January 2021 Update

 A quick update on what I watched this month while in lockdown:

Movies:

Terminator: Dark Fate - A surprisingly fun, intense, thoughtful and well-directed action sequel. Finally, a worthy successor in the Terminator franchise after 1991 - and a worthy sequel to one of my favourite movies. After hating the previous three films it is such a breath of fresh air to see effort and care put into a Terminator film after nearly thirty years. The strong female presence definitely helps it. Feminism helps it, diverse casting helps it; and so Sarah Connor is back and as badass as ever (fuck the haters who say she's too old, seriously, fuck you whiny misogynistic babies and your double standards), and a woman of colour (an Hispanic woman crossing the Mexican border, at that) takes the lead and saves the world. Mackenzie Davis is an awesome gift to the world, too.

Happiest Season - A gay update on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and what a sweet and special holiday movie it is. Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart are absolutely brilliant, and the rest of the cast perform just as well. It's not perfect, and it can get uncomfortable around the middle part. But the atmosphere overall, and the ending, are fantastic. Its themes fit right into the spirit of Christmas. Happiest Season is now one of my favourite Christmas movies. If only it was out on DVD (yet...?)

Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs - Eh, this body-positive retelling of Snow White got some things right, but other things not so much. The romance is crap, practically all of the characters, besides Snow White herself, are one-dimensional and annoying, and speaking of, Snow White ends up being a useless damsel in distress in her own movie. AND the film gives her an opportunity to use Excalibur - as in, she's the only character who's good and pure of heart enough to pull the sword from the stone... but she never actually uses it. It's drawn by one of the dwarfs through cheating. Snow White/Red Shoes is not given agency in the climax. The whole film feels rushed, and it has pacing issues. I think the UK title, Snow White and the Red Shoes, is better than the official, US one, because it focuses on Snow White, instead of Red Shoes, which is what she calls herself when she turns into a thin girl by magic. Sadly, the conventionally pretty Red Shoes receives more attention both in-universe and out. She has more screen time and is front and center on the film's marketing; and the annoying, creepy, shallow, male entitlement complex dwarfs take up too much of both. And I was looking forward to seeing another animated subversive princess fairy tale movie - one that isn't by Disney, and is willing to go where Disney would not dare. Oh well.

Earth Girls Are Easy - It exists. It was a good enough product of its time. It was a funny enough product of its time. Let's just leave it at that.

The Long Kiss Goodnight - I'd never even heard of this movie until very recently. I'm bewildered by this, since I gravitate towards female-led media, and I'm a Geena Davis fan. The Long Kiss Goodnight starts out rough and a little awkward (and what's with all the jokes about genitalia and rape?), but once it gets going, it shows what a true masterclass in action filmmaking it is. It's on the level of Die Hard, even, starring a white woman and a black man saving America from white male supremacy. It came out in 1996: it is politically relevant nowadays, since the start of the twenty-first century, in fact. Scarily so. Action heroines and antiheroines are not ludicrously rare in the movie industry legacy, and they are complex and three-dimensional. And never, EVER underestimate them. (Furthermore, I have a soft spot for anything with ice skating in it.)

TV:

Dash & Lily - A cute, cosy and charming miniseries to watch at Christmas. Very diverse to boot. It's almost eerie how much I related to the female lead. I now have the book Dash & Lily on my TBR shelf.

Julie and the Phantoms - An unexpectedly touching family show, similar to a Nickelodeon sitcom but much deeper than it's perceived to be on the surface level. Keep watching and it may be worth it. I even very nearly cried at one point. The biggest highlight is the music - the soundtrack is genuinely brilliant, and it's a shame it's not out on a CD yet, because I'd totally buy it (I don't steam records). Julie and the Phantoms is like the real live-action Jem and the Holograms - it's probably the best we're ever going to get on that front. Enjoyable and emotional; pure entertainment. Plus, there is queer rep!

Disenchantment - Matt Groening's newest cartoon series may be funny and entertaining overall (though of course humour is subjective), but it all depends on where it's going. Where is it going? I don't know, and its cliffhanger part/season endings (they're barely finales) and other cheap devices can be frustrating. Is there even a planned ending? Was there ever a plan? Are Groening's shows better off as episodic romps rather than being plot-heavy? And multiplot-heavy? This series and its mysteries are slow and confusing, with barely any answers given, for no in-universe reason. This is especially true of Part 3. However, since I still like the characters and some of the humour, I may give Disenchantment one last chance. I may watch the next season, and if it still strings the audience along and reveals virtually nothing about any aspects of its story, then I'm done. My patience will have run its course. I'm also curious about where it'll go with its LBGTQ content.

The Queen's Gambit - Very good. A remarkable piece of television drama. But despite how well written it is, how well researched it is, and how heavy its adult themes are, it isn't realistic. It is pure wish-fulfilment, set in a world where sexism was never a giant obstacle, in any sport, in any area, really, even in the sixties. The Queen's Gambit will get people into playing chess. Hopefully it'll also get more women to play chess, and to persevere in other male-dominated fields. It will require more than genius to march through and achieve your dreams, however; you'd need gargantuan bravery, determination, and a thick skin. Like with Dash & Lily, The Queen's Gambit book is on my TBR shelf.

Batwoman, Season 1 - A very dark superheroine series, and it satiated me. I admire Batwoman a lot more now (though admittedly she isn't always an effectual hero). She is more than a successor to Batman - a successor to a very powerful man - she is a gay icon. Ruby Rose is great as the lead, and it'll be a darn shame to see her leave the show in the second season (as well as personal issues, lord knows what kind of abuse she's received by angry, misogynistic and homophobic incel fanboys, online or otherwise. Seriously, why so much hate towards another human being who has done nothing wrong? It's pathetic. This is why I stay as far away from toxic fandom drama as possible; it's not worth it). Anyway, in my opinion Batwoman is enjoyable for what it is. I adore the strong, diverse female presence in the whole thing. Keep in mind: nothing and no one is perfect - that's impossible - and making a TV show (and a movie, any movie) is sickeningly hard and beyond stressful. Stop putting women on a pedestal; of course she's going to stumble and fall in your eyes from way up there. Stop the preposterously high standards. Stop the vitriol. It's an amazing feat that a lesbian hero from the Bat family managed to get her own TV series in the first place. It is not to be dismissed.

Stargirl, Season 1 - On watching another female-led DC TV series, Stargirl, I find that it doesn't focus enough on its own superheroine, and it is sloppily executed, in my opinion. At least Batwoman is about Batwoman/Kate Kane - in Stargirl there are too many characters, some of whom are not given as fair and equal screen time as they should. It might as well be called The New Justice Society of America. The supposed premise is that a teen girl moves into a new small town and she's sulky and doesn't fit in at school, and then she is given superpowers. But what makes it original and refreshing is what the series really focuses on: the girl's relationship with her stepfather, a former superhero sidekick who was treated unfairly and with little importance by his long-deceased team. It is one of the few well done things in Stargirl, plot wise. Though it is more the stepfather's story and development than Stargirl/Courtney Whitmore's. I think I can tell who the mostly middle-aged male show makers wanted to relate to the most. Not enough is done with Stargirl's social commentary and issues, too; but I am glad the woke material is included, regardless. Stargirl is like Heroes (not a positive comparison), The Runaways and other new vs old generations stories, as well as many other superhero plots. It is fun and cool some of the time, but by the end, I was left feeling cold and disappointed.

Carmen Sandiego, Season 4 - Fun and thrilling in the beginning and the middle, but in the very end, I was very underwhelmed and disappointed. Way to turn the beloved, smart, capable and literally worldly action heroine Carmen Sandiego into a virtually useless and ineffectual patsy! I can't believe how rushed the final episode is. For this is meant to be the final season of Carmen. I have no problem with how everything turned out, and with how everything played out, even - it's the briskness of the execution that bothers me; leaving many plot and character points underdeveloped, ignored or forgotten about. There's no LBGTQ content, either, after all that.

Fate: The Winx Saga - I couldn't believe it either when I heard that there was going to be a "dark and edgy" (ugh) live action remake of Winx Club, of all things. The glitteriest, most girly kids' cartoon about Magical Girl fairies from the 2000s (that's forever refusing to quit while it's ahead) is receiving The Vampire Diaries and True Blood treatment. What's next, a live action Polly Pocket revolving around cannibalism? But surprisingly, I liked Fate: A Winx Saga. The only legitimate criticism I can give it is that, at six episodes, it is rushed. The Winx girls' friendship needed more time to develop, to make their close-knit girl group at the end feel earned. The ending is quite satisfying, otherwise. It avoids some annoying fantasy TV clichés. I find that it is weirdly cool and rebellious to watch something related to Winx Club that has lots of swearing and blood and gore. College students may get a kick out of it (either for the nostalgia or the copious amount of drug use in the series). It isn't a faithful adaptation, anyhow; for example a few character names are changed, new characters are added, and there's a different mystery plot at Hogwarts--I mean Alfea, that has something to do with Bloom's origin. Bloom's character angle in Fate is as far away from the good girl lead as you can get, whilst managing to keep her sympathetic, which I appreciate. I like nearly all the characters, actually. BUT WHERE'S TECHNA!? Poor Techna is always the Winx girl that gets shafted and left on the wayside; and that's barely including the godawful British accent she got in the 4Kids dub (which, ironically, wouldn't be out of place in Fate). I only hope she will be in the second season.

The Bureau of Magical Things - A generic and harmless female-led Nickelodeon fantasy series. It's okay, somewhat cheap, and Australian. I never see any Australian TV, so that's new.

Book Rereads:

Now onto the books I reread this month:

Beatrix Potter's Complete Tales - Read review here.

Welcome to Orphancorp - Read review here.

The Deep End of the Sea - Read review here.

The Stepford Wives - Read review here.

Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends - Read review here.

Finding the Fox (The Shapeshifter, Book 1) - Read review here.

H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education - Read review here.

A Blade So Black - Read review here.

The Shining - Read review here.

Bad Girls - Read review here.

Lizzie Zipmouth - Read review here.

How to Survive Summer Camp - Read review here.

The Worry Website - Read review here.

The Cat Mummy - Read review here.

The Dare Game - Read review here.

Secrets - Read review here.

Midnight - Read review here.

That is all for now.

Stay safe, everybody.