“The Way of Water” is stunning, important and helps redeem the original “Avatar”
Like many, Aime Wichtendahl was initially a skeptic about “The Way of Water,” James Cameron’s massive and much-anticipated sequel to the original “Avatar” film.
But after taking in the three-hour film, Wichtendahl is a fan of the new “Avatar 2” and gained a renewed appreciation of the original “Avatar” released in 2009.
“James Cameron is trying to help us learn. By tapping into the universal nostalgia we all feel – that once there was a time everything was perfect before someone screwed it up – he’s trying to tell us something. He’s trying to wake us up to how we’re impacting the world around us. ‘The Way of Water’ illustrates that despite our best efforts, humanity remains incapable of change.“
Read Wichtendahl’s review of this blockbuster film here.
‘Storyteller’ reveals regular guy Grohl (Book Review)
Dave Grohl never felt as though he fit in. Even around kids with which he grew up, Grohl recalls, he felt an “otherness” and wondered what was wrong with him.
‘Heartstopper’ warmed and destroyed me”
“Heartstopper” is an uplifting story of queer love that can also be heartbreaking for many LGBTQ+ people who were not able to love openly, writes Tyler Mitchell in his review.
“Stranger Things” and Will Byers’ understated “coming out”
When Will Byers of “Stranger Things” came out, “t was unsafe for white cisgender gay men,and even more dangerous for marginalized identities. Will is undoubtedly living in a reality where both his physical and emotional safety could be at risk if anyone found out he was gay,” writes Tyler Mitchell.
For the late-blooming love of RuPaul’s Drag Race
CW: The following article makes a brief mention of SA, racism, and transphobia. A love for RuPaul’s Drag Race is often assumed to exist within every gay man. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to name my favorite queen or most adored lip sync. For so...
“American Dirt:” Who’s entitled to tell the stories of the marginalized?
Who is “entitled” to tell the stories, asks Cathy Chavez in her review of the controversial book “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins.
Latest Matrix film evolves from revolution to breaking the binary (Review)
What makes Matrix Resurrections stand out above its predecessors, and most of today’s films, is its critique of the technological world we’ve created in the 20 years since the last Matrix film was released in 2003.
Revisit assumptions, could haves and should haves in “The Midnight Library”
Many of us humans, flawed and egotistical as we are, believe our own interpretations are the only correct or accurate ones. “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig helps readers recognize that they might be looking at things too narrowly.
Are any lies kind? Worthy questions in Nancy Johnson’s first-time novel
Nancy Johnson’s first novel raises a worthy question about lies, despite leaving characters unexplored, writes Cathy Chavez in her new “Off the Shelf” book review.
‘Pray Away’ devastates by showing religion’s leading role in ongoing conversion therapy abuse of LGBTQ+ people
Pray Away is about how conversion therapy is still happening, targeting transgender people within the LGBTQ+ community, and masquerading as religious love. Read Aime Wichtendahl’s review.
Share the joy of books, reading in “Off the Shelf” reviews
Welcome to our new book review feature, "Off the Shelf." Open to any book reader who wants to share your thoughts on how you're affected by what you read, Off the Shelf is also led by decades-long voracious reader and personal reading activist Cathy Chavez, who will...
A game that’s serious about LGBTQ+ community, relationships: Mass Effect (Review)
I often tell people I was born with an Atari 2600 controller in my hand. One of my earliest memories was my parents showing off the Atari at my grandparents' house to my aunts and uncles. Games of Berzerk, Missile Command, and Space Invaders lasted long into the...
‘Heartstopper’ warmed and destroyed me”
“Heartstopper” is an uplifting story of queer love that can also be heartbreaking for many LGBTQ+ people who were not able to love openly, writes Tyler Mitchell in his review.
“Stranger Things” and Will Byers’ understated “coming out”
When Will Byers of “Stranger Things” came out, “t was unsafe for white cisgender gay men,and even more dangerous for marginalized identities. Will is undoubtedly living in a reality where both his physical and emotional safety could be at risk if anyone found out he was gay,” writes Tyler Mitchell.
For the late-blooming love of RuPaul’s Drag Race
CW: The following article makes a brief mention of SA, racism, and transphobia. A love for RuPaul’s Drag Race is often assumed to exist within every gay man. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to name my favorite queen or most adored lip sync. For so...
“American Dirt:” Who’s entitled to tell the stories of the marginalized?
Who is “entitled” to tell the stories, asks Cathy Chavez in her review of the controversial book “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins.
Latest Matrix film evolves from revolution to breaking the binary (Review)
What makes Matrix Resurrections stand out above its predecessors, and most of today’s films, is its critique of the technological world we’ve created in the 20 years since the last Matrix film was released in 2003.