Tudor Bitching: The Spanish Princess’ Final Episode

What fresh hell does the final episode have in store for Margaret Beaufort fans?

Fact-Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode 6

Much to my joy (note the sarcasm), Starz has renewed this for another 8 episodes next year. Please note a moment of silence in mourning. Ha, ha. Once again, the choices made by the writers in these episodes puzzle me. The Tudors continue to be ridiculous in pubic, with Harry bickering openly and mocking his...

Fact-Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode Five

I have mixed feelings about this show. It has good moments when it is historically accurate, then it abruptly veers into “Wait, what?!?!?” territory. As a Tudor novelist, I know how hard it is to keep to the facts without becoming predictable. You must create drama. Unless you want to invent fictional characters and have...

Fact Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode 2

Find out what's historically accurate, and what's not, in the latest Spanish Princess episode.

Fact Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode One

I was surprised not to hate the first episode, but I know stuff I won’t like is coming. So, I’ll focus on “in general” and “historical inaccuracies.” I’ll leave off “inaccuracies from the book” since I barely remember it. (The only thing I remember is Catherine being surprisingly tolerant and open-minded toward Moorish customs, which…...

Dumbo: Choosing Heroism

This contains spoilers for Dumbo. I have seen mixed reviews for Dumbo, which saddens me, because in my opinion Tim Burton has done something extraordinary. He’s given an animal “autonomy,” which in a literary sense means “the right to self-govern” and control his own story. Dumbo is not just at the mercy of events in...

A Modern Mary Queen of Scots? Puhleeze.

Hollywood served me up a slice of fresh hell with this remake.

The Greatest Showman: The Embodiment of the American Spirit

After walking out of this film, I have to conclude either the critics did not “get” The Greatest Showman, or they did… and didn’t like it. Or maybe it’s the fact that the film hits them where it hurts, with the critic within the film representing the wider critics at large, and the film asserting...

Reverting to our Barbarian Roots: the true perils of Game of Thrones

Throughout history, there has never been a social group without collective hatred for another social group, with the result of persecution, abuse, and slaughter. No society escapes it, from Ancient Civilizations to modern ones, and each society divides into an “us vs. them” mentality in a new way. Hatred is intrinsic in our humanness, but...