Remember how excited I was about learning characters in His Dark Materials can travel between world’s last week? Well, that’s just how disappointed I was with this week’s tired twist – that Coulter and Asriel had an affair, complete with an angry husband trying to kill Lyra and both of them. What a dumb, predictable, and, […]
TV
Watchmen – Little Fear of Lightning Review
Remember a few weeks back, when Laurie Blake told Angela Abar that people put on masks in response to some sort of trauma – usually from their childhood or youth? Well, while we may still be waiting to discover why Angela is drawn to her particular masked persona, we definitely understand just what made Wade […]
The Mandalorian – Chapter One and Chapter Two Review
After watching “Chapter One,” the series premiere of The Madalorian (aka the one thing on Disney+ that millions of people were waiting to watch), I decided I should wait until I’d watched at least the series’ second episode (which was officially titled “Chapter Two,” but also used the title “The Child” within the episode) before […]
His Dark Materials – The Idea of the North (A Newbie’s Perspective)
So, I will admit that I wasn’t all that invested in “The Idea of the North,” the second episode of His Dark Materials. At least until that bonkers crazy twist where there is a multiverse?!? What?!? And with that, all my mundane questions about the rules of the fantasy world of the series (some of […]
The Crown Season Three (Spoiler-Free) Review
Fans of seasons one and two of Netflix’s The Crown, fear not! I come bringing good news! Despite changing over nearly every single cast member from the shows first two installments (the lone holdover is a pleasant, if brief, surprise early in the third season), I’m happy to report that season three of The Crown […]
His Dark Materials – The Idea of North Review (A Book Fan’s Perspective)
“The Idea of North” builds on the plotline established in the “Lyra’s Jordan” and already starts to embellish on things that weren’t in the novel. Lyra (Dafne Keen) has moved in with Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson). However, their relationship soon becomes strained and Mrs. Coulter’s true personality starts to reveal itself. The Gyptians continue to […]
Watchmen – If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own Review
This week’s rather straightforward episode of Watchmen (if any episode of Watchmen can ever truly be classified as “straightforward”) opened with a mixed homage to another superhero of the DC universe: Superman. The Clark family, childless Oklahoma farmers, are given a child right before something crashes down from the sky and lands in their cornfield. […]
His Dark Materials – Lyra’s Jordan (A Newbie’s Perspective)
I’ve never read the His Dark Materials series of novels. I know nothing about the story, the characters, the setting. All I know is what the new HBO adaptation tells me (which, if it’s a good show, should be enough to help understand why the novels have been so popular, and, in theory, to entice […]
Under the Weather? Disney’s The Little Mermaid Live Leaves Audiences with a Sinking Feeling
You dream about going up there, but that is a big mistake… There is nothing that better captures the magic of late 1980s/early 1990s Disney than the Disney character Sebastian trying to convince mermaid Ariel that the “human world” is a mess in the film The Little Mermaid, but Sebastian (this time played by Shaggy) […]
His Dark Materials – Lyra’s Jordan Review (A Book Fan’s Perspective)
The BBC/HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials has finally arrived. It is a long-awaited TV adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s acclaimed series of novels and the biggest British TV series ever made. In an alternative world the Magisterium has ruled and oppressed for centuries. In this world people have a dæmon, the physical embodiment of their soul. Lyra […]