Down by the Water (2023)

A story of a magical dragon brings great representation for Chinese culture.

Much more than a meme, 'Barbenheimer' actually diversifies viewer bases and spreads the important message of both films wider than they otherwise would have!

The Gates, John Burr’s new thriller film, is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of three Black twenty-somethings - Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith), and Tyon (Keith Powers), as they accidentally take a wrong turn into a gated community that’s more like a modern-day sundown town. The three friends witness a variety of crimes in their new surroundings, including an attempted homicide and an attempted rape. As they attempt to alert the authorities and do the right thing, they are thwarted at every turn by the worst horror stories of American conservatism - racist white suburbanites, reckless gun violence, corrupt police, religious mania, and a megalomaniacal pastor. 

Behind all the action, 'Space Sweepers' is a surprisingly heartfelt and progressive story about building community.

Neon Gravity is an assassin who realizes that her target, as well as her current reality, are not what they seem. This short film is a futuristic story that takes place in Downtown Miami.

An aspect of She-Ra that I find refreshing is even though a large portion of the cast is on the LGBTQ+ Spectrum, being gay is never mentioned. While this might initially sound like a negative thing, in the show’s land of Etheria being on the gay spectrum is shown to be so common and normalized that straight isn’t the default. As much as there is to appreciate about narratives revolving around the obstacles that may come from being non-heteronormative, it’s nice to get immersed in a world where no one bats an eye at all to any sort of differing identity.