Oh So Geeky

Glamour UK / Matt Holyoak Many male stars starting out in Hollywood are known for their pretty faces and washboard abs. That's actually how Australian native Sam Claflin spent his early days in some of the biggest franchises like a lovestruck rebel in  Pirates of the Caribbean and Snow White's childhood friend William in Snow White and the Huntsman. In 2013, he hit the jackpot as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games, which is one of my favorite book characters, and it's been fascinating to see his career grow over the past five years. One of my favorite qualities about Claflin is that I never know where he is going to turn up next and I always forget what I've seen him in before - in a good way. He surprises me by the amount of different roles he's taken on in only seven years. His characters are never quite the same, nor is he particularly attached to one genre or another. (And like another one of my favorites Chris Pine , Claflin often works with female direct...

Fox Searchlight Pictures Based on the novel by Daphne DuMaurier, director Roger Michell creates a spellbinding Gothic horror that fits our every period-drama need. In the beginning, the story seems like an open-and-close of murder, but languidly turns into a tale between an unreliable narrator and a Victorian femme-fatale. Observing from afar, a young man Phillip (Sam Claflin) becomes suspicious about the torrid affair between his cousin Ambrose and companion Rachel (Rachel Weisz). When his revered fatherly figure dies rather quickly and under mysterious circumstances, Phillip declares justice for his loss but instead finds himself down a path Ambrose took: falling under her spell. So rarely does a Gothic horror movie plant a very simple idea in our heads, but My Cousin Rachel sparks us to ask did she or didn't she, and then makes us question our choice every step of the way. From the beginning, Phillip's beliefs about her guilt and wanting to make her pay for his re...

Photo Credit: Love Rosie / Lionsgate When have you missed the perfect moment to tell someone that you love them? It could be a once in a lifetime or every day opportunity. For inseparable best friends Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin), their true feelings take a backseat to fear and juvenile naivete. During their escape out of London to pursue college in America, Rosie gets pregnant as Alex (who is NOT the father) chases his dreams across the pond. As they grow up, the distance between them becomes a hindrance and ally. Love, Rosie,  like many romantic comedies, explores when two people are a perfect fit but can't or won't admit how much they love each other. Over the span of twelve years from teenage-dom to adulthood, something always tarnishes that little amount of courage that rises to the occasion. Rather than delving down the dramatic route, the film is a surprising upbeat and tender procrastinator of happy-ever-after. Balancing the timeline between ages an...