Halloween is upon us and now is the perfect time to start figuring out your hollow’s day costume. DIY costumes are usually the most fun looks to do — but this year, we’re ditching the traditional black cat and witch costume for creative looks inspired by the culture. What’s more creative and innovative than cartoon characters? Black cartoon characters.

Folks have already started tweeting things like, “Trying to figure out which black girl superhero/cartoon I wanna be this upcoming Halloween.”

Well, we got you! Check out these animated Black characters and start brainstorming you’re 2018 Halloween look:

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T.I. Shares His List Of Legendary ATL Emcees

It seems like everyday, someone randomly drops some sort of “prestigious” list that leaves the Internet in shambles. Earlier this year, there was a whole debate about Joe Budden landing the number three spot on the Best Rappers Alive list. Now, T.I. is throwing his hat in the ring with his  own special hip hop list.

On Thursday, Tip stopped by Studio One ATL to give the scoop on his new Netflix show Rhythm & Flow, and was asked if he had to create a Mount Rushmore of Atlanta Hip Hop, whose face would grace the statue? After giving his breakdown about the idea of “fact vs opinion”, the Grand Hustle CEO responded:

“I’m up there. I feel like it’s me, Andre 3000. Big Boi.”

But it didn’t end there. Check out the full video above to see who else made the list. And catch Rhythm & Flow streaming now on Netflix.

Actor David Oyelowo has already played some big names, including Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2014 movie Selma. Now Oyelowo will take on the President of the United States in the upcoming Showtime series The President Is Missing. 

The show is an adaptation of the novel by former president Bill Clinton and author James Patterson. So far, Showtime has only greenlighted the project to a pilot episode, but if it receives good feedback it will be ordered to series. According to Deadline, Oyelowo will also serve as an executive producer along with Oscar winner Christopher McQuarrie, Anthony Peckham who wrote the adaptation, Heather McQuarrie, as well as Patterson and Clinton.

According to Deadline, the project’s description reads:

“A powerless and politically aimless vice president (Oyelowo) unexpectedly becomes president halfway into his administration’s first term, despite his every wish to the contrary. He walks right into a secret, world-threatening crisis, both inside and outside the White House. Attacked by friends and enemies alike, with scandal and conspiracy swirling around him, he is confronted with a terrible choice: keep his head down, toe the party line and survive, or act on his stubborn, late-developing conscience and take a stand.”

The bestselling book that the show is based on became the No. 1 novel of 2018 and it sold more than 2.3 million copies in North America alone.

“David brings such enormous depth, sensitivity and power to every role he plays,” said Gary Levine, the President of Entertainment at Showtime Networks. “Having him as our lead ensures that our series will have the exhilarating suspense of a political thriller along with the juicy complexity of a character drama.”

Martin Scorsese doesn’t like Marvel movies ya’ll.

Or at least, he doesn’t take them as seriously as what he calls “cinema.”

According to an interview with Empire magazine, Scorsese — who’s directed such celebrated movies like Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and The Departed — struggles to get into the comic book fantasies on screen.

“I tried, you know?” the director said when quizzed on whether he saw Marvel’s movies. “But that’s not cinema.”

Well tell us how you really feel!

At first, as a mostly DC Comics fan, I couldn’t help but cackle hysterically at an acclaimed director slamming Marvel movies, particularly the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which has gained dominance over the comic movie genre over the past couple of years.

However, as I read more into Scorsese’s comments, I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed. He continued:

“Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

Uuum, whaaat?

Scorsese’s comments reminded me of my years in film school. I was one of the few Black faces in a mostly White male program and of course, many of them idolized Martin Scorsese. I must admit, Scorcese has some great movies. I still have the box DVD set of Raging Bull and I’ve seen Goodfellas many times, especially considering its countless reruns on T.V.  He’s without a doubt a masterful and respected director.

But not without critique.

The biggest aspect of Scorsese’s comment that bothered me is his argument that Marvel movies don’t “convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

Now I’m confused.

If his standard for cinema is “conveying emotional, psychological experiences to another human being,” many Marvel movies achieve this goal. If not in the MCU, then certainly in past Marvel movies. How many times has a superhero heartbreakingly conveyed to their lover that they can’t be with them because of the safety risk (e.g. 2002’s Spider-Man)?

How many times has a mutant conveyed their isolation and difficulty navigating social norms because of their abilities (2003’s X2: X-Men United). Part of the reasons some people get into comic books are because of the “emotional, psychological experiences” of feeling invisible or othered. Even in the more recent MCU flicks, there are examples of isolation and how that can impact your “psychological experience” (Killmonger in 2018’s Black Panther anyone?)

Now I do believe that superhero movies, especially the MCU and even DC Comics content, can be more rigorous in their portrayal of good and evil for a more complex and realistic portrayal of human experiences. However, would I go out of my way to not call these movies cinema? Nope. Not if we’re going by Scorsese’s standards.

With his comment, he fails to envision the potential of superhero movies to shed light on some of our biggest societal enigmas — from corrupt politicians, to family discord, to individual struggles, to the complete downfall of our real-life heroes.

I especially find Scorsese’s comments annoying because many of his acclaimed movies have centered around a sort of Italian male bravado that is automatically going to polarize some audiences to thinking his movies aren’t great cinema either. If part of cinematic acclaim is attributed to dynamic lighting, complex acting, purposeful editing and intentional camera coverage, yes Scorsese is worthy to be praised and studied. However, the subjects he choses to focus on aren’t going to connect with everybody. As a matter of fact, they might outright offend some people.

Raging Bull was great, but the patriarchal violence Jake LaMotta’s wife Vickie experienced definitely could’ve been explored more from her perspective. And lord knows the fast pacing of Goodfellas leant itself more to an action movie than a careful character study of mob life. It would have been a different movie if Scorsese had gone for the latter.

Every film has its limits and every director is going to decide on a movie’s limits usually based on the genre they’re aiming for. Comic book movies lend themselves to the fantasy and sci-fi genres. The main purpose is to escape into another world almost like a “theme park,” if we’re using Scorsese’s words. There might be more limits to “emotional, psychological experiences” in these genres, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely deplete of them. Does Scorsese not believe 1977’s Star Wars is cinema, or Steven Spielberg‘s E.T. (1982) , or Ridley Scott‘s Alien (1979)?

When I exited the theater after watching Avengers: Endgame, my general reaction was “meh.”

However, when people told me they teared up or outright cried over certain characters, clearly, there was a connection there. Clearly, the emotional experience moved them, even if some of the characters technically weren’t human beings.

Who am I to deny them that kind of cinema.

Ever since Mixed-ish premiered on ABC last month, folks have been trying to figure out whether it’s a go or a no. Fans of Tracee Ellis-Ross and Black-ish were all tuned in on September 24th to support our people — and whether we liked it or not was something we’d discuss at a later date. But fortunately, folks tuned in this week for the show’s second episode, which means most people are really feeling it!

One piece of feedback that seems to be a common comment is that fans are loving Rainbow’s baby sister, Santamonica, whose real name is Mykal-Michelle Harris. The 7-year old superstar brings the comedic relief that we all love and need from shows with such informative content matter. She also brings the sassy cuteness that only someone her age and size can get away with.

But before snagging the role as little Santamonica, Mykal was booked and busy.  You may know her as Young Bonnie in Big Little Lies, or as the little girl in A Kid Called Mayonnaise. She even starred in a few episodes of Showtime’s hit series, The Affair. As Santamonica, she’s the girl that all the other kids in school probably follow behind. She’s opinionated, funny and packing plenty of strength in such a small package.

Judging by the audience’s reaction to her performance on Mixed-ish, it looks like little Mykal-Michelle Harris will be around for a long time. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Hit the flip to check out some of the young star’s cutest moments.

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Recently, there has been a lot of debate around the purpose of comedy and whether it’s being watered down because of “politically correct culture” or “woke culture.”

Todd Phillips, the director of the upcoming flick Joker, made this very clear when he made comments published in a Vanity Fair article. In the article, which actually centered around Joker star Joaquin Phoenix, Phillips made a comment about how “woke” Hollywood led him to make Joker.

“Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture,” he said. “There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore — I’ll tell you why, because all the fu**ing funny guys are like, ‘Fu** this sh**, because I don’t want to offend you.’ It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, ‘I’m out.’ I’m out, and you know what? With all my comedies — I think that what comedies in general all have in common —is they’re irreverent. So I go, ‘How do I do something irreverent, but fu** comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’ And so that’s really where that came from.”

Oh Todd, how I wish you would’ve kept your mouth shut.

As a DC Comics fan, I initially was excited to see Joker because I’m always interested in different interpretations of the popular Batman villain. Despite early critiques that it might insight violence or create sympathy for White murderers, I was willing to give it a chance, especially since I’m also a fan of Phoenix’s diverse and talented roles.

However, Phillips has now increased any reservations I might’ve had about the movie by reminding me that it’s directed by the same White man who directed movies like The Hangover and Old School, AND he’s criticizing “woke culture” at the same time.

Despite some of the humorous value of Phillips’ earlier comedy movies, they never really appealed to me because they were centered on White bro-y, frat culture that I didn’t even try to relate to as a gay Black man. Even when these movies came out in the first decade of the 2000s, some publications like Detail Magazine grouped Phillips with other “Frat Packager” directors who also focused on mostly straight White men (e.g. director Judd Apatow with 40 Year Old Virgin and Adam McKay with Anchorman).

Now that Phillips is blaming “woke culture” as the reasons “comedies don’t work anymore,” it not only tells me that he’s ignorant to the plethora of great comedy out there, but he is also longing for a past time when comedies centered around straight White men. Today, it’s possible to celebrate diverse comedies like Girls Trip and A Black Lady Sketch Show, but Phillips thinks there’s no room for his straight white man comedy because he doesn’t want to “offend you.”

When people make these sort of arguments, I always urge them to consider a few points.

First of all, if your jokes are going to be centered around groups that are already oppressed and you’re not a member of that said group, expect to look like a bully….not a comic. This is how I feel about Dave Chappelle and many other comics who seem to be whining that comedy is becoming too politically correct because they can’t say whatever they want to say about a marginalized group. A clip of the late standup comedian George Carlin has recently been circulating online proving that comedy can take on a bully mentality. In a 1990 interview with Larry King, he criticized fellow comic Andrew Dice Clay‘s quips about certain marginalized groups.

“Comedy has traditionally picked on people in power, people who abuse their power,” Carlin said. “Women and gays and immigrants, to my way of thinking, are underdogs.”

“I think [Clay’s] core audience is young white males who are threatened by these groups,” he continues. “I think a lot of these guys aren’t sure of their manhood, I think that’s often a problem when you’re going through adolescence… and the women who assert themselves and that are competent are a threat to these men, and so are immigrants in terms of jobs.”

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On another note, there is also this idea that comics are being censored because if they say something offensive, they will receive backlash. This is true, considering comics like Roseanne Barr have lost their entire show because of offensive remarks. Even a recent Saturday Night Live hopeful, Shane Gillis, lost his gig because of old racist and homophobic slurs.

However, these instances should be taken on a case-by-case basis and in a situation where a comic is not willing to apologize for their remarks, it should be expected that every company or person isn’t going to support you. That’s life. Yes, we have free speech, but there can still be consequences for our words. If you’re going to be a comic who’s racist, homophobic, sexist, etc., then you’re just going to have to find a way to navigate the industry and find people who support you.

Believe me, there are still people who will support bigotry. The fact that a racist, homophobic, sexist man occupies the White House should prove this point. Even Dave Chappelle has whole bits using homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and this man still has up to five specials on Netflix.

So Mr. Phillips…”woke culture” didn’t ruin comedy. It has just made people more conscious and it’s created more room for voices that have long been silenced. Instead of saying that “woke culture” pushed you to make Joker, how about you just make a good movie for the sake of movie fans, not out of spite. There will always be an audience for whatever kind of humor you want to espouse. Just make sure you’re ready to take the heat if folks clap back.