Pop culture is a never-ending world of updates, teases, trailers, and hopefully releases. What’s New Wednesday is Dorkaholics’ way to keep us all up to date with what’s new across comics, tv, film, games, and more! This week, the focus is on Joy Ride as the opening film for the Center for Asian American Media’ CAAMFest 2023, and new trailers for Black Knight, Secret Invasion, and Barbie.
- CAAMFest 2023: Joy Ride Opens the Festival
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) has announced the programming schedule for CAAMFest 2023 from May 11-21, 2023. The festival will open with Joy Ride, directed by Adele Lim, a highly anticipated comedy film that is sure to set the mood as
“These last few years have deeply altered us and we are only starting to journey towards each other again,” says Festival and Exhibitions Director Thúy Trần. “CAAMFest 2023 is a call to gather so that we may witness each other’s transformations, restore our bonds, and bask in our joys.”
Opening night will take place at The Castro Theater in San Francisco on May 11, 2023 and the film will be released in theaters on July 7, 2023.
“As we’ve seen in the latest awards season, Asian American stories resonate with audiences,” says CAAM Executive Director Stephen Gong. “Some of those stories come from Hollywood, and others originate in communities like the ones we live in here in the Bay Area. That’s why it’s been the mission of our festival for over 40 years to bring the diversity of Asian American narratives to local audiences.”
- 1st Teaser Trailer for Black Knight
Black Knight is giving sci-fi an update, as the dystopian wasteland of the future relies on QR codes, not barcodes. I’m excited to see how the film balances its world-building and explanations for how and why society is the way it is, as well as developing characters that are just as attention-grabbing as the plot points.
As a film based on the Korean webcomic Delivery Knight, director Cho Ui-seok decided to take on this project as a result of how the delivery men are set up to much more, suitably living up to the Knight in both titles.
“First time reading the webtoon, I found the setup to be extremely innovative. It’s not the delivery men that we know of – they fight off the hunters to deliver oxygen and daily necessities, meaning that they play the most crucial role in the survival of the remaining mankind,” Cho said. “That really appealed to me.”
Black Knight premieres on Netflix on May 12, 2023.
- New Trailer for Secret Invasion
The next Disney+ Original series is Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion, which features the return of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury this time in the leading role.
Tonally, the series feels similar to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with the revelation of a conspiracy with the potential to unravel the known world tensions certainly. However, this time around the threat isn’t a shadow organization pulling the strings of a trusted agency, but it seems to be from alien forces if the title’s tieback to the source comics are of any indication. It will be interesting to see Skrulls as a foe in this series, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has portrayed them as victims of the Kree-Skrull War in Captain Marvel and friendly allies in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Secret Invasion begins streaming on June 21, 2023 with six episodes.
- 2nd Teaser Trailer for Barbie
The second teaser trailer for Barbie is out now, treating fans to more clips that surprisingly and pleasantly avoid any major spoilers. Noticeably though, instead of a multiverse of alternate realities and selves, Barbie appears to take place in a world that welcomes multiple incarnations and variations of Barbie and Ken in one place.
While there isn’t anything that reveals this to be a Barbie film for adults, the humor treads that fine line of subtly risque dialogue that most young children won’t be able to pick up on, i.e. “I’ll beach you off” and Ryan Gosling’s Ken suggesting he stay the night with Margot Robbie’s Barbie because of their relationship, but is unsure about what they’re to do.
Barbie is in theaters on July 21, 2023. And if you’re interested in being in your own Barbie movie poster, check out the Barbie Selfie Generator: BarbieSelfie.ai
