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Zootopia Movie - Spoilers Review

Article Link: http://www.letsbenerds.com/#!Zootopia-Movie-Spoilers-Review/cjds/56dbd64e0cf2cacdc42537d0

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Deadpool Movie Review Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 ~ Dan King

Article Link Pt. 1: http://www.letsbenerds.com/#!Deadpool-Movie-Review-Pt-1/cjds/56ca6ec80cf2de8a4793f71d

Article Link Pt. 2: http://www.letsbenerds.com/#!Deadpool-Movie-Review-Pt-2/cjds/56cb37540cf29064e5ecda16

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RWBY Season 3 Review ~ Dan King

Article Link: http://www.letsbenerds.com/#!RWBY-Season-3-Review/cjds/56cb5c070cf24bcda47037c4

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...Most Lit Black History Month EVER! ~ Bri King

Article Link: http://www.letsbenerds.com/#!Most-Lit-Black-History-Month-EVER/cjds/56ca754d0cf2c75daa89bf05

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Damn, Cartoon Network! Back at it again with the Steven Universe Leaks! ~ Bri King

Article Link: http://www.letsbenerds.com/#!Damn-Cartoon-Network-Back-at-it-again-with-the-Steven-Universe-Leaks/cjds/56d33da70cf25656cb4a3575

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Losers of 2015: #7 - The Kardashians - Bri King

DICLAIMER: This is purely opinion-based. The Winner/Loser list is not to personally attack nor defame anyone. It is merely a way to send off 2015 and get a discussion rolling.

I really hope I won’t be talking about these people anymore soon. Number 7 goes to the Kardashians/Jenners and everyone who still supports them.

Let’s start with one of the dumbest things to happen this year, the #KylieJennerLipChallenge. Young people, who clearly have nothing better to do with their time, decided to record themselves sucking their lips into tight bottle openings and forcing their lips to enlarge, thus trying to recreate Kylie Jenner’s now “iconic” lips. Many have objected to this “challenge” for two reasons: one, it’s praising someone for setting a “trend” of fuller lips when many people naturally have full lips and are told that they are not desirable because of them. (Interpret that how you please). Two, little kids are causing what could be permanent damage to their lips for a hashtag. (Again, this is why aliens don't visit us.)

Next is their beef with Amber Rose—whom you’ll hear about soon enough. Admittedly, Amber kinda sorta started it. Amber was interviewed on the Breakfast Club radio show earlier this year and condemned rapper Tyga for dating then 17-year-old Kylie Jenner, referring to how she was much too young for him. Khloe, Kylie’s older sister, did not take her comments lightly. Taking to Twitter (as all celebrities with problems do), Khloe chose to slander Amber by bringing up the fact that she was a stripper at 15 and then told her not to talk about her family anymore. Amber, not being one to back down, clapped back and made comments on how the whole family’s fame was based off of Kim’s sex tape.

Not too long ago, Cosmopolitan—one of the most sexist magazines designed for women—named the Kardashians the “First Family of America.” I, like so many people, thought this was just hilarious because last time I checked, the First Family was a beautiful black family that goes by the name of Obama. (You know, President Barack, First Lady Michelle, Malia and Sasha. You know, the actual first family!)

Now, I want to take the time out to briefly discuss Caitlyn Jenner—formally known as Bruce Jenner. This is where I proceed with much caution. I want to take the time to say that by no means am I completely against the trans community nor do have I have negative feelings towards said community.

That being said, this is what I will say this about Caitlyn Jenner: some of the awards and accolades she’s received this year should not have been given to her. I personally feel like she has not done enough to raise awareness and fight for the rights of the trans community—at least not in the way that the always-fabulous Laverne Cox has. To me, Jenner’s transition was more of a publicity stunt than a thing she has been struggling with for some time. What it seems like to me is that she has been using her wealth and privilege to showboat herself in a way that had yet to be seen from the Kardashians and Jenners. Plus, she has gone on record as being against the gay community and even expressing those feelings to Ellen DeGeneres, who we all know is an open lesbian. Ms. Jenner, how can you expect people to accept you as “Caitlyn” and not “Bruce”, but be unaccepting of people like Ellen? Clearly, sex changes don’t change your political views, ironically enough.

With all that being said, I really hope I won’t hear any more from them any time soon.

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Winners of 2015: #7 - J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar - Bri King

DICLAIMER: This is purely opinion-based. The Winner/Loser list is not to personally attack nor defame anyone. It is merely a way to send off 2015 and get a discussion rolling.

With these two, it was hard to decide which one would be higher on the list than the other, so they’ll both share the No. 7 spot. I’m geeking out just a little bit since Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole are my two favorite rappers out right now, but I’ll try to keep cool. These two, in their own rights, have seriously been winning this year!

Coming off the release of his third album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole has made some strides that haven’t been seen in hip-hop in a couple of decades. Let’s get the most obvious thing out of the way first: Forest Hills was the first hip-hop album to go platinum in 25 years without any features, which was also Cole’s first platinum album. He’s had a world tour based off the album, which grossed $20.4 million ticket sales.

Besides these feats, he’s been doing some remarkable outreach for the community. Since his album was named after his actual childhood home, Cole decided to buy the house and have single-parent families stay there for two years rent-free. He’s also received his diploma from his alma mater St. Johns University—at which he held a private concert for students there. He also teamed up with pop legend Janet Jackson on her single “No Sleeep.” Many are predicting that he will soon become a hip-hop legend himself.

Speaking of future legends, Kendrick Lamar has also had quite the year. His third album—the year of threes for these two—can easily be described as one of the best Hip-Hop albums of all time. Personally, it’s one of my favorite albums of the year. Seriously, To Pimp a Butterfly has got to be one of the most well thought out, expertly executed, socially conscious albums to come out in a while. (At least in the mainstream, that is.) The album was good enough (or hyped enough) to make people who don’t even like Kendrick (or hip-hop) want to listen to it. It was also named the best album of 2015 by Rolling Stone. The album was so impactful that some #BlackLivesMatter protesters were recorded chanting the hook to his song “Alright” during a protest.

Later on in the year, K. Dot collaborated with one of his favorite artists, Taylor Swift on her song “Bad Blood.” He also interviewed one of his influences, NWA, which was pretty sick in my opinion. Very recently, he was named one of the best rappers of all-time by Billboard, which many have said was too early for him to receive that title.

This past Black Friday, Kendrick and Cole released their collaborative work, appropriately called “Black Friday.” Kendrick freestyled over Cole’s “A Tale of 2 Citiez” and Cole spit over Kendrick’s “Alright” and literally bodied the game. I’m not even kidding. The two even hinted at their rumored collaborative album (or mixtape, or whatever) that will (or might) be released in February. If that happens for real, the world WILL NOT be ready. The Internet will break—AGAIN! Just thinking about it has fans going crazy!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Marvel 'Civil War II': Improve and Last - Daniel King

Marvel earlier this week revealed some great news that their creative team is working on a sequel to the best-selling Civil War story line with Civil War 2, the first major story-arc in Marvel's All-New All-Different era. The original Civil War story line pitted Iron Man against Captain America as they waged war over whether or not superheroes had to reveal their identities and become registered government agents.

If you have not read the original Civil War there will be a link at the bottom for you to do just that. In the 2016 version of Civil War the main combatants, this time, around are Captain Marvel and Iron Man, Marvel revealed via the New York Daily News. Civil War 2 writer Brian Michael Bendis gave a brief synopsis of the plot which basically centers around whether or not it OK for crimes should be punished before they even occur. His direct quote taken from the Daily News was “A mysterious new Marvel character comes to the attention of the world, one who has the power to calculate the outcome of future events with a high degree of accuracy,” according to the synopsis. “This predictive power divides the Marvel heroes on how best to capitalize on this aggregated information, with Captain Marvel leading the charge to profile future crimes and attacks before they occur, and Iron Man adopting the position that the punishment cannot come before the crime.”

The brief glimpse that Marvel has given at their latest major story line seems to be sort of similar to the story line that DC Comics is currently running with as they write Batman as the god of knowledge. More importantly, Civil War 2 will be shining a major spotlight on

Captain Marvel three years before her solo movie is set to be released in 2019. However, there is some reason of uncertainty with this version of Civil War because if you remember how the last Civil War story line ended the aftermath of that story line was basically either forgotten or rewritten only a few years after it ended. Marvel cannot make that mistake twice and that is why Civil War 2 must have lasting effects that reverberate throughout the entire Marvel universe. Bendis teased that a major character would be the center of conflict for both sides of this 'war'. He specifically mentioned Spider-Man as a possibility to be that major character. If they choose to go with Spider-Man, he must remain dead for multiple years because as comic books fans know our favorite heroes never remain dead for long (see Superman circa 1993 or Deadpool circa 2015) and that often undercuts the impact of their death.

Marvel has been doing some amazing things under their All-New All-Different continuity and that means they definitely deserve the benefit of the doubt with anything they do. Marvel's Civil War 2 Issue #1 will be available on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 as it will hit stands to days before the release of Captain America: Civil War, which will be in theaters starting May 6, 2016.

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

Marvel Civil War (06-07): http://marvel.com/comics/events/238/civil_war

*All photos courtesy: Marvel Comics

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Losers of 2015: #8 - Miley Cyrus - Bri King

DICLAIMER: This is purely opinion-based. The Winner/Loser list is not to personally attack nor defame anyone. It is merely a way to send off 2015 and get a discussion rolling.

Normally, I would try to keep my conversations about Miley Cyrus to a minimum—and by “minimum”, I mean nonexistent. However, after the abortion known as the 2015 VMAs, I feel like I had to do it. So, the No. 8 Loser on the lists is none other than Miley Cyrus. She’s done some problematic things at the VMAs this year, it’s hard to decide where to begin.

Let’s start with the most talked about thing she’s done—come for Nicki Minaj. Yes, she took it upon herself to address the way Nicki Minaj addressed racial bias in the entertainment industry, especially in regards to awards shows, WEEKS after the situation had been resolved and everyone had moved on. Miley took it upon herself to tell Nicki that she should have said in a nice way. Also saying that Nicki’s comments were so “Nicki Minaj” of her is not cool! Like do you two even know each other well enough for you to say that?

But that’s not what kept pissing people off about Miley’s shenanigans. Nope, she just had to come to the VMAs wearing some nasty faux locs. Quick tip, Miley, if you’re going to do that hairstyle, learn from people like Zendaya, who actually did it right. I digress.  I was going to mention the on-stage debacle with Nicki, but I’ll leave that for a later article.

To put the cherry on top of the messy cake, she made a comment about Snoop Dogg being her “Mammy.” Clearly,

she has no idea of the negative stereotype surrounding Mammy nor is she aware of how painful it is for most black people to hear that name.  It’s evident that she’s one of those people that love black culture, but not black people. We’re not your accessory for being “cool!” Find a better way that’s less of a slap in the face to an entire race of people. Thank you!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Winners of 2015: #8 - Fetty Wap - Bri King

The No. 8 slot on this list goes to Patterson, New Jersey’s own Fetty Wap. He’s become quite the upset in the rap game for proving to people that he’s not just a one-hit wonder—that one hit being “Trap Queen.” Speaking of which, the smash hit was his debut single and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and remained at Top 10 hit for 25 consecutive weeks. Since then, his other smash hits “679,” “My Way” and “Again” also peaked at the Top 10 charts. He’s now the first male rapper—since Lil Wayne—to have singles reach Top 10 on the same chart.

Later on, he’s collaborated with the likes of Drake, Taylor Swift and DJ Khaled. He’s currently nominated for the American Music Awards for Best New Artist of the Year and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist.

Clearly, he’s going places. I’m actually quite excited to see where his career goes from here. Keep up the good work, sir!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Steven Universe StevenBomb 4: "Steven's Birthday" Review [SPOILER HEAVY!!!] - Bri King

Part Two of StevenBomb 4 was released today. “Steven’s Birthday” was the sequel of sorts to Season 1’s “So Many Birthdays.” In this episode, we see that Steven feels conflicted with his half-human/half-Gem physiology. More simply put, when Greg shows Connie and Steven his birthday pictures, he sees that he has not aged much between the ages of 8 and 14. He feels conflicted between the seemingly nonexistent aging process that Gems face and the steady aging process of humans. This is definitely a pivotal point in Steven’s character development—I also have a bit of a theory about that, but I’ll leave that for later. Essentially, he feels like he has to grow up for Connie—who wasn’t necessarily subtle about liking a taller, more “mature” looking Steven. To temporarily compensate, he decides to use his Gem powers to stretch his body, despite it doing more harm than good. He exhausts his body so much to the point where he momentarily reverts into an infant.

Though this episode wasn’t as “eventful” as “The Answer” or “So Many Birthdays,” this episode does give more insight into how Steven feels as a half-human/half-Gem. While overhearing Connie and Greg converse about Steven’s aging, it’s obvious that Steven feels out-of-place. He can’t fully relate to full-blooded humans when talking about aging because he is still unsure of how he’ll age himself, although it was made clear that Steven does have the capacity to age, as seen in “So Many Birthdays.” What probably exacerbates those feelings is when Greg and Connie have their “pep talks” of sorts and end them with their “Human Beings” high-five. Again, since he’s only half-human, Steven can’t fully relate. I’d argue that he might be a little envious of that. Also, it’s been and is being established that no matter the circumstances, Connie and Steven want to be able to be there for each other and hope that their relationship lasts for years in the future. Steven confesses to Greg and Amethyst that he’d feel bad, to say the least, about having child-like appearances when Connie is a fully-grown woman. But, Connie later confesses that she’ll spend time with Steven no matter what he looks like, thus deepening their strong friendship and steadily blossoming romantic relationship.

Overall, I thought the episode wasn’t bad, but wasn’t that great either. Thankfully, it was nowhere near as tear-jerking and dramatic as “So Many Birthdays,” but it does hint at some darker parts of Steven’s character that will inevitably be revealed as the show progresses. I kind of wish there was just a snarky remark from Peridot at the beginning of the episode, but beggars can’t be choosers.

As for the theory I mentioned earlier, I feel like Steven—because he’s half-human/half-Gem—can very well become a full-blown human. Being that the Gems could find themselves in the midst of another war, I feel like Steven could possibly be hurt, but not necessarily “retreat” into his gem. A possibility, though not likely, is that Steven’s gem could be separated from his body—given that a Gem’s body is similar to a tangible hologram. Since his body is organic, it is possible—though highly unlikely—that his gem can be taken out and broken, though it won’t necessarily permanently damage his organic body. Therefore, he’d probably have to continue on as a human. I’m sure there are some holes within that theory, but those are just my thoughts.

Let me know what you think. Make sure to check in tomorrow night for my review of “It Could’ve Been Great.” Until next time!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Steven Universe StevenBomb 4: "The Answer" Review [SPOILER HEAVY!!!] - Bri King

DISCLAIMER: The images used in this article are for parody/critique and is justified under Fair Use. Credit goes to Rebecca Sugar, Cartoon Network and Time Warner.

STEVEN UNIVERSE IS FINALLY BACK!!! Steven Universe has returned after a four-month long hiatus with StevenBomb 4.0.  This week, a lot of our questions will be answered and theories will be tested and proven/disproven.

Today’s episode was “The Answer”—the episode in which Garnet finally reveals the backstory of how Ruby and Sapphire met and Garnet became a Crystal Gem! Before I give an actual review, I just want to say this: As I watched the episode, I did NOT want it to end! I thought it was a great episode to start the StevenBomb with.

We get to see so much out of this episode. We see the original/Homeworld character designs of the Crystal Gems (sans Amethyst and Steven), Homeworld’s true feelings about fusion (outside of Peridot and Jasper’s blatant disapproval of it) and even a snippet of Blue Diamond. We also get to see some holes filled in with this. (And even a Ruby/Sapphire song, too!)

Instead of analyzing every bit of the episode start to finish, I’ll analyze the parts that stuck out to me the most. Let’s start with the gem rankings. We all know that the Diamonds have the highest possible ranking in the Gem Caste System. We’ve been led to believe that Gems such as Ruby and Sapphire are at the bottom and Quartz Gems like Jasper (and kind of/sort of Amethyst) are the higher ranking soldiers. However, that might not be the case. It was revealed in “The Answer” that Sapphire was more or less Blue Diamond’s diplomatic informant—mostly because her future vision was rare and useful. Ruby, on the other hand, was a lower class soldier—or “common soldier” as Garnet put it; more of an escort than an actual soldier. It was revealed—if not, inferred—that Ruby also reported to Blue Diamond. Sapphire, though being Ruby’s superior in a sense, seemed to treat Ruby with some basic decency, despite accepting their would-be defeat.

Now, let’s talk about fusion. As we’ve seen before in prior episodes, Homeworld HATES fusion. I mean, they really HATE fusion!  However, as revealed in the episodes “Alone Together” and “Too Far,” Homeworld doesn’t mind fusion as long as it’s for fighting. However, in “The Answer,” it is revealed that Homeworld accepts fusion with another condition: it MUST be amongst gems of the same kind. In the episode, we see three Rubies (as we’ve seen in the trailers and previews) fusing and creating a bigger Ruby when the Crystal Gems (only consisting of Rose and Pearl) show up. (So to everyone who’s theorized that gems of the same cannot fuse: sorry, you’re wrong!) Then, after being taken out by a much more fiercer version of the Pearl we know and love (depending on who you talk to), the Ruby fusion was split and two of the Rubies were taken out. Much to everyone else’s surprise, Ruby tries to protect Sapphire, who was in Pearl’s line of attack, but wound up accidently fusing with her instead. (In doing so, she escapes Sapphire’s future vision, thus proving that Sapphire/Garnet cannot see more spontaneous occurrences.)

Another huge part of the episode I want to talk about is the character designs. The most outstanding character design (at least out of the Crystal Gems) would have to be Garnet’s. She looked like this when Ruby and Sapphire first fused and now she looks like this. One has to wonder what that implies of more “ancient” Gems and how fusing amongst different gems happened after Garnet first formed. Also, I am curious as to when and why Garnet changed her outer appearance to what it is now.

I also want to briefly harp on the conversation between Rose and Garnet at the end of the episode. We can actually get a more in-depth look on how Rose was so encouraging of the Gems and how much freedom she instilled in them to be themselves. Specifically with Garnet, we see how Rose wanted Ruby and Sapphire to not question themselves or regret becoming Garnet. Instead, she wanted them to embrace the blossoming love they have for each other and to live freely as such.

I feel like there are so many things to dissect from this episode, but I can see this going on and on forever. So, I’ll just say this: I loved the episode! I thought it was a great way to kick off the return from the hiatus. I feel like we know much more about the Gems in general, especially the ever-mysterious Garnet. Also, I have to mention that to anyone who had theorized about Pearl being Rose’s personal Pearl: congrats, you’re right!

That’s all I’m allowing myself to say about “The Answer”, guys! Check in tomorrow for my analysis and review of “Steven’s Birthday.” Until next time!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Losers of 2015: #9 - "The Dress" - Bri King

DISCLAIMER: This is purely opinion-based. The Winners/Losers list is not to personally attack nor defame anyone. It is merely a way to send off 2015 and get a discussion rolling.

Yes, the ninth slot on the Losers half of the list goes to “The Dress.” That darn dress! That Blasted Dress! THAT DRESS THAT JUST SHOULD HAVE BEEN BURNED!!! If you all recall, back in February, the Internet broke…again. Why was it broken? Over, you guessed it, that daggone stupid dress! The dress literally had everyone stressed out. What was so stressful was the fact that no one could reach an agreement on whether or not the dress was white and gold or black and blue.

In case you’ve forgotten, literally EVERYONE was talking about it. I’m sure that dress broke up a few relationships and friendships (that should have broken if they were going to get that worked up over a dress). It’s sparked a bunch of memes, of course, as well as actual scientific research to see why people think it was either one of those colors.

However, there were only two agreements that were reached because of this stupid dress. The first agreement being that the dress was hideous, regardless of color. The second agreement was the fact people got so worked up over a dress is exactly the reason why aliens never visit us.

That being said, this better be the last time ANYONE ever talks about that dress again!!!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Winners of 2015: #9 - "Why You Always Lying?" - Bri King

DISCLAIMER: This is purely opinion-based. The Winners/Losers list is not to personally attack nor defame anyone. It is merely a way to send off 2015 and get a discussion rolling.

Number 9 on the Winners’ list belongs to Downgoes Foster—the Vine star famous for his “Why You Always Lying” Vine. Seemingly out of nowhere comes this vine that almost instantly went viral. Ripping of the 90s classic “Too Close” by Next, he created a smash Internet hit. Instantly, memes were everywhere—and I do mean EVERYWHERE—with either the song or Downgoes Foster’s face. At this point, I feel like there’s no need for me to leave a link to the original vines or any of the variations, because we’ve all heard it by now. The vine even got a cosign from former Next member RL!

What made it even better was the fact that people from so many different cultures made their own versions of the vine in their respective languages—my personal favorites were the Korean and Spanish versions. After a while, we’ve seen that all good things come to an end. But this meme went out in one of the best ways it could—a full-length music video! Yes, there was a full version of the vine on YouTube—with background dancers and everything!

This was definitely one of the most enjoyable and hilarious memes of 2015 and I’m a little choked up to see it die. But this will be one fun thing to look back on as the year draws to a close.

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

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Perfect Forms - Barry X Ball - Umberto Boccioni - Rukshan Vathupola

In 2013 the artist Barry X Ball exhibited a piece known as Perfect Forms, the first of seven works based on Umberto Boccioni’s work the Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.

In his own lifetime, Boccioni only ever saw the plaster cast of his work. This is because at the onset of the First World War, he was drafted into the Italian army. During a routine chivalry exercise, he was thrown from his horse and was subsequently trampled. He died the next day; he was 33 years old.

Though Boccioni was an established painter in the Futurist art movement, he started to sculpt in 1912, only a few years before his untimely death. After almost two years of creating and molding experimental works, which are almost totally lost to us now, he produced the Unique Forms, which he regarded as his masterpiece at the closing of 1913.

The Futurists were focused on creating objects of speed and power as a representation of the new forces of their world. For at the turn of the century, the new wheels of industry presented themselves itself to the public in the form of sleek cars, fast trains and the large machines of industry.

Boccioni’s figure depicts an individual man in movement. It blurs the line between physical form and motion by making the solid form fluid and by making the fluid movements solid. In a sense it depicts a man in transition. Acquiring these new modern attributes of speed and power, the figure gains the ability to be move while standing still. However, with this speed and this power things are lost as well. Most of the time people fail to notice that this figure lacks arms. With this loss the figure’s ability to progress remains, but it loses the ability to create anything of its own volition easily. The figure becomes anonymous, its face and form become simplified and lose its identity. So that we cannot tell if it is a man or woman, “ugly or handsome, rich or poor. With this sculpture all aforesaid personages have now become equal” (Barry Lyndon).

Ball apparently took the original sculpture and placed it in a 3D scanner. From this scan he and his assistants smoothed our lines and filled in the all the dents and scratches making it more fluid and aerodynamic than it already was. From this virtual model they recreated Unique Forms in a form the saw as being perfect, covered first in bronze and then gold. With this he updates the figure to the modernity of our time. While the modern times of Boccioni’s age focused on the ability of the new technologies to give people the speed and power that they had longed for ever since we had the ability to call themselves humanity. Ball’s replication covers the figure in gold both heightens its value and erasing its flaws. Similar to modern society which is obsessed with being painful optimistic, where our expectations of reality are seen as being as real as the reality itself. This is because it is often seen as equally valid to change your perception of the world with the power of positive thinking rather than going about the trouble of changing reality itself. This reflects a negative result of our continued modernization where we have become even more interested in the surface level appearances of things, even emotions. This can be seen with the gold which catches both our envious and economic eyes, while capturing the twisted and contorted versions of ourselves in its reflection. And yet while they are placed before us, we cannot see them because they have become so distorted that we often fail to recognize that while most of us cannot physically bend ourselves, we often warp our psychology and emotions to suit the needs of the world. Forgetting who we were and where we came from, which is why even though “all grown-ups were once children... few of them remember it” (The Little Prince). And so, Ball's work updates both Boccioni's work as well as the historical context that it is responding to, creating new forms for the world we live in.

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

Images courtesy of the Louis Alexander Gallery and Wikipedia

Works Cited:

Barry Lyndon. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Perf. Michael Hordern, Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson. Warner Bros., 1975. Film.

De Saint-Exupéry, Antoine. The Little Prince. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943. Print.

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Losers of 2015: #10 - Fifty Shades of Grey - Bri King

DISCLAIMER: This is purely opinion-based. The Winners/Losers list is not to personally attack nor defame anyone. It is merely a way to send off 2015 and get a discussion rolling.

To complement my list of the Winners of 2015, I have also compiled a list of Losers of 2015. You can’t have one without the other, right?

This year has not been the best in movies or in literature. There was no better proof of that than the New York Times’ Bestseller erotic fiction series Fifty Shades of Grey.  The nation (and world) was reminded of the series with the first installment of the movie adaptation, starring Dakota Johnson and the divinely favored Jamie Dornan. The movie, despite the exceptional box office revenue in its first weekend, was not so divinely favored. It was true to the book, at least from what I’ve gathered, but was rather painful to watch. Basically, if you watched it as a joke, the joke was on you, since you gave an awful movie your money.

What was so awful about it, you may ask? I personally don’t feel the need to expound upon the negative and inaccurate portrayal of BDSM culture or the abusive and domineering personality of Christian Grey, being that there are plenty of articles and videos doing just that. [Seriously, look it up.] However, what I found to be rather painful to watch about Fifty Shades was the dialogue. I mean, really?! The writing was so excruciatingly awkward! Can someone explain what “Fifty shades of F***ed up” even means? Clearly, it was one of those puns that just had to happen.

Something else that made the movie almost impossible to watch was the lack of chemistry between Johnson and Dornan. By “lack of chemistry,” I really mean nonexistent chemistry. To me, it almost seemed obvious that the two were in it for the exposure. If you don’t believe me, just look at Jamie Dornan’s face. (I predict he’ll be the second coming of Twilight-era Robert Pattinson). For two characters who have an insatiable desire for each other—again from what I’ve gathered—it was not portrayed in the movie whatsoever. In fact, the two looked rather bored and turned off.

It’s hard to get “excited” if this movie is what you have to go off of. Did moms really think this was hot?

Needless to say, seeing that movie was kind of a waste of time. In my opinion, it was the equivalent to a cold shower. It’s ironic I feel that way, being that it’s supposedly an erotic novel/movie. But, the best thing to come from it was the “Honest Trailer” for the film. Screen Junkies, you have done well, my friends!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/

[letsbenerdsuniverse-blog]

Winners of 2015 - #10: Dancing Cop -  Bri King

DISCLAIMER: This is purely opinion-based. The Winner/Loser list is not to personally attack nor defame anyone. It is merely a way to send off 2015 and get a discussion rolling.

As we all know, 2016 is rapidly approaching. Think about it, Thanksgiving is next week, Christmas is a little over a month away and we’ll all be singing “Auld Lang Syne” in six weeks. [Or you’ll sing “Imagine” if you’re celebrating in New York.] I thought an appropriate way to send off 2015 would be through a countdown of all the most memorable moments of 2015. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Winners/Losers of 2015!

Though I initially wanted this to be a little higher on my list, I thought this would be a great way to kick off the Winners of 2015 list.

In case you haven’t seen the video or read an article about the situation, a female cop in the DC/Metro area has received plenty of attention in the press towards the end of October. In an age where the majority of news regarding the police centers on excessive force and police brutality, this unidentified cop has proven to be a “silver lining” for many.

Called to break up a fight, this cop decides to diffuse the situation in an atypical manner. Instead of using force, she decides to have a dance-off with one of the young teens involved. Successfully, the fight was broken up and everyone seemed to have gone home happy.

This cop has received much praise for doing something many thought most cops to be incapable of doing. Rather than abusing her power and using excessive force, she used her humanity to connect with the teens and calm the situation. Job well done in my book!

Hey guys, hope you liked the review. If you wanna read more of what we write we post more frequently on: http://www.letsbenerds.com/