Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
April 26, 2024

Arts & Entertainment



CHRIS ROTH/CC BY-SA 2.0
This Is Us—which attracted 27 million viewers after the Super Bowl—is nearing the end of its second season.

This Is Us amazes with post-Super Bowl episode

If you have not watched through the post-Super Bowl episode of This Is Us and plan on catching up on the show, then please, I beg of you, don’t read this article (and getting an editor to say that means something). 


COURTESY OF SIEBBI/CC BY-SA 3.0 
Daniel Brühl stars alongside Gugu Mbatha Raw in Netflix’s new release, The Cloverfield Paradox.

The Cloverfield Paradox fails to live up to the hype

In the midst of an exciting Super Bowl and the hype that comes with the commercials, fans were caught off guard by a trailer for a movie that nobody was expecting.  No, I’m not talking about the one where The Rock has a prosthetic leg and has to save his family from apocalyptic monsters. What I’m talking about is the third film set in the Cloverfield universe. 


Black Heritage celebration begins with a poetic evening

Hopkins students, faculty and community members gathered in the upstairs lounge of the LaB for the 2018 Black Heritage Opening Ceremony on Friday, Feb. 2. The event, which included poetry, speeches, food and trivia, was the first in a series of events celebrating Black History Month.


COURTESY OF TANYA WONGVIBULSIN
The Lor Store features both national brands and in-house designs.

The Lor Store localizes modern street fashion

Last Friday, I attended the grand opening of The Lor Store, a streetwear-focused shop located in the heart of downtown Baltimore. As I opened the door, I was greeted by a crowd of Baltimorean streetwear fans and a DJ who blasted upbeat music from the speakers. 


Comedy showcase cracks up the LaB

The JHU Stand-Up Comedy Club held their first show of the semester Feb. 3 at the LaB.  Performing to a crowd of students sitting in any open area they could find, several members of the club joked about everything from chain emails to dating over the course of the evening.


COURTESY OF DYYO FACCINA
People Are Scared.. is Dyyo Faccina’s debut release under his own name.

Dyyo Faccina explores his fears on latest album

Creativity is linked inexorably to identity. One’s idea of self shapes the form and content of expression across almost every medium. Much like self-realization, creativity takes time, and the process of bringing the two together as a coherent whole is anything but immediate.


COURTESY OF AMELIA ISAACS
Some of the exhibits at the museum were X-ray photographed in order to study their structure.

Exhibit showcases Balenciaga’s talent and influence

We all see beauty in the world and subsequently strive to surround ourselves with things that we find beautiful. Whether that beauty takes the form of a piece of art, a video game or a song, we surround ourselves with the things we love and make us happy.


PUBLIC DOMAIN
The Peabody Institute hosts free concerts in a wide variety of genres throughout the year.

Peabody Modern Orchestra opens its spring season

The Peabody Modern Orchestra held the first spring concert of the 2017-2018 Concert Season on Saturday, Jan. 27, in the Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Mount Vernon. The orchestra played a selection of pieces authored by contemporary composers under the direction of conductor Harlan D. Parker.


GAGE SKIDMORE/CC By 2.0
Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong’o will star in Marvel’s forthcoming Black Panther.

Movies to look forward to over the coming year

We’ve left another year behind. By the time you read this, we’ll know who has been nominated for the Oscars. Almost all of the films aren’t currently available in theaters, so for the general public it’s time to look ahead.


LHCOLLINS / CC BY-SA 4.0
The Ottobar frequently hosts local and touring punk and indie bands.

Ottobar hosts a trilogy of Baltimore indie bands

In an eclectic night of minimalist beats and nostalgic rock, the Ottobar brought together a collection of local Baltimore bands to play a four-part concert on Jan. 18. The event took place in the venue’s downstairs performance space.


JPEGMAFIA explodes into the public eye with his label debut

Remember when Richard Spencer got punched in the head on TV? That was a great moment in the history of racists getting beaten. Our anonymous black-clad hero played Spencer’s head like it was a game of Bop-It; he snuffed him like a vanilla-scented candle.


GAVIN WHITNER/CC BY 2.0
The importance of vinyl is the impulse to sit down and listen to music.

Listening to music in the modern age

Music suffers some of the harshest disrespect of any of the arts. All too many people who consider themselves music fans (including me) often listen to music in the background while doing something else — grinding through work, driving or any other menial task. It is rare for anyone to sit down, clear their schedule and listen to an album.


Aphrodite in NYC_CC BY 2.0

Actor James Franco directs and stars in The Disaster Artist.

The Disaster Artist captures the story behind "the worst movie of all time"

I’m going to start this off by saying that I have never watched The Room and I will never watch The Room. It’s not something that appealed to me in high school, and its prevalence among college students as a “cult classic” has only strengthened my feelings against it. This is the hill I will die on, and nothing will ever change that.



Coco dazzles musically and visually

We live in an era were people of color are able to become more and more intertwined with relevant popular culture events. We have Ta-Nehisi Coates writing for the Black Panther comic book, Jordan Peele giving us the racial horror film Get Out and Guillermo Del Toro still serving us some nuanced — but still weird — characters in his productions.


 COURTESY OF JIMMIE THOMAS FROM CURATORS OF HIP HOP Alpha designs and sells his own clothing under the brand Melted Butter.

Local rapper and designer has an exciting future

Even before I met Alpha Johnson I sort of knew who he was, sort of. I knew Alpha as the rapper Joey Bricks, who I was introduced to when a friend showed me the video for his song “No Love.” The general wavy quality of that song, as well as the fact that I see Alpha almost everyday — on-campus, at work, everywhere — made an interview with him a must.


COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR
J. Magazine held their fall reading at Bird in Hand Cafe in Charles Village.

J. Magazine hosts fall reading at Bird in Hand

J.Magazine, the student-run literary arts magazine, is published biannually and features student prose, poetry and art. On Wednesday Nov. 29, the magazine held a reading of a variety of works that will be published in its Fall 2017 issue. The authors had the chance to showcase their writing at Bird in Hand.


COURTESY OF BRANDON LACKEY
BeatClub is a monthly event organized by Lineup Room Recording Studios.

Bmore BeatClub is a gateway into the Baltimore rap scene

This past Thursday, I found myself wandering down a rainy, vacant Baltimore street trying to find an event I had long been interested in attending: the Bmore BeatClub, a monthly event which is organized by Brandon Lackey, the owner of Lineup Room Recording Studios.


COURTESY LAUREN QUESTELL
Hasan Minhaj showcased his comedic skill at MSE’s final event of the year.

Hasan Minhaj uses humor to tackle tough topics

Considering that we’re in the middle of gearing up for finals, a.k.a. impending doom, I was surprised at the massive and honestly pretty diverse segment of our student body that was assembled in Turner Auditorium. The crowd waited, anxiously cramming in those last few calc problems.


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