NinadeL

If it weren't for Kidman, I wouldn't be coming back to the series. She may have matured and purposely chosen a rather interesting counter-role this time as a bisexual adoptive mother in an unusual mask, but someone like her doesn't need television - she's just lending her personality to a project that needs a kick to the backside after all these years. The extremely slow pace of the first series did not leave a good impression. The beautiful landscape of New Zealand was replaced by a more routine Australia and the detached crime drama could continue. While I'm glad that the basic story of the once-raped police officer Robin Griffin was finished, watching the drama with surrogate mothers and the manipulation of minors was again very challenging. Top of the Lake has once again left me with many questions about the modern family, motherhood, marriage, guilt, and forgiveness, but I sincerely hope that if there is ever another series, I won't be a part of it. The mentality on this side of the world is too different.

Wonderful television work. Kidman and Owen shine and play some of their best roles. And the story of Gellhorn and Hemingway's marriage is an excellent subject for them. Despite the minimal budget, there are many very creative ideas to relive the ups and downs of 1936-1945 in a very authentic way. There's no need to simulate all those war conflicts because there's a lot of documentary footage mixed in with the new footage and it works. The blending of color and sepia is very effective. Sometimes it's really great to see those big movie faces in more intimate TV productions. For Kidman, the path from Gellhorn to HBO was to Big Little Lies, and that was and is another triumph. If you are also tempted by this marriage in book form, I recommend Paula McLain's novel "Love and Ruin"; it is the next book in the series, the author having previously covered another of Hemingway's wives, Hadley Richardson, in her novel "The Paris Wife."

Gotham by Gaslight is definitely a breath of fresh air after a decade of DC adult animation. The first comic in the "Elseworlds" series in 1991 was one of Mike Mignola's last works before "Hellboy". And Victorian Batman/Jack the Ripper is still one of the best things to come out of that decade. I'd still appreciate an adaptation of "Amazonia,", a similar Victorian comic featuring Wonder Woman, and then I would be completely satisfied.

As a report on a part of Michael Jackson's private and public life, Leaving Neverland is obviously an important piece of work. I'm glad the former victims spoke up and were heard, especially if they had to relive their unequal relationship with Jackson over and over again and only collapsed after their own children were the same age as they were when Jackson first welcomed them to Neverland. The length and exclusive HBO distribution are problematic. The downside is the attempt to retroactively censor the pop culture of which Jackson was a part for so many years.

Season 4 is based on "Drums of Autumn" and gives us Claire and Jamie's stories from America. It's not exactly easy to get used to a completely new environment after the hardships of Europe. Not to mention the fact that it used to be all based on the feel of a female Highlander, but now it's a full-on Angelique (in Quebec). Most importantly, this is Brianna’s first role, and her Roger, Claire, and Jamie are already playing the roles of a generation with their best behind them and not many prospects ahead of them. Their strong romance thus can't be the reason to keep coming back to Outlander. That’s too bad. But of course the saga continues.

I have a fundamental problem with Shea Fontana's idea for DC Super Hero Girls. The intention is clear and economically logical. DC needed to get more out of their characters and wanted to indulge a segment that has long been neglected. So okay, girls need as much new and modern content for their age and lots and lots of potential role models, and DC high school girls are actually very colorful and fun... but is it okay to have child versions of characters in adult comics who impersonate the goddess of war, don't hesitate to rob, murder, etc.? To make my example clearer, would you really want a children's version of Hannibal Lecter? DC is a strange world in which there are such things as preschool versions of their heroes, the Tiny Titans, but who is their target audience really? Real kids or enlightened mature fans? Despite this paradox, the DC Super Hero Girls are occupying toy stores and now also the DVD market. And after all, I have to admit that their 2D films are better than the Lego versions. Still, I'd rather have little girls have someone other than teen Harley Quinn or Katana and Catwoman as role models.

The combination of Lego DC and DC Super Hero Girls is a bit... unnecessary. I understand that it's not really even a real cartoon, but a platform that sells more and more toys. But unfortunately, more of the DC world comes to us mostly in this form, and it's a shame. These Lego girls are too forte for my tastes, but of course, the next installment is coming out right away, so anyone who survived this one will surely enjoy Super-Villain High.

I like that this time the film starring Lucky Four is a short story. By the end I was in a nice Christmas mood, but unfortunately, the premiere was in April ;) A bit of an understatement is the selection of trailers for really professional animated films, which are in a completely different league. So anything from Toy Story 4 to Ugly Dolls is greatly overshadowed by the 2nd film based on Jaroslav Němeček's "Great Adventure of the Lucky Four." However, the afternoon performances are full, the kids are excited, and the parents pay for whole groups of little ones and their snacks, so it must make sense to someone. I'm sorry to say that the current Lucky Four is no longer for the whole family. And even though the annoying PP from the first film hasn't returned, the stories are once again educational. Will there be a next time?

Once upon a time... but it wasn't a fairy tale. The new Hellboy is interesting in many individual ways, pleasingly literal for readers of Mignola's comics, but unfortunately, it doesn't work as a whole. The previous films are still great and the cartoons are even better.

The final series is once again great. I didn't expect this. The hangover from the polygamous outing is great. It would be a mistake to leave the story without an ending. The community is getting one slap after another, and there's even been eugenics. Wife #1 drinks, Wife #2 is raising her daughter from her first marriage, Wife #3 was underage when she got married... poor Bill. And on top of that, he's got problems with his mother and two living mothers-in-law. These polygamous reforms are not easy to enforce. As a treat, there's also the Grant Show, which I appreciate anytime I see it. The question of polygamy in modern society, the rise of Mormonism, and the lessons of the conquest of the Wild West, when the good people of Utah had to give up their nature just to become part of the USA, are all left for us to ponder. Was it really necessary to sacrifice polygamy for the very gradual emancipation of 20th-century America? The suffragettes have a story to tell.