Author: Bill Watters

Let’s kick this off with the King-sized elephant in the room. Marvel Studios’ latest entry into their Cinematic Universe, “Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever,” had a nearly impossible challenge from the beginning. Lead star Chadwick Boseman passed away in 2020 from cancer. When the powers that be decided not to recast the role, they had to determine how to carry on without the titular character and an actor who had emerged as an cultural icon. The result, while imperfect, is another impressive entry into the MCU. It also has the additional benefit of holding up as a stand-alone entry in…

The Orange County Japan Fair took place this last weekend. Check out some images from the event at the Costa Mesa fairgrounds.

When a fan of DC Comics comes into the theater, they’re hoping to achieve the lofty goal of “I hope the film isn’t awful.” Well, you can breathe easy. “Black Adam” is not awful. Which makes it all the more frustrating when the adventure it does take us on winds up being anathema to it’s own titular character by being cowardly. Also, this origin story is one that has already been retconned any number of times in the comics, so it should some as no particular shock that this time around is yet another spin on the character and his…

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” remains ironically one of the best franchise entries into the “Star Wars” feature films, even though it was only billed as one of the side-quest chapters. After mixed results of the sequel trilogy, not much was expected from something not directly part of the “trilogy of trilogies.” Disney+’s “Andor” kicks things off with a three-episode premiere, stepping outside the bounds of rehashed Skywalker Saga story beats for something fresh. It takes things just as far afield of what we’ve had from the prior live-action outings (“The Mandalorian,” “Book of Boba Fett,” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi”).…

Marking two weeks since Netflix released season 1 of the much acclaimed “The Sandman,” they have summoned something entirely unexpected up. An 11th episode, composing two stories, one animated, and one live-action. It’s not the first time that Netflix has dropped something unexpectedly. They famously premiered “The Cloverfield Paradox” immediately following the 2018 Superbowl (during which the first trailer aired for it, announcing it’s premiere to follow). This is the first time that they have done it for one of their series. The episode is an adaptation from two of creator Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels, “A Dream of a Thousand…

Four-time Grammy Award winner, and Academy Award Nominee, Dame Olivia Newton-John DBE, has passed away today at her home surrounded by family and friends. The announcement, posted by her husband, John Easterling, did not give a cause of death, but did make a reference to her ongoing championing of awareness and treatments for breast cancer. Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30…

Bback in 2017, “American Gods” premiered on STARZ. While it started off strong, incessant showrunner, writer, and cast changes wound up running it off the rails. 5 years later, Netflix has dropped ten episodes of “The Sandman,” adapted from Neil Gaiman’s 26-Eisner award-winning comic series of the same name. This time around the whole package comes in as a tight and effective series from beginning to end. “Sandman” is another comic which while I have long been aware of it and it’s laurels. But, I’d never gotten around to reading it. This made for more of a pleasant surprise when…

One of the biggest challenges these days when it comes to finding quality series or movies is the sheer volume of content. A myriad of streamers (not to mention hundreds of channels languishing on cable), wading through haystacks to find that needle is a challenge. On a recommendation from Nerdbot’s Editor-in-Chief, Mary Anne Butler, I went to check out one of FX’s latest series, “The Bear.” Cutting right to the chase, “Bear” is the singularly best new series to come out in the last several years. Comprised of eight roughly half-hour episodes, the series follows Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen…

With the release of “Jurassic World: Dominion,” there will be six feature films in the franchise. “Jurassic Park,” the original 1993 film, remains a classic in the evolution of blockbusters as well as special effects. Unfortunately the films that followed ranged from truly awful to meh. At least, this is another pretty good entry, though that’s not to say that it doesn’t have it’s dino-sized share of problems. Picking up four years after the events in “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” the escaped dinosaurs have spread across most of the planet. That sets up a tug of war between trying to…

It’s June 8th, and Disney+ has dropped the seventh original series expanding on the Marvel Studios universe with “Ms. Marvel.” As with the earlier “Moon Knight,” it follows a new (to the film and television MCU) character, Kamala Khan. Played by newcomer Iman Vellani, Kamala eventually becomes the titular Ms. Marvel. She also represents the first Muslim-American superhero to come to the big or small screens. The series doesn’t immediately dovetail into the myriad existent Marvel Studios storylines. Instead, it picks up focusing on Kamala and her tribulations striving to balance her geeky fangirl side with the pressures from her…