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Reign Reports: “Sins of the Past” and “The End of Mourning”

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So, we haven’t had a Reign Report here for two episodes! Technically the first one is because I was heading to California for the DC Talent Summit, but let’s be honest, if the episode had been amazing I would have made the time. Instead, it was just a pile of awkwardness with a plot point on top. Unfortunately, “The End of Mourning” wasn’t much better. We’re currently in a vortex of Mary’s feelings for Conde, so if you’re not interested in that (and I am not) then you will probably also not be interested in Conde’s older brother’s scheming for the French throne. I tried to explain the sheer parade of turning-around-and-cackling that was “The End of Mourning” over at the AV Club, but in the end, only Catherine is really holding my interest much these days. I should be interested in all this other stuff – cycles of power and court espionage, what’s not to love? – but I’m not! First of all, the prince of Navarre is essentially in a moustache-twirling cotest with… Read more »

Reign Report: “Banished”

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Reign is one of the plot-churniest shows I have ever regularly watched, but every so often even this show hits an episode that leaves you feeling like you’re watching 42 minutes of Previously On, or possibly four episodes of a regular show. “Banished” was busy by Reign standards – the dog even makes another appearance! – and it was Catherine-heavy, which means I have pictures, because I missed her so much every second she was gone. The thing I want to start with, though, is costumes, because I have noticed that of late, Mary is wearing a lot more costumes courtesy of the Reign costume department rather than designers, which is occasionally fine, but definitely tends to look odd when set beside ladies in designer stuff. Take the Ice Festival outfits: Kenna and Lola look fabulous and true to costume-character – Kenna in floaty layers, Lola in a strong silhouette with some glitz. Greer looks like she’s going to prom, but her look swings so wildly between fabulous and terrible that we’ll just put this… Read more »

Red Carpet Rundown: 2015 SAG Awards

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Red carpet season is in full swing! Last night we had the SAG Awards, otherwise known as the Costume B-Roll, where the only goal is to look half-decent, burn off whatever lingering obligations you have to a designer your client has promised to wear, and quietly begin marketing yourself for a very different role a year from now. As such, almost no one looked bad, because no one was taking any risks – this was a look nice & show up affair for neatly everyone. In that case, we’ll only have a few divisions, but sometimes people’s dress choices are interesting almost despite them! (“People” = a team of trained professionals who have long meetings including inspiration boards and projected income charts. “Them” = the actors they are dressing.) Look of the Night: Absolutely literally, the look of the night belongs to Frances McDormand. But I also enjoy her outfit. (Not as much as her face, but how could you?) I hope she dressed herself. I hope she dressed everyone behind her. I hope she… Read more »

Reign Report: “Getaway”

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Reign is back from winter break, after introducing a very serious rape subplot to its usual camp stew with very uneven effects. It chose to make its winter debut with an episode about Catherine poisoning her daughter while sexing the ghost of her husband, gay priests who orchestrated the branding of Proestants but agree to stop, Kenna solving a mystery, an orgy party, and a moment where Mary learns to touch men again courtesy of Lord Conde, just to solidify the love triangle. I think Greer pretty much covers it. If not, the face of literally anyone in this shot from the orgy would pretty much cover it. Actually, though, despite some top face work from everyone, the MVP of this episode might have been Kenna (I KNOW), who somehow realizes Catherine is slowly poisoning Claude and gets involved to solve this caper and save Claude’s life. At first, this is priceless because Claude would literally rather die than talk to Kenna at all, ever: It’s beautiful. But it gets even better when Claude drops… Read more »

Miss Universe 2014

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Last night the Miss Universe pageant, which is technically Miss Universe 2014 but dithered until it became simply the 63rd Annual, began with the National Costume Contest. About six weeks from now, my latest novel, PERSONA, hits shelves. Persona is a political thriller (diplomats, assassinations, the usual), but of course one of the most fascinating aspects of statecraft is the ways it asks you to set aside your identity for something else’s sake; often you don’t get to decide, and maybe you don’t even realize until later what exactly is gone. Tomorrow I’ll show you the promo cards for Persona and talk a bit about the swimsuit competition of this contest. But for tonight, the celebrity aspect that gets folded into Persona’s slightly sidelong world is partially influenced by behind-the-scenes glimpses of pageants like this one. Miss Universe doesn’t get as much traction in the States as you might think, but it’s gaining, and it’s already a major event elsewhere, with all the weight that goes with it. (The Guardian talks today about a selfie… Read more »

Catwoman: The Closet, Pt. 2

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So I think enough time has passed that we can drop spoiler politeness. (My writeup of Catwoman #36 and the Catwoman Annual were two of the most coy things I’ve written lately.) There’s a new Catwoman, and we know exactly who she is. Her outfit was a delight, and now we can chat about it, alongside some more costume specifics as Selina and Eiko’s circumstances change. Eiko’s circumstances, of course, have changed because she’s Catwoman. The process of designing her was a dream. “Oh, we…we can design a whole new Catsuit?” :silent screaming: Of course, this isn’t the Catsuit Selina wears, that black one-piece honed and streamlined and made of the sorts of performance fabrics only the comics can provide. Eiko’s a rich girl who took to the streets as Catwoman to undercut her father’s business; she doesn’t have the same ready access to flexible Kevlar inserts. Her Catsuit’s assembled, not crafted. Of course, it’s assembled from Helmut Lang, which helps. In the center is the initial sketch by Garry Brown based on the jacket… Read more »
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