Cursed Reimagines Arthurian Legend, Struggles to Find its Voice in First Season
Cursed reorients the traditional Arthurian legend with more modern, YA sensibilities. It’s both a prequel and a reimagining, taking place during the reign of Uther Pendragon, as the future Lady of the Lake, Nimue (Katherine Langford) is sent on a…
Bulbbul Mixes Folklore with Reality, Painting a Painful Narrative of Revenge
In Bulbbul, director Anvita Dutt evokes classic tales like Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore and Saheb Bibi Aur Gulam to create a sweet yet pained narrative about the loss of innocence and what that means for oppressed women. Produced by…
Onward Tries to Marry Emotions and Magic into a Standard Adventure Narrative, with Mixed Results
On the surface, Onward fits the bill for the typical Pixar emotional adventure vehicle. Set in a world once filled with magic that has long since moved onto the convenience of technology, it follows two brothers on a quest for…
Locke & Key Mixes Fantasy, Teenage Drama and Horror for its First Season (to Mixed Results)
If you are new to Locke & Key like I am, it might feel like a mishmash of Stranger Things, It and the Haunting of Hill House. Set in a strange mansion with many secrets, it focuses on the Locke…
Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker is Spectacular, but Also Predictable
After Star Wars: The Last Jedi, J.J. Abrams was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had to keep the ball rolling after Rian Johnson had subverted several plot threads and set his own play into motion, all…
The Witcher is a Mostly Faithful Adaptation that Shows Promise, Anchored by a Strong Henry Cavill Performance
When it was first announced, many expected The Witcher to be Netflix’s salvo in finding the new Game of Thrones. First arriving as a series of short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, the franchise later morphed into novels…
Carnival Row Falls Short of Tapping into the Full Potential of its Rich Fantasy World
In a post Game of Thrones world, producers are rushing to fill the void left by the cultural phenomenon. Amazon, for instance, is working on both a Lord of the Rings and a Wheel of Time adaptation. While these will…
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