Oh So Geeky

photo by Neil Krug Very few stars in Hollywood shine so brightly. After a handful of roles under his belt, Chadwick Boseman accomplished more in his massive skyrocket to fame than many are ever able to. It's only fitting that Esquire once declared , "Chadwick is telling America's greatest stories." But how these stories were told is just as illuminating and important as Chadwick being the chosen one to tell them.

History's made up of pioneers who have transformed the world as we know it. Too many remain overlooked, forgotten to time and standards or traditions that now seem archaic today. And, movies often a way to shine a light on those whose stories are recognized by their peers and admirers. Engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla, who continuously mounts a resurgence in film and television, finally gets the biopic treatment, but it's difficult to discern if it isn't as garbled as his own legacy. Outside of his own inventions, the Serbian-American scientist Tesla (Ethan Hawke) is perhaps most recognized for his feud against his former boss and American inventor Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan). Here, the film loosely explores Tesla's life from the 1893 World’s Fair and onwards, marking the differences in their career and their war on electrical currents - Tesla's alternating current sytem vs Edison's direct current electric power. Director Michael Almereyda doesn't ge...

When it comes to Taylor Swift, her most devoted Swifties always expect something to pop up around the corner. Known as the queen of meticulously dropping hints of what’s to come, she always manages to keep fans on the edge of their seat. With her seventh album Lover  dropping less than a year ago, and a massive pandemic sweeping the world, very few could’ve expected to hear new music after a cancelled summer tour. The next era of her music felt like an eternity away, but only Swift could drop her eighth studio record out of nowhere and blast more of our expectations out of the water. 

Hollywood too often tells a familiar history of World War II. War stories are mostly reserved for heroic tales of the men behind some of the world’s greatest combat missions to defeat Adolf Hitler and establish support for the Allies. Rarely exploring the expansive experiences of women and minorities at the time, a few films are turning the tide of how cinema recollects history. In the similar vein of Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest or Mike Newell’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society , Summerland makes for a refreshing escape of self-discovery and fantasy during one of the world’s darkest periods. Set in the English coastal countryside of Kent, academic researcher Alice Lamb (Gemma Arterton) becomes the guardian of a refuge child Frank (Lucas Bond) whose parents are fighting in the war. Despite the nearby town treating her as the “beast on the beach” for her unladylike behavior, Lamb and Frank develop an unlikely connection that helps unveil a lost romance with a form...

Age creeps up on us steadily. One second we're young and free, and the next we're burdened with too many responsibilities or we don't want to be a burden to our loved ones. What becomes of us when we age and those around us is at the heart of  Relic  - a horror film that makes us come face-to-face with the shock, confusion, and (hopefully) understanding aging inevitably causes. After their grandmother Edna (Robyn Nevin) is reported missing, her daughter and granddaughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and Sam (Bella Heathcote) journeys to her house to find out what happened and discover signs of disarray that makes them realize how severely she's been struggling on her own. When Edna mysteriously re-appears as if nothing happened, her erratic behavior forces them to realize there might be more to her dementia than meets the eye.

Hamilton  has been more than just a moment since it took the theatre world by storm in 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical premiered off and on Broadway, mainly stationed in New York City and then a subsequent tour abroad. For almost five years, fans have clamored to get premiere tickets to the groundbreaking show that won 11 of its 16 Tony Award nominations. Looking to the future, the musical-powers-that-be director Thomas Kail and Lin-Manuel Miranda decided to capture the magic of the initial Broadway cast. Their film, originally slated for theatrical release in October 2020, premiered on Disney+ early to entertain fans and subscribers at home during the pandemic. The result is a continued example of  Hamilton  as an inspiring and unforgettable movement.

Since the Coronavirus lockdown started earlier this year, there's been more time to watch new television shows and revisit some of my older faves. I didn't think there would be so much time to watch as many series as I have so far and probably more to come with how Florida has been doing such a good job handling this whole crisis. Below are my quick reviews of shows that have entertained me (or at least tried to) along during the lockdown and social distancing - Space Force, Hunters, Once Upon A Time, Survivor: Winners At War, True Detective, Jericho, and E.R. There are no specific plot spoilers below. (Part 2 of more quick reviews will be coming along soon.)