T w e n t y S i d e d

The 1984 Helen Slater-starring Supergirl film was an attempt to cash-in on the successful Salkind-produced Christopher Reeve Superman film series. I enjoy the movie, more in a “so-bad-it’s-good” way; even though the final product is a mess and it’s clear the filmmakers had NO IDEA what they were trying to do. The 2026 Milly Alcock-starring Supergirl is an attempt to introduce Supergirl in DC’s new Gunn-directed universe, and explain why she’s a different character than Superman, rather than just a “female Superman.” The 1984 movie is poorly-conceived, badly-written, is loaded with bad FX and weighed down by bad editing. The 2026 movie is WORTH WATCHING, and even has some greatness, but is hurt by it’s own misguided direction, multiple faults with internal consistency, and mostly poor construction and lack of focus. What most-directly connects the two films is performances by the two stars, Slater and Alcock, elevating the chaos around them. I would have watched Helen Slater play Supergirl opposite Reeve’s Superman, and I’m looking forward to seeing Alcock’s Supergirl alongside Corinswet’s Superman.

This is somewhat of a review with commentary, and there ARE spoilers. If you want to see Supergirl unspoiled (as much as possible) please do not continue.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Supergirl: Almost Great”

Paige Francis He/him

It’s time for Episode 8 of Girls und Panzer, We’re Fighting Pravda! No mystery here; Pravda High School is based on the WW2-era CCCP, or rather U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union. (CCCP only *looks* like CCCP. Let me explain. The Cyrillic words for “Union {of} Soviet Socialist Republics” are ““; that’s not Latin. Those are Cyrillic letters at the beginning of each word, not actually “C”‘s and a “P”. So we “see” CCCP, but it’s actually U.S.S.R.) Pravda *was* the Communist Central Committee’s official newspaper. If you’re a GenX’er, and some Boomers may still remember, this was a well-known fact (I know from experience my very-late Silent/Boomer father does not remember this, but it may be dementia and other influences). When the Soviet Union ended, Pravda was sold by Russian president Boris Yeltsin to a Greek company. In 1996 an internal dispute caused some journalists to split off and reform, with Greek ownership support as far as I can tell, the “Pravda” newspaper run by the new Communist Party of the Russian Federation. The assets still owned by the Greek business formed the *online* version of Pravda, Pravda.ru. Best I can tell, the two have nothing to do with each other.

But like I said, these aren’t the Russians, they’re the Soviets. Pravda High School is located in Aomori City in Aomori Prefecture, the furthest north of Japan’s main island (Honshu). The actual northernmost island and region, Hokkaido, is separated from Aomori by the Tsugaru Straight. The island is also connected by an undersea tunnel. Many of the students of Pravda are from Hokkaido.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Girls und Panzer: We’re fighting Pravda!”

Paige Francis He/him