Wonder Woman 1984

(spoilers!)

It's been a long, long wait. Back in the summer 2017 we were delighted by Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman. It had thrills, laughs, emotions and most of all - so much heart. Now Jenkins returns with a highly ambitious sequel, which is very, very different from the original film. The saddening and dark setting of the World War I has been replaced with vibrant colors of the 80's, the serious background is now a fantastical tale and Williams' gentle, lovely score made way for Zimmer's music which sounds as if he did few lines of coke on a rolllercoaster. But it still feels like a familiar Wonder Woman story because Gal Gadot's Diana is back. And she is the same as we remember her - both an inspiring goddess and a highly relatable person with hopes, fears and desires. We know her, we like her, we admire her. We want to follow her on her journey. And the heroes we see ourselves in are those who end up inspiring us the most.

"The Crown" delivers its best season yet and introduces the new generation to Lady Diana

The hugely anticipated season 4 of The Crown is finally here and it's yet another series from Netflix that is so good I actually watched all 10 episodes of it in a row. It's the show's best season yet and it's about to catapult it to new level of popularity for the obvious reason - it introduces the iconic Princess Diana.

Welcome to Arrakis in the first trailer for Denis Villeneuve's "Dune"

After months and months of waiting today is the finally the day. This is not the first footage many of us has seen - Warner Bros. cleverly added a very impressive teaser to Tenet but foolishly didn't release the teaser online so a lot of people's first look at the movie was camrip footage. But now the proper trailer has been released. 

The Batman, Wonder Woman 1984 and The Suicide Squad promos premiere at FanDome

The Batman teaser dropped last night and whoever is not watching it on loop right now is posting about how brilliant it is.

Saturday TV Special: What We Do in the Shadows

Plot: A look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of three vampires, who've lived together for over 100 years, on Staten Island.
Structure: Every episode focuses on another issue our adorable vampires must face - trying to find food (ideally virgins), dealing with their living conditions (and avoiding a disliked roommate who happens to be an energy vampire), organizing a vampire orgy, dealing with animal control, trying to make sense of zoning committees, fighting with werewolves, and many, many others.
Verdict: This is easily way, way funnier than the movie. While the film was very amusing and clever, this series never fails to deliver the lough out laughs and is so incredibly witty. Also the characters are very likable in spite of being blood - or energy - thirsty vampires, which is quite an accomplishment.

Soundtrack Wednesday - Layer Cake

Visual Parallels: Knives Out + The Handmaiden

The Best (and Worst) of 2019

Best Movie: Marriage Story

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

I love Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel and I think they are both wonderful movies about terrific heroines. However, I cannot fully connect with them because, while they kick ass, they are so very noble and kind. Diana grew up on a paradise island, surrounded only by loving and supportive women, and Carol doesn’t fully remember her past, which explains why they aren't pissed off. Because if they knew what we know and experience what we do, they'd be very, very angry.

50 Best Shots of 2019

There were so many wonderfully shot movies in 2019, making my cinematography line up was a bit of a nightmare. It was easier with this list, seeing how many choices I could include. And 2 weeks from now, my final best and worst of 2019 list will be published, this time with record 66 categories!

10 Best Scenes in 2019

2019 gave us so many good scenes. I could easily make a list of at least 50, but the traditional format has always been and will remain 10. But it was so hard to choose the ranking. However number 1? Well, that easily won. So here we go:

10 Best Performances in 2019

Here we are again, the most wonderful time of the year when we get to celebrate the best movies and performances we saw over the last 12 months. Usually I start my lists with the best scenes, but I still haven't watched 1917 and I think it may have a shot at that, so this year we begin with the best performances.

The Witcher (season 1)

(slight spoilers for the entire season)

Fuck.

That's the word that is uttered in hilarious ways at multiple points of the series by Geralt of Rivia, its protagonist. But that's also the word that should be on the minds of the audience - Netflix's new show, which is already breaking records, is a baffling mess that has huge potential but the first season of it is an embarrassing fiasco, filled with awful visuals and even worse storytelling. Yet in the world where trash like Joker made a billion dollars, it's not in the least surprising something that is so poorly made became a hit.