Summer Fun:
Camps galore for the long break
Imagine a world in which the Nazis won World War II. The Man in the High Castle addresses this messedup and predictably evil world, where the Reich tyrannises the eastern side of the United States, and the Japanese occupy the west, with a suitably desolate Neutral Zone separating them. The series has its heroine (who I wanted to poke in the eye on numerous occasions), a drop-dead gorgeous hero (who may also be a villain but you need to work that out yourself) and the American Reich’s ruthless leader (who you can’t help but like and desperately want him to be good). The Resistance are searching for films for the man in the high castle, but the Nazis and the Japanese mob also want them. What do they contain? Why does Hitler want to possess all of them? And who is the man in the high castle? The husband and I have been glued to this series. The twists, turns and “gasp” moments will make you keep saying, “Shall we watch one more?”
I just started watching Self Made on Netflix. The new series is based on the life of Madam CJ Walker, an African American lady who overcame discrimination and a whole lot of other struggles to build a haircare empire. One of the things that drew me to it was that the lead is played by Octavia Spencer, whom I loved in The Help (one of my favourite movies – and also available on Netflix!). The series is not much of a commitment, too, having just four episodes. Can’t wait to finish it!
This movie is brilliant. It’s about Jojo, a ten-year-old boy, who discovers that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Jojo then begins his adventure with his imaginary friend: Adolf Hitler. The movie is directed by Taika Waititi and if you’ve watched any of his other films, you’ll know this will be quirky and funny while addressing the serious issues surrounding World War II.
This series created, produced and directed by Matthew
Weiner ( Mad Men), is not so much a series as an anthology of 90-minute dramas loosely linked by a common theme: something to do with the
Romanovs, the Russian royal family brutally slaughtered by agents of the Bolshevik revolution. Episode 1 stars French actress Isabelle Huppert as an ageing aristocrat who believes she is a direct descendant; Episode 2 is a dark comedy about a dire marital relationship where the husband is a Romanoff; Episode 3 adopts a horror genre, with Christina Hendricks playing an actress on the set of a movie about the Romanovs. You get the picture. Now get the series on Prime Video – it’s a corker!
I accidentally stumbled upon this one looking for some background noise when doing laundry and it hooked me! It’s a reality show where players can be whoever they want on their profiles, having to pass challenges weekly and with popularity votes determining who stays and who goes. It explores concepts of judging appearances and the positives and negatives of social media, which I found really interesting as you get to see what kind of person everyone perceives would be a winner. A very mind-opening watch!
So, I am a self-confessed audio book addict. Podcasts normally frustrate me! Recently, a friend told me you could also get stories in the Podcast app. Who would have known? And that’s how I found The Left Right Game. And now I’m addicted and wait with bated breath for Mondays when the next one is released! The story is told in two different time frames (the past and the present). In the present, we listen to a young man, Tom, who is recovering from a severe accident, but at the same time trying to find an old friend who has apparently disappeared. The past is based on audio diaries that have mysteriously appeared in his inbox of journalist, Alice Sharman, his friend who has vanished. The game that Alice is tracking is possibly paranormal, possibly staged, but possibly horrifyingly real. Cast members include W Earl Brown and Tessa Thompson, and the production (sponsored by Sonos) is as polished as a Hollywood blockbuster. I can’t get enough!
Looking for something different to do with your pals online? Check out these online offerings from Airbnb. There’s everything from pastamaking, Flamenco classes and natural skincare workshops to the more obscure – maybe a Q&A session with an Olympian bobsledder tickles your fancy, or guided meditation with sheep? For our inaugural Airbnb experience, six friends and I met online for a Virtual Wine Tasting Session with Portuguese vineyard-owner and wine sommelier, Rafael de Lima. Easy-going and full of laughs, “Rafa” helped break down the pretentious jargon of the wine world and equip us with the knowledge we’d need to make smart picks at the bottle shop. We were instructed to bring our chosen bottle of white and red to the session so Rafa could talk us through the science behind everything from flavour to food-pairing. As we made our way through the bottles, we had some laughs and made plans to one day visit his vineyard! Best of all, Rafa left us with a guide to wine-pairing to stick on our fridges, and his personal contact number to forever have a sommelier on speed dial! (To book a session, visit airbnb.com.hk/experiences/1653785).
Writing from lockdown in I t a l y, physicist Giordano explains how disease spreads in our interconnected world. By expanding on other forms contagion – from the environmental crisis to fake news – Giordano shows not just how we got here but also how we can move forward together.