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Wonder Woman Review; How the Greek Amazon Super Goddess Made 2017 So Much Better

We have finally been blessed with a leading female superhero. Wonder Woman makes her debut on the big screen after starring in comics and television since the mid 1900s. Diana Prince has been around for a while, her appearance and mission changing several times over the years. She was created by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter back in 1941, when the world was reeling from war and it was becoming more clear that the United States of America was the only country prioritizing all freedoms, including women's rights.


The story begins with Diana's childhood on the paradise island, Themiscyra. She is raised by a tribe of Amazons, Greek mythology's famous female warriors. Queen Hippolyte formed her out of clay and Zeus gave her life, which Diana later discovers makes her a god.

From the very beginning, Diana is determined to be just as fierce and strong as the women surrounding her. Her aunt trains her to be the best of all of them, knowing one day she will have to face Ares and save them all from never-ending war.

Once Diana is fully trained, war is brought to her hidden island and she decides to leave her home in order to save the world from Ares' corruptive influence. Diana's interactions with Steve show her naivety when it comes to men and the human world. She's incredibly intelligent and well-read, yet she's never spoken to a man or left her island.

Diana's innocence is never handled condescendingly. She is not less than anyone because of her lack of knowledge. In fact, it is because she is unwilling to accept common facts that she is so sensational.

She steps into a war meeting that she's not allowed in and translates a scientific journal. She refuses to ignore a town under siege that everyone else has given up on. She takes on the enemy soldiers and drives them away, destroying their advantage with only her shield.

When Steve introduces Diana to his friends, all they see is a stunningly beautiful and possibly delusional woman. By the end of battle, they are in awe of her power and sheer guts.

My favorite aspect of Diana Prince is her compassion. She wants to help people because she believes in love and goodness. She wants to save them from the corruptive evil of war so they can be happy. She could easily have focused her mission on revenge for her aunt, but Wonder Woman is not weakened and consumed by something as petty as revenge.

She blocks bullets and coos at babies. She launches into buildings and dances. She risks her life for complete strangers simply because it's the right thing to do and she feels compassion for them.

People have pointed out how she's not a bossy ballbuster. She's not a busty pinup girl. Wonder Woman is an Amazon warrior, she is a god, she is a superhero. She fights with force, but also kindness. She fights for the defenseless and not only dreams of a world without corruption, she does something about it.


She is quietly but firmly insistent about her mission from the moment she leaves her island. Steve may try to tell her there is no Ares, no way to win the war, useless to fight for a "no-man's land" town.

But Wonder Woman doesn't let anyone else decide her purpose. She knows her destiny and embraces it.

This movie is beautiful. The action scenes are artfully done. There's no excessive destruction, the battle scenes aren't overly dramatized, and Wonder Woman is portrayed true to her legacy.

 Thank you Patty Jenkins, for making Gal Gadot a goddess of a superhero. 

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt review

I finally sat down and watched Ellie Kemper prove just how unbreakable she is as Kimmy Schmidt. Kimmy is full of childlike wonder and joy, celebrating every moment that she is free to live as she pleases. She wears neon colors and sparkly sneakers. She eats candy for dinner. She makes friends and open to fulfilling any task given to her. 

She's refreshingly happy, despite her horrible past... or maybe because it taught her that being free is enough to be gloriously happy.  

Because she's spent the past 15 years locked away, she has no concept of modern pop culture. It's fun to see Titus and Jacquelyn teach her the ins and outs of social media and normal behavior. It's also fun to see Kimmy teaching them how to take charge of their lives and appreciate everything life has to offer.

Kimmy pushes Titus to chase after his dreams and Jacquelyn to give up her trophy wife lifestyle. She saves Cindy from scams and Gretchen from cults. She accepts Lillian's antics, despite the fact that they are total opposites. Kimmy also chases her therapist (Tina Fey) around town, trying to fix her drinking problem.

Basically, Kimmy is a dream best friend.

And while Kimmy has adventures with Titus and works for Jacquelyn, she makes up for lost time. She gets her education, she tries new things, she figures out what she wants to do with her life. She recovers from her trauma, meeting with a therapist and tracking down her mom. She figures out that sex is not violent, eureka is different from uretha, and being an adult sucks sometimes.

I really love this show. It's funny in its baffled approach to pop culture and references. Along with the humor, Titus's gorgeous voice, Jacquelyn's stunning eyes, and Kimmy's unfailing grin are the staples of this show. These characters are fresh and unflinching in the face of sensitive issues.

Kimmy's quest to discover the beautiful things in life is exactly what television needs right now.

Tina Fey, you are a comedy goddess.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch; Queen of Puns and Sparkles

Sabrina the Teenage Witch first aired when I was only three years old. I remember watching some reruns from Sabrina's high school years with my sisters, but mostly I remember seeing her college episodes. I've always loved her glittery magic, eccentric aunts, talking cat, and cool Victorian house.

Sabrina's teenage years are full of goofy situations and magic gone wrong. After she moves in with her aunts and discovers she's a witch, Sabrina tries to adjust to having magic. Her aunts teach her spells and rules, take her to the Other Realm, and take her on vacuum rides.

Aunt Zelda and Aunt Hilda help Sabrina prepare for her witch's license and figure out the family secret. And by help, I mean they constantly remind her to get to work while she gets distracted by messing up the normal balance of school and friends by experimenting with magic. 

Sabrina is a very caring and hard working person. She wants to take care of her friends and family, and do well in life. She also wants to never see Libby again, which happens very suddenly in the fourth season.

Libby and Harvey get the brunt of Sabrina's magic gone awry. Libby, the school cheerleader and popular girl, poses the biggest threat to Sabrina's secrecy. After being her boyfriend for three years, Harvey abruptly reaches his magic limit and remembers everything Sabrina has hid from him. While they were dating, he swallowed any lame excuse she gave him about her crazy life. He likes that she's odd and doesn't mind when he can't get a straight answer out of her.

Sabrina quickly warms up to her magic, figuring out how to not only cast spells but clean up the chaos that always ensues. She starts celebrating Halloween, exploring the Other Realm, and learning her heritage. She earns her witches license, driver's license, and figures out the family secret.

While the first four seasons are full of cheesy antics and puns, I really like lighthearted humor. Sabrina isn't unrealistically mature or annoyingly dramatic. She's just a normal teenage girl... who happens to be a witch.

It's fun to see all the guest stars. My favorite was Sabrina having a heart to heart with Britney Spears in Paris, and weirding her out with her funky dance moves. Some other great guests were the Backstreet Boys, Kenan and Kel, Nsync, Paula Abdul, Dick Van Dyke, Aaron Carter, Usher, and Avril Lavigne.

I really liked when Sabrina went to college. As fun as her high school antics are, the show definitely matures and explores more in the later seasons. Sabrina's job at the coffee shop and newspaper, her classes and roommates, they all provide a fresh scene for her to develop her magic.

Sabrina really embraces her witch side and has fun with her magic. She drags her roommates into crazy situations, while hiding the truth of her family from them. Only Harvey knows the truth, because he abruptly reached his magic limit and remembered everything that Sabrina had dragged him through while she got a handle on her powers.

Sabrina is fun and likable. Her world of magic is whimsical and the rules are constantly changing, keeping things interesting. This show is a classic, and one of my favorites from the 90s/2000s era.

13 Reasons Why Review

I just finished watching Netflix's new hit, 13 Reasons Why. I knew getting through it would difficult, I knew there were some tough scenes and serious content, but that's why this show is so important and relevant. Life, especially high school, is full of so many problems and I have so much respect for people who address those issues directly instead of ignoring them. 

So here are 13 reasons why I liked this show. 

Hannah is incredibly relatable and fearless. She starts off fearlessly pursuing her crush, not worrying about what other people think of her. Her best friend just moved and she just wants to get through high school unscathed. But that doesn't happen, not after her harmless crush takes a picture of her accidentally flashing her underwear and starts a viscous rumor. 

The problems are realistic. Nothing is overdramatized or sugarcoated. This show deals with real issues and repercussions. Kids make mistakes and do stupid things and start cruel rumors. They are actual teenagers, not adults parading as teenagers. They have a bad sense of fashion, hygiene, and vocabulary. They're real kids. 

The ending isn't forced. Hannah reaches the absolute bottom of her ability to get through life. There is no last minute save the day. She doesn't suddenly realize her love for her parents or Clay or anyone will give her a reason to live. It's not fake and it's not easy, it's just true. 

Nothing is glamorized. Parties aren't disguised with pretty lights and glitter in order to hide the gross games and idiotic antics of teenagers. Sex, drugs, rape, suicide, it's all real and gruesome. 

Hannah isn't portrayed as a martyr. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she's perfect. She made mistakes, she was on the receiving end of other peoples' mistakes. She lashed out at people who cared about her, but she also asked for help. 

Just like Hannah, the rest of the characters are flawed. We watch the show, essentially, from Clay and Hannah's point of view. And Clay is a nice guy who cares about Hannah, but even he messes up and says stupid things. Everyone contributes to the problem in some way or another. 

There's a nice balance between past and present. As Clay listens to Hannah tell her story, we also see how he and the rest of the "reasons" deal with her death. The transition between the two is really well done, and keeps the plot/subplot format that we are used to seeing. 

There are a lot of characters, but everyone feels real and complicated. Every character has motivation, a reason to feel guilty and embarrassed. Every character deals with Hannah's suicide in their own way. There are not stereotypes, they are just people. 

No one is perfectly good or evil. You can feel sorry for Hannah, but you can also feel sorry for everyone she left behind. You can see the things her classmates did wrong, but also how they are trying to cope with it and do better. 

The show is suspenseful. We already know the ending, right from the first moment of the first episode. Yet Hannah reveals some truly shocking things about her high school career. She gets into some of her classmate's secrets that really show you can't know anyone just by looking at them. 

The three main characters: Hannah, Clay, and Tony, are incredible. I loved Clay's awkwardness and Tony's macho mothering and especially Hannah's humor. Clay and Hannah are so cute. Clay and Tony are also pretty adorable, not going to lie.

We aren't given all the answers. The ending was an ending, everything was wrapped up, but it wasn't spoon fed and wrapped with a bow. That's not how life works. 

The final and 13th reason why I loved this show was Hannah Baker. Hannah, you broke my heart. You showed me how a pretty girl who seems fine and confident and smart can actually be falling apart. The moment when she imagined how her life could be with Clay, carefree and happy in love, if so many terrible things hadn't happened to her... that was devastating. No one person could have helped her, it had to have been multiple people like say 13 people. 

La La Land, an Ode to the City of Dreams

It took me forever, but I finally saw La La Land. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are a wonderful pair, and they portray the struggle of being an artist in Los Angeles with musical numbers and sass.

This musical is so modern. I think of musicals like Singing in the Rain and Hello Dolly, which are classics that I will always love, but there's something wonderful about watching a musical that takes place in my lifetime. Los Angeles is a melting pot of all ethnicities, genres, and artistry. There is such diversity and that is shown in this show, especially the opening number.

Mia and Sebastian show the long process of living in Hollywood, working every day for a career with few openings.

Mia is working at a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers lot, auditioning in between shifts and networking with her friends at flashy pool parties on the weekend. Her montage of auditions is both funny and sad. It's crazy what actors are put through and Mia is no exception.

Sebastian is bouncing from job to job, playing show tunes in restaurants and suppressing his dramatic jazz songs. When Sebastian forgives an old friend and joins a modern jazz band, he finds fame and fortune. But while he has at last found a steady job, he has given up his dream of opening a jazz club.

Seeing someone so passionate give up everything he's fought for changes the way Mia sees him, their relationship, and their dreams.

The truth of the matter is, it's difficult to follow your dreams. It takes years of blood, sweat, and tears. It takes heartache and compromise.

I would like to believe you can just scrape up some courage to get through the doubt and come out the other side with an amazing success story, but that's not always the case.

As Mia explains to Sebastian, some people just aren't the lucky ones. Some people have to be realistic and find a different dream.

But thankfully, Mia's dream makes it through. She helped Sebastian reach success and after she goes home to recover from her one woman play, he drags her back for an audition and returns the favor. Mia's audition is beautiful and vulnerable and her last attempt to salvage her acting career.

While we don't see the beginning of Mia and Sebastian's journey, we do get to see the middle and a bit of the end. We see them struggle and compromise and work for their dreams, then the results of that hard work a few years down the road.

As perfect as Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are together, Mia and Sebastian do not have the perfect love story. They get their happy ending, but separate from each other. Sometimes people can help you reach your dreams, but they don't stay in your life. That doesn't make the dream any less important.

And in the end, when Mia reimagines how her life could have gone if Sebastian had stayed in it, she knows there is more than one outcome that could make her happy.

This story shows two people doing everything they can to achieve their dreams, and maybe they don't end up together but that's the beautiful thing about life. Sometimes amazing people come into our lives just when we need them and show us how to be amazing too.

Moana Review

Moana is the heroine we've been waiting for. She's a girl who dreams, a girl who loves her family and her island. But most of all, her heart lies with the sea. As an islander, she is surrounded by the ocean her whole life yet she is forbidden to explore it. 

Her fascination shows even as a baby, when the ocean gives her the heart of Te Fiti. She is chosen to save her island, and many other islands, by finding Maui and helping him return the heart of Te Fiti to its rightful owner. However, her parents urge her to follow their example. She is to stay on her island, safe and dry, and become the next chief. 

But her awesome grandma knows Moana better than anyone and ultimately, gives her the push she needs to start her adventure. 

Moana finds Maui, dives into the monster realm, and gets a crash course in sailing. She pushes and pulls and drags that demi god across the ocean. She knows it's the task of the century, she knows she's inexperienced, but she also knows how her people will suffer if she fails. She loves her family and her home, and while she's her truest self at sea, everything she does is for the sake of her family and stopping the sickness spreading. 

Moana is amazing. Yes, she has doubts. She tries her parents way, she wants so badly to be who they want her to be. But she knows she's not that person. She takes a risk and takes a boat out to an ocean despite not knowing how to sail. She trusts the ocean to help her and it does. She's humble enough to know she may not have the most knowledge, but she trusts her heart and that's what saves her. 

Also, her agile rope swinging skills. 

Moana has a lot of courage and a lot of heart. She saves Te Fiti, her people, and her island. She restores her people's purpose, voyaging, and restores Maui's honor. All while singing beautifully and showing off the gloriousness of Polynesian hair. 

Auli'i, you sing like a true Disney princess.