AvidBards
Movies

The Mummy: The Golden Gem I Didn’t Know I Needed

You know those movies that just pass you by but they’re such huge icons in culture, and you know of them and yet have never seen it? That was The Mummy for me. Yes, the Brendan Fraser, early 2000s franchise. Until earlier this week, I had never seen The Mummy, and I’ve yet to see its sequels (though it’s on the docket for very soon). But before doing so, I wanted to put some of my thoughts down on (virtual) paper, because, surprisingly, I had a lot! The Mummy 19992h4mPG-13Action/Fantasy Director: Stephen SommersBox office: $416.4 million 61% Tomatometer7.1/10 IMDb Rating Starring: Brendan…

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Movies

Disaster Films as Appropriated Refugee Stories

I am not sure if it’s the current situation or just a morbid fascination, but I have been binge-watching disaster films for the past few months. The disaster film is arguably one of cinema’s oldest movie genres, from the stories about Pompeii to giant monsters, there is no shortage to be found. But what really constitutes a disaster film? There are so many variations, with the relatively new-to-the-stage environmental disasters, the too-close-to-home disease and pandemic outbreaks, and the creature-from-another-world invasions. Often all housed in different categories such as thrillers or science fiction, they are all cut from the same cloth.…

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Movies

Black Horror: Racial Commentary in ‘Get Out’

American history is dominated by stories of endless violence towards black people. It is by no means an understatement to say that the lives of countless black individuals are faced by horrors that should be unimaginable in this day and age. Their lives mimic the constant state of tension and anticipation of something bad. And it is for this exact reason that the horror genre has been such a great tool for social commentary, specifically of exposing the reality of racism in North America. Jordon Peele’s 2017 horror film Get Out has been praised as one of the most popular…

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Movies

AvidBards’ Social Distancing Film List (Part 2)

Welcome back, readers! As promised, here is Part 2 of the AvidBards Social Distancing Film List (Part 1 can be found here). Social distancing isn’t easy for many of us, as a lot of us have had our daily routines majorly disrupted by the current state of the world. While I absolutely advocate for social distancing and think it’s so important to stay at home if you can and as much as you can, I also understand that the mental ramifications can be tough. Personally, anxiety and stress have been at a high, and know that’s the case for many…

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Reflections

AvidBards’ Social Distancing Film List (Part 1)

During these times of uncertainty, we hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. In light of the current global health climate, many of us are practicing ‘social distancing’, which means staying at home and avoiding public places and gatherings as much as possible. While this can certainly be a great time to catch up on some mental and physical TLC, as well as spending quality time with family, housemates, or your own self, this type of prolonged isolation can become difficult to handle at times. Boredom and monotony are a few concerns that people are already facing, so…

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Reflections

International Women’s Day Recommendation List

Happy International Women’s Day! Being as we are two women who run this blog, we are very unsurprisingly huge advocates of female representation and celebration. Too often we find ourselves writing posts about the lack of women in many fields of the media. Recently we talked about the lack of female creators and actors at the Oscars, along with a generally dismal lack of diversity of any type.  Though we are resistant to the idea of reserving the recognition and acknowledgment deserving by women to just one day, we are not opposed to using the opportunity to spam the world…

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