Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
June 11, 2026 June 11, 2026 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Arts & Entertainment

SOFIAMOREIRALIMA / CC BY-SA 4.0 The Other Zoey draws on many romantic-comedy cliches that viewers have likely seen before in other films.

The Other Zoey shines in rare moments of subtlety in a plot peppered with clichés

By ALICIA GUEVARA | October 31, 2023

I’m so upset. Not because The Other Zoey, one of 2023’s most recent romantic comedies, didn’t live up to my expectations. It did. It was sweet, it was sappy, it was cliché and it stretched the boundaries of reality as is befitting the rom-com genre. It’s also been a minute since a good romantic comedy has been released, and The Other Zoey managed to get an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, so it’s a solid film. I’m actually upset because the film had so much potential.

ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN AND LAYOUT EDITOR This week’s picks include the unconventional biopic Priscilla, Isabel Ibañez’ new historical fantasy novel What the River Knows, BTS member Jung Kook’s debut solo album Golden and the JHU Barnstormers’ performance of Witness for the Prosecution. 

To watch and watch for: Week of Oct. 29

By TIMOTHY MCSHEA | October 30, 2023

This week’s picks include the unconventional biopic Priscilla, Isabel Ibañez’ new historical fantasy novel What the River Knows, BTS member Jung Kook’s debut solo album Golden and the JHU Barnstormers’ performance of Witness for the Prosecution. 

PAOLO V / CC BY 2.0 DEED Taylor Swift has changed the film industry by bypassing major production companies and distributing the film directly to theaters.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour makes the whole theater shimmer

By MARIANA FERREIRA | October 29, 2023

There is an infestation. No, it’s not the Paris bedbugs. It’s Taylor Swift. You’ve all heard of her. She’s on the radio, she’s on your Instagram feed, she is everywhere.  Pop, country and alternative superstar, Swift released a concert film of her very popular Eras Tour called Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour on Oct. 13, and I made sure I got those tickets as fast as I could.

ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR   This week’s picks include the re-release of acclaimed album 1989, a novel set in the world of American slavery by Jesmyn Ward, a horror movie about a haunted pizzeria and a doom metal performance at the Ottobar.

To watch and watch for: Week of Oct. 24

By HELENA GIFFORD | October 24, 2023

Here in the Arts Section, we hope everyone has had a restful Fall Break (or at least just got in a good nap or two). Now that we’re coming into the second half of the semester, I think everybody is feeling a bit overwhelmed. So why not take a moment to escape from it all with a new movie or book release, or get away from campus for a bit and spend a night out with some friends?

STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR Rick Ross and COIN’s performance for this year’s Hoptoberfest was thrilling even for those unaware of the artists’ separate discographies. 

Rick Ross and COIN were a surprisingly fun Hoptoberfest combo

By ALICIA GUEVARA | October 22, 2023

Rap artist Rick Ross and pop rock band COIN performed in this year’s Hoptoberfest concert on Oct. 14. To be honest, ahead of this concert, I had never heard of either Rick Ross or COIN. Their most well-known tracks, “Talk Too Much” by COIN and “Hustlin’” by Rick Ross, were vaguely familiar to me, but not to the extent that I could sing along or shout the lyrics at a concert. However, I figured that a free concert was a free concert, so I went.

COURTESY OF VANESSA BLANCAS-ARAMBURO ¡Baila! is a wonderful community made up of Latino students at JHU, who teach and perform social dancing in styles like salsa, bachata, reggaeton and cha-cha. 

JHU ¡Baila! is a celebration of Latin dance and culture

By ALICIA GUEVARA | October 18, 2023

Juggling classes and exams in college while also maintaining a social life and good mental health can be challenging (I’m honestly exhausted thinking and writing about it). Because of this, JHU ¡Baila!, the University’s only Latin dance team, really stands out for how it embraces the importance of this balance. They offer a welcoming space for Hopkins students to feel connected to each other, their Latin roots and the world of Latin dance.

 ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR  This week’s picks include singer-songwriter Sampha’s new album Lahai; internet personality Ziwe’s literary debut with Black Friend: Essays; Flashback, directed by Jed Shepherd and Everyman Theatre’s first performance of The Chinese Lady.

To watch and watch for: Week of Oct. 15

By TIMOTHY MCSHEA | October 16, 2023

This weeks picks include singer-songwriter Sampha’s new album Lahai; internet personality Ziwe’s literary debut with Black Friend: Essays; Flashback, directed by Jed Shepherd and Everyman Theatre’s first performance of The Chinese Lady. 

THE COME UP SHOW / CC BY-ND 2.0 DEED Drake continues to follow his own formula with his newest album For All the Dogs, which was released this past Friday, Oct. 6. Lacking creativity and cohesion, Drake once again fails to deliver a true classic album.

Drake's For All the Dogs scares the dogs away

By TIMOTHY MCSHEA | October 12, 2023

Drake continues to follow his own formula with his newest album For All the Dogs, which was released this past Friday, Oct. 6. Lacking creativity and cohesion, Drake once again fails to deliver a true classic album.

COURTESY OF HELENA GIFFORD A bird teaches a father to be supportive of his transgender daughter in Gemma Watson’s play The Whip-Poor-Will.

Witness Theater's Fall Showcase reveals the concerns of Hopkins students

By HELENA GIFFORD | October 10, 2023

There’s something special about the excitement of a theater minutes before the lights go down. People are flipping through the programs or chatting with their friends, and theater group members are doing their last checks and preparations before showtime. You can never know for sure exactly what kind of show you’re going to be in for. 

ALBERTO BUSCATO VAZQUEZ /  CC BY-SA 4.0 It Lives Inside is a horror movie which draws on Indian mythology.

The skeleton of potential in It Lives Inside

By RIVER PHAN | October 9, 2023

In a cinema landscape where almost every horror film is a metaphor, it becomes slightly disappointing when a film doesn’t execute its messages well, or when it fails to land on any message at all. Regardless of its muddy themes, Bishal Dutta’s feature film directorial debut, It Lives Inside, puts a twist on the possession horror film archetype by following an Indian-American teenage girl’s experience with an evil spirit from Hindu mythology.

ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR  This week's picks include The Fall of the House of Usher, a new horror series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and the Peabody Dance Family Weekend performance at Joe Byrd Hall.

To watch and watch for: Week of Oct. 8

By HELENA GIFFORD | October 8, 2023

This week's picks include The Fall of the House of Usher, a new horror series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and the Peabody Dance Family Weekend performance at Joe Byrd Hall.

ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR   This week's picks include Javelin, the tenth studio album by Sufjan Stevens, fantasy thriller novel Beholder by Ryan La Sala, The Exorcist: Believer and the International Poe Festival at the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum.

To watch and watch for: Week of Oct. 1

By TIMOTHY MCSHEA | October 1, 2023

This week's picks include Javelin, the tenth studio album by Sufjan Stevens, fantasy thriller novel Beholder by Ryan La Sala, The Exorcist: Believer and the International Poe Festival at the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum. 

COURTESY OF HOMEWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Artistic Director of Ensembles Joseph Young conducts the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in a previous performance.

The Peabody Symphony Orchestra September concert: a euphony of highs and lows

By MARIANA FERREIRA | September 30, 2023

On Sept. 23 the Peabody Symphony Orchestra (PSO) held its first concert of the academic year. Though held with free admission at the Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall, I had the pleasure of being able to watch it online through a live broadcast. Included in the program were the following pieces: “Pulse” by Brian Nabors, “Totenfeier” by Gustav Mahler and “Symphony No. 2” by Louise Farrenc. The pieces were all conducted by Joseph Young.

HINNK /  CC BY-SA 3.0 Celine Song's latest film, Past Lives, explores the delicate line between the platonic and the romantic.

Past Lives: A towering love story that sculpts the mundane into the mystical

By SOPHIA LIN | September 28, 2023

What makes us fall in love? In Past Lives, the quietly stunning debut from Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song, the response is a deceptive one. There is in-yun, a Korean concept of fate intimating that thousands of years of past life interactions bring two people together. But there are also the childhood memories shared, the books coincidentally read and the glances that linger too long. Are these so different? Or are they precisely the same?

ERIK DROST / CC BY 2.0 In Bottoms, two lesbian high schoolers start a fight club to woo their cheerleader crushes.

Bottoms is a fresh take on coming-of-age queer cinema

By RIVER PHAN | September 26, 2023

Bottoms, directed by Emma Seligman, is the most memorable comedy I’ve seen all year. On top of being genuinely funny, it subverts the usual stereotypes of queer media about teenagers. There’s no coming-out subplot present anywhere, but the film is still full of unapologetically lesbian characters and gay jokes that had the entire theater laughing.

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