Two Thumbs Up

First Thumbs Up: "The Imitation Game"  

When you work with computer geeks, you learn a lot about other computer geeks; most especially Alan Turing.  The man was brilliant, and is known as the most important man in computer science.  If it weren't for Turing, World War II would have gone on much longer than it did. His ideas were ground-breaking at the time.  The movie itself was beautiful and heartbreaking.  It managed to explain the work that went into Turing's team breaking the Enigma machine but it also dealt with his personal life and strife beautifully.  In the 50s when being gay brought a prison sentence, he was tragically found out. Unfortunately, the strain was too much for someone like Turing and he killed himself in 1954.  Surprisingly it took 60 years for the monarchy to pardon him for his "sin" and recognize him for the genius he was.

And of course, Benedict Cumberbatch played the part fantastically.  Actually, the whole cast was wonderful.  When the "Fifth Estate" flopped, the director said there was no way for movies to make screens of code "interesting".  Obviously, he didn't have the expertise of the crew behind "The Imitation Game".

Second Thumbs Up: Galavant

On the opposite side of the spectrum, after a heartbreaker like "The Imitation Game", Galavant, is just what I needed.  It's a hard sell: a musical fairy tale in prime time.  Oh but it's also genius!  In truth, I've been hooked since I saw the first teaser 2 months ago.  But now that I'm seeing it all, I'm even more in love.  I've already got the songs stuck in my head and I'm counting down the minutes until next week's episodes.  Also, the cast live-tweeting? They may be funnier than the whole episode : )