We So Nerdy is here again with our Summer 2018 Preview list! Take a look at the pop culture things we’re most excited about and why you should be too.
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…
Some Ella Fitzgerald, anyone?!
Friends, we hope you’ve been having a fabulous summer and are getting a chance to enjoy the lovely weather with a well-deserved vacation (or staycation)!
We’re back again this year with our annual Summer 2018 Preview. Katie, Rebekah, Funmbi, and Sey are sharing some of the TV shows, films, and books that are heading our way this summer and have us excited.
Take a look our list below and why we think you should add this things to your Summer MUSTSEE/MUSTREAD list, too!
Katie
Preacher Season 3 (Premiered June 24 at 10/9c on AMC)
Entering its third season, Preacher promises even more outlandish and insane plotlines. Jesse has promised Herr Starr he’ll pretend to be the Messiah, he definitely owes his Gran’ma since Tulip’s walking around now after being really dead at the end of season two, and he’s got lots of questions to answer when it comes to his friends.
Add in Hitler still on the loose, Eugene on his own, the Saint of Killers looking for Jesse, and we’ve got a wild ride ahead of us!
The casting is spectacular, as always, and I can’t wait to see how Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun, and Dominic Cooper approach this love triangle (?). I use the question mark because I’m not sure Tulip and Jesse know Cass is really in love with Tulip yet. I’m also really looking forward to meeting Gran’ma. She seems absolutely evil.
One thing is certain, if you’re easily offended, don’t watch Preacher. That’s actually their new tagline. Yeah, they know things will take a bigger turn into the blasphemous this season, and they’re preparing us all for it.
The two-night premiere aired June 24 and 25th! Live tweet with me this season at @WeSoNerdy!
Blindspotting (Limited release July 20, everywhere on July 27)
Written by life-long friends Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, Blindspotting is right on time. The film is set against the rapidly gentrifying backdrop of Oakland (where Diggs and Casal grew up) and tells the story of two friends who are forced to come to terms with their places in the world after Diggs’ character, Collin, witnesses a police shooting.
What has me so excited for this film is the story-telling techniques used. It will use hip-hop, spoken word, and rap to tell the story. I trust Diggs and Casal completely to bring the realness of this situation to the screen because they grew up there, they know this place, the people, the racism, the injustice. They understand the dynamics of the friendship they have, and know that their friendships mirrors a lot of others in the world today.
I feel like Blindspotting can be a mirror for the current state of our society. It’s definitely worth seeing and supporting.
Hamilton fans will know Diggs for originating the roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the musical. He’ll always be my Lafayette and Jefferson. You can also listen to Diggs’ band, Clipping, which features producers, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes.
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare, (Publishing August 28)
I adore Tessa Dare’s novels. I know that whenever I pick one up, I get to escape for a little while into a lovely regency world where there’s always a happily ever after. This summer, we continue the Girl Meets Duke series with The Governess Game! Let’s take a peek at this summary:
The accidental governess.
After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud: duke’s heir in the streets and devil in the sheets. The ladies of London have tried—and failed—to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart… without risking her own.
The infamous rake.
Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education—in pleasure. That should prove he can’t be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase’s heart are crumbling… and he’s in danger of falling, hard. {Via Goodreads}
SIGN. ME. UP.
My favorite troupe (ask Funmbi) is when this unassuming, strong-willed heroine is able to break down the walls of the unaffected hero. This novel sounds like perfection to me. Throw in Tessa Dare’s steamy sex scenes and feel-good romance, and I’ll be ending the summer on a happy note with this one!
Rebekah
The Bold Type Season 2 (Premiered June 12 at 8/7c on FREEFORM)
When The Bold Type aired its first season I was admittedly skeptical as to what this generation’s take – and I’m sorry, Freeform’s take – on Sex and the City would be like. Whilst the show undoubtedly draws from its so-called predecessor’s influence, it was outrightly its own from the get-go and was there for all of us millennials when we needed it to be. The show isn’t afraid – nor should it be (am I right?) to be unabashedly out there, having every conversation we all have in the day to day, that tv has been up until this show, too afraid to air. The Bold Type returned a few weeks ago with a two-hour premiere for every crisis you need to to vent over in the fashion closet, like the friend you haven’t seen all the summer. For Season 2, I only have a few words of advice: bring back Pinstripe. Big mistake Tiny Jane.
12 Monkeys Season 4 (Premiered June 15 at 8/7c on SYFY)
The fourth and final season of 12 Monkeys (no, not the Bruce Willis movie – but my beloved tv series reboot) began its 4-week finale event June 15 on SYFY. With one last chance to save humanity (and time) will the season end in defeating the true witness whilst preventing the very plague that started this whole thing? All time-travel shows are complex but they have nothing on 12 Monkeys. The finale event concluded tonight, so make sure to binge-watch Season 4’s episodes now!
Wynonna Earp Season 3 (Premieres July 20 at 9|8c on SYFY)
Wynonna Earp returns to SYFY on July 20th after what seems like eternity, having left us crazed Earpers with only a glance at Mama Earp and a new side of our lovely Doc Holliday.
The kick-ass (literally, demon-ass is kicked, or rather revenant) series based off the graphic novels of the same name; brought to life by Emily Andras, features small-town -however infested with the demons it may be – wonder woman herself; Wynonna Earp who is not unlike the dark and twisty yet ever-progressive Meredith Grey who we also know and love.
This show is definitely one to check out for some real character development mixed with some comedy and gruesome fun.
Sey
Insecure Season 3 (Premiering August 12 at 10:30/9:30c on HBO)
Insecure follows a young, Black woman navigating professional and personal spaces through the unique lens of Millennial, Black Womanhood. Watching Issa and her friends live their lives in LA is simultaneously hilarious and cringey because the show is just *too* real. You can see yourself in all of the uncomfortable situations that Issa gets herself into. Honestly, you really don’t know whether to laugh or to hide under your pillow and drown in all the scalding tea being spilled on your life.
Insecure bleeds all things West Coast, from the soundtrack to the cinematography. I’m really excited about the show returning for Season 3 because, in a departure from the two previous seasons that highlighted the infidelity of women, this season is going to focus on toxic masculinity and its effects on the Black community.
As a Black Millennial, it’s great to have my experiences with school, work, dating, etc. represented on such a visible platform. It makes me feel like it ain’t just me out here in these streets trying to figure out how to deal with my crazy-ass, White co-workers or how to get mixy (but not *too* mixy) on the apps.
For a look at what’s to come, watch the trailer for Insecure Season 3 below and make sure to turn in to HBO on August 12 for the premiere!
Funmbi
A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole (Publishing July 31)
Alyssa Cole is my go-to for all things romance, but I’m especially loving her contemporary Reluctant Royals series. Earlier this year, I was flailing all over Alyssa because A Princess in Theory (the first book in the series) reminds me of classic romantic comedies I’ve loved while adding a refreshing angle by making her royals Black and African! If you haven’t already, check out my 5+++ star review of A Princess in Theory and grab your copy today, so you can be ready for the second novel in the series, A Duke by Default.
A Duke by Default follows up with Ledi’s (the heroine in A Princess in Theory) best friend Portia. The last time we see Portia, she’s a hot mess, but earnestly trying to get her life together. Project New Portia is all about getting serious and building a life for herself. This is how she finds herself in Scotland on her way to a sword-making apprenticeship. Portia isn’t wanting to fall for the Armory’s master (and her BOSS), Tavish Mackenzie, but he is one fine silver fox. Things get even more complicated when, in the process of helping Tav get the Armory back on track, Portia discovers that he’s really the secret son of a Duke. Oh my…
What I love most about this book is watching Portia realize her own worth and navigate her complex relationships with her parents and sister. The romance between Portia and Tav is sexy AF too. Make sure to pre-order your copy today!
Crazy Rich Asians (Hits theaters on August 17)
I learned about Crazy Rich Asians in early 2017 from an acquaintance who was raving about the best-selling book by Kevin Kwan, and ever since, it has been on my radar. You’re telling me that there’s a romantic comedy that features *contemporary* Pan-Asian peoples and cultures on the big screen? HERE. FOR. IT.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick’s family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick’s arm puts a target on Rachel’s back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick’s own disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh) taking aim. And it soon becomes clear that while money can’t buy love, it can definitely complicate things.
If you haven’t already, make sure to watch the latest film trailer, where the romance, hilarity, and uber wealth come shining through. Constance Wu is a perfect leading lady an Henry Golding is swoony AF.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (Debuts on NETFLIX on August 17)
Who doesn’t love a sweet YA romance?! NETFLIX’s upcoming film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is exactly what we need to bask in all the swoony feels of first love. The movie is an adaptation of Jenny Han’s 2015 bestselling novel:
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once? Lara Jean Song Covey’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control when the love letters for every boy she’s ever loved-five in all-are mysteriously mailed out. From New York Times Bestselling author Jenny Han, the film adaption of the popular YA novel stars actress Lana Condor, Janel Parrish, and Noah Centineo, directed by Susan Johnson.
I haven’t read the book (don’t worry, I will!), but I think this story has so much adorable potential. I can’t wait to see the dynamic between the Song Covey sisters. Plus, Lara Jean’s potential boyfriends are such cuties. This one is going to be MUSTSEE, folks!
