Reviews

I’ve long been a fan of Jen Williams’ fantasy writing. She creates interesting worlds with characters who positively ooze character. That said, her second and current series, The Winnowing Flame, hasn’t captured my imagination as much as The Copper Cat, but that’s ...

I’m a figure skater. I love figure skating. When the skating comes on tv, you will find me hugging myself tight, yelling at the screen, with tears streaming down my face. This is a love that consumes. Being so deeply ...

Just occasionally, a director is able to grow their reputation enough to pitch a weird film for a major release. Master of pulpy macabre Guillermo del Toro has done this superbly with The Shape of Water, a delightful romance between ...

Black Panther is the newest big release from Marvel. Since debuting in Captain America: Civil War, Marvel have been steadily positioning Black Panther as an integral part of the superhero landscape in the run up to their extravagant spectacle Avengers: ...

Back when I first joined Pop-Verse, reviewing the first Fifty Shades film was an early assignment of mine. In fact, it was criteria for me to join the site. Megan, the editor-in-chief, sat atop her throne composed of the skulls ...

Age of Assassins was one of my favourite books of last year. It had everything you could want: great characters, tense mystery storyline, political machinations of the most Machiavellian kind… The question is whether debut author RJ Barker could sustain the ...

Our next big awards contender is Phantom Thread. The big clues to the awards aspirations here are Paul Thomas Anderson writing and directing, and Daniel Day Lewis starring in the main role. Both their names carry a lot of critical ...

From shining beginnings, Netflix has fallen from grace. They have been canceling the interesting and critically acclaimed shows in favour of popularist trash. Sound familiar? Wasn’t Netflix meant to be the beacon of artistic integrity, offering something outside the offal the networks ...

I found Planetfall to be a confounding read. At first, I struggled to get into it and had some issues with the prose. Then I found I loved it, but still questioned the pacing. Leading up to the ending, I could not ...

I am an established fan of Alexander Payne. His films usually deal with strong concepts. You engage with them through strong and funny character-driven stories. He also has an interest in middle America and people stuck in their tracks. There’s ...