Lions also post victories. Quick navigation Buddy Franklin fires as Swans down Giants

Photo: Lance Franklin (L) and Daniel Hannebery show their delight in the win against the Giants. (AAP: Brendon Thorne) A barnstorming Lance Franklin has lifted Sydney to a 20-point victory over GWS, booting five goals and spearheading a second-half comeback that could have major ramifications in the race to the finals. The Swans trailed for most of the derby in Homebush and were behind by 21 points during the third term of the low-scoring scrap when they lifted, inspired by Franklin for the umpteenth time this season. Franklin kicked the sealer and consistently troubled GWS, as he did while earning the three Brownlow Medal votes last year at the same venue. The Swans' yips threatened to prove costly but their speed and slick ball movement in the final quarter, in sharp contrast to an undermanned GWS outfit reeling from more injuries, meant they bagged the premiership points. Sydney, written off as finals contenders three weeks ago, is now in the mix for a top-four spot after triumphing 11.14 (80) to 8.12 (60). External Link:Giants v Swans summary GWS co-captain Phil Davis, who played on Franklin during the first term, limped off the ground and into the rooms during the second quarter after being crunched in a marking contest by teammate Rory Lobb. It proved a match-defining moment. Davis played on after halftime despite the painful hip injury but was stationed up forward because he was so badly restricted, leaving Franklin to torment Jeremy Finlayson. Franklin lifted his career tally to 917 goals to overtake Leigh Matthews and clamber into eighth spot on the VFL/AFL's list of all-time goalkickers. External Link:Giants v Swans stats Franklin, who was awarded the Brett Kirk Medal, has struggled to train this year because of a sore heel but continues to stand up in clutch moments for the Swans. Davis, Ryan Griffen (hamstring), Jeremy Finlayson (foot) and Daniel Lloyd (cut eye) kept GWS's medical department, overworked throughout an injury-cursed season, busy. The Giants, pushed to exhaustion during the past fortnight after finishing with no fit players on the bench against Carlton then one fit man on the bench against Adelaide, ran out of puff in the final term. The rivals forecast a finals-like contest and they did not disappoint, piling on immense pressure and rattling each other in a series of big collisions. Hawks hold off brave Saints

Photo: Ben McEvoy (R) and Lewis Pearce contest the ball in the Hawks' defeat of the Saints. (AAP: Daniel Pockett) Hawthorn has held off an outstanding challenge from St Kilda to win by four points at Docklands, setting up a massive clash next week with Sydney. The Saints rallied from a week of intense scrutiny to nearly pull off one of the season's biggest upsets, though the Hawks won 12.8 (80) to 11.10 (76). St Kilda kicked the only goal of the last quarter as the two teams defended grimly. Hawks pair Jack Gunston and Jarman Impey took crucial marks late in the match as the Saints pressed hard. Hawthorn stayed fourth and is level on points with the fifth-placed Swans, who beat GWS earlier on Saturday night. The winner of the Sydney-Hawthorn SCG clash next Saturday night will finish in the top four. Hawthorn lost veteran key defender James Frawley in the third term with a back injury. External Link:Saints v Hawks summary Jarryn Geary, who was outstanding on Hawks playmaker Isaac Smith, was forced off the field in the last term because of a head knock. Gunston was best afield, kicking four goals and then going into defence late in the match, while the poise of veteran Shaun Burgoyne was crucial. Midfielder Jack Steele was best for the Saints and Jack Lonie kicked a career-best four goals. The game went according to script in the first quarter, with Hawthorn kicking four goals to one. While the Saints were on top in clearances and had more possessions, Hawthorn was more efficient and looked ready to break the game open. But the momentum swung dramatically in the second term as the Saints hit back. External Link:Saints v Hawks stats The lead changed six times and Hawthorn only led by five points at the main break. St Kilda was well on top in clearances 28-17 and was up in contested possessions as well, as they put the Hawks under mounting pressure. But the Saints have had a bad habit of dropping away through the middle of games. The signs were bad when Hawthorn went on a four-goal run to lead by a game-high 24 points in the third quarter. But Lonie kicked three goals late in the third term and the Saints were only nine points down at the last break. Jade Gresham, another of the Saints' best players, kicked a goal two minutes into the last quarter - but it proved the last goal of the game. Magpies zero in on top four with win over Port

Photo: Travis Varcoe (R) celebrates with Brody Mihocek after kicking a goal for the Magpies. (AAP: David Crosling) Port Adelaide's season is hanging by a thread, while a top-four finish is within Collingwood's reach after it stormed home to down the Power by 51 points at the MCG. The Magpies held a narrow lead at the final break on Saturday afternoon before booting seven goals to one to run out 17.13 (115) to 10.4 (64) winners. The thumping victory lifts the Magpies to third on the ladder and should be enough to secure a double-chance with lowly Fremantle awaiting in round 23. Ruckman Brodie Grundy starred with 41 hitouts, 25 disposals and a goal, Mason Cox (eight marks) was imposing in the air and Taylor Adams, Steele Sidebottom and Chris Mayne were prolific ball winners. A week after losing to West Coast with a goal after the siren, the Power were again found wanting in a high-stakes game, squandering a promising start and managing just one goal after five minutes of the third quarter. External Link:Magpies v Power summary The Power have now lost five of their past six games and while the Magpies continue to find a way despite a growing injury toll, Ken Hinkley's men look ill-prepared for the September cauldron. They must beat Essendon at Adelaide Oval next Friday night and hope Melbourne lose both their remaining games to stand any chance of making the eight. The Power had the early ascendancy, restricting Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom with hard tags but the Pies turned the tables with the first three goals of the second quarter. Off-contract Port wingman Jared Polec showed why rivals are queuing to secure his services, weaving through traffic and kicking truly from 40 metres to break Collingwood's run. External Link:Magpies v Power stats But the Magpies were dominating the midfield battle, led by Adams who had 16 disposals and a goal during a brilliant second quarter. Missing spearhead Charlie Dixon to a season-ending leg injury, the Power looked disorganised in their forward half and reluctant to take the game on. A chance to take the lead went begging when the Power dropped their bundle in front of goals, handballing among themselves until Collingwood rushed a behind. The game descended into a scrap after half-time and while the Power trailed by just 13 points at the final break, it took a matter of minutes for a fast-finishing Collingwood to put the result beyond doubt. Ruckman Paddy Ryder booted three majors despite being hampered by a hip injury while Ollie Wines and Steven Motlop fought hard in the midfield. Pies forward Jordan De Goey finished the game on the bench with ice on his calf. Cats smash woeful Dockers by 133 points

Photo: The Cats and Dockers contest the ball as hail comes down at Kardinia Park. (AAP: Julian Smith) Ruthless Geelong kicked a record 23 successive goals against lamentable Fremantle at Kardinia Park to record a 133-point victory that propelled the Cats back into the top eight. The 13th-placed Dockers actually had the best of the opening exchanges and led by nine points at quarter-time on a cold, wet day in Geelong, It turned out to be falsest of false dawns as the visitors were held goalless for the remaining three quarters in what ended up being the heaviest defeat in club history. External Link:Cats v Freo summary The Cats blew the match wide open by kicking 10 goals to nil in the second quarter, with even a heavy rainstorm midway through the term failing to stem the onslaught. The carnage continued in the second half as the Cats powered away to a 24.14 (158) to 3.7 (25) win. All Geelong need to do to guarantee a finals berth for the 11th time in the past 12 years is win again at Kardinia Park next weekend against a Gold Coast team that has recorded only one victory since round five. The Cats replaced Port Adelaide in the top eight after the Power faded badly in a 51-point loss to Collingwood earlier in the day. External Link:Cats v Freo stats Geelong spearhead Tom Hawkins kicked a game-high six goals to close within four majors of Richmond's Jack Riewoldt in the Coleman Medal race. Youngster Brandan Parfitt chimed in with a career-high four goals and Tim Kelly continued his remarkable debut season, tallying 26 possessions and three goals. But the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for returning hero Gary Ablett, who kicked his 400th career goal late in the final term with a brilliant curling snap from the left forward pocket. Captain Nat Fyfe and veteran David Mundy were a small handful of Dockers who kept plugging away all day. Lions beat Suns in fiery QClash

Photo: Mitch Robinson (C) has a heated exchange with Sean Lemmens (R) in the QClash. (AAP: Darren England) Brisbane has narrowly prevailed over the Gold Coast, with Queensland's AFL rivalry continuing to grow in the four-point win. The Lions rallied from nine points down in the final term to pip the Suns 10.18 (78) to 11.8 (74) and overturn a five-point QClash loss earlier this season in another fiery contest in Carrara. The lead fluctuated in a sloppy but hard-fought second half as the young Suns, led by Alex Sexton (four goals) and Brayden Fiorini (32 disposals) threatened a boilover. But Brisbane withstood the pressure and did enough in the final 20 minutes to consign the Suns to a seventh loss and winless campaign at home this season. The derby fire was sparked on Thursday when Brisbane defender Nick Robertson said the Suns were soft. External Link:Suns v Lions summary And, after a bit of general niggle, that fire erupted in the second term when Sean Lemmens' collected young Lion Brandon Starcevich with a high spoil. Players came from all corners in front of 11,907 spectators, with Dayne Zorko sent flying in the chaos by his chief antagonist Touk Miller. The Suns had edged back into the contest prior to the incident, helped by the first-quarter exit of Lions defender Alex Witherden (hamstring). Sexton scored from both pockets before Jack Bowes also threaded the needle as the young Suns midfield held their own. Brisbane's inaccuracy cost them, with Eric Hipwood missing his first five shots at goal and Daniel Rich missing from in front before the Suns hit the lead for the first time in the third term. External Link:Suns v Lions stats Cameron Rayner did his best to improve their ratio with a booming 60-metre effort, while Luke Hodge was a brick wall with five first-quarter intercepts. Brisbane took an early 20-point lead but the Suns lifted their workrate and took their chances as the game grew in intensity. Gold Coast got within six at the main break and had the lead soon after the restart. Harris Andrews' goal - the Lions' sole major for the quarter - put the Lions in front by three after a sloppy third term. Gold Coast, again through some Sexton brilliance, regained the lead before the Lions made the most of their luck to land the final blow. First Allen Christensen kicked straight after being gifted a 50-metre penalty, before a stray kick off the deck went straight to an unmarked Dayne Beams (38 touches) for what would be the decisive goal. AFL ladder External Link:AFL 2018 ladder AAP/ABC Topics:australian-football-league,sport,australia,st-kilda-3182,hawthorn-3122,fremantle-6160,geelong-3220,port-adelaide-5015,collingwood-3066,carrara-4211,brisbane-4000,homebush-2140,sydney-2000 First posted August 18, 2018 12:53:24 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-18/afl-scorecentre-saturday-round-22/10126172

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