Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) Sparks New Life in the Comic Book Genre

Since director Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman successful run in 2017, the DCEU has been steadily rebuilding its reputation. With follow-up films like Shazam (2019) and Aquaman (2018), fans love or hate the direction of the studio’s franchises. Shouldered with keeping their winning streak alive and kicking off a stream of female-led films in 2020, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) raises a little hell in the comic book genre and breaks a few glass ceilings of her own.

Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) has broken ties with The Joker, but the immunity her relationship brought has now expired. Formerly under the protection of her ex's power, Quinn’s gotta fend off Gotham City’s worst nightmares when they come to collect. As her emancipation invites more obstacles than she bargained for, Quinn’s sets off a rebellious chain-reaction with teen thief Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), marginalized cop Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), vigilante Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), and The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead against a diabolical club owner Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor).

The LAMB Devours The Oscars: Little Women As Best Picture Nominee

Little Women has a steady history of garnering recognition from the Academy Awards. Three of the four past mainstream Little Women films garnered a total of eight nominations – the 1933 version won for Best Writing Adaptation and the 1949 version won for Best Art Direction-Set Direction Color. With Alcott's material earning an 'updated' remix for a new generation, director Greta Gerwig's latest version adds to the nominations with six nods: Best Motion Picture, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Music.

To celebrate the Oscars this year, I'm participating in The Lamb's Oscar Fest to highlight the film's accomplishment for earning a Best Motion Picture of the Year nomination.

The Gentlemen (2020) Is A Typical Guy Ritchie Movie

STXfilms (United States)

With the exclusion of a few titles under his cap, director Guy Ritchie has mostly replicated his plots for the past twenty-five years. Having his universe of copy+paste indie-mob flicks, based solely on the cast and how many times they can find new entertaining ways to curse, isn't the worst career to possess in film these days. But it's not necessarily the most exciting either.

Sleazy private investigator Fletcher (Hugh Grant) tracks down the dirty business arrangements between cannabis tycoon Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) and an American millionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong). With the intel he discovers, he attempts to bribe Mickey’s right-hand man Raymond (Charlie Hunnam), and that's just not going to sit well with at all.

Top Nomination Picks for The 92nd Academy Awards

From epic war features to compelling dramas, Hollywood churns out quality films and performances worthy of recognition all year long. Out of the mass selection of potential nominees, only a sliver goes all the way to the Oscars. As nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards were announced this past January, the fervor of who will win at this year's award show became a traditional hot-topic debate between critics and movie goers. With the prestigious ceremony on its way February 9th, 2020, it's time to share my top picks of potential winners from Best Original Score to Best Picture.

Who do you hope will win at the 92nd Academy Awards? Feel free to share your thoughts and your picks in the comments below!

Quick Movie Reviews

From stealing the Declaration of Independence to escaping your psychotic in-laws, these are my quick movie reviews for National Treasure, Tremors, and Ready or Not. They're great picks for a fun night at home, and if you're looking for some action/adventure over the weekend. Have you seen these films? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Everything You Need To Know About Wonder Woman 1984

Warner Bros. Pictures

In 2017, director Patty Jenkins's paved the reawakening for female-led superhero franchises with a solo Wonder Woman film. As more details have come to light about her follow-up film, the Amazons served us an early New Years gift with the epic trailer to Wonder Woman 1984.

Celebrating the bad-ass first look and all its easter eggs, here are some things you should know going into the movie and some things we can question about what might be in store for Diana Prince.

Spoilers and theories are included beyond this point - you've been warned!

5 Essential Fandom Lessons To Take With Us in 2020

Gone is the trashfire year of 2019, and in enters a whole new twelve months ahead to create. While we might want to leave the past behind us, it's good to learn from what fandoms such as movies and tv shows might've taught us. Before we dive too deep into 2020, here are some fun and essential lessons we can take with us into the new year. 

Are there any lessons you learned from your favorite fandoms? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Little Women (2019) Revitalizes A Classic for A New Generation

Sony Pictures Releasing

Every generation of bookworms experience a new adaptation of Little Women. As Hollywood brings author Louisa May Alcott's tale to the big screen for the seventh time, it's easy to believe the beloved story fulfills another quota for the reboot machine. Unlike most recent flailing remakes that fail to step out of the box or honor the original, director Greta Gerwig instills enough changes to revitalize the classic as well as stick to its roots.

Set during the Civil War, the March sisters face trials and tribulations with their place in the world. While Jo (Saoirse Ronan) aspires to be an independent writer, she struggles alongside her sisters Amy (Florence Pugh), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and Meg (Emma Watson) to follow their passions or find economic stability through marriage.

2020 New Years Goals + Looking Ahead

A new year is almost here. So it's time to reflect about last year's resolutions and make new ones for the new year. I honestly anticipated to have stopped blogging in 2019. Yet I somehow managed to do more than what I set out to achieve or thought was possible.

The Good

2019 was a wild year of experiences I never expected to happen, and a lot of goals that I happily met. I think turning 30 in December was a big motivator for me. *sobs into the void*

Goals I managed to complete last year: saw Hugh Jackman in concert, finished Game of Thrones before the last season started, won tickets to Florence and the Machine, attended MegaCon Orlando, visited Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and survived Halloween Horror Nights. And I met John Barrowman and David Tennant!!!!! They're still the highlights of the year for me.

I also completed a 30 day Yoga with Adrienne challenge - I missed a few days but instead of giving up, I pushed through. Now I do yoga a few times a week as it helps with anxiety. 

Hit my 20+ book goodreads challenge. This is the first time in forever I met one of my reading goals.

I failed to limit my coffee intake to the weekends, but I managed it more than I thought I would. Drinking tea was helpful as I enjoyed the variety of flavors more, but coffee is still that vice I have when I'm stressed out, which was a lot this year.

Some Ways I Stayed Sane in 2019

Who would've thought 2019 would've been as hectic and lackluster as 2018? The dumpster fire that is politics, cancel culture absurdity, and hopelessness in the news inspired me to highlight some moments that helped me feel like last year wasn't a waste. Similarly, even though this year was still ablaze, I managed to stay sane for the most part. But not without a lot of help. Here are a few reasons why. How did you manage to stay sane this year? Let me know in the comments below!


This post contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame - read at your own risk.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019) Malfunctioned Beyond All Repair

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Since legendary filmmaker George Lucas changed movie history with a little space opera called Star Wars (1977), generations of fans have been obsessed with the imaginative sci-fi universe he created.  Slated to tell the story of the Skywalker clan over the course of nine movies, it’s been written in the stars that the epic saga would eventually close this chapter forever. Expected to stick the franchise’s landing with the latest trilogy The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), its final film The Rise of Skywalker is not the finale many of us were looking for.

In 2015, the Star Wars legacy was reignited with director and writer JJ Abrams’s The Force Awakens. A ragtag group of heroes fighting against the Empire 2.0 hit too close to home with A New Hope, but offered a chance to connect with a younger generation of characters and explore new plots. Namely, why did Luke Skywalker disappear? How did Ben Solo’s relationship with his uncle turn him to the dark side of the Force? Who was Rey from nowhere? The film was filled with endless possibilities that unraveled in the divisive follow-up The Last Jedi. Trying to answer as many questions as possible while also subverting expectations, director and writer Rian Johnson planted fresh ideas about failure in the Star Wars mythos. It gave us the chance to imagine Star Wars if it didn’t act like a formulaic blockbuster Star Wars film. Given full reigns to reinsert his own character development and plot, Abrams returned to throw everything at the wall and give fans the climatic finale they wanted. But it’s also one that we never imagined and might not have realistically needed.

After The Resistance led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) escapes The First Order, Rey (Daisy Ridley) is tasked with completing her Jedi training to take down Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). When the prince of darkness makes an unexpected reunion with the invincible Sith Lord Emperor Palpatine, both Rey and Kylo's connection to The Force will drive them to confront their biggest fears and darkest secrets.

This review contains spoilers from the film - read at your own risk.

Joker (2019) Makes Clowns Of Us All

Warner Bros. Pictures

Box office dominance, Academy Award victories, and a stream of superhero movies slated for the next five years. All signs point to comic book movies not going away any time soon. As traditional filmmakers call out the formulaic scope of CGI thrills, it seems like the genre is still due for a timely swing in a different direction - a grim character study, subtle comic mythology, and a thought-provoking message about the state of the world. Joker is the first to step up to the plate, and then misses the mark on such an impressive scale, I was left laughing until it hurt.

Living in the slums of Gotham City with his troubled mother, social outcast, party clown, and aspiring comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) struggles with his mental illness. As ruthless street punks, his boss, a late night talk show host, and society seemingly have out for him, Fleck wrestles to fulfill his aspirations of putting on a happy face and making the world smile. Subsequently, the ostracization he endures drives him closer to becoming the nihilistic criminal he abhors.