
The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Misérables
Book
'Never mind those self-help manuals urging that some classic novel may change your life; in this...
History & Criticism
Storytelling and Ethics: Literature, Visual Arts and the Power of Narrative
Hanna Meretoja and Colin Davis
Book
In recent years there has been a huge amount of both popular and academic interest in storytelling...

Orlando: A Biography
Virginia Woolf, Sandra M. Gilbert and Brenda Lyons
Book
Once described as the 'longest and most charming love-letter in literature', the Virginia Woolf's...

David McK (3505 KP) rated Wonder Woman (2017) in Movies
Jul 27, 2019 (Updated Jun 22, 2021)
That was a role that Gal Gadot took in in the 2016 movie, portraying a different take on the character: one who has largely remained in the background throughout history, only revealing herself (and her powers) towards the end of that movie.
This film takes place at an earlier period in her life (albeit 'bookended' by a modern day setting, with Diana receiving a vintage photo of her in costume): during the First World War, to be precise, when Diana first leaves the Amazonian island paradise of Thermiscyra and enters the world, discovering her powers and heritage in the process.
While there may be an element of truth in the criticism that the plot of this movie is - largely - a role-reversed Captain America (World War setting? Sacrificial ending?) and that it probably could have done without the CGI battle at the end (which, IMO, lessened the impact the movie would have had without it) this is still a very enjoyable movie indeed!
As an aside: the stand-out scene where Diana crosses No-Mans land on her own? That was nearly cut from the movie.

The Cinema of Cuba: Contemporary Film and the Legacy of the Revolution
Ann Marie Stock, Guy Baron and Antonio Alvarez Pitaluga
Book
Contemporary Cuba is opening up to the rest of the world. Its colonial past and the Communist...

Shakespeare in Company
Book
This book is about two very different kinds of company. On the one hand it concerns Shakespeare's...

Southern Frontier Humor: An Anthology
M. Thomas Inge and Edward J. Piacentino
Book
If, as some suggest, American literature began with "Huckleberry Finn", then the humorists of the...
The Oxford Handbook of Shakespearean Tragedy
Michael Neill and David Schalkwyk
Book
The Oxford Handbook of Shakespearean Tragedy is a collection of fifty-four essays by a range of...

On Hinduism
Book
In this magisterial volume of essays, Wendy Doniger enhances our understanding of the ancient and...

Learning to Kneel: Noh, Modernism, and Journeys in Teaching
Book
In this inventive mix of criticism, scholarship, and personal reflection, Carrie J. Preston explores...