Tag Archives: Shadow and Bone

The Costumes of 2023 That Made Us Say ‘Hot Damn’

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You can use many techniques to help build your world, ground your setting, or give dimensions to your characters. You can use music and create elaborate sets, but one of the best ways is through the costumes you make.

People instantly judge a character within moments on the screen, and the outfits are essential to that first impression. More than this, you can also use costumes as a way of storytelling. What do they say about this world? What do they say about how a character is progressing? 

Costumes can build worlds and tell us details we can only see, but also they can make us say, ‘Hot Damn’, look at that beading on that dress. That must have taken hours to do!

Our Highly Commended in 2023 are The Creator, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Oppenheimer, Red, White & Brass & Women Talking

Our Best TV Costumes in 2023 are Ahsoka: Season 1, Foundation: Season 2, Loki: Season 2,  Shadow and Bone: Season 2 & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 2

So without further ado, these costumes made us say ‘hot damn’ in 2023. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers for the films in question.


The Nominees Are –

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Shadow and Bone: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – There are moments of absolute joy and action, but it does get bogged down in a story that does not reach the heights of the world’s potential.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this show.

Alina tries to collapse the The Fold

Shadow and Bone Review –

A while back, I caught up on some of the Fantasy series I had missed and stumbled upon an exciting delight. It was a show that took queues from a more Slavic inspiration, creating a universe that felt like we were not just running over the same cultural touchstones. Well, the show’s second season has now dropped, and I didn’t wait to give it a watch this time.

So to set the scene, Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and Malyen “Mal” Oretsev (Archie Renaux) have escaped overseas after defeating General Aleksander Kirigan / The Darkling (Ben Barnes) but not having the power to stop the Fold. But they are still being hunted, this time by a charismatic pirate (Patrick Gibson) and the nation they just abandoned. Meanwhile, the Crows have returned to Ketterdam only to find that someone has bought their club out from underneath them, and some people are mighty upset that they did not bring back the prize they were hired for. Now from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Shadow and Bone: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a messy series at times, yet also oddly compelling, and had me watching through all the way.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Shadow and Bone. Image Credit: Netflix.

Shadow and Bone Review –

As I mentioned in my A Wheel of Time review, I have been struggling to avoid slipping into despair recently and aimlessly scrolling through things on streaming, trying to find something. However, instead of this spiralling behaviour, I decided to focus on something, which was catching up on the Fantasy TV shows I missed from 2021. The next cab off the rack is from another books series I have been meaning to look at but have not had the time.

So to set the scene, a long time ago, the nation of Ravka was a single whole. However, with the manifestations of a powerful Shadow Summoner, a great veil of evil called the Fold now splits the nation in two. One can cross it, but it is dangerous, and many get lost to the things that hide in the dark. In the current day, Ravka is at war and needs all the skilled warriors they can get, including childhood friends Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), who is an assistant cartographer, and Malyen “Mal” Oretsev (Archie Renaux), who works as a tracker. When Mal is chosen to accompany a group through the Fold, Alina manipulates the situation so she can come along too. However, when the convoy is attacked, Alina accidentally reveals that she is a Sun Summoner, the only Sun Summoner. Meanwhile, across the ocean in Ketterdam, there is a contract going for one million kruge, and The Crows, made up of Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), are trying to outmanoeuvre the competition. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.     

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