Issue 25 Spring 2019

No. 25

4 10 16 The winter season means its time for basketball. The Atlanta Hawks will hog the bulk of this issue as we present to everyone "The Sports Issue.” The Hawks are still in rebuild mode but the future is looking bright. (Hakim Wright)

Caption: Venezuelan striker Josef Martinez approaches Mexico’s bench to greet some familiar faces as he walks past former Atlanta United coach, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino. (Photo: Hakim Wright)

Events

MomoCon is the official kickoff to Con Season! And if that wasn’t exciting enough, former First Lady Michelle Obama paid us a visit!

Movies

The most anticipated film of the last decade finally hit the screen! Along with some fresh film projects from our friends at Netflix.

Sports Mexico’s U.S. Tour is underway, the U.S. Women’s National Team conducts a farewell tour before the Women’s World Cup, and Atlanta’s WNBA team, the Atlanta Dream, are back in action!

S T N E V

E On Saturday, May 11th, the former First Lady Michelle Obama and her book tour, “Becoming” came to Atlanta. It was definitely an amazing day from noon til almost midnight and one for many people to cherish.

No matter your age, race, size, or background, there’s some inspiration we can all use to fuel becoming your best you.

Or as Michelle so eloquently stated, “Who are you Becoming?”

“Becoming” as a definition is a process of coming to be something or of passing into a state. It can be flattering, stylish, elegant, and tasteful among many other things. I had the honor to witness Michelle Obama’s sincere search to find the answer to her question both in a very private setting and then in a sold-out arena.

She spent several hours in the afternoon meeting with 20 local students at Spelman College to discuss her latest book.

Becoming was one of the primary texts in the honors political science course at Spelman, Clark Atlanta, and Morehouse. The students had the opportunity to ask her questions, share their struggles, and their achievements.

Michelle shares, “Now it’s not about what other people are saying about you. The biggest challenge to overcoming imposter syndrome is you and your head, and what you repeat to yourself. If you practice being an imposter and telling yourself you are not worthy, it is not anyone else doing it but you doing it to yourself. So we have to start practicing other

messages, ingrain other kinds of images of what we can be in our own head.

There will always be somebody. This is true regardless of race, class, or gender. There are haters out there in the world and there are people who want to win. So if every time you lose and give up it’s a win for them. There is always gonna be somebody telling you that you don’t belong or you can’t do this, so you have to practice a different set of tools for yourself.”

Former First Lady Michelle Obama surprises college students before her book tour event.

“We owe it to our young people in the world to be better, to be decent, to love each other, to be compassionate”-Michelle Obama The location for the sold out Becoming: An Intimate Evening with Michelle Obama was the all-new State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta. This stellar night was moderated by her good friend, Gayle King, f r o m T h e C B S T h i s Morning show. The two sat down to talk and share excerpts from the book.

Topics ranged from her life as a child to life as the First Lady and the impact on the family as a whole.

They discussed the challenges, obstacles, re j e c t i o n s , s a c r i fi c e s , successes, and hate; along with the importance of finding balance with self-motivation.

Throughout the night, there were several comical moments as the two discussed her first date with Former President Barack Obama, to their

marriage counseling sessions, and the public wanting her to run for office in the future.

By the end of the night, Mrs. Obama stated, “What I have found with trusting in people, letting go and letting people in, opened people up to you and to me. This is what we have to do as people when we do not define ourselves to each other and do not share our stories with each other. Somebody can tell the wrong story to our neighbor about us. We owe it to our young people in the world to be better, to be decent, to love each o t h e r, to be compassionate, and we have a charge here now to believe in the validity of who we really are and share it with each other.

Believe in each other.”

Former First Lady Michelle Obama talks to a group of students at Spelman College before her speaking engagement at State Farm Arena.

-Desmond McLennon

M O M O C O N

Attendees of MomoCon are seen inside the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) viewing art, sampling video games, and attending panels (GetShotByX/TPR)

More than 39,000 gamers, animation fans, and cosplayers flocked to the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta for MomoCon 2019, the largest gaming convention in the Southeastern United States.

For its record number of attendees, MomoCon 2019 hosted industry stars like Suda51, who announced Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes for PS4 and Steam, Aksys Games, Inti Creates, and more. The 2019 Indie Game Awards Showcase also took place, recognizing NITE Team 4 (Alice and Smith), CrossCode (Radical Fish Games), Hexologic (MythicOwl), Eagle Island (Pixelnicks), and FrostRunner (Think Arcade) as the 5 finalists.

MomoCon 2019 was the most attended in the show’s history, with more than 39,000 gamers, animation fans, and cosplayers. The best cosplays I saw were the Mortal Kombat 11 group, from the Dark Lord Raiden to about all if the ninjas from Scorpion, Sub Zero, Reptail, and Ermac.

There was a really good Obsidian from Steven Universe and The Batman Who Laughs from Dark Knight Metal.

MomoCon 2019’s guest list featured stars from the gaming and animation worlds.

Goichi “Suda51” Suda of Grasshopper Manufacture announced PS4 and Steam releases of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes at his Saturday panel. Suda51 also discussed Japanese games with TINY METAL director and Diablo III recording director Hiroaki Yura. Aksys Games, Inti Creates, Supergiant Games, and more also spoke on panels.

I had the chance to interview a lot of special guests this year and most were really f u n . K e n n y J a m e s t h e v o i c e o f Bowser, Samantha Kelly the voice of Princess Peach, Michaela Dietz the voice of Pearl from Steven Universe, Patrick Warburton who voices Joe Swanson from Family Guy and Brock Samson from Venture Bros. and even Tony Anselmo who voices Donald Duck. But the deepest and most raw interview came from Cutiepiesensie (Jasmine) and Thrill Builds (Tonya). They spoke a lot of truth and brought facts about the cosplay world and being black while doing so. I also got to interview Renee Cooper, the head of media relations for Momocon. An invaluable asset, she’s been with the con since they first started back at Georgia Tech.

The 5th annual Indie Game Awards Showcase, hosted by Jesse Cox, recognized the brilliant creations of 20 independent developers, including four Georgia-local teams. Judges Rami Ismail of Vlambeer, Mike Fahey of Kotaku, Chris Carter of Destructoid, Austin Wood of PC Gamer, and Janet Garcia of IGN selected the top five games: NITE Team 4 (Alice and Smith), CrossCode (Radical Fish Games), Hexologic (MythicOwl), Eagle Island (Pixelnicks), and FrostRunner (Think Arcade).

Developers of these five winners were awarded $1,000, a dedicated panel and exhibit space at MomoCon 2020, a glass trophy, and feature placement in the MomoCon newsletter.

“Our annual Indie Game Awards Showcase is a chance to celebrate great games by inspiring talent,” said Chris Stuckey, co-founder of MomoCon. “That and MomoCon’s guest appearances across games, animation, and pop culture delight and unite us in our love for these creations. We look forward to welcoming an even greater audience next year to celebrate with us.”

My favorite moment of the con was when I geeked out over Donny Yates, the creator of Cosmic Ghost Rider and explained the story of Cosmic Ghost Rider to a friend in three minutes. Donny totally shook and laughed about it.

We really enjoyed our time at Momocon this year. We met so many great people and our con family continues to expand. We’re happy that con season has officially kicked off and can’t wait for Momocon 2020!

-TBZ

Photo: X

MOVIES

This is a lot to take in, but let’s do it. If you’ve never watched or read the Infinity War or Infinity Gauntlet comic book (which is what the film is based on) you won’t get a full understanding of what’s going on. But if you follow the films you should be able to understand the overall storyline.

The film started slow, which is ok since it’s a three-hour long movie, but then it picks up where Infinity War ended. The team has a lingering problem they need to rectify but aren’t sure which direction to go afterward. As time moves on, the team’s adjustment to their new reality doesn’t go smoothly. Thor gains weight, Hawkeye becomes Ronin essentially, Hulk becomes a professor, so to sum it up, a lot of things have changed. Then out of nowhere, Ant-Man comes on the scene (like in the trailer) and crashes the party with some fresh ideas.

This is where the comic books come into play. The film follows the comics pretty closely (I’ll just leave it at that). Nebula plays a big role in the comics and plays a similar role in the film (doing my best to stay #spoilerfree so bear with me).

About halfway through the film, I was convinced that Infinity War was better than End Game. But once the movie picked up, I was on the edge of my seat the rest of the way.

I didn’t want Captain Marvel to be the end-all when it came to fighting Thanos and she wasn’t (thank goodness) because if that was the case, End Game would’ve been a 30 minute movie. She came, she did what she needed to do, but she wasn’t the one to beat Thanos. They even had an all-female moment that was absolutely amazing. Some real, true #girlpower, “I am woman hear me roar!” type of action. We, as press, even applauded when it happened.

There was so much going on that at one point, it was too much to take in. It was complete sensory overload. But when it all comes together it’s absolutely gorgeous. There are loads of touching scenes with various characters so it’s no surprise that the theatre erupted into tears.

The women had their moment, there were tons of Easter Eggs, Thor turns into Big Lebowski, and that’s all I can really detail without spoiling it.

I give Avengers: End Game a 9 out of 10. But what’s next? I called it last year on the red carpet for Infinity War at The Fox Theatre about Avengers vs. X-Men. How will everything be introduced? Will we have to watch the Disney TV shows in order to follow? They left a lot of things open. If you haven’t read the Infinity War comic books, you definitely should so you can have a deeper understanding of what’s going on and some of the Easter Eggs.

TBZ out!

Photos: Courtesy of Marvel/Disney

“Change is a coming!” and what a healthy change indeed. Following in the footsteps of Crazy Rich Asians, another Asian-led cast is ready to break barriers and push genre limitations with Always Be My Maybe.

Everything about this film is a breath of fresh air. Hollywood has been notoriously stuck in a time warp delivering the same tired stories with bland characters and nauseatingly eurocentric tropes. This film is dominated by Asian talent, intelligent women, and relatable life challenges, set to the beauty of San Francisco.

The story is about two best friends, Sasha (Ali Wong) and Marcus (Randall Park), who live next door to each other in the city. While both sets of parents ran local businesses, Sasha’s were always absent, leaving her to be a constant presence at Marcus’s house. His parents, Harry (James Saito) and Judy (Susan Park) always welcomed her for dinner. She even helped with the cooking under Judy’s tutelage.

As they grow up, the two become inseparable. That close bond crumbled to pieces after they had a fallout which quite honestly, could’ve been prevented (but a situation that’s very common between girl/guy friends). After 15 years apart, their paths cross again when she returns to San Francisco to open a restaurant. Now a celebrity chef, she runs into Marcus after her publicist Veronica (Michelle Buteau ) setups a not so subtle appointment to get her A/C repaired at her rental home.

There’s a beautiful subtlety in the way that certain elements were delivered to keep the story from following the usual rom-com template. The incompatibility with the partners they chose in absentia, the periodic injections of Asian culture, having the lyrics to a certain Mariah Carey track play out onscreen, and the most important of all, showing a man having to make sacrifices instead of a woman. All too often we’re forced to see women give up their dreams, jobs, or place of residence to appease a man. Ali Wong and Co. were not having that.

The soundtrack is a beautiful reflection of The Bay Area. The opening scene zapped me back to my teens with the Souls of Mischief track, “93 til Infinity.” I guarantee you’re not going to see two Asians, on-screen, fall in love to D’Angelo’s, “How Does It Feel” before watching scenes change to Too Short’s, “Blow The Whistle” anywhere else. This was an authentic, fresh California move that broke away from romantic comedy norms.

Directed by Nahnatchka Khan, Always Be My Maybe shows all the delight and painful intricacies of being young. It’s full of joy and carefree but can also be awkward and hard to communicate. The main message that stood out to me was the truth in its simplicity. Had there been some honest, open conversations, so much could’ve been avoided. But, that’s easy for me to say as an adult. As a teenager, let’s face it, it’s hard to communicate and express your feelings, especially when your best friend is the opposite sex. That’s what makes Marcus and Sasha so relatable, along with their sense of humor and how they work around their problems.

I give Always Be My Maybe a 9 out of 10. Women rule in this film and bring all the comedy and awesomeness you could ask for. It’s real, educational, heartwarming and extremely funny. There are some hilarious surprises waiting on you and be sure to stick around for the credits. The film is available on Netflix on May 31, 2019.

-Jon J.

MURDER MYSTERY Directed by Kyle Newacheck, Murder Mystery is a light comedy about a New York cop named Nick Spitz (Adam Sandler) and his wife Audrey (Jennifer Aniston). It’s obvious a spark is missing from their marriage so Nick ponies up a European vacation after a decade-long promise went unfulfilled. The only problem is the trip was planned on a whim and their lives take a turn during the flight across the pond.

Onboard, Audrey meets the charming Charles Cavendish (Luke Evans), a man with money and good looks, who invites them both aboard a private yacht for the weekend. Once they arrive at their destination, that’s where the murder and mystery begin.

For reference, I’d say this film falls somewhere between Bad Times at the El Royale and Murder on the Orient Express. Both films had attributes that were memorable, more like sticking points. Murder on the Orient Express was intelligent, Bad Times at the El Royale had an amazing soundtrack with magical moments sprinkled in between. This film had its moments but it felt more like a free promo for Claritin and Monaco’s tourism department.

There were moments where the Sandler-Aniston duo brought laughter without trying too hard, but they weren’t consistent. The rest of the cast was brilliant, especially Luke Evans, who played the perfect role of mystery rich man with ulterior motives. One of the refreshing things about the film was that the bulk of the humor came from the supporting cast as opposed to Sandler and Aniston.

I give Murder Mystery a 7 out of 10. It definitely isn’t good enough to have a run in theaters so Netflix is the perfect place for it. It’s a good date night film or something to watch in your free time, but it’s nothing that will be trending over the weekend.

Sports

MEXICO U.S. TOUR

MEXICO DEFEATS PARAGUAY 4-2 FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WIN Mexico defeated Paraguay 4-2 on Tuesday Night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mexico’s two early goals within the first 10 minutes set the tone for what turned into a wild night in the Bay Area.

In the 6′, a long ball came to Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. Running full-speed, he jostled a defender and headed the ball to the center of the 18-yard box where Jonathan Dos Santos nailed a half volley in the upper left corner for Mexico’s first goal. Three minutes later, there was more confusion on the Paraguayan back line as captain Gustavo Gómez attempted to block a low cross but his trailing leg redirected it past the keeper. The own goal was devasting as Paraguay allowed two goals in three minutes.

Tata Martino’s men were ruthless since the first whistle. In the 24′, Jonathan Dos Santos made a beautiful one-touch flick to Chicharito inside the box. Breaking the back line, Hernandez was immediately 1 v 1 with the keeper and blasted home Mexico’s third goal.

The momentum changed in the second half after the former Atlanta United talisman Miguel Almirón took the pitch. La Albirroja launched a fierce counterattack featuring Almirón, current Atlanta United player Tito Villalba, and Hernán Pérez. After two quality exchanges, Pérez would be the last one on the ball and score Paraguay’s first goal.

That momentum that came with Almirón’s presence was short-lived as the Newcastle United star was issued an instant red card after fouling Mexico’s José Juan Vásquez from behind. While Miggy was in total shock and relatively calm, Mexico’s Miguel Layún took exception to the dangerous foul and approached the Paraguayan star. Soon after, tempers flared and eventually, goalkeepers got involved and the benches cleared.

There were more than enough fouls in Mexico’s 4-2 victory over Paraguay (James Lyons/TPR)

Paraguay didn’t give up and continued the pressure in Mexico’s defensive third. Confusion on the back line caused Paraguay to press and cause a mistake for El Tri. After Paraguay recovered the ball inside the box, the ball fell to the feet of Derlis González who finessed a shot from about 10-yards out past Mexico’s Raúl Gudiño.

Just when the Paraguayans were on the brink of settling a three-goal deficit, Luis Montes sealed the match in the opening minute of stoppage time. Keeping his composure, Montes was 1 v 1 with the goalkeeper, dribbled around him, and calmly slotted it home to calm the nerves of the Mexican faithful.

Tonight’s victory makes two-straight for Tata Martino whose men are not only adjusting to his style of play but thriving on it. With seven goals across two matches, the Mexican attack and high pressure is a carbon copy of what was seen at Atlanta United under Martino. What’s even more impressive is that today’s victory came with mostly new players. So after scoring three goals against Chile, Martino rotates the squad and scores four goals against a respectable Paraguayan side.

Things are looking up for Mexico and fans should be excited about the second leg of the #MexTour as well as this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. La Selección will play their next match as part of the aforementioned tour June 5 at Tata’s old stomping grounds Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

-Jon J.

Photo: James Lyons Two players battle for possession during Mexico’s victory over Paraguay (James Lyons/TPR)

MARTINO’S MEN HANDLE BUSINESS AS MEXICO DEFEAT VENEZUELA 3-1 Mexico’s U.S. Tour continued in Atlanta with great success as a capacity crowd saw Mexico defeat Venezuela 3-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. A whopping 51,834 attended the Wednesday Night matchup that played as both a friendly and a warm homecoming for manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who led Atlanta United to their firstever MLS Cup trophy last season.

It didn’t take long for the action to unfold. Venezuela’s Jhon Murillo struck first with a beautiful long-distance effort in the 18th minute. Mexico would respond quickly with a counterattack to level the score. With the ball just yards from goal, Rodolfo Pizzaro mistimed his step, making him unable to get a clean touch on the ball. He played it off to Roberto Alvarado who launched a rocket past the keeper for goal.

Alvarado was hungry for more and led La Selección on a grueling counter in the second half. He sped down the left flank with pace, tried a low cross but the attempt was blocked.

As luck would have it, the ball ricocheted back to him, allowing him another chance. The second attempt was clean and found Rodolfo Pizarro for the easy tap-in goal.

In the 76th minute, Carlos Antuna crossed to Andres Guardado who controlled the ball and fired a low shot to the far corner beating keeper Wilker Fariñes.

STATS

Shots 12-11 MEX

Saves 4-2 VEN

Fouls 11-7 VEN

Corners 4-4

Offside 2-2

Mexico will face Ecuador this Sunday, June 9 at 7 p.m. and start their Gold Cup journey Saturday, June 15, against Cuba. Venezuela will face the U.S. on Sunday, June 9, at 2 p.m. and kick-off their Copa América journey Saturday, June 15, at 3 p.m. against Cuba.

-Jon J.

Photo: Anna Lira

U.S. SOCCER

USA DEFEAT SOUTH AFRICA 3-0 IN FIRST OF THREE FRIENDLIES BEFORE FRANCE The United States Women’s Nationa Team (USWNT) hosted the Republic of South Africa (RSA) early in the afternoon this Mother’s Day Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. The match was played before 22,000 fans who came to give a proper send-off before the ladies hit the road for the Women’s World Cup in France.

The USWNT looked very versatile in this match, able to adjust formations with every substitute and find open spaces in a packed defensive half. RSA played extremely compact in an effort to thwart the U.S. attack and it worked in the first half. With only Amanda Mthandi sitting up high, the Banyana Banyana relied heavily on the counterattack since they were positioned so deep in defense.

The U.S. was able to pierce that RSA backline eventually. Once in the defensive center, Sam Mewis found herself near the center of the 18 and sent a finesse shot past goalkeeper Andile Dlamini for the first goal of the match. Unfortunately for South Africa, Dlamini would eventually leave the game with a knock, leaving room for backup keeper Kaylin Swart to show her best.

Once substitutions were made in the second half (in friendlies you can make up to six), the U.S. stepped up the intensity. This is where we saw the likes of veterans you can depend on like Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, and Allie Long. Long’s addition to the Women’s World Cup roster drew ire from many but they clearly don’t know football. While her name hasn’t been cemented in the national team picture the past few years, she’s been training, hard.

Our defense is not invincible and we’ll need vets this summer like Ali Krieger and Allie Long to fortify that backline.

Sam Mewis bagged her second goal in the 78′ minute and Carli Lloyd followed suit with a goal in stoppage time. RSA substitute Kaylin Swart came up with some heroic saves in the second half to keep South Africa in the match, but the U.S. attack was just too much to handle.

With one match in the bag, the USWNT have two matches remaining in their Send-Off Series before they head to France for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. They ladies will face New Zealand on Thursday, May 16 and take on Mexico on Sunday, May 26.

-Jon J.

Photo: James Lyons

ATLANTA DREAM

ATLANTA DREAM FALL TO CONNECTICUT SUN 98-69 Brittney Sykes led all scorers Friday night with 26 points, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Sun from earning a 98-69 win over the Dream at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Sykes was in double digits after the first ten minutes of the game, scoring 11 points in the first quarter alone. She added on a team-high four assists with three rebounds and a blocked shot.

“We missed some defensive assignments and when you do that everything is in disarray,” said Sykes, commenting on what went wrong. “We all had a little something to do with tonight and we just have to make sure have the mentality of next man up.”

Connecticut scored first and held on to the lead throughout the game, outscoring Atlanta in all four quarters. The Dream made more appearances and outscored the Sun from the foul line, but Connecticut was able to shoot 48.7 percent from the field to stay ahead of Atlanta.

Elizabeth Williams was Atlanta’s most efficient scorer Friday night, going 5-7 from the field and 2-2 from the line to finish with 12 points. Maite Cazorla scored in double digits for the first time this season on Friday, earning seven of her 10 points in the fourth quarter.

The Dream wraps up a three-game road trip Sunday at Washington at 3:00 p.m. Fans can stream the game live on WSB-TV Now or Bounce TV (WSB-TV channel 2.2). Atlanta returns to State Farm Arena Tuesday, July 23 to host the Sparks for the second time this season.

-Jon J.

Photo: Hakim Wright

No. 25 / THE PEACH REVIEW®

BY JON J. Founder and Editor-in-Chief

JON JONES Department Consultant

DESMOND MCLENNON Editor

KEITH JONES Art Director

BOB JEFFREYS Fashion Director

JOY LARKIN

Fashion Associate

KEISHA CAMPBELL

Music Director

ANGELA “YOANGIE!” CRUZ

Writers

LAUREN BRUMLEY, TITUS “TBZ” ROWELL, ESLI LARA, MIKE BROWN, TONY STANFORD JR., ELLYCE JONES, KHALEAH EVELYN, ERICA “EDB” BIZZELL, TORONDA LEWIS, DOUG BRYANT, BRITTNEY LEVEL, ALANA CLARKE Gaming and Conventions

TITUS “TBZ” ROWELL Photographers

HAKIM WRIGHT, MALCOLM “X” LEWIS, ANNA LIRA, JAMES LYONGS, JONATHAN DAVIS, KENT FOSTER, YOH PHILLIPS, KEVIN MCCARTHY

Beauty Director

KEISHA CAMPBELL

Film Correspondent

WHITNEY VALCIN

Travel

JAMES WASHINGTON

ISSUE 25 Copyright 2019 No part of THE PEACH REVIEW® Magazine may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from the publisher.

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