Movie Preview: Supergirl

On June 29, 2026August 9, 2026 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Movies

My winter break is just around the corner, as well as my 300th blog post, which is a sad, yet funny reminder that I exist. However, before these two events can be achieved, we have a new Movie Preview/Review to sort out. Yes, I am once again entering the positive and uplifting world of movie reviewing on social media, because I’m too old and stupid to do anything else.

I realise the world is busy right now, with algae blooms, Boston recovering from the Scottish invasion, people researching where Curaçao and Cabo Verde are located, along with Andy Burnham, Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappé taking over the planet. However, amidst all that craziness, I feel that in terms of preventing a total worldwide disaster, my Movie Preview/Review is here to save the day, just like Kara Zor-El.¹

That seamless transition would make Ta-Nehisi Coates break down in awe, because the first half of the Preview/Review is the Preview, namely Supergirl. When I say Supergirl, I’m not discussing 1984’s movie, Supergirl, or Supergirl, the television series from CBS. No, what I’m discussing is the second cinematic entry in the DC Universe (DCU) Chapter One: Gods and Monsters Phase 1.

The first entry was last winter (Summer for my Northern Hemisphere friends), with Superman, for which I created a preview and review. Sadly, I’m still waiting for my Pulitzer Prize and an All Blacks call-up. Dreams are free, my friends, dreams are free.

As any keen and avid follower of New Zealand’s 5th least popular website will tell you, I always purchase an advanced movie ticket because that’s what hardcore fans do. Boo ya! I have my ticket for Tuesday 30th at 7.15 pm, and I have stopped name-dropping my blog when I purchase a ticket, because no one cares or has heard of this poorly received blog. Anyway, as you can imagine, my ticket is where it always is: centre of the back row.

Supergirl has been flying around in our minds and hearts since her debut in Action Comics #252 in 1959, and arguably, she has been an underrated and underused character in the world of DC. However, since Kara is a fictional character, and like so many others, her origin and backstory have been tweaked and retconned. This, of course, brings us to the US$170 million film that lies before us, written by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie.

To the best of my understanding, the cast includes Kara Zor-El / Supergirl (Milly Alcock), Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), Zor-El (David Krumholtz), Alura In-Ze (Emily Beecham), and Lobo (Jason Momoa), as well as David Corenswet returning as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman. Krypto will also be appearing via CGI, and as longtime fans will remember, I have a connection with Krypto.

Before I start my rant, though I feel I may have already started, I find it interesting that the number of people who proudly promote and cheer for a project, whether it’s a television series, novel, video game, comic book, or movie, to fail has been increasing. Someone a lot smarter than me would be able to dissect this trend, as haters have been crawling out of the woodwork for Supergirl long before the movie was released.

Then again, what do I know? I’m just a sucker with no self-esteem. And with those glorious lyrics, let’s push on and see what the Maid of Steel may have in store for us!

Am I looking forward to watching Supergirl?

I think I’m going to have to change this question, because it’s always the same answer; of course, I am. Watching comic book movies at the cinema, especially the developing DCU unfold, is exciting for me, just as it is when viewing the newest Marvel entry. I am a geek after all, but there’s more to it.

I’ve always liked Supergirl, and her reintroduction in 2004 was awesome, especially having Michael Turner on the art.

To the best of my limited knowledge, I believe that Supergirl is based on the mini-series, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1-8, which was written by Tom King and illustrated by Bilquis Evely. I remember when the mini-series came out, I was very tempted to buy it, because of Evely’s work on The Dreaming, but ultimately I didn’t. Mainly because, even though I would love to read a lot more comic books, I simply can’t afford them.

When I discovered that the film was going to be based on the limited series, I did whatever self-respecting geek would do: curse that I didn’t buy it the first time, and then tried to read it. Buying the single issues proved to be far too expensive, so I settled on the DC Compact Comics version. I liked the new format, which surprised me.

People are going to complain that the movie plot is similar to True Grit, and that’s true to an extent, but that’s the crux of the story; Ruthye enlists Kara’s help to track down Krem of the Yellow Hills, who murdered her father. It’s an old trope, but it still works.

I’m glad that I read it, because, once again, I was surprised. I honestly enjoyed it, because as I was reading it, I started to understand why it’s an acclaimed title. Anyway, the point is that I’ve read it, so I know the characters and why Kara is portrayed as she is. Also, Alcock’s Supergirl looks like a blast, so that’s positive.

I’m really excited about the DC Universe! In Superman, which featured a cameo from Kara at the end. This explained why Krypto was at the Fortress of Solitude, as Krypto actually belongs to Kara, and not Clark, in this universe. Unlike some others, I’m perfectly fine with this change.

What is the movie about?

According to DC.com, the premise is this:

When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice.

What can we expect?

The running time is 108 minutes, which is sort of short, so your bladder should survive the ordeal, compared to Superman’s 130 minutes.

As previously mentioned, the movie is based on the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow mini-series, so regardless of how faithful it is to the source material, we can safely assume the majority of the plot will be off Earth. I discussed this in my last preview with Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, about the joy of travelling to new planets with crazy environments and even crazier aliens. Visually, I have high expectations.

I believe the film will also follow the path that King and Evely laid out, with Kara dealing with survivor’s guilt, and the trauma that goes with watching your entire world die before your eyes, twice. This is the major difference between Kara and her cousin: according to the DCU, Clark landed on Earth as a baby. He has no real memories of Krypton, as he was raised as an infant on Earth.

Kara is different since she survived the initial crisis and lived in Argo City, a section of Krypton that survived. I’m not sure of the official DC decree on how old Kara was when she left Argo City, but she was a teenager. This obviously meant she grew up with her parents and had many years with them.

Yes, once again, Kara is a fictional character, but the level of pain, regret, sadness, and trauma would be real for many real people who have had their worlds ripped apart by war, disease, violence, or a natural disaster, and can relate to her plight. It’s an interesting aspect to create for a character, especially for someone who wears a large S on their chest.

It’s interesting to note that this idea has been transferred to Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval’s Absolute Superman, where Kal-El grew up on Krypton with his parents, before escaping the planet’s destruction when he was 11-12 years old. This trauma has been a subplot throughout the series.

And now we’re going back to Kara. I’m sure there will be darker themes of the emotional and mental impacts of the trauma, but that’s the point. Kara will need to overcome something to win or save the day.

These breadcrumbs have led us to Krypto, where, in the trailers, we see Kara meeting Krypto as a puppy on Krypton or Argo City. Whether he was a stray or not, I can’t answer that. It does look like Krypto will be some sort of emotional anchor for Kara, linking her to her Kryptonian heritage. In addition to this, I saw in a trailer, Clark meeting Kara, obviously when she first arrived on Earth. It will be nice to see their interactions, especially because of the language and cultural barriers.

Hopefully, it might be fun to see a Kryptonian cutting loose (under a yellow or blue star, of course) and causing havoc out in the universe, on a micro-level. There is also the issue of the film allowing Kara to step out from her cousin’s large shadow, similar to Nightwing, and being able to be recognised as a hero on her own.

I’m curious to see the friendship develop between Kara and Ruthye, or will the writer, Ana Nogueira go off-road? The same can be said for Krem of the Yellow Hills, though I don’t know if the audience will accept him or not. And speaking of acceptance, we need to talk about the Main Man.

Having Jason Momoa return to DC, but also portray everybody’s favourite violence-loving, cigar-smoking, Czarnian bounty hunter, Lobo, is fantastic. I’ve always put Lobo and Guy Gardner in the same group because they excel at upsetting people, but underneath the layers of whatever they like to display, they still have a moral code of sorts.

I’m looking forward to seeing Lobo’s infamous regenerative and fighting abilities, as well as his bombastic statements, his chain, the Spacehog, and, if we are lucky, some space dolphins.

Do I have concerns?

I tend to stick with the non-award-winning formula for these previews, so it would be remiss of me to say that I have had no concerns about the film, because I always do. No true geek wouldn’t.

How faithful will the film be to the source material, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow?
Will Lobo’s appearance feel forced?
How old is Kara?
Will Kara’s life on Krypton/Argo City be shown chronologically or as a flashback?
How much screen time will Lobo receive, and will he steal some of the spotlight from Kara?
Will everybody’s interaction with Krypto seem real, or will it look uneven?
Apart from Superman, will there be any other cameos?
Will Krypto get a bad-arse scene?
Is Supergirl known throughout the galaxy?
What is Supergirl’s status on Earth? Is she well-known?
Will Krem of the Yellow Hills be a believable antagonist?
Kara seems to suffer from apathy, but will this continue by the end of the movie?
Will audiences see Kara as a hero, standing on her own, or will she still be in her cousin’s shadow?
Will there be a Brainiac reference somewhere?

As usual, there’s probably going to be more things rattling about in my mind after the movie, but I’m done for now. I’m going to wear my Superman t-shirt to the cinema, but since it was -2°C last week, I’ll be wearing a jersey as well.

I want the film to work, but that’s out of my hands, just like New Zealand leaving the World Cup, or Cabo Verde beating Argentina in a knock-out match.

Just a heads up to everybody that next week’s Supergirl review will be my last major blog post before I go on my Mid-winter break. So, yay for that.

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, keep watching the World Cup, and I’ll see you next week for the Supergirl Review. Later gators!

¹When I young, I thought I would able to grow up and marry either Wonder Woman, or Supergirl. Like they were real and I would have a chance with them. HAHAHA!

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1963

On June 22, 2026 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Music, People

I was thinking the other day about creating a new topic for this blog, since it’s difficult to maintain the moniker of being a trend setter. Luckily, I realised that I could always go back to look forward, and what better way to do that than using the way-back machine to travel to 1963.

That’s right, boys and girls, Some Geek Told Me’s: We Didn’t Start the Fire is back again. And just like observing the BFG with a telescope, the end is slowly coming into view. Please look up these previous uncelebrated posts:

We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Beginning

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1948-1949.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1950

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1951

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1952

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1953

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1954

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1955

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1956

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1957

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1958

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1959

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1960

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1961

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1962

Since you’re paying attention and you’re clever—getting at least 10 hours of sleep and eating your vegetables—you know we are going to explore the historical references in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire. With the World Cup playing in the background, let’s dive into it!

Pope Paul

Pope Paul refers to Cardinal Giovanni Montini, who was elected to be the 262nd pope of the Catholic Church on 21st June 1963, and took the name Paul VI. Pope Paul was an Italian who led large reforms of the Catholic Church, which included reorganising the Roman Curia (The organisation that administers the affairs of the Church), opening more interfaith dialogue, imposing a mandatory retirement for bishops aged 75 years, restructuring the system of Holy Orders, introducing a new Mass, and was the first pope to visit six continents.

He died on 6th August 1978, was beatified in 2014, and canonised in 2018. A modern example is very difficult to explain; it’s not like…I’m messing with you, sorry. A modern example is Pope Leo XIV, who became the 267th pope in 2025.

Pope Paul VI. Credit: Unknown photographer

Malcolm X

Born Malcolm Little, and later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X was an American civil rights activist, as well as an important Muslim leader. Being a non-American, Malcolm X was once described to me as Magento to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Professor X; both wanting the same thing, but going about it in different ways.

1963 was a controversial year for Malcolm X, which involved some negative comments about President Kennedy’s assassination, which led to censorship from the Nation of Islam (NOI); widespread media presence; his growing feud with NOI leader Elijah Muhammad; criticising other civil rights leaders, creating speeches, like “Message to the Grassroots” in Detroit or his interview at Berkley.

For a contemporary equivalent of Malcolm X, I’m not sure how to quantify that. Would this be for the United States or worldwide? Does it just cover Black civil rights, or LGBTQIA+ and women as well, or any civil rights? Every country, even New Zealand, has civil rights issues; however, if you look for them, you’ll always find some amazing activists campaigning for them.

Malcolm X, circa 1963. Credit: Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Image

British politician sex

Get ready, because this one is a cracker! British politician sex sounds like a popular university band, but it’s far more interesting and depressing. Basically, this scandal has become known as the Profumo Affair, named after John Profumo. At the time, Profumo was married, as well as being a Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon, and the Secretary of State for War (The title has changed to Defence Secretary) in the British Government, which at the time, was ruled by the Conservative Party, under the helm of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

In 1961, a 46-year-old Profumo met 19-year-old model Christine Keeler at a party and began a brief affair, which lasted for an unknown time. Keeler was later involved with other men, like Yevgeny Ivanov, who was a Soviet naval attaché. A shooting outside the house she was staying at drew the attention of MI5. They arrested the shooter, which drew Keeler into the public spotlight, and MI5 started to investigate her. Stephen Ward was also a player in the scandal, having a connection to Keeler and Ivanov.

Eventually, the affair with Profumo was revealed to Parliament and the public, highlighting the Profumo-Keeler-Ivanov connection. The fallout of this resulted in some trials, as well as Prumo lying to the House of Commons; both Prumo and Macmillan resigned in 1963; the Conservative Party lost the general election in 1964; Keeler was sentenced to nine months for perjury; Ivanov was recalled to Moscow; and Ward committed suicide before his trial could begin.

For modern politician sex scandals, get a world map, blind fold yourself and throw a dart at it. You’ll pretty much be guaranteed to hit a country that could give you an example.

John Profumo and Christine Keeler. Credit: Getty Images/PA

JFK blown away

You don’t need to be Batman or Sherlock Holmes to understand this one. On 22nd November 1963, President John F. Kennedy was travelling in an open-top limousine in Dallas, Texas. Accompanying him was his wife, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, Governor Connally’s wife, Nellie Connally, and the driver, Secret Service agent William Greer.

At 12:30 p.m., President Kennedy was shot on the top of his head and in his neck, along with Governor Connally, who was also wounded. Kennedy was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, but by 1 pm, he was dead. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of Police Officer J. D. Tippit, about an hour later, and then also charged with Kennedy’s murder. Only two days later, Oswald was murdered by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

Like Flat Earth, Kennedy’s assassination has been the first step for many conspiracy theorists into a more unhinged world. Sadly, assassinating world leaders is not a new concept, just ask Julius Caesar. However, some notable modern examples of (ex)world leaders being assassinated include Shinzo Abe (2022), Jovenel Moïse (2021), Idriss Déby Itno (2021), João Bernardo Vieira (2009), Benazir Bhutto (2007), Rafik Hariri (2005), Zoran Đinđić (2003), and Laurent-Désiré Kabila (2001).

Texas Governor John Connally adjusts his tie (foreground) as President and Mrs. Kennedy, in a pink outfit, settled in rear seats, prepared for motorcade into city from airport in Dallas, Nov. 22, 1963. After a few speaking stops, the President was assassinated in the same car. Credit:Bettmann / Getty Images.

What else do I have to say?

‘Nuff said on this one, though we still have 12 more years to cover.

So for 1963, we covered a pope, a civil rights activist, a politician’s sex scandal, and the assassination of a US president. This was a short one, but from here on out, we’ll be skipping years, according to the lyrics, as they stop going from year by year. Sounds confusing, but it will all make sense. Maybe.

And that brings this week’s rant from a middle-aged, white, straight man, living in the South Pacific, to a close. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Also, you should check out the world’s worst social media accounts on Twitter and Mastodon, though I don’t even know why they exist at all; they are so terrible.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, watch more World Cup games, and I’ll see you next week for my Supergirl Movie Preview.

Four more tōtaras have fallen

On June 15, 2026 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People

I have mentioned this before, but today’s blog reflects a sad reality that seems to occur more frequently on this account. This, of course, is part of the human experience. I am also aware that terrible things have happened, are happening, and will continue to happen in the world to many people. Some can be prevented, and some can not, regardless of how we feel as members of humanity.

We can’t save everybody, which is a horrible thing to say. I can’t save the 7-month baby murdered in Palestine, or the 21-year-old killed on the frontline in Ukraine, nor can I save the 84-year-old woman who died alone in her cold, dark, damp house. These things shouldn’t be happening, but they do, and all we can do is to save and help as many as we can, and celebrate the ones we couldn’t.

This brings us to this: I would like to take the time to acknowledge the deaths of Tatjana Wood, Marcia Lucas, Anthony Head, and James Handy.

Tatjana Wood died on 27th February, in New York City, aged 99. She was only three days short of her 100th birthday; though if you ask me, because of all of the leap days she experienced in her life, I’m sure those days could be traded in for three. If you don’t recognise her name, you can be forgiven. Just.

Wood loved the arts, as she worked as a weaver, dressmaker, and also as a comic book colourist. This involved covers and the interior artwork. She won several awards for her skills, as she mainly worked for DC Comics, but also EC Comics at the start of her career. Some of her work included Swamp Thing, Animal Man, House of Secrets, Our Army at War, The Flash, Tarzan, The Brave and the Bold, Green Lantern, Detective Comics, Batman, Action Comics, World’s Finest, Orion, and so many more.

Wood was the first female comic book creator I had ever heard of, and it blew my mind. I was young at the time, and I thought females didn’t like comic books. Men wrote them, and men drew them. It wasn’t that I thought females weren’t allowed to create or read comics, but rather that maybe girls and women were far too intelligent to be interested in the world of comic books. Girls at school didn’t read them, and I didn’t know of any female writers or artists.

My study of Wood’s work and the discovery of more female creators led me to an important conclusion: girls enjoy comics as well. I later realised that there were likely girls at my school who liked comics but felt embarrassed to express it, as the interest was often seen as something exclusive to boys. I’m very grateful Wood shared her love of comics with the world and me.

Tatjana Wood with her Eisner Hall of Fame Award, circa 2023. Photo courtesy of Lee Dillon.

Marcia Lucas was a film editor and producer who died aged 80 years old, on 27th May in California. Some of her famous works include THX 1138, American Graffiti, Taxi Driver, Star Wars: A New Hope, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Lucas won an Academy Award and a Saturn Award for editing in 1978 for Star Wars.

She also helped with many films behind the camera, with their stories, plots, direction, and themes, like Raiders of the Lost Ark and especially Star Wars. It’s astounding to understand how many classic points from the franchise came from her. I can’t ever thank her enough for her contributions to those films.

Actor and singer, Anthony Head, died at his home in England on 1st June, aged 72 years old. Head worked on stage, television and film productions, starting back in 1978, and worked around the world. Some of his most notable roles included Merlin (Uther Pendragon), Little Britain (The Prime Minister), and Ted Lasso (Rupert Mannion).

Though arguably, his most famous role was Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was where I first discovered him. Yes, he’s had many various roles over the years, but he will always be Giles to me, and that’s not a bad thing. Even when he was being a scumbag, as Mannion in Ted Lasso, he was amazing! Thank you, Anthony!

Finally, we have James Handy, who died on 3rd June, aged 81 years, at his home in Los Angeles. Handy was a veteran actor of film and television, having starred in roles since 1977. Handy was one of those actors who you see in a project, and say, “Hey, I’ve seen that guy before!”, but you wouldn’t necessarily know his name.

Some of his most famous roles were in Burglar, K-9, Arachnophobia, The Assassin, Jumanji, Unbreakable, Ash Wednesday, Logan, Top Gun: Maverick, Wiseguy, L.A. Law, Equal Justice, The Young Riders, Quantum Leap, Wings, Melrose Place, The X-Files, Law & Order, Alias, Profiler, and many more. Thank you, James, for entertaining us.

As I said, thank you to these people for making life on Earth just that little bit better. This blog was a lot shorter than usual, but that’s life. Thank you for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Once again, I need to remind everybody that my Supergirl Movie Preview/Review starts in two weeks, along with my mid-Winter annual break, and my 300th blog post, which are also coming soon.

Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, and go watch some FIFA World Cup and Women’s T20 World Cup games. Look after yourself because next week, we’ll be going back to 1963. It’s going to be cool if you define cool as in reading about history.

2026 FIFA World Cup: Fanatical football frenzy

On June 8, 2026 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Sports

World Cup tournaments are outrageous and insane, and there’s always one on the horizon, regardless of the sport. As keen supporters of my idiotic account would know, my love for rugby and the Rugby World Cup is legendary. However, that blog post is for next year, so instead, I’ll go on to discuss another World Cup that I love, the OG: The FIFA World Cup.

Far better journalists and pundits have already written about the largest single-sport tournament, this side of the Asteroid Belt; however, it’s my turn to have a crack at it. This foolish guide to the beautiful game’s ultimate prize is just that: a guide. I’m excited for the tournament, along with UMC1 and UMC2, but as my wife…well, not so much.

So, without further waiting for the paint in the outdoor toilet to dry, let’s get on with the breakdown of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Hook it straight into my veins!

On 11th June 2026, the 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup will start, and it will finish with the final on the 19th July.

Hosts:

This is the first time the World Cup will be co-hosted by three countries: Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico. However, the World Cup has already been co-hosted by two countries before, South Korea and Japan, in 2002. Coincidentally, this is Mexico’s third hosting role, having already done it in 1970 and 1986; with the United States’ second time as host, having done it in 1994; while this is Canada’s first time.

It’s also the first time the format has been expanded to 48 teams and 12 pool groups, up from 32 teams and 8 pool groups in 2022. This means there will be an additional round where some third-placed teams from their pool can also qualify for the next round. I’m very interested to see how that plays out.

Between the three countries, 104 matches will be played, covering 16 cities and venues. I have also discovered that many stadiums will change their names during the tournament, due to various FIFA policies and regulations, so they may have alternative names.

In Canada we have:

Vancouver: BC Place is a multi-sport venue that can seat 54,500 people. It’s also home to the Vancouver Whitecaps. BC Place will host seven matches: five pool stage matches and two knock-out matches.
Toronto: BMO Field is home to Toronto FC and is another multi-sport venue. It can hold 45,000 people and will host five pool stage matches and one knock-out match.

For the United States we have:

Dallas: AT&T Stadium seats 94,000 people and is home to the Dallas Cowboys (NFL), along with other events. It will host nine games, which include five pool stage games, three knock-out games, and a semi-final.
East Rutherford: This is a weird one for me, because MetLife Stadium is in New Jersey, but it’s the home to both the New York Giants and New York Jets. MetLife Stadium can hold 82,500 fans, and will host five pool stage games, two knock-out games, and the final.
Atlanta: Known as the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, it is a multi-sport venue, home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons. This stadium will host five pool stage games, two knock-out games, and a semi-final. The stadium’s capacity is 75,000.
Kansas City: Arrowhead Stadium seats 73,000 spectators and is home to the Kansas City Chiefs (NFL). It will host six matches, covering four pool stage games, a knock-out match and a quarter-final.
Houston: NRG Stadium is home to the Houston Texans (NFL) and has a capacity of 72,000. NRG Stadium will host five pool stage games and two knock-out games.
Santa Clara: Levi’s Stadium can seat 71,000 fans, and is home to the San Francisco 49ers (NFL). It will host five pool stage matches and one knock-out match.
Los Angeles: We will remain in California, as we have SoFi Stadium, which is the dual home to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. It can hold 70,000 people and will host five pool stage games, two knock-out games, and a quarter-final.
Philadelphia: Lincoln Financial Field is the home field of the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) and can seat 69,000 people. Lincoln Financial Field will host five pool stage matches and one knock-out match.
Seattle: Lumen Field can hold 69,000 fans and is home to the Seattle Seahawks (NFL) and Seattle Sounders FC. It will host four pool stage games, one knock-out game, and one quarter-final.
Boston: Gillette Stadium is a multi-sport venue and home to the New England Patriots (NFL) and New England Revolution FC. It’s going to host five pool stage games, one knock-out game, and one quarter-final.
Miami: For the last stadium in the United States, we have Hard Rock Stadium. It is the home field of the Miami Dolphins (NFL) and seats 65,000 spectators. Hard Rock Stadium will host four pool stage matches, one knock-out match, one quarter-final, and the bronze medal match.

For Mexico we have:

Mexico City: Estadio Azteca is a famous football stadium, having hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup Finals, as well as being the venue where Diego Maradona scored two famous goals in the quarter-final against England at the 1986 tournament. Estadio Azteca can seat 83,000 people, and will host the opening pool stage match, along with two more pool stage matches, and two knock-out matches.
Monterrey: Estadio BBVA is home to CF Monterrey and can hold 53,500 fans. Estadio BBVA will also feature three pool stage matches and one knock-out match.
Guadalajara: Estadio Akron is our final venue, and it is CD Guadalajara’s home ground. Estadio Akron can seat 48,000 people, and will also host four pool stage matches.

Teams

Like I said earlier, this is the first time there are 48 teams, across 12 groups. The draw looks like this:

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, Korea Republic (South Korea), and Czechia (Czech Republic).

Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, and Switzerland.

Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, and Scotland.

Group D: United States of America, Paraguay, Australia, and Türkiye.

Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), and Ecuador.

Group F: The Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia.

Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, and New Zealand (YES!!!)

Group H: Spain, Cabo Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay.

Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, and Norway.

Group J: Argentina (defending world champions), Algeria, Austria, and Jordan.

Group K: Portugal, Congo DR, Uzbekistan, and Colombia.

Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama.

Since the first tournament in 1930, I believe about 80 countries have tried to win the World Cup, but only eight have done it:

Brazil: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002.

Germany: 1954, 1974, 1990, and 2014.

Italy: 1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006.

Argentina: 1978, 1986, and 2022.

Uruguay: 1930 and 1950.

France: 1998 and 2018.

England: 1966

Spain: 2010

You may have noticed that the winners have only come from Europe, which is represented by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), and South America, which is represented by CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation). No team from North America, Asia, Africa, or Oceania have won the World Cup. The Women’s FIFA World Cup is another matter entirely.

Sadly, no Antarctic team has ever qualified for the World Cup. Tensions between penguins and seals have stood in their way. If they can overcome their prejudices, humans would never stand a chance.

Sorry, what’s that? Why should I care about the FIFA World Cup?

Easy. I’ve played many sports in my life, team sports and as an individual. Rugby League was the first team sport I ever played, and I still have a soft spot for it. I played Rugby, or Rugby Union to be accurate, for only a few years, but living where I am, it’s the biggest sport I support. However, football is the only team sport I’ve ever excelled at; I played for 25 years. I love football.

Now here’s something I haven’t shared with you before: when my birthday is. Well, it’s in June.

There are a few reasons why I enjoy having a birthday on a cold, damp, and often gloomy day in winter. One reason is that it marks the start of the All Blacks’ season. Additionally, every four years, I get to celebrate my birthday while watching World Cup games. Although there are rest days during the tournament, this year, there are several games scheduled on my birthday, and I’m stoked about it!

I love World Cups because I get to analyse the pools, predict which teams will move on, and guess who they would face next. This also means reading articles and news updates about the squads, and religiously checking draws, results, and table standings; along with previewing the games and deciding which pool games I want to see live, versus watching the highlights of games. This leads us to some key points about the World Cup: television coverage.

Because New Zealand is close to the International Date Line, we are around 12 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, depending on Daylight Saving Time. Being a sports fan in New Zealand means watching live sports outside the country often requires significant commitment, whether that’s staying up late or getting up at stupid o’clock.

Over the years, Football and Rugby World Cups would have been available to watch for free on public television, but the rise of streaming services and pay-for-view TV stations has altered the way we watch sport. For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, I think there are three different ways to watch it in New Zealand. If you can afford it, you can watch the games through Sky TV or TVNZ (Television New Zealand) for a fee.

However, because New Zealand has skin in the game this tournament, the first time since 2010, all of the New Zealand games are free to watch, along with a few random pool games, knock-out games, and one semi-final on TVNZ. The final is always free to air. I would love to watch as many matches as I can, but the prices for viewership are getting worse, so I don’t know. I saw my first World Cup Final when I was nine years old, and I have never missed one since.

But the silver lining is the highlights. Before the rise of the internet, especially YouTube, you needed to watch a special World Cup TV show, with a presenter who would introduce the day’s games and give you the highlights of the day. If there were three games on that day, then you would get three games’ worth of highlights. It would usually screen about 5 pm, depending on the time zone differences. Sometimes, it was about 10 pm, which made my parents very happy that their son was up watching the World Cup on a school night.

YouTube has all but eliminated these highlight shows, at least in New Zealand. I now make it a point to watch the highlights of every single World Cup game on YouTube, even if I don’t know the result of the game. Though to be fair, if I knew a game ended in a 0-0 all draw, I’d skip it sometimes. I’ll played in 0-0 draws, and they are painful.

Being married has also altered my World Cup experiences, which cover rugby and football. Getting ready for the World Cup as a supporter always means I need to prepare my wife. This will be my wife’s fourth FIFA World Cup with me, not counting men’s and women’s rugby, rugby league, and cricket World Cups or the Women’s FIFA World Cup.

Last week, I was talking to her about the first round of matches, and she mentioned that she couldn’t name a single international football player who is currently still playing. After a 15-minute discussion, I discovered she wasn’t lying. How does she get through the day without knowing that?

Anyway, she isn’t her first World Cup with me, so she knows that she will lose her loving and supportive husband for 5-6 weeks, who is replaced with a sports nut, who only wants to discuss facts and games involving the World Cup with her. Her responses to my very important World Cup information involve:

“I didn’t know that.”

“Wow.”

“Cool.”

“Thanks for telling me.”

“Hmmmm.”

My wife also does a lot of nodding, as in she’s pretending that she’s actively listening to me, but in reality, she just wants me to shut up sometimes. She doesn’t care about the World Cup, as she has told me before. In saying that, she does listen to me discuss the World Cup, not out of love for football, but out of love for me. That’s romantic, isn’t it? Talking about sports to your non-sporting spouse is always entertaining.

I’ve got UMC1 and UMC2 pumped for it, so I’ve succeeded as a parent. I’m looking forward to viewing some amazing goals, terrific saves, appalling offside calls, magnificent set-pieces, passionate fans, bone-shaking tackles, resignations of managers, scandals, and, if I’m honest, some own goals.

So that’s it. Will you be watching or following the World Cup? Who are you supporting? Who do you think will win? As always, please let me know. Some reminders for what’s coming up on this popular blog over the next few weeks include the Supergirl Movie Preview/Review, my mid-Winter annual break, and my upcoming 300th blog post, which I only learnt about last week.

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go watch some World Cup games, and I’ll see you next week.

Movie Review: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

On June 1, 2026 By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Movies

The challenge I laid down for myself last week was indeed achieved by me. What a result! Go me! And what challenge, dear reader, am I talking about? Yes, I braved the early wintery conditions and went to the cinema to see the latest Disney Star Wars entry, The Mandalorian and Grogu.

As always with this constant, ridiculous pop culture project, this blog post contains the second half. The movie preview can be found here.

If this is your first time reading one of my reviews, welcome, and I’m sorry. It’s great that you’re here, but if you’re hoping to get a detailed description of the film, then you will be very disappointed. My woeful reviews are mainly based on the preview, and this disaster is no exception to the broken formula. With that in mind, let’s be smart and start at the beginning.

Just like the immortal tales and legends of old, my cinematic ritual will never change. Following Batman and the Scouts’ motto of be prepared, I had already purchased my ticket, using the tears of my enemies. Wait…that’s a different story. No, I walked into our only cinema, to an empty foyer. I purchased my go-to drink, Pepsi Max, because I live life to the max. Um…no, I don’t.

Anyway, just like every single time I have purchased an advanced ticket, I simply walked into the theatre, with NOBODY checking to see if I had a ticket. It’s great to know they are consistent. By the time the film had started, there were seven people in the theatre, but for a Tuesday night, it was to be expected. Of course, I got to watch the movie from the centre seat of the back row, like a boss.

The trailers were nothing memorable, as in I can’t remember any of them, and then, surprise, surprise, the film started. As always, let’s go over the rules of the review.

1.) Please be aware that there will be spoilers concerning the movie, so proceed with extreme caution.

2.) The aim of my reviews is not to rip apart the subject or trash it. If I liked the subject enough to watch it, then I’ll give my honest (possibly biased) opinion.

3.) I’m not a professional critic, so I’m not going to dive into deeper concepts and themes or the art of filmmaking. I’m just a geek; always have been, and always will be.

I’m not going to fart around any more, as your Granny will show me up. So let’s get on with the review!

I guess the first question is the most basic one: Did I like it? Yes, I did. Is it the best Star Wars film I have ever seen? No, it isn’t. I think it does the job it set out to achieve; anything more than that, I’m clearly not clever enough to answer. However, it was certainly nice to watch a Star Wars movie in a cinema, even one based on a television show.

Things I liked:

These thoughts are in no particular order or importance, just the way my feeble brain works in recalling information.

I’m not sure what planet the story opens on, but whatever it was, it was a Hoth-type planet, covered in ice and snow. I already knew Din Djarin was a bad-arse from the clips I have seen, but I feel the filmmakers wanted to establish early on to new viewers that Djarin and Grogu are devastating as a team, but they still can show mercy, like in the board room, where he spared the representatives of various outposts/colonies. Also, Djarin taking down three Imperial Walkers reinforced this concept.

Let’s talk about the Hutts. When information about the movie was revealed, I read that Rotta the Hutt would be involved. This, of course, sparked my Spidey-Sense: Rotta the Hutt. I knew that name, but I couldn’t remember where I heard it.

After what seemed like an eternity, though it was only a few minutes, I searched for his name, only to discover it was Stinky! He made his appearance in 2008’s movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I remember watching that movie at the cinema, not fully understanding it was a long pilot episode or opening chapter for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television show.

Anyway, I’ll move on. It was interesting to see Rotta for a few reasons. Firstly, it is a trope to have a grown-up child being painted with the same brush as their parent, because of the parent’s sins. Having said that, it’s not a trope I get tired of, and growing up to be the scion of a crime syndicate would be awkward and demanding.

I liked his friendship with Grogu, and it was referred to that as a Hutt, Rotta could live for hundreds of years, so he would be the perfect candidate for an adopted father or godfather figure to Grogu, when Din Djarin finally dies, as he is only a human, to the best of my understanding.

Since I have not seen every single Disney Star Wars live-action or animated television episode, I can’t say this for certain, but travelling to Nal Hutta, the self-appointed home world of the Hutts, was something I’ve been waiting to see. The criminal underworld of Star Wars is rife with stories, as there is always a Hutt or two involved in the illegal dealings. I have learned that the Twins, the two Hutts involved in the movie, possibly siblings, have already appeared in previous television shows.

In various media, we have seen Hutts acting as agents of order and chaos. This, of course, leads to Rotta’s physique and fighting style in the arena. His rolling technique was quite impressive, and a smart move for the creative team to use; pun very much intended. As for witnessing a Hutt fight, that was not on my 2026 bingo board, as well as the Hutt ménage à trois, or at least that’s what it looked like. It was dark, and I was wearing 3-D glasses. Still, the Hutts fighting each other was great, and I loved it.

Rotta’s reaction to Djarin’s collaboration with the Hutts was important because it stemmed from Djarin’s response to Ward’s (Sigourney Weaver) suggestion of working with them. Djarin’s hesitance to engage in a partnership with the Hutts forced him to explain his position to Rotta, as neither character approved of the arrangement.

It does pose the interesting question of “Do the ends justify the means?” from a new perspective in the environment. Granted, the New Republic can be compared to the Allies after World War II, and Djarin is a Nazi Hunter, contracted to find war criminals. However, it would be like the Allies using the Mafia to track and hunt Nazis, and then paying them for it. I like the idea of putting characters into morally grey areas, where they need to untangle themselves from a situation that they are not comfortable with.

Continuing with Djarin, and after my rant about his helmet in the preview, I’m glad that Pedro Pascal only lost his helmet for a short amount of time, and not for the remaining part of the movie. It did not transition from a Star Wars movie to a Pascal action movie, which I was relieved about.

As a rule of thumb for aliens and me, the weirder the better, which is one of the reasons I enjoy Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who so much. The creatures in the arena were pretty wild and imaginative, which I enjoyed. And speaking of enjoying things, I thought the Twins’ mismatched droid army was genius. Of course, Hutts would not pay for top-quality droids; they would use whatever droids were cheap and lethal enough. They still have to worry about the bottom dollar, or whatever currency the Hutts prefer.

Today’s blockbusters seem to have a minimum $100 million budget now; whether that is a positive or negative thing, so I’ll let you be the judge of that. Anyway, the film looks great, even with the use of puppets, like the Anzellans. They look awesome, and I have loved the concept of the species, even since Episode IX.

I thought Grogu’s rescue mission was corny, but it was on brand. I mean, Djarin is effectively his dad, so why wouldn’t he try to save him, along with the Anzellans? Their spaceship was hilarious, which, after you think about it, does make sense.

One more thing I want to add is something about Zeb. I realise he was in one of the live-action Star Wars television shows, but I don’t know which one. He didn’t look exactly how he did in Rebels, but bringing an animated character to life isn’t the easiest job in the world to do. The point being, it was good to see him, because Rebels remains a hit in our house. Occasionally, I closed my eyes for a few seconds when Zeb spoke, just so I could focus on Steve Blum’s voice for nostalgic reasons. “Karabast!”

Things I disliked:

Fans of the TV show could answer this, but why does everybody in the New Republic and other places refer to Djarin as Mando or Mandalorian, instead of Din Djarin? Is his name not publicly known? Do soldiers of the New Republic refer to every Mandalorian as Mando? If they met two Mandalorians, would they be referred to as Mando 1 and Mando 2, regardless of gender?

I find this weird because in 2026, would you be ok if people referred to you as the name of your religion, or your race? And then even shorten that name? Like I said, weird. It would be like if people outside of New Zealand called me “Kiwi” or just “Ki,” but never bothered to learn or use my real name.

Continuity errors and issues were something that I wasn’t expecting in a film with a budget of $165 million. I have three, but I could be wrong about these.

The first was when Djarin was thrown into the pit at the Twins’ palace, which was filled with water, aquatic creatures, and a dragonsnake. His helmet was removed, and he was weaponless. The underwater scenes were murky and not 100% clear, so it was difficult to see what was happening.

The point was that Djarin had no weapon in the pit, then, like magic, he had a long war-axe. As I just mentioned, it is possible that Djarin fell into the water and found the weapon, and because of the dirty water, it was difficult for the viewer to see. It’s possible this happened, and because of the low quantity of the water and the speed of the scene, I may have missed Djarin picking the war-axe up. However, if it isn’t the case, then the film crew have stuffed up.

The second issue was on Nevarro, when Embo captured Djarin. It looked like he was stripped of his weapons, so Embo could transport him to Nal Hutta on orders from the Twins. Fast forward a little bit, and Djarin is rescued and saved by Grogu and the Anzellans, though it does take some time.

When Djarin had recovered, he was seen walking into the gunrunner’s ship with his blasters. I was hit with the realisation about where he got the blasters from. To the best of my understanding, Embo took Djarin’s weapons with him on his ship, since we saw them there. So, if that was the case, how did Djarin get the blasters? I suppose it is possible that Grogu and the Anzellans raided Embo’s ship, but how realistic is that?

The third continuity error was about the gunrunner’s ship. Granted, as the viewer, you don’t know how much time has passed since Djrain sent Rotta with the gunrunner on Nevarro, to the time it took to get to Nal Hutta. However, when Djarin and Grogu discover the ship, it looks like it has been there for years, if not decades. The ship was trashed inside and out, but it had only been there for a few days at the most.

Another argument is the lack of action in the movie, or at least, people saying that it’s boring. I do understand this because I believe it’s true. Not boring, but having a lack of high stakes. However, to somewhat defend the project, it was never going to be that sort of film where Djairn and Grogu are trying to save a planet, the Republic, democracy, or the galaxy, from the Empire, Sith or whatever else is threatening to destroy everything.

It was not a macro-story, but rather a micro-story; essentially a story about a guy taking his adopted son to work. The film is lacking in intensity, and the stakes were lower than any other Star Wars film apart from Solo, but I think that’s on purpose. So yes, I disliked the low-stakes concept, but it works for what it was, so I’m ok with that.

I thought Sigourney Weaver would have more of a role in the movie. She was in two scenes at the New Republic’s base, one with the aerial assault and another one back at the base. That was it. This is Ripley herself, one of the original female action and science-fiction heroes, and I feel that her character of Ward was wasted.

I was also hoping to see other Mandalorians in the film, but that was a long shot, and it never happened. This came from the show, and it was on display in the gaping holes in my knowledge of characters and planets. I knew going into the movie that it wasn’t going to play out like an original movie or part of a Star Wars trilogy, since it was based on TV characters. I feel the filmmakers did the best they could to include new fans, as well as catering to the existing fans, but I still couldn’t help myself thinking of all that I was missing.

This involved the names of planets, weapons, and characters, especially characters. Part of the film involved me trying to figure out if characters were from the show or original characters for the film. Was Ward an existing character, for example? Again, I knew it would be like this, but I still felt lost at times.

Having not seen the television show, the film felt like a film and not like extra-long episodes, but there was still the feeling that I was missing things.

So, what about my preview questions?

Will there be an opening crawl, since this is a Star Wars movie? (I know Rogue One and Solo did not have one) Yes, there was an opening introduction, but it wasn’t a crawl.
How much time has passed since the end of the third season? Don’t quote me on this, but I think 1-2 years.
How accessible will the movie be to people who have not seen the television show? It was accessible and easy to follow, but as I mentioned earlier, you do feel like you’re missing out on things.
Are there any remnants of the Empire? That is a hard yes.
Will Grogu’s performance be a mixture of puppetry, animatronics, CGI, or everything? It looked a cross between puppetry and animatronics, but I’m not an expert.
Wasn’t the Razor Crest previously destroyed? Yes, in Season Two. The Razor Crest in the film is another ship that was found, refitted, and given to Din Djarin as an advanced form of payment.
Will Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, or any other major character feature? Apart from Zeb, who was advertised in the film, there was a blink-and-miss-it cameo from R2-D2, the bounty hunter Embo and his anooba, and the Anzellans. There were probably others, but having not seen the live-action television shows, I wouldn’t recognise them.
Is the plot going to drive the story forward, or will it be flat? I’m not sure. Djairn has a new spaceship, which is a replica of his previous one, so I guess there is that.
Will we get to visit any new planets (to me at least) or discover new alien species? Yes, we got to visit Nal Hutta, a new planet that looked like Scarif, Nevarro (new to me), and Shakari. The fighting arena aliens were awesome, along with the Anzellans, the fishing-hut guy, and the Hutts.
Will any bad-arse weapons be involved? Djarin was using a mini-scout walker at the start of the film, plus the phase-pulse rifle, which, to me, is new, that can disintegrate targets. It looked like and worked like a sci-fi shotgun, considering that Djarin had to load and reload it.
Will we meet any force-sensitive characters? If we did, I definitely missed them.
Who will be the main antagonist? I would say the primary antagonists were the Twins, with Commander Coin/Janu acting as a secondary antagonist.
Will the movie work as a movie, or behave like long television episodes? It works as a movie, but as I said earlier, it didn’t totally work.
If the future of Star Wars movies is going to be based on television shows, how will I feel? That’s a difficult question to answer. I believe the future of Star Wars lies in television more than movies, because of the way characters can be fleshed out more. In saying that, movies would be more profitable for the Mouse House, and they are a business. THE business.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but there are more things I like in the movie than I dislike. There are issues with it and the direction Disney is taking the franchise, which we can’t control. I want the creative teams to focus more on story development and take their time, rather than slapping something quickly together for a quick dollar and destroying the fan base.

One thing to point out is that Star Wars fans are passionate, but we can be toxic and negative, which is not always a good thing. Fans cry out to see new things in Star Wars, then complain and compare the projects to the original trilogy. Fans will then also complain of seeing the same old, same old in Star Wars, and complain that Disney won’t try new things. Sometimes you can’t win with people.

The franchise is facing its 50th birthday next year, so it must be difficult for all of the Star Wars creators across all mediums, whether it is movies, television, novels, learn-to-read books, comics, as well as fact books, along with board games and computer games, to keep the old fans happy, but still draw in the next generation. Not very Star Wars fan is a straight, white, 40-year-old, married male, and hopefully the creators are aware of this.

I want to see and read fantastic stories from a galaxy, far, far away, because it can allow our ideas and creativity to soar, which in turn can also be a reflection of us and how we view each other. I love Star Wars, so whether I will ever get to watch Disney + or not, I need Disney to be getting it right, which, as you would agree, is more difficult than buying a workable droid from a bunch of Jawas.

Anyway, as I’ve said this before, don’t trust me, go watch it for yourself, so you can be the judge. Have you seen Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu? As always, please let us know.

That brings this non-award pop culture literature venture to its obvious conclusion. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember the FIFA World Cup and the Supergirl preview/review will be in June, along with my mid-Winter break, which is coming to New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website.

Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, wish a homophobe a Happy Pride month, and I’ll see you next month, where we get to discuss the FIFA World Cup. I know, I’m excited too!

SOME GEEK TOLD ME

Month: June 2026