TV | Earth to Shawna

My top 10 favorite sci-fi and fantasy films & series of 2023

I guess this list should have come before my “chocolate and kittens” post, in which I listed the sci-fi and fantasy movies and series coming in 2024. Apparently, my brain is working backwards. … Here are my favorite shows and movies of 2023:

Movies

My #1 favorite movie of 2023: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” I laughed, I cried, I saw it in the theater three times. I’ve already gone on and on about the Guardians in previous posts, so I’ll leave it at that.

Best fantasy movie that exceeded my expectations: “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” I have never played the game, and I knew almost nothing about the movie when I went to see it, which is often the best way to go into a movie. I was pleasantly surprised. D&D is a fun adventure with humor and heart – and Chris Pine. What’s not to love?

Favorite fantasy comedy: “Barbie.” The success of this movie based on a children’s toy will probably inspire a wave of copycats, but it’s not really about toys, and it’s not for kids (although apparently a lot of people thought it was, despite its PG-13 rating). Written and directed by the incomparable Greta Gerwig, it’s a moving film which is mostly for women, as it has a feminist message, but it’s also satirical and funny.

Favorite fantasy musical: “Wonka.” This movie, while simple and somewhat silly, touched my heart. I loved the hopeful message and the sweet friendship between Wonka and Noodle. The songs were well done, and Timothée Chalamet is the best Willy Wonka – better than Johnny Depp, and better than Gene Wilder. Yes, I said it.

Best animated movie: “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” The animation in these movies is amazing. I’m looking forward to the next one, which was supposed to be coming out next year, but it’s been taken off the schedule for reasons unknown to me.

Honorable mention: “The Marvels.” I really liked this, as I mentioned a couple blog posts ago. It has badass women superheroes, Nick Fury, and the fantastic Flerkittens! So why is it just a runner-up? I felt like something was missing; it was too rushed. Reviewers praised its brevity (it is an hour and 45 minutes) but I suspect too much was left on the cutting room floor.

Series

My favorite thing on TV this year was absolutely, 100 percent, Season 2 of “Our Flag Means Death.” I guess it’s a bit of a stretch to call a pirate show science fiction or fantasy, but Rhys Darby does one scene in a mermaid tail, and there are some magical elements sprinkled in, so I say it counts.

The second season of “Loki” was so good. Tom Hiddleston is the best. Sophia Di Martino is also great as Loki variant Sylvie, and of course Owen Wilson and Ke Huy Quan are wonderful. Honestly, the whole cast was terrific, and the story, the style – really almost everything about this series was so fun and cool.

“Good Omens,” Season 2. Michael Sheen’s portrayal of the angel Aziraphale is so wholesome and lovely, and David Tennant is perfect as demon Crowley – his “apology dance” alone is worth the price of admission.

“The Last of Us.” I don’t normally care for horror, so for a zombie show to make my list of favorites is a big deal. Pedro Pascal navigates a post-apocalyptic world. And it’s based on a video game. Somehow it works.

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” Season 2. The new Trek series surprised me, in a good way. I thought it was kind of boring at first, but now I love it and can’t wait to see where it (boldly!) goes next.

Honorable mention: “Shadow and Bone.” I enjoyed this show until the disturbing cliffhanger finale in Season 2. Then the series was cancelled. Boo! I guess I will have to read the books if I want to know what happens. Or maybe I’ll just pretend it had a happy ending.

Well, that’s my Top 10 for 2023! I haven’t seen everything I want to see yet, so maybe I missed something that would have made the list. What were your favorites this year? Tell me in the comments or on my Facebook page! Happy new year,

~ * Shawna * ~

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Life’s not fair, but at least there’s chocolate … & kittens

Posted on December 27 by earthtoshawna

I know it came out a month ago, but I’m just getting around to complaining about all the hate “The Marvels” got. I think the main reason it didn’t do as well as other Marvel films at the box office is because men don’t want to see a film about three women superheroes. Maybe it’s more complicated than that, but … I don’t think so.

Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris reprise their roles as Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau, and Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury. The actors had great chemistry together, and it was funny and fun. Also: Flerkittens! How can anyone complain about a movie that has Flerkittens? I would honestly like to know.

The movie was a little silly, yes, but so was “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and so was “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” I enjoyed it despite its silly moments and will watch it again. Headlines declared it “bombed” at the box office, even though it grossed $47 million its domestic opening weekend. Well, I guess that’s a bomb when you compare it to other MCU openings, but “Wonka” made $39 million, and everyone described that movie as a hit. (Worth noting: “The Marvels” is the highest grossing film directed by a Black woman.)

Speaking of “Wonka” – we went opening weekend and enjoyed it. It’s a prequel of the 1971 classic, and is directed by Paul King, who also directed the “Paddington” movies. It definitely had the same vibe as “Paddington,” and some of the same actors (including Sally Hawkins and Hugh Grant).

I liked the film, but I don’t think it would have worked as well if the title character was played by anyone other than the very charming Timothee Chalamet.

It wasn’t a perfect movie, but the visuals were magical, the songs were catchy, and I approve of its message, which I am pretty sure is: Life is unfair but at least there’s chocolate.

Or something like that.

*I want them to actually look like Jeff Goldblum and Robert Downey Jr. Is that asking for too much?*

So far, the second season of “What If … ?” (Disney+) is as disappointing as Season 1, I’m sorry to report. I’m not sure what it is about this series that I don’t like. Is it the way the cartoon versions of the Marvel characters look and sound almost like the actors, but not quite? Are we in Uncanny Valley territory? Happy Hogan looks like Shrek when he temporarily became human.

Or maybe it’s the nonsensical storylines that are bugging me the most. I keep watching, thinking it will get better, but I’m not super hopeful.

The “Echo” trailer isn’t too promising either. It looks like a lot of people getting the crap beaten out of them. And it’s rated TV-MA. This seems like an odd choice, considering it’s a spin-off of the (Disney+) series “Hawkeye,” which was on the more family-friendly end of the MCU spectrum. I’m not sure I’ll watch it. They had a chance to do something interesting here, with their first real deaf Marvel character, but it looks like they are just spinning out more Kingpin drama. And as much as I like Vincent D’Onofrio, he was miscast here, in my opinion. He pulls off the look, but his voice doesn’t sound right. Maybe it’s just me.

(Some of these movies and series have been mentioned in previous posts and were delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes.)

“I.S.S.,” in theaters Jan. 19, is based on the International Space Station, obviously, and explores what might happen there if a world war broke out on Earth.

“Dune: Part Two” is coming March 1. Timothee Chalamet reprises his role as Paul Atreides, in this film adaptation of the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert.

Also coming out March 1, on Netflix, is the film “Spaceman,” starring Adam Sandler as a Czech astronaut. Carey Mulligan, Paul Dano, Isabella Rossellini, and Kunal Nayyar also star.

The Netflix series “3 Body Problem” will premiere March 21. The show is based on the popular novel of the same name by Liu Cixin, and was developed by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo. If those names sound familiar, it’s because Benioff and Weiss were behind the HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Hopefully they won’t mess up the ending of this one the way they did GoT.

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” has a March 29 release date. Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Paul Rudd reprise their roles from the 2021 film “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”

Bong Joon-ho’s new film, “Mickey 17,” is also scheduled to be released March 29. Robert Pattinson stars.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” comes out April 12. Kaiju movies are sort of hit and miss for me, so I’m not sure if I will check this one out. I may see what Rotten Tomatoes has to say about it first.

Also out April 12 is the Amazon series “Fallout,” based on the post-apocalyptic video game of the same name. I guess after the success of “The Last of Us,” everyone is scrambling to adapt another post-apocalyptic video game. The new series will star Walton Goggins and Ella Purnell.

Alex Garland’s films range from the trippy/cool (“Ex Machina”) to the creepy/disturbing (“Annihilation”). His new one, “Civil War,” looks like it will lean toward the disturbing, but we’ll see. In theaters April 26, the film stars Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, and Wagner Moura.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the fourth film in the rebooted franchise, will be in theaters May 24. It’s set 300 years after the events in the third movie.

Also arriving in theaters May 24 is the prequel “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” starring Anya Taylor-Joy as the title character (played in the 2015 film by Charlize Theron).

It appears the only Marvel movie on the slate for the new year is “Deadpool 3,” which is not great news for young fans, as it will likely have an R rating. (I’m not counting “Madame Web” which isn’t official MCU canon and also looks dumb.) I like Deadpool, but it would be cool if there were more Marvel movies coming out in 2024. (We got three in 2023!) The sequel is scheduled for a July 26 release.

“Borderlands,” another video game adaptation, will be in theaters Aug. 9. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have much interest in an animated movie based on a video game and geared toward adult audiences, but I liked “Arcane,” so you never know.

“Alien: Romulus,” the ninth film in the Alien franchise, is expected in theaters Aug. 16. Considered a standalone film, it is set between the events of “Alien” (1979) and “Aliens” (1986).

“Kraven the Hunter,” another Marvel movie that isn’t really a Marvel movie, is the fifth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who played Wanda’s brother Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, in the MCU) plays Kraven. In theaters Aug. 30.

Michael Keaton returns for Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice 2,” out Sept. 6. Winona Ryder reprises her role as Lydia, and Jenna Ortega plays her daughter.

The third SSU film of 2024, “Venom 3,” hits theaters Nov. 8. Tom Hardy reprises the role of Eddie Brock/Venom.

“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” an animated prequel to LOTR series, will be in theaters Dec. 13, 2024.

Release dates subject to change.

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The greatest (and not as great) sci-fi and fantasy of 2022

Posted on December 27, 2022 by earthtoshawna

Hey sci-fi people! I’m finishing up my end of the year roundup, right under the wire. I haven’t seen everything, obviously, and other than lack of time, the main reasons for that are: I don’t really love horror (in case you’re thinking, “What about ‘Nope’?”) and also, I don’t subscribe to every streaming service. It’s getting a little out of hand, all these increasingly expensive streaming services, am I right? But that’s a complaint for another post.

Wakanda Forever!

Here are my awards for sci-fi and fantasy films of 2022:

Favorite Movie of the Year: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Was it perfect? No. Is it going to win Best Picture award at the Oscars? Probably not. But I loved it. It was beautifully done, and after the disappointments that were the Thor and Doc Strange sequels, “Wakanda” was just what I needed. It was exciting and unpredictable without being too silly (“Love and Thunder”) or too creepy (“Multiverse of Madness”). It was a great tribute to Chadwick Boseman and a great addition to the MCU, but also a good movie in general.

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ lives up to its title.

Wackiest movie: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is getting all kinds of nominations for the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice awards, which is cool, and I love Michelle Yeoh; she’s one of my favorite actresses. This absurdist movie about parallel universes was so frenetic and crazy I don’t think I will watch it again, but it was definitely something, even if it wasn’t my favorite.

Favorite dance scene: “After Yang.” There were a lot of good dance scenes in movies and TV this year. I loved the dance-off in “Umbrella Academy,” and Frenchie and Kimiko’s old-timey musical number in “The Boys.” Wednesday Addams’ self-choreographed goth dance on the Netflix series even went viral. But the one that gets my vote is the family dance competition in the opening credits of the Colin Farrell film “After Yang.” I like funny, what can I say? Unfortunately, there isn’t much humor in the rest of the film, about a family dealing with the loss of their humanoid robot companion. Quiet and melancholic, “After Yang” is the polar opposite of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” in its pace.

This is not the happy-go-lucky genie from Aladdin’s lamp.

Movie that Put Me in a Funk: “Three Thousand Years of Longing.” Speaking of melancholy, this movie about a djinn (Idris Elba) released from his bottle by a professor (Tilda Swinton) gave me the sads. It didn’t earn big box office bucks, which I suspect may have been due to poor marketing, but also the way the story is framed: The bulk of the film is taken up with the djinn telling the professor stories of how he ended up in the bottle. I love Swinton and Elba, and I wanted to love this, but the djinn’s stories aren’t all that interesting, and they take up the whole movie so there’s no depth to the relationship the djinn and Alithea have with each other. I want more from a movie that’s supposed to be about magic and storytelling. What can we learn from a being that has been alive for thousands of years? Humans are awful, and loneliness sucks? I already know that. When the credits rolled, I didn’t feel charmed. Just depressed.

Most impressive effects: “Avatar: The Way of Water.” I just talked about this film in my last post, so I won’t go into detail. I also recently found out it’s being boycotted, and perhaps justifiably so. A topic for a different post. I’ll just say the controversy doesn’t change the fact that the effects are indeed impressive and leave it at that.

Sci-fi and fantasy series

I watched more series than films this year, and there were a lot of good ones. There were also some that were OK but could have been better. Here we go:

‘Andor’ – the best thing to happen to Star Wars since baby Yoda.

Started Out Boring but Turned Out to be the Best New Series of the Year (aka “The Expanse” award) goes to “Andor,” on Disney+. I think a lot of Star Wars fans got burned out on the barren desert boringness of “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Expecting us to get excited about a prequel of a prequel was a big ask. The first couple episodes had me feeling “whatever” about it, but by the end, I was blown away by this series. Diego Luna earned a nomination as the title character, and Andy Serkis was intense as Kino Loy, a floor manager in a prison complex. And I’m still thinking about that Stellan Skarsgård speech. Great writing, great acting. More Star Wars like this, please!

‘Undone’ – doing the time warp again.

Season 2 Which was Even Better than Season 1: “Undone,” on Amazon Prime. I have sung the praises of this awesome show multiple times, so I won’t go on and on but if you haven’t watched it yet, this is your reminder. It has cool animation and time travel and Bob Odenkirk. Runner-up: “Russian Doll” on Netflix.

Series That Should Get a Season 2 but Was Cancelled: “Paper Girls.” The Amazon Prime series is an adaptation of a comic book by the author of my favorite comic, “Saga,” Brian K. Vaughan, who describes “Paper Girls” as a cross between “Stand by Me” and “Terminator.” Four paper delivery girls living in 1988 are swept up in a time travel conflict and transported to the year 2019. One of my favorite comedians, Ali Wong, plays one of the girls as an adult in 2019. I really liked this one; it’s too bad it didn’t get the marketing or renewal it deserved. (I assume it’s because all of Amazon’s marketing budget went to the next series on this list.) Maybe “Paper Girls” will get picked up by another streaming service. Fingers crossed.

Most Expensive Series that Should Have Been Better: “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” on Amazon Prime. This wasn’t really bad, and in fact I will watch Season 2 since I did like the last couple episodes. But overall, it was a bit of a snooze fest, which it shouldn’t have been, considering it cost more than all the LOTR movies combined. The total reported price tag for Season 1 was $715 million. Yikes. Runner-up: HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”

Joseph Quinn mastered that Metallica cover.

Best Musical Scene: Everyone’s favorite dungeon master Eddie Munson on “Stranger Things” playing “Master of Puppets” to lure the demon bats away from his friends – the ultimate guitar hero! The actor who plays Munson, Joseph Quinn, is really playing the guitar in that scene; he practiced the Metallica song for months.

That’s it, folks! Happy New Year.

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New films & series adapted from sci-fi & fantasy books

Posted on July 6, 2020 by earthtoshawna

Fans of Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel “Brave New World” will be happy to hear there’s a release date for the adaptation, a series which will air on NBC’s Peacock – on July 15, which is also the launch date of the new streaming service.

The series is set in a future society that is rigid and controlled. Bernard (Harry Lloyd) and Lenina (Jessica Brown Findlay) go to the Savage Lands where they become involved in a rebellion and meet John the Savage (Alden Ehrenreich). Hannah John-Kamen and Demi Moore also star. David Wiener is the showrunner.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m very excited about the upcoming adaptation of one of my favorite books, the post-apocalyptic novel “Station Eleven,” by Emily St. John Mandel. The miniseries is coming to HBO Max, but the premiere date still has not been announced. Mackenzie Davis and Hamish Patel will star.

Another film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The Witches” is coming in 2021. This one changes the setting from ’80s England to ’60s Alabama, and is written by Robert Zemeckis, Guillermo del Toro, and Kenya Barris. The cast includes Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Chris Rock, and Jahzir Kadeem Bruno.

Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) is also working on an adaptation of “Pinocchio” for Netflix, which will also be released in 2021. The film, a musical, will feature stop-motion animation and the voices of Ewan McGregor, Ron Perlman, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, and David Bradley.

Another miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Stand” is coming to CBS All Access. Filming was reportedly completed in March, but a release date has not yet been set. James Marsden, Amber Heard, Whoopi Goldberg, and Alexander Skarsgård will star.

The latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s “Dune” will be directed by Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival”). The ensemble cast includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. The film is scheduled to be released in U.S. theaters Dec. 18.

“The Old Guard,” July 10
Charlize Theron stars in this superhero film, based on the comic book of the same name. KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, and Chiwetel Ejiofor also star. “The Old Guard” will premiere on Netflix.

“Cursed,” July 17
The Netflix series is adapted from the illustrated fantasy novel of the same name, by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler. It is based on Arthurian legend, from the viewpoint of a young woman destined to become the Lady of the Lake.

“The One and Only Ivan,” Aug. 21
I love this book (by Katherine Applegate), about a gorilla who lives in a cage in a shopping mall. The film adaptation is a mix of live action and CGI and was originally going to be released in theaters, but will premiere on Disney+.

Bryan Cranston, Ramon Rodriguez, and Ariana Greenblatt star, and the voice cast includes Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Chaka Khan, Mike White, Brooklynn Prince, Ron Funches, and Phillipa Soo.

“The Boys,” Sept. 4
The subversive superhero series, based on the comic book, will return to Amazon Prime for Season 2.

All release dates subject to change.

Top photo: “Brave New World,” NBC Universal.

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‘Umbrella Academy,’ Trek, ‘Upload,’ and ‘Space Force’

Posted on June 11, 2020 by earthtoshawna

I just finished re-watching Season 1 of the Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy” and I’m happy to report there’s finally a release date for Season 2! The adopted sibling superheroes will be back July 31, for 10 episodes.

If you haven’t seen Season 1 yet, this is a great time to get caught up. It’s a great based-on-a-comic-book series. I won’t go on and on about that – if you want to read my review, go here: https://earthtoshawna.com/2019/03/05/watch-umbrella-academy-update-your-film-calendar/

There’s a funny scene in Season 1 of the characters dancing by themselves in their rooms, and the cast did a little quarantine-style re-enactment for the announcement of the Season 2 premiere.

‘Space Force’ and ‘Upload’

It was nice to get some fresh sci-fi comedy from Greg Daniels, creator of “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.”

“Upload,” on Amazon Prime, has an intriguing premise. The idea of uploading your consciousness into a virtual “afterlife” instead of taking your chances with whatever happens after you die, is original and interesting. My one gripe is that it leans more toward rom-com than sci-fi, but it’s still addictive enough that I binge watched it.

Nathan’s digital “heaven” has been paid for by his girlfriend, so things get a little weird when he falls for Nora, the tech in charge of his avatar. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Season 2.

On “Space Force” (Netflix), Steve Carell is perfect as the four-star general suddenly tasked with putting “boots on the moon.” I thought they would just put Carell’s “Office” personality in a different situation, but it’s not like that at all. Instead, Carell’s Gen. Naird is a curmudgeonly but good-hearted pilot, who may not know anything about technology, but is, in the end, the best man for the job, which is, unfortunately for everyone involved, to send a team of astronauts to the moon before they’re ready, in order to compete with China.

I was just as confused as anyone else during the first episode – are we supposed to take this seriously, or is it a satire? It turns out to be a weird mix of the two – but just go with it. It’s downright ridiculous at times, but it’s also witty, and surprisingly touching.

It’s Carell’s show, but the supporting cast is great too. I especially love John Malkovich as Naird’s science adviser, Dr. Mallory; pilot Angela Ali, played by Tawny Newsome; and Lisa Kudrow as Naird’s wife, Maggie.

(FYI: Neither of these series is appropriate for children.)

Trek news

At the end of “Star Trek: Discovery,” Capt. Pike, Spock, and Number One blast off in the Enterprise, setting the stage for a potential spin-off? It turns out yes.

CBS All Access (the streaming service which also carries “Discovery” and “Picard”) has officially ordered “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” it was recently announced. Anson Mount will reprise his role as Capt. Pike, and Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn will reprise their roles as Spock and Number One. The series will take place in the decade before Capt. Kirk takes over.

I’m looking forward to “Strange New Worlds,” as well as the next seasons of “Discovery” and “Picard.” And there is also talk of another spin-off – Michelle Yeoh may soon star in a series as her character from “Discovery,” Philippa Georgiou. Georgiou, at the end of the second season of “Discovery,” is an agent for a “black ops” organization called “Section 31.”

It will be great to have another female lead on a Trek series, and especially interesting considering the background and arc of this particular character. I also like that the creators are branching out from just doing captain-centered series, first with “Discovery,” and now with “Section 31.”

Yeoh, who has starred in such films as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” often does her own stunts. I love that she’s bringing her badassery to more sci-fi stuff, and I’m hoping she’ll have a bigger role in the next “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Other planned series set in the Star Trek universe include a Starfleet Academy-themed show for young adult viewers; “Lower Decks,” an animated comedy for adults; “Ceti Alpha V,” based on Khan Noonien Singh; and an animated series for kids.

Credits: “The Umbrella Academy” and “Space Force,” Netflix; “Star Trek: Discovery,” CBS Television Distribution; “Upload,” Prime Video.

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Need a new show to watch? Try ‘Undone’ and ‘Picard’

Posted on March 14, 2020 by earthtoshawna

I was bored and searching for something to watch, when I found this Amazon Prime series called “Undone.” The most surprising thing about it is that I had never heard of it before, because it’s really good and it needs more publicity! So here we go.

The premise of the show is intriguing enough all by itself: After a car crash, a 28-year-old woman suddenly starts seeing her dead father and experiencing strange shifts in time. The creators use a trippy filming technique called rotoscoping: The filmed footage is traced over, so it’s animated, but it has a more realistic look than traditional animation.

The best part of the show is the cast of characters. They’re flawed, but also likable and interesting, especially the protagonist, Alma (Rosa Salazar). She’s real and relatable. She’s also irreverent and funny as hell. A daycare worker from a Latino family living in San Antonio, she is very close with her mom and sister, and she lives with her boyfriend Sam, who is from India.

I loved the characters’ interactions, and the diversity. As a hearing-impaired person, I also applaud the series’ representation of disability. (Alma has a cochlear implant.)

I never felt like the diversity was “forced” as it is in some series. Instead it was integral to the story. One of my favorite scenes is when Alma is talking to a Mesoamerican dancer who tells her, “Even though you don’t know the dance, you know the dance.” And the way their conversation, about the power of dance, influences the plot is really beautiful.

I haven’t even told you about the main story, the mystery Alma has to solve, but I don’t want to give it away. Watch it and tell me what you think!

‘Star Trek: Picard’

I was a little late to this party, because I was reluctant to pay for CBS All Access just to watch this one show. But now that I’m watching it, I think it’s worth it.

There is a lot going on here, so I’ll just give you a little background: We find out in the first episode that Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) persuaded the Federation, 14 years ago, to help save millions of Romulans endangered by the Romulan star’s supernova. “Rogue” androids attacked Mars, disrupting the evacuation, so Starfleet called it off, abandoning the Romulan refugees – and banned synthetic life forms.

Picard resigned and is now living a peaceful life at his French vineyard. Of course this peace doesn’t last. Things get shaken up in short order.

It takes a couple episodes to hit its stride, but once it takes off, you’ll be ready to binge watch the whole series. Too bad – they only dole out an episode per week. I’m eight episodes in and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for the new crew.

Guest stars include Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, and Jeri Ryan, who reprise their roles as Data, Riker, Troi, and Seven of Nine.

Credits: “Undone,” Amazon Prime Video; “Star Trek: Picard,” CBS Television Distribution.

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Sci-fi TV: Disney+ updates and ‘Travelers’ wrap-up

Posted on February 7, 2020 by earthtoshawna

If you haven’t gotten around to subscribing to Disney+ yet, and watching the Star Wars series “The Mandalorian,” what are you waiting for? It’s so cool! Baby Yoda! I mean, um “The Child.” He (she??) is so cute!

My other favorite character in this series is Cara Dune, a bad-ass mercenary played by Gina Carano. I love that they chose a former mixed martial artist for this part, instead of a skinny supermodel. Carano looks tough because she is tough. She’s also a great actress.

“The Mandalorian” will be back with Season 2 in October. It has also been reported that Disney+ is planning at least two more “Star Wars” spinoffs, with Ewan McGregor in an Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and Diego Luna reprising his role as Cassian Andor, in a “Rogue One” series. I’ll keep you posted when I have premiere dates on those shows.

Coming to Disney+ this year is “WandaVision.” Remember Scarlet Witch from the “Avengers” movies? Her real name is Wanda Maximoff, and her boyfriend is that red guy – an android named Vision. He was created in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” after Tony and Bruce uploaded J.A.R.V.I.S. into a vibranium body powered by the Mind Stone.

You may remember that Vision died in “Avengers: Infinity War” – twice. So I guess they’ll have to power him back up again for this new series, which will premiere in December. It will be six episodes, to be released weekly. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany will reprise their roles.

There are more “Avengers” spinoff series in the works as well: “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” will be on Disney+ in August, and there’s also a “Loki” series coming up. Tom Hiddleston will reprise his role (yay!) but we have to wait till 2021 (boo!). Also expected in 2021 are the Marvel series “What If…” and “Hawkeye.”

“Moon Knight,” “She-Hulk,” and “Ms. Marvel” are in development, but dates for those series have not yet been announced.

‘Travelers’

I finally got around to finishing the series “Travelers,” the Canadian-American sci-fi series that began in 2016. I got sidetracked and didn’t finish seasons 2 and 3 until this month, and I binge-watched it; it’s a very addictive show, and I got caught up in all the time-traveling craziness. There’s so much going on that I could probably watch the entire series all over again and pick up puzzle pieces that I missed the first time around.

“Travelers” requires you to suspend your belief in logic, otherwise you will get a headache trying to make sense of it, but that’s more or less true of every time-travel story. The gist is this: Hundreds of years in the future, humans develop advanced technology and are able to send people’s consciousnesses back to the 21st century – into the bodies of people who are about to die. These “travelers” are given missions that will prevent catastrophic events that make the world worse for its future inhabitants.

I love that there’s a suspenseful, unpredictable story here, but also some really compelling characters. Eric McCormack (from “Will & Grace) is great as the team’s leader, and there is some great acting across the board, with an ensemble cast that includes Jared Abrahamson as an elderly engineer in the body of a high school kid; Reilly Dolman as the team’s historian, whose 21st century body is addicted to heroin; Nesta Cooper, the team’s tactician, who assumes the life of a young mom; and MacKenzie Porter, the team’s medic.

Travelers must continue to live their hosts’ lives whenever they are not on a mission, and it’s just as interesting to see them navigate life in the 21st century as it is to to see them saving the world. I’m bummed that we only got three seasons of this show (and it would have made my best-of-the-decade list if I’d finished it before now), but at least we got an epic and (mostly) satisfying finale. You can watch all three seasons on Netflix. I’m excited to see what the series’ creator, Brad Wright (who also did the “Stargate” series), does next.

Credits: “The Mandalorian,” Disney Media Distribution; “Avengers: Endgame,” Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; “Travelers,” Netflix.

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Top 10 TV and streaming series of the last 10 years

Posted on January 24, 2020 by earthtoshawna

In the last couple weeks, I’ve reviewed my favorite sci-fi and fantasy books and movies. Today’s list concludes my best-of-the-decade series. Here are my top 10 favorite TV series that were available on TV and streaming from 2010 to 2019:

1. “The Expanse” (Amazon Prime) is my current favorite TV show, despite its somewhat slow first season. If you stick with it, you will be rewarded. There’s all sorts of stuff going on here: drama, mystery, political intrigue, and outer space adventure. Every season is better than the last. It started out on Syfy, but you can now find it at its new home on Amazon.

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Jaime Lannister (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau) knights Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) on “Game of Thrones” (HBO).

2. “Game of Thrones.” During its eight-year run, HBO’s epic adaptation of the George R.R. Martin series was not only the best fantasy series on television, but the most compelling thing to watch, period – until the writers ruined it with the last few episodes. Let’s just pretend it ended with its last good episode: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

3. “Orphan Black.” Like “Game of Thrones,” the last season of “Orphan Black” was not great. But I really enjoyed this series for most of its five-season run. Tatiana Maslany played several identical clones who are nothing alike, and she’s such a great actress I kept forgetting that she is just one person. My favorite “sestra” was Helena, and I dressed as her for Halloween a few years ago.

Elisabeth Shue and Antony Starr in “The Boys” (Amazon Prime).

4. “The Boys” (Amazon Prime). I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I did, mostly because its premise – superheroes who act like villains – sounded like a rip-off of “Watchmen.” (And like “Watchmen,” it’s adapted from a comic book series.) It turns out the titular charcters aren’t the flashy superheroes, but the vigilantes who are trying to take them down. My only beef is that it’s occasionally a little too graphic for my taste, but that seems to be de rigueur for R-rated and MA-rated series lately.

5. “Mr. Robot.” The USA Network’s hacker thriller starring Rami Malek and Christian Slater also at first glance seemed like a rip-off; it had a lot of similarities to “Fight Club.” But it was suspenseful and unpredictable, and Rami Malek is such an amazing actor that you can’t help but want to keep watching and see what happens next.

Winona Ryder plays Joyce Byers on “Stranger Things” (Netflix).

6. “Stranger Things” (Netflix). I am not typically a fan of horror, so the fact that this made my list is a testament to how cool it is. It’s set in the ’80s, and is an homage to so many films from that decade. The show also has some actors who were popular in the ’80s: Winona Ryder, Sean Astin, Matthew Modine, Cary Elwes, and Paul Reiser have been in at least one season of “Stranger Things.”

7. “The Witcher” (Netflix). Like the aforementioned series “The Boys,” this show has only been on for one season. But what I’ve seen so far, I like. This was a book series and a videogame first, but I’m not familiar with either, so the medieval fantasy world of Geralt of Rivia was all new to me. The series follows the life and times of a witcher (a monster hunter, played by Henry Cavill), a sorceress, and a princess, whose fates are intertwined.

Klaus-Robert-Sheehan-Umbrella-Academy-Netflix

Robert Sheehan is Klaus Hargreeves in Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy.” Klaus can talk with the dead.

8. “The Umbrella Academy” (Netflix). Another comic book adaptation, this Netflix series hooked me from the first episode, in which 43 women spontaneously give birth, despite showing no signs of pregnancy. An eccentric billionaire finds and adopts seven of the babies, and raises them as a team of superheroes. But Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters it’s not. The children, now grown, have all sorts of dysfunction, stemming not only from their unique and varied powers, but their strange upbringing. I can’t wait to see what happens in Season 2.

“The Child” is one of the (cutest) characters on “The Mandalorian,” on Disney+.

9. “The Mandalorian” (Disney+) is a welcome return to early-era Star Wars. It’s set a few years after the events of “Return of the Jedi” and follows the adventures of a Mandalorian bounty hunter. The series was created by Jon Favreau. Not only does it have an adorable “baby Yoda” but great guest stars like Amy Sedaris.

10. “Russian Doll” (Netflix). The always entertaining Natasha Lyonne is a wisecracking videogame developer caught in a time loop. As she re-lives the same day over and over in Groundhog Day-esque fashion, she discovers she’s not the only one stuck in the loop. It’s an entrancing and binge-inducing trip down a rabbit hole.

(Featured photo: “The Expanse,” Amazon Prime.)

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Toss a coin to ‘The Witcher’ – it’s a valley of plenty

Posted on January 8, 2020 by earthtoshawna

Catchy tune aside, Netflix’s new series “The Witcher” is plenty. Plenty of what, you ask? Well, it’s fantasy and horror and comedy and romance and just really binge-worthy and fun.

“The Witcher” reminds me of Terry Gilliam’s 2005 film “The Brothers Grimm,” starring Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.

It’s one part “Game of Thrones,” one part “Brothers Grimm” (great film with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger), with just a slice of “Xena: The Warrior Princess”-flavored cheese. But calling it cheesy is selling it short, because it’s also funny, thrilling, and addictive.

A lot of people know the characters from the video game, but it was a book series first (a cult favorite in Poland), and despite the fact that I just said it reminds me of three other things, it still feels fresh and clever.

The series follows three stories; the main story of course is about Geralt of Rivia, the titular Witcher, played by the swoon-worthy Henry Cavill (Superman!) in a silver wig. The other two characters are a powerful mage named Yennefer, played by Anya Chalotra, and Princess Cirilla (Freya Allan).

The “Continent” where the series takes place is a mythical, medieval world similar to Westeros or Middle Earth. There are sorcerers and magic – and monsters. A witcher’s job is to kill monsters and Geralt is a total bad-ass when it comes to killing monsters. There are lots of cool fight scenes. And did I already mention Geralt is really hot?

(Warning: Spoilers below.)

Henry Cavill is Geralt of Rivia, aka “The Witcher.”

There’s a lot to like about this character. The “white wolf,” as he is sometimes called, is a man of few words, but when he does speak, it’s in a sexy growl. And you’ve got to love a guy who defends the honor of dragons and persecuted women.

But there are lots of ladies on the Continent who aren’t damsels in distress, thank you very much. The bad-ass ladies of “The Witcher” make the series that much better.

Netflix just released an official timeline of the first season of “The Witcher.” Maybe it’s just me but doesn’t that spoil the fun of figuring it out on your own? Realizing that we were watching three different time periods was a good twist. I admit it was a little confusing, but wasn’t that sort of the point?

Maybe they assume that everyone who was going to watch it has already done so. If you haven’t watched it yet, I recommend you check it out. Just don’t blame me if the bard’s song gets stuck in your head.

Iron Man, um I mean Robert Downey Jr., will star as the doc who can talk to animals, in “Dolittle,” on Jan. 17.

I guess I’m going to have to suck it up and subscribe to yet another streaming service when “Star Trek: Picard” is released on Jan. 23.

“The New Mutants,” based on the Marvel Comics team, will be out April 3.

The Avengers’ “Black Widow,” Scarlett Johansson, gets her own film on May 1.

The movie I’m most excited for in 2020 is “Wonder Woman 1984.” It will be out June 5.

Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman 1984.”

The Marvel film “The Eternals,” starring Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, and Kit Harington, will be released Nov. 6.

Sequels to “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Deadpool” are in the works, and lots of new shows are coming to TV and streaming services this year as well – too many to name but including “Devs,” “Y: The Last Man,” “Space Force,” “Snowpiercer,” and “WandaVision.” Returning series include “The Boys,” “Stranger Things,” “The Orville,” “Westworld,” and “The Mandalorian.”

Release dates subject to change.

Credits: “The Witcher,”Netflix;”The Brothers Grimm,” Dimension Films; “Wonder Woman 1984,” Warner Bros. Pictures; “The Boys,” Amazon Prime.

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Binge-watch: 4th seasons of ‘Mr. Robot’ & ‘The Expanse’

Posted on January 6, 2020 by earthtoshawna

“The Expanse” is finally back. Season Four was worth the wait. The suspenseful sci-fi series started out on the Syfy channel, and now it lives on Amazon Prime, where the fourth season was just released Dec. 12.

The first three seasons take place across our own now-colonized solar system: Earth, Luna (our moon), and Mars; and on various spaceraft and asteroids (asteroid belt natives are referred to as Belters).

Season Four takes us to a new planet – called Ilus by the Belters, and New Terra by Earthers. There are four main storylines going on, and they’re all equally fraught with tension: On Earth, Avasarala is campaigning to keep her seat as UN Secretary General; the Belters are dealing with a pirate who stole a UNN colony ship; on Mars, Bobbie Draper reluctantly becomes involved in some shady gangster dealings; and the crew of the Rocinante is sent to the new planet to see if there’s any alien Protomolecule there, or any other potential dangers.

Of course, these storylines all eventually tie together, and in unexpected ways. There are also some new characters who add a new dynamic to the series. Every season of “The Expanse” is better than the last, and if this trend continues, Season 5 should be even better. Can’t wait!

Mr. Robot

This last season of the mind-bending hacker drama “Mr. Robot” was also its fourth, but unlike “The Expanse,” this was the series’ last. I have mixed feelings about the last season. Some of the episodes were every bit as brilliant as those in previous seasons, but some were uncomfortable to watch, and some were confusing.

One of the best episodes of the season had Elliot and Darlene infiltrating a company that keeps the servers for the bank they’re trying to hack. The episode contains almost no dialogue, and I was biting my nails the whole time.

Honestly, this whole season had me on the edge of my seat, even when I was squirming or scratching my head. My main complaint is that it makes me nervous when someone is trapped or held against their will, but that’s my personal issue. I guess it’s a testament to the realism of the show that some of the episodes gave me anxiety. It is a thriller after all.

The finale had an unexpected twist, but I didn’t love it. It felt somewhat anticlimactic to me. I wanted more from the Whiterose story after it had been built up for so long.

Overall, though, it was as binge-able as “The Expanse.” The plot was unpredictable and exciting, the diversity of the cast was refreshing, and I love the characters. I hope to see these actors in more projects soon. I also am interested in seeing what Sam Esmail, the show’s creator, does next.

Credits: “Mr. Robot,” NBC Universal Television Distribution; “The Expanse,” Legendary Television Distribution.

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