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.

Most anticipated movies in 2020

Before I start publishing my best and worst of 2019 lists, here's that time of year again to get excited about what's coming in next year. There's so many wonderful movies on the horizon, including several very anticipated sequels. And my top pick already feels like potential best Christmas gift ever. Here we go:

Soundtrack Wednesday - Watchmen (2019)

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

(spoilers!)

I never thought that I will see something more embarrassing when it comes to ruining the franchise than 1. WB handing the keys to DC kingdom to Zack Snyder and giving him three tries to make a movie then on the third try going "oh, fuck no!" and firing him mid-making of the film 2. Dumb and Dumber wrecking Game of Thrones so bad that the early seasons are now unwatchable because you know it is all heading towards explosive diarrhea.

Enter whoever was in charge of Disney's Star Wars trilogy (do we blame just Kennedy? Surely more people were involved in making final decisions?). Because whoever made the calls here just wrecked 40+ years worth of a franchise.

Marriage Story

Marriage Story is a wonderful, wonderful movie. It's one of the year's best scripts (Parasite still is my win here) and it is truly expertly paced - it's not a short movie, but you aren't bored and even though the characters have many, many flaws you care about them enough to be curious what happens to them next.

Gal Gadot returns as Wonder Woman in stunning first trailer for Wonder Woman 1984

It's finally here! The long awaited trailer for Wonder Woman 1984 just landed online and it offers the first look at Diana using her new powers, Steve being back from the dead, Pedro Pascal's villain Maxwell Lord and Kristen Wig's Barbara Minerva. It's a gorgeous, very well made trailer that is not making it easier to wait for the movie, which is going to be released on June 5th 2020.

Visual Parallels: The Cabin in the Woods + Ready or Not

Screaming Sunday - Doctor Sleep

Rating - 71/100
Plot:  Years following the events of "The Shining," a now-adult Dan Torrance meets a young girl with similar powers as he tries to protect her from a cult known as The True Knot who prey on children with powers to remain immortal.
The heroes: Grown up Danny Torrance and a capable little girl named Abra.
The antagonists: Child murderers led by Rose the Hat, played by amazing Rebecca Ferguson.
What makes it so great? While I didn't like this movie as much as a lot of people did, this is definitely the most competently made Stephen King's adaption in 2019. In the Tall Grass was awful, Pet Semetery was dumb as hell and, while very entertaining, It: Chapter Two is a chaotic mess. But this right here is a proper movie, with decent script, character work and editing.