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The EUFA Euro championships are currently ongoing and I was talking about the games with my brother about which teams each is supporting.
He happens to be an ardent Cristiano Ronaldo fanboy or CR7 as he calls him and I happen to be a huge France team supporter.
Our teams have got off a flying start and the more we discussed the schedules, the more we realized that not only are there more exciting group stage matches but we also have a game we will get to watch together but on opposite camps.
The thing you need to understand about my big brother and me is that he is my best friend and I really look forward to the days when we can hang out.
It’s been this way ever since we were children. and now that he is working and has moved out of our parent’s home, and I am in university, I can’t say that we really get to hang out and play video games or watch football as much as we used to.
It was he who introduced me to football and we made a ritual out of watching the games together.
As luck would have it, the EUFA Euro championships have coincided with the period when he has taken annual leave and as for me, public unis haven’t yet resumed since the pandemic kicked in so we are as aligned as the stars.
For us, the big game to catch is, of course, Portugal vs France but there are others still that will be exciting to watch.
So as I prepare to sit down with my big bro and catch these fire games, allow me to put on my pundit hat and tell you which games we have earmarked for our viewing pleasure because, in the group stages, they promise the most fireworks:
Portugal vs Germany 19th June 2021
The most exciting match-up of the weekend will see Portugal and their talisman Cristian Ronaldo come up against a wounded german side who lost their open game against France in the UEFA Euro 2020 European championship.
Die Mannschaft
Portugal are attempting to seal their ticket to the knockout round of the games with one match to spare when they meet Joachim Low’s side in Munich.
The match will be played on Saturday evening will see Germany attempt to exorcise the demons of their loss courtesy of a Mats Hummels own-goal. Die Mannschaft as the team is colloquially known, would be looking to wreck the Portuguese party in order to qualify without having to scrape by on hopes of mathematical favors which would be the case if they only manage to beat Hungary in their group of death.
Meanwhile, the Group F leaders, Portugal, coached by Fernando Santos’ side had to wait till the 84th minute of their match to come up with a brace of goals (one of which came by way of the penalty spot) to cement their victory 3-nil victory over Hungary.
The Cristiano Ronaldo-led side is well aware that a win over Germany books their slot in the last 16 stage of the championship and a top-two slot is guaranteed even if Hungary fails to curtail France’s run in the second game of Group F happening on the same night.
It will be interesting to see what changes Joachim Low will make to the German team ahead of their clash with Portugal seeing as they struggled to create meaningful changes in their first Group F game against France.
The most likely team lineups will probably look as follows:
Portugal possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Semedo, Pepe, Dias, Guerreiro; Danilo, Carvalho; Bernardo, Fernandes, Jota; Ronaldo
Germany possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Ginter, Hummels, Rudiger; Kimmich, Gundogan, Kroos, Gosens; Sane, Muller, Gnabry
Italy vs Wales 20th Jun 2021
Wales want to secure their ticket to the knockout stage of EUFA Euro 2020 but to do so they have to get through one of the tournament’s most in-form teams, Italy at Stadio Olimpico on Sunday. The Dragons as they are known have managed four points from their opening two Group A matches.
They managed a fortuitous draw against Switzerland but had a stellar performance against Turkey and even though Gareth Bale snuffed a penalty, the game ended up a 2-nil thumping.
Roberto Mancini’s Italy side is eager to keep their momentum and will attack for the full three points.
The Azzurri as they are known won their first two games and are unbeaten in their last 29 matches in all competitions ever since they lost 1-nil to Portugal back in 2018.
Italy possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Acerbi, Emerson; Verratti, Cristante, Barella; Bernardeschi, Belotti, Chiesa
Wales possible starting lineup:
Ward; Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, Gunter, Williams; Morrell, Allen; Bale, Wilson, James
Portugal vs France 23rd June 2020
The last time these two sides met, it was for a friendly back in September 2015 and a solitary Mathieu Valbuena goal was the difference. But prior to that, France had won all three of their competitive matches against Portugal -but that was before the Euro 2016 final.
That said, the teams have never met for a qualifying fixture.
That aside, France has been firing from all cylinders and their historic win against Germany was due to a forced error from Mats Hummels which resulted in an own goal. However, Portugal beat them to the Euro crown back in 2016despite talismanic player Cristiano Ronaldo picking up an injury in the 25th minute of their match.
On the material day, Fernando Santos’s Portugal claimed the trophy thanks to a 109th-minute strike from substitute Éder.
Barring injuries to their squads, the most likely lineup would be:
Portugal possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Semedo, Pepe, Dias, Guerreiro; Danilo, Carvalho; Bernardo, Fernandes, Jota; Ronaldo
France possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Kimpembe, Hernandez; Kante, Pogba, Rabiot; Griezmann; Mbappe, Benzema
We’ll be catching these games over at his house so we don’t disturb our folks incase things get too raucous. and I for one am grateful he got Showmax which is airing all the EUFA Euro games live. it will just be me, my best friend(my big brother), and maybe a few brews if he is feeling generous. Seeing as it’s Father’s Day this weekend, we might even invite our father to hang with his sons.
You too can catch these games on Showmax Pro. Showmax Pro is available at Ksh 2 100 per month while Showmax Pro Mobile is available at Ksh. 1 050. For more information go to showmax.com. Live-streaming sport on Showmax is brought to you by SuperSport. For full Euro 2020 fixtures, visit SuperSport.
After a year’s delay, UEFA Euro 2020 is finally kicking off today with 24 teams vying to win the coveted trophy with a month of football. All 51 matches will be available to football fans in Kenya live on streaming service Showmax Pro starting tonight at 21:00 CAT (22:00 EAT) until 11 July 2021.
Among the 24 teams in tournament are two first-time qualifiers Finland and North Macedonia, and seven former champions, including Italy which hosts Turkey in the opening game at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome; three-time champions Spain and Germany who kick off their quests on 14 June and 15 June respectively; and Portugal, the defending champions, who begin their campaign on 15 June against Hungary.
For the first time in history, the tournament will be spread across 11 cities in 11 UEFA countries (London; Rome; Munich; Baku, Azerbaijan; St. Petersburg; Budapest; Seville, Spain; Bucharest; Amsterdam; Glasgow; and Copenhagen), a decision made by UEFA to mark the 60th anniversary of the tournament.
Each city will host three group stage matches and one match in the round of 16 or quarterfinals, with the exception of Saint Petersburg, which will host six group stage matches, and London, which will host two matches in the round of 16 at Wembley Stadium. Wembley will also host both semi-finals (July 6 -7) and the final on July 11.
Even though the stadiums will operate with limited capacity due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this the first major international tournament to allow fans since the pandemic struck in March 2020.
GROUPS
Group A: Turkey, Italy, Wales, Switzerland
Group B: Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia
Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia
Group D: England, Croatia, Scotland, Czech Republic
Group E: Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia
Group F: Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany
Showmax Pro is available at Ksh 2 100 per month while Showmax Pro Mobile is available at Ksh. 1 050. For more information go to showmax.com. Live-streaming sport on Showmax is brought to you by SuperSport. For full Euro 2020 fixtures, visit SuperSport.
Showmax has some amazing sports documentaries lined up for you that are guaranteed to expand the horizon of your mind. And I want to focus on one that specifically targets athletes and specifically, Olympians.
Let’s get into The Weight Of Gold. It is an HBO documentary that delves into the lives of Olympians, from their journey to become the greatest athletes of the world to the actual success and failures at the Olympics and then what life is like after the glitz and glamour of the Olympics come to an end and the doors of the Olympic Village close.
For athletes who have spent their entire lives focused on winning at their chosen discipline of sports, all they know is to compete and win or lose. Their lives aren’t like yours or mine, they only know competition and a laser-like focus on that one pursuit.
And this documentary on Showmax is all about how children are trained to a degree where they rarely -if ever- develop interests outside winning at the Olympics. Can you imagine what happens to the psyche of the eighty per cent who never get to stand on the podium?
These are the type of questions this documentary answers. The depression that stems from that. And then there is also the depression that comes from being an athlete all your life and all of a sudden, while you’re still relatively young, you have to retire from your passion either because of an injury or your age.
This documentary will make you ask questions you never thought you’d need to have answered. And it features real-life gold medal-winning Olympians such as Michael Phelps, Lolo Jones and others.
And they aren’t too shy to delve into the darker, heavier topics such as suicide among the athlete communities. Because when they hit their lows, they are really low and few people in our normie societies can relate to their pains. And the fact that this documentary is a glimpse into that world makes it that much more fantastic.
All that glitters isn’t gold and even when it is worth its weight in gold, the price can sometimes be too much.
After more than a year’s wait, the UEFA Euro 2020 kicks off from 11 June to 11 July and promises all the action you’d expect from the best in the game! All the matches will be on Showmax Pro.
Worried about data? Telkom has a bundle deal right now: 30GB data plus a Showmax Pro Mobile subscription for KSh1,200 p/m.
Showmaxis bringing you some exciting and titillating movies for you and yours to enjoy and the lineup is simply vast. There is a movie for everyone regardless what your tastebuds are really into. Let’s start looking at what is on offer for your viewing pleasure:
The Outpost, Richard Jewell, The High Note, Our Towns, The Day Sports Stood Still and The Dark Knight Trilogy
THE OUTPOST | Stream from 21 June
The Outpost is Rotten Tomatoes’ second-best-reviewed Action and Adventure film of 2020, with a 93% critics rating. As the critics consensus says, “Told with gripping realism, The Outpost is a thrilling technical feat and a worthy tribute to military heroes.”
As members of a small team of American soldiers outnumbered by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Teen Choice Award winners Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Clint Eastwood’s son, Scott Eastwood (Suicide Squad, Fast and Furious 8, Pacific Rim: Uprising) co-star with Caleb Landry Jones (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).
The Outpost was nominated as Best Action Movie at the 2021 Critics Choice Super Awards, where Landry Jones was also nominated as Best Actor: Action.
RICHARD JEWELL | First on Showmax | Stream from 3 June 2020
Named one of the American Film Institute’s Movies of the Year in 2020, Richard Jewell is the true story of the security guard who became a hero after finding the device at the 1996 Atlanta bombing, but then became the FBI’s number one suspect, vilified by press and public alike, his life ripped apart.
Paul Walter Hauser won the National Board of Review’s Breakthrough Performance Award as the title character, with Kathy Bates (American Horror Story) nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe as his mother, and Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) winning Best Supporting Actor at the Faro Island Film Festival as his lawyer. Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Good Omens, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Teen Choice nominee Olivia Wilde (House M.D., TRON: Legacy) co-star.
Directed by four-time Oscar winner Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven), Richard Jewell was hailed as “unforgettable” by The Observer.
THE HIGH NOTE | Stream from 17 June
2020 music drama The High Note sees a superstar singer and her overworked personal assistant presented with a choice that could alter the course of their respective careers.
The High Note stars Golden Globe winners Dakota Johnson (The Social Network, and the Fifty Shades movies) and Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish, Girlfriends), who was nominated for a 2020 People’s Choice Award and a Black Reel Award for her role as R&B singer and mega-star Grace Davis. BAFTA nominee Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves, The Trial of the Chicago 7), Critics Choice nominee Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day), rapper Ice Cube and Emmy-winning comedian Eddie Izzard co-star.
FilmWeek calls it, “an enchanting and escapist summer movie … with so much love of music in its soul.”
OUR TOWNS | First on Showmax | Stream now
Amidst the turbulence and division of recent years in America’s history, HBO’s documentary feature Our Towns finds a different story: the tale of eight towns across the US where the rise of civic and economic reinvention is transforming communities.
Presented by journalists James and Deborah Fallows based on their bestselling book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, this panoramic yet intimate view of small towns across the United States has an 88% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Washington Post saying, “As an exercise in sincerity, fellowship and earnest inquiry, it might be the most subversive movie in circulation right now.”
Our Towns is directed by Oscar nominees Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan (So Much So Fast, Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern).
THE DAY SPORTS STOOD STILL | First on Showmax | Stream now
The HBO documentary film The Day Sports Stood Still tells the story of the unprecedented sports shutdown in March of 2020 and the events that followed. Emmy-winning director Antoine Fuqua (What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali, Training Day) chronicles the abrupt stoppage due to Covid-19, how top athletes made their voices heard in the cultural and political reckoning on racial injustice in America, and the complex return to competition as the sports world tries to find its new normal.
The documentary captures a broad swath of voices and experiences, exploring how the pandemic pressed pause on their careers, but also changed their lives in dramatic and surprising ways. The film features everyone from an NFL Super Bowl champion who volunteers in the ER, to a defending WNBA champ who decided to sit out the 2020 season to focus on protesting racial injustice.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE… A WHOLE LOT MORE…
Also catch these modern classics this month:
THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY | 10 June
The all-star cast of Christopher Nolan’s unforgettable The Dark Knight trilogy – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises – includes Oscar winners Christian Bale (The Fighter), Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules), Gary Oldman (Mank, Darkest Hour), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), and Morgan Freeman (Se7en). The trilogy racked up three Oscars, and is still regarded as among the best superhero franchises of all time. Also catch the DC blockbusters Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, and Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds.
GRAVITY | 24 June
Led by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, Gravity isone of the most successful sci-fi films of all time, with a worldwide gross of $723m in 2013 and seven Academy Awards, including Best Director for multi-Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón (Roma, Children of Men).
A SHERLOCK HOLMES DOUBLE-FEATURE | 21 June
Robert Downey Jr. plays the ultimate eccentric genius detective, Sherlock, opposite Jude Law as Watson, in Guy Ritchie’s 2009 film, Sherlock Holmes, which was nominated for two Oscars and became the 8th-biggest movie of the year, grossing over $520m worldwide. Also catch the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN | 3 June
Directed by Oscar winner Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and adapted from the short story by Annie Proulx, the groundbreaking 2005 drama Brokeback Mountain won three Oscars and is still considered a cinematic milestone for LGBTQIA+ representation in the mainstream media. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger, who were both nominated for Oscars for their roles.
THE BLIND SIDE | 3 June
Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her performance in sports drama The Blind Side, alongside Teen Choice nominee Quinton Aaron (Halfway), Oscar winner Kathy Bates (Richard Jewell, American Horror Story), Golden Globe nominee Lily Collins (Emily in Paris) and Grammy-winning country music icon Tim McGraw. Directed by BAFTA nominee John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks), this biographical story of a homeless boy who became an All-American football player grossed over $300m worldwide in 2009.
Also catch Bullock starring opposite Hugh Grant in the classic romcom Two Weeks Notice, which saw her nominated for the 2003 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Actress and Choice Movie Hissy Fit.
WE’RE THE MILLERS | 17 June
A small-time drug dealer enlists a fake family in a bid to smuggle drugs across the US border in the blockbuster comedy, We’re the Millers, which grossed over $270m worldwide and won two MTV Movie Awards, as well as a Teen Choice Award for Emma Roberts, who co-stars with Jennifer Aniston (Friends, The Morning Show).
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING | 3 June
Nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Favourite Comedy and for six Teen Choice Awards, What to Expect When You’re Expecting’s ensemble cast includes Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick (Love Life), Emmy winner Chris Rock (Fargo) and nominee Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games), and Golden Globe nominees Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers), Cameron Diaz (There’s Something About Mary), Matthew Morrison (Glee), and Dennis Quaid (Far From Heaven).
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…
From 7 June 2021, also look out for two Oscar nominees – Blood Diamond, with Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly, and Eraser, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger – as well as the award-winning medical disaster thriller Outbreak, starring Oscar winners Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie, Rain Man), Morgan Freeman (Se7en) and Cuba Gooding Jr (Empire). For even more movies, go here. Browse everything coming to Showmax this June here.
It’s around that time when you’ve finished watching your favourite series and are looking for something new to check out. And as always, Showmax has got you covered. Check out some of the exciting shows they have lined up for your month of June and trust me when I say they are all an exciting collection for all your taste buds to savour.
MARE OF EASTTOWN | Binge now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miQqyfO66uw
HBO’s latest drama Mare of Easttown stars Oscar winner Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Titanic) as small-town detective Mare Sheehan, who must investigate a murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.
Critics Choice nominee Julianne Nicholson (The Outsider, I, Tonya, August: Osage County), three-time Emmy winner Jean Smart (Watchmen, Fargo), Teen Choice nominee Evan Peters (American Horror Story, and X-Men’s Quicksilver) and Golden Globe nominee Guy Pearce (The Hurt Locker, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) co-star.
The seven-episode series holds a 92% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes,where the critics consensus says Winslet is at her “career-best”, and an 8.6/10 score on IMDb, where it’s currently at #1 on the Most Popular TV list. The Guardian hailed the series as “a stunning, harrowing success… a murder mystery that kept us guessing right to the profoundly moving end.”
FRIENDS: THE REUNION | Stream now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRXVQ77ehRQ
Ladies and gentlemen, can we have an OMG? (And all the tissues!) It’s Friends: The Reunion, also known as “The One Where They Get Back Together.”
Join Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), Matt LeBlanc (Joey), Matthew Perry (Chandler), Courteney Cox (Monica), and David Schwimmer (Ross) for all the feels as they return to the iconic comedy’s original soundstage for a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show.
They’ll visit the original sets, do table reads from classic Friends scripts, re-enact some of the best moments from the show, and share behind-the-scenes footage as they look back at the legendary Friends years and the enduring pop culture phenomenon that’s still the ultimate go-to for those deep-binge long weekends.
Currently at #2 on IMDb’s Most Popular TV list, Friends: The Reunion is hosted by James Corden and features guests like Lady Gaga, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, Kit Harington, and Reese Witherspoon.
THE WALKING DEAD S10 | Binge episodes 1-6 now, with the final six episodes arriving 4 June
Based on Robert Kirkman’s hit comics, The Walking Dead is the definitive zombie show, having won 78 awards globally, including Emmys, People’s Choice and Critics Choice awards.
Among other awards, The Walking Dead was nominated as Best Horror Series at both the Critics Choice Super Awards and The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in 2021. Season 10 has an 83% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus is, “A few changes in front of and behind the camera allow The Walking Dead to create space for compelling new stories and some seriously scary new adversaries.” The series remains a favourite on IMDb’s Most Popular TV list, where it’s currently at #15, with an 8.2/10 score.
Norman Reedus and Danai Gurira return in their People’s Choice-nominated roles as Daryl and Michonne, as does Melissa McBride in her Critics Choice-nominated role as Carol. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is also still alive as Negan, a role that won him MTV and Critics Choice awards, but the bigger threat this season is two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (Harlots, In America, Minority Report) as Alpha, the leader of the Whisperers, who wear the skins of zombies, and live among them… Morton was nominated for a 2021 Critics Choice Super Award for Best Villain for the role.
YOUNGER S7 | Binge from 11 June 2021
For six seasons, Younger has kept fans guessing: will Liza (Sutton Foster in a Critics Choice-nominated performance) choose Charles (Peter Hermann) or Josh (Nico Tortorello)? Now, in Season 7, she’s going to have to decide once and for all, because, not only has Charles proposed, but it’s the final season… (Although, advance warning, the trailer suggests there’s a third option this season: surf legend Kai Manning).
From Sex and the City creator Darren Star, Younger is set in the publishing world of New York City. The cast includes Hilary Duff in a People’s Choice and Teen Choice-nominated role as Kelsey; Miriam Shor in a Critics Choice-nominated performance as Diana; and Screen Actors Guild award nominee Debi Mazar (Entourage) as Maggie.
Younger has a 99% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The New York Times hailing it as “escapism at its fantastical best.”
BETTY S2 | New episodes every Monday from 14 June, same day as 1Magic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_e-qFKgrcs
Based on Crystal Moselle’s critically acclaimed feature Skate Kitchen, HBO’s half-hour series Betty is back for a second season as it continues to follow a diverse group of young women navigating their lives through New York’s predominantly male-oriented skateboarding scene. The comedy stars Dede Lovelace, Moonbear, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell, and Rachelle Vinberg, who all reprise their roles from the original film.
Betty has a 97% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where Season 1 was the fourth best-reviewed young adult series of 2020. As the critics consensus there puts it, “Earnest, audacious, and effortlessly cool, Betty captures the spirit of skating and friendship with style.”
“Betty looks like how being a teenager feels,” says Variety about Season 1, “…with such visceral verve that you can practically feel the wind whipping through your own hair through the screen.” They also praise the performances, saying, “Every actor is … so immediately comfortable in their roles and rhythms that the show often feels more like a documentary than a scripted show. But it is, and an especially well-plotted one given that it only has six episodes to give everyone a decently satisfying arc.”
INTO THE DARK S2 | Binge now
In this horror anthology from Oscar-nominated producer Jason Blum (Us, Get Out, The Purge), each episode is inspired by a holiday, from Halloween to Thanksgiving, Christmas to New Year’s Eve.
Look out for the likes of Critics Choice nominees Harvey Guillén (Guillermo in What We Do In The Shadows) and Carly Chaikin (Mr. Robot, Suburgatory), Teen Choice winner Josephine Langford (After), Teen Choice nominee Judy Greer (Ant-man, Jurassic World), and MTV Movie Awards nominee Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding, August: Osage County).
Into The Dark was nominated for Best Series at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards 2020 and won the 2020 Imagen Award for Best Primetime Program.
CHARMED S3 | Binge episodes 1-10 of with episodes 11-14 arriving on 28 June.
This teen favourite reboot of the popular original series follows three sisters: Macy (Madeleine Mantock from Into the Badlands), Mel (Black Reel nominee Melonie Diaz from Fruitvale Station) and Maggie (Sarah Jeffery from Descendants). Following the death of their mother, they discover they are a powerful trio of good witches, known as the Charmed Ones.
Charmed was nominated for two 2019 Teen Choice Awards, for Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi (Diaz) and Choice TV Show: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, as well as a 2019 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Television Series. In addition, Charmed won a 2020 Leo Award for Best Production Design and child actor Isla Sunar scooped a 2020 Joey Award for Best Featured Actress in a TV Series (5-7 Years).
Nameless and Wahu’s reality TV show on Showmax has started and the first episode held a hidden gem that was quite the plot twist regarding their first contact that blossomed into their marriage… The first episode of This Love features Thomas Kwaka aka Big Ted, who reveals that he actually met Wahu before she met Nameless, and that he would have been “Mr Wahu” had it not been for Nameless standing in his way.
In this episode, we also follow Nameless and Wahu as they take us back to how they first met by visiting their alma mater, the University of Nairobi.
In subsequent episodes, the 13-part series will also see Nameless and Wahu pay tribute to the late legendary rapper E-Sir, who was a close friend of Nameless. The show will also see the couple revisit their famous wedding in 2005 and the elements that threatened to break them apart, as well as how they’ve managed to stay together, and so much more about their past and present, their family life and what it takes to finally make music together.
And just for some background,
This Love, musicians Nameless and Wahu’s new docu-reality series, is now streaming exclusively on Showmax, and it is loaded with some nostalgic moments and revelations.
Created and executive produced by Eugene Mbugua, This Love takes viewers into the lives of Nameless and Wahu, arguably Kenya’s most-admired celebrity couple, as they talk love, life and most of all, their shared passion for music that spans two decades.
While they were initially reluctant about the show when Mbugua first approached them with the idea in 2018, the couple finally agreed because they wanted to share what they had learnt during their 23 years together (and married for 15) which they’ve described as the “midlife” or “the first half of their lives.”
“We’ve been together for 23 years (and married for 15), and we’ve learnt a lot. We’ve gone through the ups and downs… you know how life is. That is what gave us the why, and we wanted to be authentic about this journey,” Nameless says.
With music playing a major part in their lives, Wahu reveals that viewers will also get a chance to see that side of them and how the process has been as they work on their first joint album together, also titled This Love.
“The other thing that we want to do in this docu-reality series, even as we share our story, is to also share our 20-year journey of being musicians. We want viewers to pick a lesson from us (if you’re able to), and there’s no better avenue than This Love,” Wahu says.
And you can catch This Love every Monday and to find out more about that, click here.
The month of June comes with some awesome new surprises for all football fans as the UEFA Euro 2020, which runs from 11 June to 11 July 2021, will be screened on Showmax Pro for the African audience to enjoy.
Launched last year, Showmax Pro bundles the existing Showmax entertainment offering with music channels, news and live sports streaming from SuperSport.
Euro traditionally produces outstanding soccer, with many of the world’s leading players given a grand stage. There will be spectator limits in place, and matches will be held in 11 cities across 11 countries – a “romantic gesture”, according to UEFA, to celebrate the 60th birthday of the tournament. Viewers are promised a one-of-a-kind spectacle, with the stark differences between the host cities contributing to the uniqueness of the event.
Portugal will be defending the championship, although France, Belgium and England are all rated higher, and will be playing with high expectations from fans.
Speaking about the addition, MultiChoice CEO for General Entertainment and Connected Video, Yolisa Phahle, says, “We know that Africa is football mad, and we’re thrilled that more people will be able to stream the matches on the go or at home.”
SuperSport chief executive Marc Jury says, “Being able to offer this high-class tournament to sport fans on the Showmax streaming platform is an exciting addition to the many SuperSport platforms that offer viewers top-tier sport.”
Other live sport available on Showmax Pro includes all Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and PSL games as well as a wide range of live sports events including athletics, professional boxing and the world’s biggest marathons. Sport documentaries available on Showmax include HBO’s gripping golfing documentary Tiger; What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali; Klopp: The Inside Story; and SuperSport’s ground-breaking Chasing the Sun, the series about the Springboks’ inspiring victory at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Showmax Pro also includes a selection of live news channels, such as Euro News, Africa News and Newzroom Afrika.
Outside of sport, Showmax has its biggest slate of Originals in 2021, including the first Kenyan Original, crime procedural Crime and Justice, and the first Nigerian Original, I Am LAYCON, a reality series starring reality star and musician Laycon. Both of these series are available to binge-watch in their entirety.
There’s also a follow-up to the very popular Tali’s Wedding Diary, Tali’s Baby Diary; the small-town psychological thriller DAM; and the Cape Flats neo-noir murder mystery Skemerdans, all currently available to stream. Coming up later in 2021 is Showmax’s latest co-production with Canal+, Blood Psalms, an epic series based on ancient African mythology, as well as Showmax’s first licensed international reality TV series format, Temptation Island South Africa.
Boy, are you in for a treat this May with all the mind-blowing blockbusters Showmax is bringing your way that are guaranteed to be a treat this cold month and given how the weather has been looking, this is going to give you a great plan for those weekend afternoons and evenings. And there is an offer you cannot resist that you can click here to find out more about.
BIRDS OF PREY | From 24 May 2021
You ever hear the one about the cop, the songbird, the psycho and the Mafia princess?
The 10th biggest box office hit of 2020 globally, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only she can tell it. After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.
Birds of Prey was Rotten Tomatoes’ best reviewed comic book and graphic novel film adaptation last year, and one of its 10 best-reviewed wide-release films overall. Nominated for four People’s Choice Awards, including Favourite Movie, Birds of Prey has won 10 awards so far, including Best Actress for two-time Oscar nominee Margot Robbie (I, Tonya, Bombshell) as Harley Quinn and Best Actor for Golden Globe winner Ewan McGregor (Star Wars, Fargo) as Roman at the 2021 Critics Choice Super Awards’ superhero category, where Birds of Prey was also nominated for Best Superhero Movie and Jurnee Smollet (Lovecraft Country) was up for Best Actress as Black Canary.
In their four star review, The Observer hailed Birds of Prey as “the movie equivalent of a fairground ride with all the bolts loosened and the safety booklet blazed long ago when someone ran out of Rizlas.”
THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND | First on Showmax, from 20 May 2021
The King of Staten Island is directed by Golden Globe nominee and Emmy winner Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This is 40, Trainwreck), who co-wrote and produced alongside Saturday Night Live writer Dave Sirus and star Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live, Big Time Adolescence and the upcoming The Suicide Squad).
The film follows Scott, who’s been a case of arrested development since his firefighter dad died. He spends his days smoking weed and dreaming of being a tattoo artist until events force him to grapple with his grief and take his first steps forward in life. Pete, whose own father was a New York firefighter who died in the World Trade Centre collapse on 9/11, was nominated for a 2020 People’s Choice Award for his starring role as Scott.
The King of Staten Islandwas also nominated for the 2021 Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy, as well as last year’s People’s Choice Awards for Favourite Comedy Movie. “The content can be raw, sometimes startling,” says Wall Street Journal, “but before and after everything else the film is hilarious, and constitutes a cockeyed pantheon of comic performances. On top of that, it is beautiful.”
Oscar winner Marisa Tomei (Spider-Man and Avengers’ May Parker) co-stars, along with BAFTA nominee Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, The Morning Show), Judd’s daughter Maude Apatow (Euphoria), Grammy-nominated stand-up comic and F Is for Family creator Bill Burr, and Golden Globe winner Steve Buscemi (Fargo, Miracle Workers).
IT: CHAPTER TWO | From 31 May 2021
Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the members of the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back.
Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, Interstellar) stars as the adult Beverly Marsh and Golden Globe nominee and multiple BAFTA winner James McAvoy (His Dark Materials and X-Men’s young Charles Xavier) plays Bill Denbrough. Golden Globe nominee and Emmy winner Bill Hader (Barry, Saturday Night Live) received four separate awards nominations for his role as the adult Richie Tozier, while Bill Skarsgård (The Devil All the Time, Castle Rock) returns in his Teen Choice-nominated role as Pennywise.
Also reprising their roles from the first film are a stellar cast of youngsters, including Teen Choice nominees Sophia Lillis (I Am Not Okay With This), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Jeremy Ray Taylor (Are You Afraid of the Dark?), MTV Movie Awards winner Jack Dylan Grazer (Shazam!, We Are Who We Are), and Critics Choice nominee Jaeden Martell (Knives Out, St. Vincent).
It: Chapter Two won four Fright Meter Awards, with a further eight nominations. The film was also nominated for four 2021 Saturn Awards, including Best Horror Film, two 2020 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and two IGN Summer Movie Awards. Empire Magazine calls it, “A psychologically merciless sequel,” saying, “everything here is as it should be: deeper, scarier, funnier. (Director) Muschietti in particular has stepped up, skilfully guiding us through a rollicking funhouse. It is obscenely entertaining.”
THE GOOD LIAR | From 17 May 2011
In the crime thriller The Good Liar,Oscar nominee Sir Ian McKellan (The Lord of the Rings, Gods and Monsters) stars as career con man Roy Courtnay, who sets his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed and extremely wealthy Betty McLeish, played by Oscar winner Dame Hellen Mirren (The Queen, Catherine the Great). But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes…
Directed and produced by Oscar winner Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Dreamgirls), The Good Liar also stars Critics Choice nominee Russel Tovey (Years and Years), multiple Emmy nominee Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), and BAFTA nominee Lucian Msamati (His Dark Materials, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Kiri).
The Good Liar is nominated for a 2021 Saturn Award for Best Thriller from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. It was up for Best Actress (Mirren) at the Satellite Awards and for Best Film Performance (McKellen) at the 2020 Queerties.
Oscar nominees Liam Neeson (Love Actually, Cold Pursuit) and Lesley Manville (The Crown, Phantom Thread, Harlots) star in the moving drama Ordinary Love, about a middle-aged couple in the midst of a cancer diagnosis.
London Evening Standard calls it a “scaldingly fine romance”, Metro (UK) “quietly extraordinary”, and The Hollywood Reporter, “Ravagingly honest and quite lovely.”
Last year, Ordinary Love won Irish Film and Television Awards for both Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (David Wilmot) and earned Manville and Neeson Best Actor and Best Actress nominations at the National Film Awards, among other honours.
Ordinary Love holds a 93% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with multiple critics praising the performances of its stellar leads, and Manville’s in particular, of which Los Angeles Times says, “she’s never been better than she is here.”
DARK WATERS | Stream now
Triple Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight, I Know This Much Is True, Avengers) stars as corporate defence attorney Rob Bilott, who takes on an environmental lawsuit against an unscrupulous chemicals company in the modern-day Erin Brockovich story Dark Waters.
Oscar winners Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables, Rachel Getting Married) and Tim Robbins (Mystic River, Dead Man Walking) co-star, along with Oscar nominee Mare Winningham (The Affair, American Horror Story), Emmy nominees William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) and Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave, The Night Of), Critics Choice nominee Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day) and six-time Emmy nominee Victor Garber (Alias, Argo).
Directed by Oscar nominee Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, Carol, Mildred Pierce), the legal thriller is based on the real-life case brought against chemical manufacturer DuPont after they contaminated a town with unregulated chemicals.
The film has an 89% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus says, “Dark Waters powerfully relays a real-life tale of infuriating malfeasance, honouring the victims and laying blame squarely at the feet of the perpetrators.” Ruffalo, who also produced, was nominated for Best Actor for the role at the Satellite Awards, where the film also received a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay.
HARRY POTTER BOXSET | From 13 May 2021
Calling all muggles, wizards and devotees of J.K Rowling’s beloved all-time bestselling book series: you can now binge the complete Harry Potter boxset of all eight epic movies of the multiple Oscar-nominated fantasy saga: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Pt1, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Pt2.
Together, the Harry Potter movies are the third highest-grossing film franchise of all time, with a global gross of over $7.7 billion. On the small screen, it still holds the record for the most-watched franchise in TV history, with over 1.3 billion viewings to date.
CUT THROAT CITY | From 13 May 2021
Set after Hurricane Katrina, Cut Throat City sees four boyhood friends who are out of options reluctantly accept an offer to pull off a dangerous heist in the heart of New Orleans.
Chicago Sun-Times praises its “vibrant, rough-edged, impressive storytelling” and FilmWeek its “rich sense of place and an incredible cast of supporting actors.” Slant Magazine calls it “an ambitious and volatile film, an atmospheric survey of the thankless world of the rich and the damned,” while Los Angeles Times says it’s a “thoughtful and personal film, concerned with how systemic racism — and zoning ordinances — can kill more people than a gun.”
It’s directed by Emmy-, BAFTA- and Black Reel-nominated actor, filmmaker and rapper RZA (of Wu Tang Clan fame), who scored Kill Bill and starred in American Gangster. The New York Times says, “RZA tells this story with deliberation and imaginative daring. With Cut Throat City, his third feature, he comes into his own as a director.”
Black Reel winner Shameik Moore (The Get Down and the voice of Spider-Man:Into the Spider-Verse’s Miles); Denzel Whitaker (The Great Debaters and Black Panther’s young Zuri), Demetrius Shipp Jr. (All Eyez on Me); and Keean Johnson (Euphoria, Spooksville) star alongside Oscar nominees Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird, Training Day) and Terrence Howard (Empire, Hustle & Flow, Iron Man), as well as Black Reel winner Wesley Snipes (Dolemite Is My Name, Blade).
THE GOLDFINCH | First on Showmax, from 6 May 2021
The Goldfinch is the film adaptation of Donna Tartt’s bestselling, Pulitzer-winning novel about a 13-year-old boy whose mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Directed by BAFTA winner John Crowley (Brooklyn), the multigenerational cast is led by Golden Globe nominee Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver, The Fault In Our Stars) as Theo Decker and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (The Undoing, Big Little Lies) as Mrs Barbour, supported by Golden Globe winners Sarah Paulson (Ratched, American Crime Story) and Jeffrey Wright (Westworld, The Hunger Games).
Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending film Inception, which won 4 Oscars and holds 13th place on IMDb’s Top Rated Movies, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Elliot Page (as Ellen Page) and Cillian Murphy.
THE MATRIX BOXSET | From 31 May
Ahead of the upcoming fourth instalment’s release, binge the classic sci-fi action trilogy, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions, which made pop culture icons of Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving. Written, directed and produced by the Wachowskis (Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, Bound), The Matrix won four Oscars, and is still #16 on IMDb’s Top Rated Movies of all time.
INTERSTELLAR | From 17 May 2021
Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Michael Caine lead an all-star cast in the Oscar-winning sci-fi movie Interstellar, which won a 2015 Oscar and is #29 on IMDb’s Top Rated Movies.
TROY | From 6 May 2021
Homer’s Iliad comes to vivid life in the Oscar-nominated 2004 historical war epic Troy, directed by Oscar nominee Wolfgang Petersen (1981’s Das Boot), written by David Benioff (Game of Thrones) and starring Brad Pitt, who won a Teen Choice Award for his role as Achilles.
THE REST OF US | From 10 May 2021
MTV Movie Award-winner Heather Graham stars in the 2019 drama The Rest of Us, which sees two mother-daughter duos sharing a house after the man who connects them dies. The film has a 91% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
THE WEDDING SINGER | From 10 May 2021
The classic romcom The Wedding Singer was a1999 Kids’ Choice winner and won Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.
WEDDING CRASHERS | From 10 May 2021
Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn lead an all-star cast in the comedy Wedding Crashers, which won both a People’s Choice Award and a Teen Choice Award.
JACKIE CHAN CLASSICS | From 17 May 2021
Catch the Jackie Chan classics First Strike, the third highest grossing domestic film in Hong Kong film history, and Rumble in the Bronx, which was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight, and made Chan a household name in the West.
GET HARD | From 20 May 2021
In crime comedy Get Hard, Emmy nominee Kevin Hart stars alongside Will Ferrell, who was nominated for 2016 MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance as a millionaire facing jail time in San Quentin.
GET SMART | From 27 May 2021
Steve Carell stars as a bumbling spy alongside Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin in the 2008 action comedy Get Smart, winner of a Teen Choice Award for Choice Comedy.
Married for fifteen years, the power couple is respected by many for their dedication to their marriage and family life, which they have managed to keep out of the public eye over the years. Until now.
For the first time ever, they are opening up their lives to the audience with This Love, a 13-part docu-reality series that will highlight their timeless love, colourful lives, and legendary history, as well as the lessons they have picked up along the way.
This Love will also follow Nameless and Wahu as they work on their first-ever joint album, a project which they announced at the beginning of April 2021.
“Getting to share our journey as we create our very first album together is exciting to say the least. We look forward to letting the fans in on this creative process, the challenges and joys of working together, and to introducing the team behind the music,” says Nameless and Wahu.
“Furthermore, as we celebrate twenty years in the music industry, we want to share the lessons we’ve learnt even as we continue to play our part as a couple, parents and business partners. Our vision is to synergize and inspire and empower people through marriage, music and mentorship.”
This Love is a production of Documentary and Reality TV, Eugene Mbugua’s production company that is also behind the likes of Sol Family, Stori Yangu and Our Perfect Wedding, all available on Showmax.
Mbugua, who is the show’s executive producer, reveals that he approached Nameless and Wahu with the idea of the show back in 2018. “We had just come from making our first Kenyan celebrity reality TV show, and to us, they seemed like the next obvious choice. They have a rich history, not just in music, but as a couple as well.”
With music careers spanning twenty years, Nameless and Wahu’s star power is undeniable. They have both released hits after hits and won many awards, including MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Female (2008) for Wahu and Best Male and Listener’s Choice (2009) for Nameless. Theirs is a kind of story that Kenyans will fall in love with, and one that Mbugua and his team couldn’t stay away from.
“Both of them have had perhaps the longest staying power of any musician in the country. You cannot tell the story of Kenyan music without telling the story of Nameless and Wahu,” says Mbugua. “They have reinvented themselves year after year, and they have remained rock stars even after becoming parents. They have a ton of stories that Kenya has not heard yet.”
Like all their other productions, This Love will stay true to Mbugua and his team’s style of storytelling – capturing Nameless and Wahu in their most authentic selves rather than creating controversy. “This Love is loaded with great content both on the reality and the documentary side. It’s solid and vibrant enough and we believe it will captivate the audience without having to court controversy.”
The Showmax Original, which kicked off production in November 2020, follows Nairobi Metropol Police detective duo Makena (Sarah Hassan) and Silas (Alfred Munyua) as they investigate crimes in Nairobi. Makena and Silas are aided by their boss Kebo (Maqbul Mohammed), pathologist Clive (Brian Ogola), and prosecutor Sokoro (Paul Ogola).
“If there’s one thing I’ve enjoyed in my latest project, it’s the process,” Paul Ogola wrote on Instagram while paying tribute to his character Sokoro.
Ogola also addressed fans who have labelled Sokoro as the most hated character on the show. Sokoro came under fire especially with episode 2 “Primal”, where he sent a teenage girl (Foi Wambui) to prison for murder, a crime that many felt was justified.
“Sokoro had a lot of truths to speak that would make others hate or applaud him. What matters to him is that he means what he says as the prosecutor because it’s the right thing to do legally. He has to believe in it for others to believe him or he risks looking like a fraud,” Ogola wrote.
The first series of its kind in Kenya, the police procedural and legal drama has been praised by fans for addressing issues that are prevalent in Kenyan society.
With every episode, Crime and Justice has confronted difficult topical issues such as terrorism and radicalisation, femicide and sexual assault, while also exposing the limits of the justice system in Kenya – sometimes even the most diligent and arduous detectives, like Hassan’s Makena, can’t seem to make a breakthrough.
When it comes to viewership, Crime and Justice has been the most popular show among Showmax subscribers in Kenya since the first episode aired in February, remaining in the top spot in consecutive weeks as new episodes were released each Monday.
Reunions, old scores and a vigilante serial killer on the loose in the finale
In the eighth and final episode of Season 1, titled “Retribution”, Silas and Makena are on the trail of a mysterious serial killer (Ahmed Musa) who metes out his own form of justice where it has failed. This episode sees lead Hassan reunite with her Tahidi High co-star Abel Mutua, who plays David, a grieving widower who becomes a person of interest in Makena’s and Silas’s new case.
Melvin Alusa, who was introduced in episode 5 “Battered” as Peter, the wife-battering detective who gets away with murder, also makes a comeback to assist in the case, despite tensions with Makena. At the same time, Silas must deal with past mistakes that come back to haunt him.
This episode is again helmed by Supa Modo director Likarion Wainaina, and also features East FM’s Vikash Pattni (Varshita), Abel Amunga (Selina), Peter Kawa (Lusala), Gerald Langiri (Fundi-Mentals) and Robert Agengo (40 Sticks).
The Nevers, hailed by The Los Angeles Times as “HBO’s next great fantasy series,” is now streaming on Showmax, with two episodes available to watch now and a new episode coming every Monday.
Billed as “The Magicians meets Bridgerton” by Refinery29, The Nevers drew over 1.4 million viewers to its premiere, the best-ever debut for an original series on HBO Max.
The Nevers kicks off in August 1896, with Victorian London rocked by a supernatural event that gives certain people – mostly women – abnormal abilities, from the wondrous to the disturbing. It falls to mysterious, quick-fisted widow Amalia True (Olivier Award winner Laura Donnelly from Outlander) and brilliant young inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly from Vikings) to protect and shelter this gifted new underclass, known as the Touched, behind the iron gates of Saint Romaulda’s Orphanage, while fighting the forces of… well, pretty much all the forces.
Monte-Carlo Golden Nymph nominees Olivia Williams (An Education, The Ghost Writer) and Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark, The White Queen) play orphanage co-founder Lavinia Bidlow and songbird Mary Brighton respectively, with Screen Actors Guild nominee Pip Torrens (The Crown) as the formidable Lord Massen and Teen Choice nominee Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Into The Badlands) as the crafty Declan ‘Beggar King’ Orrun.
The Nevers’ ensemble cast also includes three-time Emmy nominee Denis O’Hare (American Gods, True Blood); BAFTA nominee James Norton (Grantchester, Happy Valley); BAFTA Cymru winner Tom Riley (Da Vinci’s Demons); BAFTA Scotland nominee Kiran Sawar (Black Mirror, The Capture); Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds, Doctor Sleep); and Elizabeth Berrington (Sanditon, Good Omens, In Bruges).
The Nevers drew controversy late last year when Oscar-nominated series creator Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) – who directed the first three of Part 1’s six episodes – exited the show amid allegations of abusive behaviour and professional misconduct going as far back as Buffy. Philippa Goslett, who co-wrote How To Talk To Girls At Parties, has taken over as showrunner, and, with five year contracts for the likes of Williams, The Nevers remains a long-term project for HBO, whose fantasy and science fiction track record includes Game of Thrones, Watchmen, Westworld and True Blood.
After all, they have a lot to work with. “This is a show whose setups and payoffs and complexities are almost endless,” says Emmy-nominated executive producer Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica). “The Victorian era was this incredibly important time where everything was changing. The car had come along, women’s lives were changing, and communication was starting to be instantaneous.”
“This show has so much to say on the idea of compassion and how we connect to each other as human beings,” says Donnelly, whose character Amalia experiences a ‘rippling’ that gives her glimpses into the future. “The people who don’t hold the power are having to fight for equality, and it just seems to be so in context of the world that we’re in right now.”
While the shadow over Whedon has dampened some of the reviews, Variety calls The Nevers “an engaging page-turner of a show;” TV Guide “a clever, action-packed thrill ride;” and The Los Angeles Times “a joy to watch and a thrill to follow.”
The first season of The Nevers is being released in two parts, the first of which is six episodes. With filming still constrained by the ongoing pandemic, the release date for Part 2 of the first season is yet to be announced.
In a perfect world where justice prevails, perhaps Silas would be the kind of detective that the viewers expect him to be every week a new case is pursued in the Showmax Original Crime and Justice. Perhaps he’d be the best crime-solving partner Makena could ask for and not the unhurried, by-the-book detective who, most of the time, lets her carry the weight of the justice system. But the world isn’t perfect, and the justice system is flawed, especially in the real world where Crime and Justice draws so much from.
At some instances, Silas might come off as impeding justice but according to Alfred Munyua, who plays him, he’s simply a seasoned detective who has been around for years and has since resigned himself to the fact that he cannot change the system.
“Silas is not really corrupt; he just realised along the way that he can’t reinvent the wheel. And so, gradually, and without him maybe noticing, the passion he had went down over the years.”
Having been in the industry for over a decade, Munyua had been waiting for a role like Silas for years, and the complexity of his character makes it even worth the wait. “It feels right in so many ways,” he says. “I have experienced both ends of the pendulum, and I can tell you this is one of the best projects that I’ve been engaged in… but it could have come a bit earlier.”
The Showmax Original series, which airs weekly, follows Munyua and Sarah Hassan as Nairobi Metropol Police lead detectives Silas and Makena, who investigate one ripped-from-the-headlines case per episode.
A police procedural and legal drama, viewers have compared Crime and Justice to TV shows like CSI and Law & Order. Some have even tried to identify Makena’s and Silas’ American equivalents. For Munyua, a fan of such detective shows himself, he didn’t really need to draw comparisons or study his favourite detective characters to prepare for his role as Silas.
“You can’t really put a finger on Silas as compared to CSI or anything because it’s a Kenyan story,” he says.
The research he had to do to get into character was mainly from the cops he sees around. “I have friends who are detectives. I just had to draw a few of their nuances and how they carry themselves, then apply it to Silas as a character. I had to look at the dialogue, the relations between Silas and his bosses and also with his partner, for me to find who he uniquely is.”
Of course, there are parts of him that were easier to inject into Silas, especially in those moments that Crime and Justice tackles serious, topical issues such as domestic violence and femicide.
While Munyua says that Silas constantly checks his emotions, not to give away a lot, he reveals that the character is not as indifferent as he may seem. “He (Silas) feels the pain of the victims, which I totally relate to because I’m into women’s rights and equality.”
Silas is also a man with a wandering eye for beautiful women, something Munyua laughs about. “He’s charming, and he likes the ladies, which I also do,” he jokes.
Catch Crime and Justice episode 1-6 on Showmax. New episodes air every Monday. Check out a video of the full interview below:
You know how we have just come from the long Pasaka Weekend? Well, I was looking forward to it for something else; a guilty pleasure if you will. I was looking forward to the latest episode of my favourite show, Crime and Justice.
And boy does it deliver. It actually also got me thinking about how Kenyans rant and rave about shows such as “24” and “Blacklist” yet do not give our own homegrown talents the same opportunity to blow our minds because trust me when I tell you that everything about this show is stellar!
We have Sarah Hassan, John Sibi-Okumu, Alfred Munyua and the rest of the cast that are immensely talented. the acting is not overdone nor is it plastic. You even get excited with every twist and turn of the episode as you live through the experiences of our favourite detectives.
Detectives Silas and Makena
And seeing Kenyan locations that you can relate to adds to the excitement because everything feels that much more immersive and authentic. But back to the most recent episode called “Homegrown” and as the name suggests, it is a rather creative take on terrorism that might have found rich soil to take root in at our universities.
The episode does not shy away from bluntly portraying Kenya’s procedural police work and the fact that the two detectives have made peace with the fact that they have to do everything within their power to keep their city safe.
What’s more is that Showmax allows you to get to watch this great show and a whole host of others for just three hundred and eighty shillings. That’s right, 380. Check it out here.
Few conversations are ever as insightful as conversations with people who have mastered their craft and conquered their world. Pascal Tokodi is one such individual and I got the pleasure of sitting down with him and talking alittle about this and alittle about that.
Pascal Tokodi became the talk of the town when afew weeks back, while the country was busy minding its own business a video surfaced on social media that showed a chance encounter between him and President Uhuru Kenyatta.
When this happened, in the few seconds that the encounter lasted for, Pascal asked Uhuru Kenyatta to watch his show, Selina, on Showmax. This was a very brave thing to do but it was also a very divisive statement it would later seem.
You see, a lot of Kenyans were hoping he would raise some issues affecting their lives and chief of these was the lockdown curfew. And what do I mean by this? Alot of guys wanted him to turn into an activist.
Instead, Pascal Tokodi did the smart thing and banked on himself. He excitedly asked the president to watch Selina. And as a result, he says he has experienced a surge of interest in his show from quarters as far out as Kenyans in the diaspora.
I recently got to sit down with him for a chat and we had alot of things to discuss. Chief of which to me was to find out what he thought about the backlash received and how the gambit paid out for him. We discussed other topics including his advice to aspiring actors and even how to discern between good advice and great advice.
Ozy: Afew weeks back, you chanced upon President Uhuru and you decided to promote your show and your craft
Pascal Tokodi (PT): Yeah
Ozy: Did you expect the varied reaction guys had? Some supporting you and others against it?
PT: Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but at that moment, I couldn’t have asked him a lot so I said what I had to say and I took off.
Ozy: How did that unexpected promotion pay off?
PT: I really don’t know the back-end analytics of the full nini but what I saw from social media was guys who did not used to watch Selina took an interest in watching it. I was even getting queries from guys like in Florida asking how they can get to watch the show. It was great seeing guys who hadn’t watched Selina before this take an active interest. For me I did my part in pushing the show.
Ozy: So that means you got a new audience right?
PT: Exactly!
And if you are also keen on finding out why the show has managed to maintain all the curious people who went to watch it after all the furore, well you can catch it on Showmax aswell as a whole series of awesome Kenyan shows that are done to international standards and I guarantee will keep you glued to your screen for just 380 bob. You read that right, three hundred and eighty bob is all it takes.
Soon enough, the conversation veered off into discussing the fact a lot of Kenyans are now willing to bank on their talents and dreams. Here we spoke about the fact that people only see him now that he has made a name for himself but they do not know the struggle he had to endure.
The focus for us was averted to discussing mentors and the advice you receive when it comes to navigating your career.
Ozy: By the time we get to know about celebrities, artists actors and comedians, they are harvesting the fruits of their labour. What advice would you give young talent when it comes to the whole journey, especially those trying their hand at acting?
PT: I would tell them not to be ignorant. How can I put it? Look to those who came before you and learn from their experience. I know this industry and there are a lot of unseen pitfalls and they are steep. I would say, learn from our experiences. Look at what they did wrong and what they did right and create a path from that. You shouldn’t fall into the traps that caught up the ones who came before you.
I feel like a lot of our legends who came before me did us a disservice by making the industry as a whole look bad. And then there are the likes of Nameless and Wahu who have shown that there can be balance without drama. They are raising their family and are still relevant without unnecessary scandals. They are great role models.
The conversation has served up two great gems: the first being that fortune favours the brave and the second being that mentors and having role models is an important aspect of success. Afterall, forewarned is forearmed.
When you think of crime shows, we often think of American shows. Rarely if ever do we think of Kenyan shows. Infact, if you were, you would be forgiven for probably only think of the golden age show, Tahamaki.
But Kenyans have come a long way in the production of their TV shows and Crime & Justice is proof of this fact. And to make the show a hit, it only made sense for the team that envisioned it to seek out and work with some of the most talented Kenyan actors of our generation. The show which stars Sarah Hassan and Alfred Munyua is definitely something to get excited about.
Crime and Justice is premised around a pair of fictitious police detectives called Silas and Makena who are trying to keep the streets of Nairobi safe and the stuff they have to deal with. And trust me when I say Sarah Hassan and Alfred Munyua deliver with some of the best acting not only of their careers but that I have ever seen.
The beauty of the show is that it has successfully married talented and inspired acting with a great script and plot that sees it move beyond being a shoot-em-up style of police show and focuses on the procedures they have to employ to including trusting their gut feelings and following the thread of evidence to build cases. You get to see the Kenyan police force and its detectives as human beings employing their wit and intelligence in every aspect of their job. That means we get to delve into evidence collection and forensic processes, arrest and interrogation as well as them testifying in court to try and seal a conviction.
The cases they have taken up so far are also very interesting and varied and include love gone sour in “The Mistress” which is a rather unique approach for a Kenyan crime show. It artfully blends the drama of love turned sour with crime in such a believable manner to give you a brilliant introduction to Crime and Justice.
And the show is proudly brought to you by Showmax which has had a strong show of support for Kenyan content that is of international standards. And you can catch Crime &Justice thanks to a fantastic offer they have. An offer tailor-made for Kenyans and thus the cost isn’t prohibitive. For only KSH 380 per month, you get an all-you-can-eat buffet style access to the entire library of movies and shows that they have.
In February, I was introduced to a term I had no idea existed: “Love Languages”. Apparently, this is how certain people express their affection and at the same time how we ourselves wish to have the emotion expressed to us.
I was chilling with a friend of mine, let us call her Rachel, who was upset that I am very guarded about my emotions. According to Rachel, I need to be a lot more open in how I show my emotions for her.
And you can bet that this conversation came a week before Valentine’s day. I was very apprehensive when she told me this given the timing. I was expecting her to try to fleece me of the little money I have – we are both students in uni.
I was not too keen on what she had to say but curiosity got the better of me and I found myself prodding her to continue with her line of thought. Apparently, there are 5 or so many love languages: words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, quality time and physical touch. My mind’s cogwheels had already begun turning as I thought up ways to rebuff the gifts giving nonsense.
But Rachel is one of those girls who is a rare find; rather than ask for money or ask me to take her out, she is more interested in spending time together. She likes hiking and is quite shy. I think she’s an introvert. The more I think about it now, her love language is pretty clear for me to see but then again, hindsight…
Rachel told me she’s not necessarily keen on Valentine’s Day. If anything, she would prefer for us to just chill and catch her favourite series. I was pleasantly surprised. So what does she want did I do?
Well, I bought some wine. That is it, the peak of what I did. And yet this is one of the most wholesome Valentine’s Days I have ever experienced. I visited her hostel and we chilled and actually watched her favourite series. To my surprise, I wasn’t subjected to watching a chick-flick. She’s not the girlie type. We watched Raised by Wolves on Showmax.
Big man like me was chilling on the small sofa, cuddled and loved up. And she had set everything up. She had dinner done (yes, I did the dishes) and Showmax was on deck. Turns out she is a great listener. I had been raving to her about an awesome offer I was writing about and she decided to check it out. I mean, I was talking about how Showmax, had an awesome KSH 380 per month offer that was essentially an all-you-can-eat buffet style access to the entire library of movies and shows that they have. As if that weren’t enough, Showmaxhas a “pay for one month and get two more months extra” offer running. It’s the 3-in-1 offer.
Showmax has banked on local talent in form of the show Monica
Recently at my local, we were seated watching a rather interesting game with a friend of mine… His team, Liverpool was being drubbed and he was in a morose mood. Given that we were seated at the bar, the bartender, Kioko was taking part in the banter. The fact that he and I are both Manchester United fans made things that much more interesting.
As we were chuckling among ourselves, my friend disappeared into the world of his mobile phone. Kioko decided to ask him whether he was married or not which seemed to me to be a tangential question. Anyway, my pal said he isn’t and asked why he’d been asked that question. Kioko revealed that from his experience, whenever football matches go awry for fans, their wives usually endure long nights of sulking.
We laughed at this. We had never given it any thought yet it is actually true. You can imagine a guy leaving the house in good spirits only for him to return much later with dark vibes.
Kioko told us that in the days before quarantine, he would often see a lot of his patrons leave for home only to come back later because they had stumbled into an argument with their wives who kept insisting on having conversations when the guy just wanted to stew in the defeat of his team.
That conversation then went on yet another tangent as he began to regal us with stories of some of the pettiest fights he has ever witnessed between spouses. A lot can be said about liquid courage loosening lips.
One time, he witnessed a couple have a go at it because of a clash of their favourite TV shows. Mans wanted to watch his team play in a European competition. But his wife had been on her leave and she was bingeing on her favourite show. For some reason, they became territorial over the remote. After a burst up, the man left in a huff and went to watch the game at the club.
For some reason, his wife followed him. She didn’t believe that he was just coming to watch the game on his own. When she entered the clubhouse (my local is part of the property in the estate my parents live in), she found him seated all on his own, watching the game in the company of the bartender. She was shocked and hurt. To her, it felt like he just didn’t want to spend time with her in the house. But she was equally as shocked to realise he was actually only really interested in catching the game.
This was the simplest dome to deal with. Other situations are the type to raise the hair on the nape of the neck. Like this one time (okay, so it happens a lot) Kioko had to try and help couples that have been caught out with their clandes. On one occasion, the culprit was a married lady who was having a party with her husband’s friend. They had assumed the coast was clear as hubby dearest was out of town on a business trip!
By far, Kioko’s preference is dealing with remote control issues. Wouldn’t you prefer that too? I mean, Showmaxhas given you ready-made solutions that aren’t punishing on your wallet.
Showmax has banked on local talent in form of the show Monica
You don’t have to give up your games on match day and you can immerse yourself in the entire experience because Showmax actually shows all the games you’d want to catch.
Football: English Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, FA Cup, Premier Soccer League and more
Athletics: Diamond League, World Challenge League and more
Running: Berlin, Boston, London, NYC, Soweto Marathons and more
Boxing: Selected IBF, WBA, WBO, WBC and African boxing events
Other: Swimming, extreme sports, eSports, basketball, triathlon, horse-racing, netball, hockey, and much more
This list is subject to change based on rights limitations from sporting bodies and events availability may vary from country to country. And Showmax is constantly adding new, exciting events to their catalogue and will keep you updated.
And while you’re watching your ball, the missus can catch Monica on Showmax, which has an offer tailor-made for our Kenyan reality.
How? Well, you can watch on multiple different devices. For only KSH 380 per month, you get an all-you-can-eat buffet style access to the entire library of movies and shows that they have. As if that weren’t enough, Showmaxhas a “pay for one month and get two more months extra” offer running.
I’m sure you’re curious how the other issue was handled right? Well, I had to go home due to the quarantine curfew… I’ll find out the next time I’m at the local and I’ll let you in on that muchene.
Pascal Tokodi is currently trending because he met with President Uhuru Kenyatta and rather than ask him for money or bellyache about politics, he asked the president to watch his show. That got me thinking, what would I have done if I were in the same shoes?
It is actually rather inspiring that he believes in himself as much especially in a country like Kenya where performing arts and other talent-based careers are looked down upon.
I am reminded of my mother and father who would often tell me that regardless of how well I played rugby, there was no career in it for me. I get what they were trying to do. I was being told of the harsh reality of life in Kenya, a reality that meant the best chances for me to become a successful and contributing member of society was if I focused on my academic pursuits.
Kenya for a long time was not the type of country that had a market that supported local talent. That doesn’t mean that there was no market for entertainment but that for a long time locally produced music, locally produced shows and homegrown sports talent was not rated as highly as those that were imported. That is why while we did not celebrate local thespians, we would import South African shows and Nigerian movies.
There’s nothing wrong with that. And I can say so with confidence because these days, the opposite is true. There is a hunger for homegrown talent. These days it is no longer cool to show disdain for Kenyan artists or to talk down at Kenyan TV shows. And I am learning that I should always bet on my talents. I should always stake the bank on God-given gifts.
I mean, we have shows like Monica that are proof enough of the fact. It is a locally shot and produced show. The cast is made up of some of the most talented young actors Kenya has ever produced. Actors who cut their teeth from way back when local shows were just starting to get love and to this day and age when they are celebrated.
The show Monica stars Fidel Maithya, Brenda Wairimu, Ephy Saint and a whole host of other Kenyan talented stars tells the story of a dame wa mtaa trying to get out of that situation and live a better life. Basically, a story we can relate to about maisha ya hii Kanairo. It takes at how she interacts with upper-middle-class characters who like so many still do to this day, look down on her as nothing more than a social climber.
Monica is a great local show
What is not to love? Mastory zetu, told by us. If that doesn’t show you that we would all do well to actually bank on our talents, I don’t know what will. And you can catch Monica on Showmax, which has an offer tailor-made for our Kenyan reality. For only KSH 380 per month, you get an all-you-can-eat buffet style access to the entire library of movies and shows that they have. As if that weren’t enough, Showmax has a “pay for one month and get two more months extra” offer running.
Showmax has banked on local talent in form of the show Monica
It’s funny how sometimes, you can just be chilling, minding your own business when all of a sudden, a conversation with a complete stranger gives you quite some inspiration. I had one of those situations this past weekend.
I was at the kinyozi getting my hair done. I happen to be going bald at the tender age of my small twenties. So getting a haircut that suits the situation is quite a tricky affair. I only ever go to the same barber, Kariz, who knows the contours of my head rather intimately.
Anyway, as usual, I had waited patiently in line for him to finish up the clients he had had of me before I sat down in his chair and we got started. Our conversation ranged from the usual, football. My mentor’s team, Liverpool, seems to have completely capitulated. But from there we went on to discuss something I would never have thought he would have ever been interested in: Black History Month.
For those of you not in the know, this is what February, the shortest month of the year is about in American culture; celebrating black excellence and achievements. Actually, we started on the topic because he asked me about a certain show that he seemed genuinely interested to catch: Fargo.
I told him I don’t own a television set so I rarely watch TV shows. But he was excited for me to catch the latest season because it would be starring Chris Rock. According to Kariz, he only ever watches shows that have strong black characters and this one fits the billing.
From what he told me, each season tells a different story. This new instalment of Fargo has Chris Rock’s character, Loy Cannon is the leader of a black American gang. Basically, this gang is made up of guys running away from America’s then racist south and the Jim Crow laws. Once they have fled the racist law code states, they try to set up shop in another gang’s turf, Kansas City Mafia. From here, we are treated to watching Chris Rock and his guys try to outwit and outmanoeuvre the other gang.
I was shocked how excited Kariz seemed from all this. He was forming at the mouth explaining to me that he was tired of watching movies in which the black gangstas were all meatheads and bullet sponges. Movies that actually show a different aspect of blacks, a more cerebral side nearly made him piss his pants in excitement.
I had to keep reminding him to cut my hair and define the cut just right because he kept trying to explain the point at which he has reached on the show. As I said earlier, I do not have a telly but he was quick to tell me he had the hook up: he could help me get to watch the show without me having to shell out several tens of thousands for a new telly.
That was the inspirational part of my haircut. He put me up on game by introducing me to Showmax’s 3-for-1 offer. So apparently, Showmax, has an online movie and series library that hosts over 20,000 movies, series and documentaries. And you get all-you-can-eat buffet style access to the entire library for only KSH 380 per month. And to make that offer worth my time, Showmaxhas a “pay for one month and get two more months extra” offer running.
Trust that by the time I had gotten my hair done, I knew my new mission: I’m catching up to where Kariz is at on Fargo season 4 and we are going to compare notes.
There is nothing as exciting as a derby and when Liverpool and Everton meet, fireworks fly! And what makes this meeting even more interesting is the fact that Liverpool has been having a dreadful run in the English Premier League.
The once impregnable fortress of Anfield is a source of confidence for their opponents seeing as how they have been on a streak of loses and draws. The two teams which are virtual neighbours are also close to each other on the standings table but Everton has two games in hand.
This is an exciting one because it is an opportunity for Liverpool to turn the tide of its recent fortunes but Everton will be looking to twist the knife even deeper into the hearts of Liverpool fans as they fight to try and get into the top four for a Champions League berth.
Catch all the action on Showmax which is bringing you all the EPL action right to the convenience of your home and various devices. Even if you are on the go, you can still catch your favourite show on a wide range of devices like your smartphone or tablet. And it’s not just the English Premier League that you can catch as they boast a bouquet of sporting action:
• Football: English Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, Premier Soccer League and more • Athletics: Diamond League, World Challenge League and more • Running: Berlin, Boston, London, NYC, Soweto Marathons and more • Boxing: Selected IBF, WBA, WBO, WBC and African Boxing events • Other: Swimming, Extreme Sports, eSports, Basketball, Triathlon, Horse Racing, EFC, Netball, Hockey, and much more
This list is subject to change based on rights limitations from sporting bodies and events availability may vary from country to country. And Showmax is constantly adding new, exciting events to their catalogue and will keep you updated.
This offer actually works wonders given we still are under curfew and the match is airing at 8:30 PM meaning it will run into well after 10 PM so rather than risk getting caught out on the wrong side of the law, you can catch this game from your digs.
Pay for one month of Showmax, get two months extra Showmax recently introduced a new 3-for-1 deal. When subscribers pay for one month of Showmax access, they’ll receive an additional two months of access for no cost. That’s three months of Showmax for the price of one.
And by the way, the 3-for-1 deal applies to all Showmax subscription plans and runs until 31 March 2021. Showmax subscriptions start from KSh 380 per month. For more information visit www.showmax.com.
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