pop culture
Modern popular culture topics in the geek sphere.
& Juliet - Review
The Jukebox Musical genre is generally not seen as a forum for creative or unusual storytelling, but & Juliet is more ambitious than most, using its millennial pop hits to provide a more unconventional twist on the story of Romeo & Juliet. Most Jukebox musicals honour a certain artist (e.g Mamma Mia) or a certain time period (e.g Rock of Ages) but & Juliet does something a little different by using songs from a single megaproducer. Max Martin is the most powerful man in millennial pop, having written and produced dozens of hits over the last 25 years, including 25 US Number Ones and 20 UK Number Ones. Martin’s success won’t stop anytime soon - Since & Juliet premiered, he has written songs for Lady Gaga, Coldplay, BTS and Lizzo and created the Weeknd megahit “Blinding Lights”. & Juliet contains 30 Max Martin hits* from 17 different artists, including The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Bon Jovi and Katy Perry. We are all familiar with the majority of these songs, but could they work in the story-driven world of theatre?
By Fairy Tale Fanboy4 years ago in Geeks
Is 'Weird: The Al Yankovic' Story the story that Weird Al Yankovic deserves?
WEIRD: A Weird Al Story is pretty fun if you are a fan of Weird Al. It rides the line between being a parody of biopic movies, while also incorporating elements of Al’s real life. I think it sometimes struggles to balance the tone, and I think it could’ve benefited from being a little bit more weird. I think in parodying the biopic format, you kind of end up just making another generic biopic with different words. It only has a handful of Al’s songs, which are all tied to the plot in certain ways. It works, but I also would’ve liked to see a few more of his songs. But I also realized it was probably a challenge to get the rights to use many of his songs. Yes they are parodies, so there might be some wiggle-room. But also, Al always gets permission to parody other people’s songs, and there are also real people portrayed in the movie like Madona, so I imagine there might have been a lot of legal obstacles to work around. The movie is also super low budget, which occasionally shows.
By Danny Duff4 years ago in Geeks
Doctor Who: The Girl Who Never Was Review
In 2007, the Eighth Doctor was given a new lease of life when Big Finish combined with BBC Radio 7 to bring us the Eighth Doctor Adventures. Partnering him with Sheridan Smith's Lucie Miller, the series was a hit success, and paved the way for a whole new format for Paul McGann's Time Lord. However, there still remained the thorny issue of McGann's previous companions: Edwardian adventuress Charlotte Pollard and Eutermesan C'rizz. And so, towards the end of 2007, Big Finish released two stories to conclude the character's journey's: "Absolution", which brought C'rizz travels to an end, and "The Girl Who Never Was", which would write out Charley. And this is as fitting a finale as you can get, with high stakes, some dramatic cliff-hangers, and, of course, the return of the Cybermen. This all makes for a fine send off for the Edwardian adventuress.
By Joseph A. Morrison4 years ago in Geeks
About Time - A Movie Review
You’re saying if I close my eyes, and think real hard, I can time travel? About Time traveled into theaters in 2013. Tim’s father lets his son in on a family secret. They have the ability to time travel. Using this skill to his advantage, Tim travels back to fix moments in his life. Will he go too far in making his life perfect?
By Marielle Sabbag4 years ago in Geeks
5 Romantic Movies You Can Watch with Your Date
It’s Friday night and you have a date. There’s a new restaurant that just opened on the other side of town and a new exhibit in the museum you want to see. You want to go to all these places, bringing your date along and hoping it will knock her socks off.
By Nadiya Kovtun4 years ago in Geeks
Shrek 2 - A Movie Review
There’s not enough time. We make our final wish at midnight. Shrek 2 is a 2004 sequel. Upon request, Fiona takes Shrek to the castle to meet her royal parents. Not met with gratitude, Shrek considers changing out of his ogre ways to make Fiona happy. On an expedition, the kingdom learns that fairy tales don’t have to go by the book.
By Marielle Sabbag4 years ago in Geeks
All Quiet on the Western Front: A Review.
The biggest compliment I can give the 2022 adaption of All Quiet on the Western Front is that it tries to properly convey the anti war nature of the original material. However, I believe it fails in this regard, and focuses more on action set pieces, rather than live in the quiet moments between the fighting.
By Jack Brainard4 years ago in Geeks
Watchers Unite
As an avid fan of all things Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I am ashamed to think about how long this book has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read. My Buffy obsession started as I would get up early in the summer to catch the early morning episodes on The WB network or as I would patiently wait to get one DVD at a time when Netflix still came in the mail. After finishing the series for the first time… and the second time.. I was continually disappointed that Buffy would no longer be in my life. I gave a fair attempt to the Buffy video game (yikes), I’ve read some of the comic and graphic novel series, and I have played the Buffy board game, but it was seeing this book on the display rack at the bookstore that reignited that spark of love I will always have for the Buffyverse.
By Kurt Mason4 years ago in Geeks
MCU: 8 Most Important Moments In Phase Four's TV Shows
After Avengers: Endgame brought the epic Infinity Saga, aka Phases One through Three, to a close, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was set to enter new ground with Phase Four, the beginning of what will now be known as the Multiverse Saga. The planning for Phase Four coincided with the arrival of Disney's own streaming service, Disney Plus, which has become the Streaming home of all Disney-owned content, including the Marvel Cinematic universe.
By Kristy Anderson4 years ago in Geeks
