Review: Wonder Woman 1984

By Lynn Lee

Heading into this strange winter holiday season, Wonder Woman 1984 faces a daunting double challenge even for one of the world’s most iconic superheroes.  First, as a movie, does it live up to the widely acclaimed first Wonder Woman?  Second, will its performance – by whatever metrics apply in COVID times – justify Warner Bros’ decision to release the movie simultaneously in theaters and on its newly controversial streaming platform HBOMax?

The jury’s still out on the second question, but the answer to the first, alas, is no.  Wonder Woman 1984 is a mess.  Despite that fact, it’s also surprisingly enjoyable, due to the charisma of its cast and residual goodwill from its 2017 predecessor.  But as the movie that may shape the future not only of the Wonder Woman franchise but of movies as we know them, it’s a worryingly slender reed to bear such pressure...

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Year in Review: 20 Style Icons of the Screen

by Cláudio Alves

We Are Little Zombies

A with last year, I'm merging two of my dearest personal obsessions, costume design and the madness of list-making, for year's end. From colorful comic book inspired styles to detailed period fashions, 2020 was rich with interesting sartorial choices in both film and TV. To celebrate, here are some of the best-dressed characters from fiction and real-life. Even if this has been an annus horribilis like no other, there's still plenty to admire from the world of entertainment. Because it's 2020, there are 20 entries. One may think there would be a dearth of options to fill so many positions, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, here are some that didn't quite make the cut before we that list of 20...

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Oscar Chart Updates: Production Design and Film Editing

We've been discussing each Oscar chart this past week or so so let's finish up the visuals with Production Design and Film Editing.

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Beyond Mank, which features Oscar nominees Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale recreating Classic Hollywood this field remains something of an 'anything is possible' mystery. Best Picture heat often helps in the 'below-the-line' categories. But, even acknowledging that fact, many of the hottest Best Picture contenders like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, One Night in Miami, Minari, and Nomadland, have by their very intimate story natures, not a lot of visible art direction happening. It's not that they aren't beautifully designed but you know how at the Oscars it's pretty standard that "MOST = BEST"...

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How had I never seen... "White Christmas"?

by Cláudio Alves

As someone who loves Christmas and the musical genre, I'm ashamed to say I'd never seen 1954's White Christmas until this year. Irving Berlin's classic is beloved by many, and it has become one of those immortal holiday movies that seem to have everlasting popularity. Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, the picture's a jolly affair full of merry dance breaks and one of those ridiculous "let's put on a show" stories that were so common in musicals of this particular era. 

It's with great sadness that I admit I wasn't won over by White Christmas, not completely. That being said, there's plenty to love about this Yuletide affair. Because now's a time for merriment and celebration, let's sprint through the negatives to get to the positives…

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Review: The Midnight Sky

by Tony Ruggio

The Midnight Sky is a mild return to form for director George Cloonney. It’s simultaneously a greatest-hits album of science fiction filmmaking of the last ten years and a beautiful, melancholic story about regret. In the midst of a global pandemic, with more proof arriving every year of what danger might await us in our planet’s future (or even right now), we’re all more aware than ever of what terrible things are possible in this world. Somehow, decades of apocalyptic cinema did not prepare us.

Clooney is Augustine Lofthouse, a scientist who has spent his life finding habitable planets at the expense of his personal life, pushing away those closest to him to devote his life to saving our future...

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