Kareem's Weekend Boost (Jan. 7-9)
What to Watch, Read, or Listen to This Weekend
Welcome to my first Boost of the new year. Some people may wonder why I do this weekly frivolous feature alongside my more in-depth articles about intense social and political issues. The short answer: because it’s fun. I enjoy sharing with you the pop culture that brings me pleasure. Instead of pontificating about some complex social problem with dire consequences, I get to feel like we’re just sitting around a table sharing stuff we like.
So, here’s this week’s stuff that I like.
WATCH (movie)
The King’s Man
There is a moment during this action-thriller that took me by such surprise that I actually gasped aloud. That rarely happens, so my compliments to the movie chefs who cooked this prequel up. Like the first two Kingsman movies, this one is a pure delight of outrageous, over-the-top spy storytelling, complete with cool gadgets, romance, and stylized violence. The King’s Man takes us back to World War I and the start of the super-secret spy agency at the ever-so-British hands of the Ralph Fiennes. It’s pure entertainment, especially the scenes with a Joker-like Rasputin.
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LISTEN (music)
Love and Hate in Another Time by Gabriels
Jacob Lusk, the feature singer for Gabriels, is a former American Idol contestant. It’s clear how confining that show was in displaying the full range of his enormous talent. This album has such a rich texture that listening to it envelops you completely. You can feel yourself floating on Lusk’s melodious voice as you’re swept along an emotional lazy river.
Here’s what the group has to say about their album: “Love and Hate in a Different Time is about how we appear to be losing the ability to peacefully be together in a space and express ourselves. Together. We have always endured agendas of hate, hardship and war but we have in someway always found a way to be together and put aside our differences. However in recent times with the development of the technology/disinformation it appears this is tested.”
I love the message, but love the messengers even more.
Get album here.