AvidBards
Reflections

Representation in the Mainstream

I have always openly been critical about the lack of representation and visibility of minorities in mainstream media. Be it superhero films, rom-coms, dramas, or period pieces, the Hollywood-dominated world of international media has been one that has sorely lacked in any diversity whatsoever. We still have a long way to go to equally represent people of all races, sexual orientation, gender, religion, creed, and everything in between. However, today’s post focuses on the smashing headway that’s been made for minorities in the mainstream. The positive recognition that has been given to these films and shows reflect the kind of…

View Post
Movies

Bohemian Rhapsody

A Review of the “Queen” Biopic Warning: light spoilers of Bohemian Rhapsody below. I have always been skeptical of biopic films. The reason is that there is a lot of biographical content out there that has skewed, glorified, or glamorized its subject. For example, while I loved The Danish Girl (2015), it didn’t take much research to find out that it was a heavily romanticized adaptation of its real life subject matter. Films like The Danish Girl cannot be relied on as historically accurate, but merely loose renderings. I have learned through watching various biographical films that one must always…

View Post
Reflections

February Netflix List

It’s winter time, which means that I look forward to every time Netflix puts out new releases for viewers to enjoy. Here’s a list of some shows and films that are at the top of my list to watch next! Carmen Sandiego (2019) As a kid, I was an avid player of the Carmen Sandiego CD-ROM games. The mystique of the world-renowned, red-suited thief always excited me. So, you can imagine how excited I was to hear the announcement of a Carmen Sandiego animated series – and even more excited to hear that Gina Rodriguez, who plays Jane in Jane…

View Post
Reflections

One Year Anniversary

Happy Sunday, readers! Today marks a very special occasion here at AvidBards – our one year anniversary! So much has happened in a year’s time, but one thing has not changed: our gratitude to you, our readers. You have helped us thrive, inspired us, and made our jobs as writers so incredibly fulfilling. In celebration of this special day, we’ve put together some of our highlights from the past year. From our most popular posts to the review requests we’ve received, we’ve had a more productive year than we could have ever imagined. Here’s to many more! In a year’s…

View Post
Reviews

Best Release 2018: Film

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse  It’s almost the end of the calendar year, readers! S and I have been thrilled at how this year for AvidBards has turned out. To celebrate a wonderful 2018, our next few posts will review our favourites from this year. Today, the film of choice is the new animated Spider-Man film, subtitled Into the Spider-Verse. This movie was a delight to watch, and that reflects in its critiques and movie scores online (it’s a 97% on RottenTomatoes, wow!) I’ve found in the last two years that some of the best releases come out at the end…

View Post
Reflections

Is Originality Dead?

Remakes, Franchises and Sequels: Are they worth it? We live in the era of franchise films, sequels, and remakes upon remakes (here’s looking at you, Spider-Man). While some of these sequels and remakes can be awesome, much of the time it leaves me wondering: is originality not a goal anymore? Here’s where that concept gets tricky, though. We live in a time where virtually no idea is legitimately “original” anymore. There’s so much material out there – books, films, television, and art. We are technically always using past models and structures to help us create fresh material. If you think…

View Post