Pfangirl Through the Looking Glass

June was honestly an emotional roller coaster for me - not to mention cosplay crunch time as South African con season ramps up. My digital content output was relatively limited as a result, and, well, this recap post is a week late. Better late than never though, and I think it does include some cool stuff because of the slight delay. I had an amazing time at ICON , South Africa's longest-running comic and games convention, at the end of June. I got to bust out my Catwoman cosplay for the very first time, meet a professional inspiration, do the lesser-spotted-cosplaying-couples thing, take part in an exclusive event to promote upcoming video game Shadow of the Tomb Raider and catch up with friends. Next up: ICON Durban in my hometown at the end of this month. Hope to see some of you there! Features Ten things we learned about Shadow of the Tomb Raider at ICON 2018 [Critical Hit] Get lost in geekdom at ICON 2018 this coming weekend [Critical Hit] ICON 2018 recap ...

I'm deep into cosplay preparation territory as the South African geek convention season ramps up. This means my free time involves a lot more fabric, foam and glue than words, but here's all the content I got out during the month of May - which includes the last feature I would ever write for now-retired Gamecca Magazine . *sniff* Features Shadow of the Tomb Raider: A Cosplay Diary (Introduction) [vlog]: Accompanying article to the above video: Shadow of the Tomb Raider – A Cosplay Diary [Critical Hit] GeekFest – South Africa’s ever-evolving, ever-morphing geek event [Critical Hit] Chimichanga Time! - Deadpool 2 movie feature  [Gamecca Magazine] From Sunstone to Swing and Sugar, sex positivity takes hold at Top Cow comics [Critical Hit] Reviews Pitch Perfect 3 – An un-acca-ceptional end to the musical comedy series (DVD Review) [Critical Hit] The team’s thoughts on Solo: A Stars Story  [Critical Hit] Miscellaneous May DVDs – Oscar ...

A couple of days late with the April content recap, but it was another rather disrupted month for writing between holiday weekends, family weddings and being stuck in some long paralysing patches of self-doubt and FOMO-induced melancholy. Here's everything that I did manage to get out in my free time from 1 April to today. Reviews Two Marvel movie fans review Avengers: Infinity War [vlog]: The team's spoiler-free thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War  [Critical Hit] Flatliners – FLATliners is right (DVD Review) [Critical Hit] Features Change is coming... - Avengers: Infinity War movie feature  [Gamecca Magazine] Paddington – The little bear who makes us better people [Critical Hit] Fiction Writing You Winston, You Lose Some - Banter at Croft Manor between Lara and Winston, the butler. Miscellaneous April DVDs – One mega-blockbuster and a whole lot of drama [Critical Hit]

A couple of days late thanks to the Easter long weekend, but here's a brief look back at my creative output of the past month. There was a bit more video content than usual in March, as Tracy came back to graciously discuss movies with me on camera. You can see our new review vlogs below. In fact, my content creation skewed heavily towards reviews last month, and that was largely motivated by the release of one film in particular... *cough* I'm sure you'll recognise it when you see it. Anyway, before that, did you know I have an Instagram account ? Check it out for daily pics of cosplay, comic stuff, cats, general geekery, travel and food. Reviews Tomb Raider review: A fan’s spoiler-free take on the movie reboot [Critical Hit] Two women review the 2018 Tomb Raider movie [vlog]: Two lady geeks review Ready Player One [vlog]: Scribblenauts Showdown – A colourful and cute party game that’s likely to disappoint franchise fans (Game Review) [Critical Hit]...

Another month, another recap of all the online content I created during the previous one. February was a bit quieter from a writing perspective, but there was more video, and a hefty research piece on all the geek and gaming events South Africans can look forward to this year. It's not just about the first-ever Comic Con Africa, let us never forget. Features South Africa's gaming and geek con 2018 calendar  [Critical Hit] Long Live the King - Black Panther profiled  [Gamecca Magazine] Reviews Two South Africans review Black Panther: Also posted on Critical Hit here and this blog (with written summary ). News South Africa's star-studded and Afro-chic Black Panther premiere  [Critical Hit] February DVDs - Little romance but loads of choice [Critical Hit]

Wakanda, forever! Happy Black Panther Day , everyone. To celebrate the release of this groundbreaking new superhero film – the first solo comic book adaptation to centre on an African hero and his world – here you can find my spoiler-free review. Huge thanks to Tracy and Potato the cat for joining in the discussion. Because I know not everybody has the time to sit and watch a 20-minute clip, below the video you can find our thoughts in summary form – which we used to guide our discussion in the video. The notes should give you the gist of our feelings about the movie. “Tell me something. What do you know about Wakanda?” Introduction: No spoilers in this video. It's also not our place to discuss race and how the movie truly delves into African / black experience. Synopsis:  Straight after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to claim the throne and take over as king of the hidden African nation of Wakanda. ...

I vowed to get better at recapping here, particularly for people who haven't followed my Facebook page , which is my other collection of content updates. Here though is everything I wrote and produced during the first never-ending month of 2018. Opinion Tomb Raider and the suppression of heroine agency [Critical Hit] Annual birthday blog post: 2018 thoughts edition [This blog] Reviews The Emoji Movie (DVD) - Technically not terrible, but soulless and lazy [Critical Hit] Bright, and the Critic vs. Home Viewer opinion wars [YouTube video] News The second Tomb Raider trailer ups the island action  [Critical Hit] January DVDs - Starting the year with a bargain bin selection [Critical Hit] Features Look Forward - Ten movie must-sees for 2018 [Gamecca Magazine]

I said I was going to try and get better at keeping this blog updated with my latest work. So here is my first vlog of 2018, looking at Netflix's big budget urban fantasy film, Bright , starring Will Smith, directed by David Ayer and written by Max Landis. I also briefly look at two recent incidents where critical opinion clashed violently with that of ordinary cinemagoers and home viewers. You can watch my video review below. Alternatively, if you're not a vlogging fan or can't watch the clip for whatever reason, you can read my script notes beneath the video as a rough written review. -------------------------- Happy New Year and I wish you all the best with your personal projects for 2018. Looking back a little bit, we ended December with an interesting situation in entertainment. Two cases in the past few weeks where movie critics and the public have been at strong odds with each other Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is a helluva lot more divisive than I e...

It's been a while since the last one of these posts, collecting all my creative output . In that time I've created a Facebook page , as well as put a lot more effort into my YouTube channel . These are alternate ways to stay on top of my writing and other work, so please Like/Follows and Subscribe if you're interested in keeping up to date. Anyway, here's the latest collection of my reviews, articles and stories, etc. and where to find them. Written movie reviews: Wonder Woman second opinion - A comic fan's reflection [Critical Hit] Baywatch  - More like Borewatch, amirite? [Critical Hit] Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge - About as fresh as Tortuga tavern stew [Critical Hit] Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge - Second opinion [Geek Node] Beauty and the Beast  - Ultra-faithful, for better or worse [Geek Node] Feature articles and opinion: The  Mini Me Memorables  experience "Female superhero movies are the w...

Because it's Wonder Woman day, or weekend, or hopefully forever, I had to invest my pent-up (p)fangirl enthusiasm into something. The result was this video, delving into the characters of Wonder Woman and Lara Croft , and how they compare as two substantially different heroines: If you don't want to watch me ramble on, here's the video script to read instead: Lara Croft and Wonder Woman are both icons. One is the First lady of video games (literally) and the other the first female costumed superhero. Being icons they’ve had to bear a lot of representational burden over the years. What was interesting to me to discover was, especially among cosplayers, the number of Tomb Raider fans who are also Wonder Woman fans. Why are people drawn to these two characters in particular - who I see as being quite different? I’ve given this a lot of thought. There’s my ongoing fan fiction Living Legend, on FanFiction.net and Archive of Our Own . It’s a Wonder Woman-Tomb R...

As much as my heart belongs to the written word, one thing I learned painfully last month was that vlogging is the future. Or, it's the current future flavour - with PR companies increasingly reaching out to fresh-faced YouTubers over the conventional media to promote their properties. For better or worse, video is colourful, exciting and incredibly easy/passive to consume. So I'm dabbling in the medium again. My differentiator is that I'm not a conventional "genki" vlogger. I'm older, I'm more introverted, but I offer considered opinion and commentary in a compact form. My videos should rarely cross the 5-minute mark because ain't nobody got time for that. Also, my work is fully scripted, so if you don't want to look at my consternated mug, you can just read the transcript, which I will also make available online. To start, here's my low-tech 5-point review of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 : Hi again. I’m back with my low-tech,...

So what has been my writing output during the first two months of 2017? I can't show any of my novel progress - although I do now at least have some sweet commissioned art to help with the eventual promotion process. Otherwise, it's been the usual combination of cross-media-spectrum reviews, features and fan fiction. Here's the full set of posts, articles and stories, and where to find them. P.S. January started with the birth of all-encompassing entertainment and lifestyle website Critical Hit , the product of a merger between specialist sites TheMovies.co.za (who I was associated with) and LazyGamer.net. Check it out sometime. Movie reviews: Hidden Figures - A feel-good winner… with Maths [Critical Hit] Fences - A powerfully-acted domestic drama [Critical Hit] The Great Wall - Pretty. Stupid. Popcorn entertainment. [Critical Hit] Fifty Shades Darker - A slight step up in quality [Critical Hit] Rings - Just watch It Follows instead [Critical Hit] Reside...

Following yesterday's glut of reviews, today is my (very brief) look back at the most memorable movies of 2016. All in all, I think it was a pretty satisfying year at the cinema, with many high profile releases falling in the "Yeah, that was okay" to "Great" side of the spectrum. But what were 2016's standout surprises and the worst disappointments? I weigh in below. Also, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone reading this Happy Holidays. If you celebrate it, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. This clip should form part of The Movies.co.za's big Year in Review video, coming soon.

I realise I've let the reposting of my various Pop Culture pieces, reviews and other content get away from me the past 2 months. I aim to be back on track in the New Year. However, in the interim, here's the full list of what you can read, and where. Movie reviews: Don't Breathe - Horror that's simple, taut and satisfying [The Movies] Jack Reacher - An entertaining popcorn flick; nothing more [Geek Node] Arrival - Sci-fi for the thinking person [Geek Node] Doctor Strange - Magic or Muggle effort? [Geek Node] Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - A solid spin-off with its own identity [The Movies] Underworld: Blood Wars - Tries and fails to be Game of Thrones [The Movies] Sing - A feel-good, foot-tapping charmer [The Movies] DVD reviews: Regression - An intriguing but seriously overwrought thriller [The Movies] Sing Street  - A charming, musical coming of age tale [The Movies] Last Days in the Desert - The Bible goes full-blown art house ...