Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
July 27, 2024

Arts & Entertainment

PICASA/CC BY 3.0 To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before takes on Netflix’s Top 10 as fans finally get to watch the long-awaited finale. 

Imperfections aside, To All the Boys: Always and Forever is a heartwarming finale

By SOPHIA LIN | February 17, 2021

The teen romance trilogy that started with a bang is now coming to a long-awaited end. To All the Boys: Always and Forever marks the last time we’ll see the much-beloved on-screen couple, though it won’t necessarily mark the end of their love story. This time, Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) face the ups and downs of senior year of high school, coupled with the stress of the uncharted territory that awaits them after graduation.

COURTESY OF JHU BARNSTORMERS A still from the Barnstormers’ production of Clue: Stay at Home.

Clue: Stay at Home is a Zoom success

By MANSHA KAPUR | February 17, 2021

The Barnstormers return to our home-theaters once again with the warmth of easy-going comedy and the intrigue of a classic “whodunnit” narrative in their special Clue: Stay at Home. The production was a livestreamed virtual adaptation of Clue, a screenplay inspired by the timeless Hasbro board game and iconic film of the same name.

You Will Die at 20 is visually and emotionally breathtaking

By ELIZA ZIMMERMAN | February 17, 2021

Over the last 11 months, I’ve found it increasingly hard to sit through a movie in one sitting or even to coax myself into viewing a film at all, really. Since I’m on my computer all the time, seated in one place for classes and work, sitting down to watch something online for a couple of hours has become incredibly unappealing.

COURTESY OF REBECCA PENNER “How To Care For Strangers” displays a unique bond between friends as they explore fantasy worlds. 

Hopkins student and alum's "How To Care For Strangers" wins best in category at FLiFF

By EUNICE PARK | February 11, 2021

Set to officially premiere in 2021, Hopkins senior Rebecca Penner and ‘20 alum Carver Bain won Best College Long Narrative at the 2020 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLiFF) with their film “How To Care For Strangers.” With Penner’s skills as a Film & Media Studies major and Bain’s insight as both a Film & Media Studies and Theatre Arts & Studies minor, the pair was able to combine forces to co-write this energetic film.

JALISSA GRAY/CC BY-SA 3.0 Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey spoke virtually at Hopkins.

Natasha Trethewey explores the power of poetic metaphor

By JAE CHOI | February 9, 2021

The Hopkins Writing Seminars Department hosted a Turnbull Poetry Lecture by Natasha Trethewey, the 19th poet laureate of the U.S. and winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, on Feb. 4. So far, she has written five books of poetry, including Domestic Work, her astounding debut which was selected for the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. The lecture was open to the public and accessible through Zoom. 

TRAVIS WISE/CC BY 2.0 In a year of new virtual adventures, the Sundance Film Festival did not disappoint. 

Virtual Sundance Film Festival sets a new precedent

By SOPHIA LIN | February 9, 2021

With awards season postponed and few major film releases, it’s been an unusually dull time for us film geeks. Thankfully, film festivals are still a go, albeit online and with limited in-person capacities. One of them is the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, which kicked off on Jan. 28 and took place over seven days. Leaving behind its Park City venue of four decades, Sundance turned to a mostly virtual modality to deliver its screenings, talks and events. 

COURTESY OF CHRIS H. PARK This year’s annual ceremony was live-streamed in order to reduce in-person gatherings. 

Lighting of the Quads, though a little different this year, is still successful

By JAE CHOI | February 6, 2021

Hopkins hosted its annual Lighting of the Quads (LOTQ) celebration on YouTube Live this past Saturday. LOTQ usually takes place each December shortly before finals; however, this year’s celebration marked many firsts — the first time the event went virtual, the first time it took place during the spring semester and the first time there was no live audience in the ordinary sense. 

BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA/CC BY 3.0 Priyanka Chopra Jonas stars in the film adaptation of The White Tiger.

The White Tiger tackles class struggle in the era of globalization

By RISHABH KUMAR | February 3, 2021

The White Tiger movie debuted this January after long-delayed plans for movie production, and is one of the largest international releases of an Indian movie in recent years. It’s not hard to guess why: Despite its source material being over a decade old, it presents a story of class warfare, global inequality and crises of democracy that have become even more relevant today. 

GEORGE GRIE / CC BY-SA 4.0 The ending scene of Dostoevsky’s novel is telling of unrelenting social dilemma today.

Raskolnikov’s final dream in Crime and Punishment is a prophecy of 2021

By CAROLINE ROSS | January 31, 2021

In the epilogue of a new translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov’s hysterical condition worsens upon beginning his prison sentence, causing him to have a feverish dream about the spread of nihilism in the form of a virus. The events chronicled in this dream are extremely telling of dual pandemics — the global COVID-19 outbreak and the dissemination of disinformation through social media — that plagued 2020 and now plague 2021.

GAGE SKIDMORE/CC BY-SA 2.0 Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany star in Disney+’s WandaVision.

WandaVision hits the perfect tone

By BINYAMIN NOVETSKY | January 27, 2021

Marvel’s long-awaited television series debut — the first of many that will be released and watchable exclusively on the streaming platform Disney+ — has finally arrived. The first three episodes (there will eventually be nine) of WandaVision are now available to stream if you have a subscription.  

GEORGES BIARD / CC BY-SA 4.0 Gary Oldman stars in new movie Mank as the main character, Herman J. Mankiewicz. 

Mank is a playful tribute to Old Hollywood that challenges auteurism

By SOPHIA LIN | December 12, 2020

Citizen Kane is hailed as the greatest film of all time. Mank, in one of the most unexpected and idiosyncratic ways possible, tells an equally remarkable story of the process behind the film. Helmed by director David Fincher and written by his late father Jack Fincher, Mank had been in the works for thirty years prior to its December release on Netflix. 

HAMUYI/CC BY-SA 4.0 The main characters of Netflix's Big Mouth explore new topics, such as anxiety, in the show’s fourth season.

I love Big Mouth, but it’s really okay if you don’t

By BINYAMIN NOVETSKY | December 8, 2020

Writing a content warning for Big Mouth feels almost impossible, but please be warned that this article will discuss a lot of things that are very disgusting and exceedingly sexual, the vast majority of which involve cartoon characters between the ages of 12 and 14.

SLOWKING4/CC BY-SA 2.0 Andrew Marantz’s 2019 novel Antisocial has never been more relevant to American politics that in 2020.

Antisocial is entertaining and enlightening in the age of misinformation

By LAURA WADSTEN | December 5, 2020

Life is tough right now for Americans, and social media and politics are no small part of that difficulty. The COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 presidential election would have been frustrating even without the avalanche of misinformation surrounding both of them. If you’re as exhausted by fake news and misleading social media posts as I am, read on.  

WARREN ELGORT/CC BY 3.0 Hamilton actor Leslie Odom Jr. releases a refreshing and long-awaited album.

The Christmas Album provides much-needed nostalgia and cheer

By ALANNA MARGULIES | December 5, 2020

I was a sophomore in high school when Hamilton hit Broadway and suddenly made my love of American history and musical theater “cool.” I won’t bore you with the details of my fandom, but I follow the unbelievably talented original cast and their post-Hamilton careers with interest.

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