Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
October 26, 2025 October 26, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Arts & Entertainment

Dominick D / CC BY-SA 2.0 Smile 2 borrows plot points and narrative strategies both from other established horror films and the original Smile, resulting in an obvious cash grab without artistic ambition.

Smile 2 is like an old, beloved dead dog

By RILEY STRAIT | November 10, 2024

You loved it in the beginning, but the older it got the messier it got, and you started feeling mad more than anything else, especially when you kept finding pee on the carpet, and in the very end, it died a rapid, out-of-left-field death caused by rabies: violent and hard to watch but harder to stop watching, and once it was over you wished none of it — the dog, the death — ever happened in the first place. Before you click away from this article or my editor can highlight and leave a comment for revision — “Rephrase for clarity” — let me tell you: I’m the first one to admit that my description is over-the-top, vying for attention, maybe not the best option and overall confusing, even if it does leave you with a visceral image.

RAWPIXEL.COM / CC0 PUBLIC DOMAIN Machine Girl's newest project fails to continue the duo's streak of decidedly noncommercial music, instead mellowing their abrasive style for a wider audience.

Machine Girl’s MG Ultra is an adrenaline-drenched soundtrack for modern paranoia

By EDWARD ZHU | November 7, 2024

Listening to Machine Girl can sometimes feel like being inserted headfirst into a meat grinder; it’s an unrelenting assault that leaves you strangely exhilarated but also satisfied. Their latest release, MG Ultra, which dropped earlier this month, strays slightly from their usual aesthetics, but still manages to deliver the sonic violence that unmistakably qualifies it as a Machine Girl album.

JAYDIXIT / CC BY-SA 4.0 Demi Moore stars in The Substance, a film directed by Coralie Fargeat that Guevara believes sparks an important conversation on women’s aging and beauty.  

The Substance is disturbingly ugly, but ultimately makes its point

By ALICIA GUEVARA | November 7, 2024

What if, somehow, scientists discovered a way for us to regain youth? What if suddenly, we had the means to not just feel younger, but actually become a younger version of ourselves again? Should we have this ability? And is there a cost to chasing this societal ideal of the perfect (read: young) woman?

GOODFON / CC BY-NC 4.0 Guo highlights that the authentic and compelling relationship in We Live in Time is a refreshing departure from the traditional rom-com genre. 

We Live in Time and love without regret

By JIYUN GUO | November 7, 2024

A new take on the love story ended prematurely by illness, We Live in Time gives us a realistic and bittersweet view of what it means to love without regrets. Its genuine interactions and nonlinear plot create a relationship that’s beautiful because of the characters’ efforts toward each other, rather than their tragic premise.

JIYUN GUO / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR This week’s picks includes a book of letters by Oliver Sacks and the Hopkins Theater’s production of Passage!

To watch and watch for: Week of Nov. 4

By NOËL DA | November 3, 2024

Hello and welcome! It’s time for another week of new media. Whether you’re on the lookout for inspiration, entertainment or both, the Arts & Entertainment section is here with our list of fresh recommendations.

RAPH_PH / CC BY 2.0 Zhu describes that although Tyler, the Creator's latest project, Chromakopia, lacks the innovation suggested by the promotional material, the album’s vulnerability and introspection is refreshing. 

Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia prioritizes introspection over innovation

By EDWARD ZHU | October 29, 2024

The rollout for Chromakopia — a series of dystopian, auteurist videos set to abrasive musical snippets — felt like deceptive advertising...There is a disconnect between the album’s industrially-tinged, barren aesthetic framing and its actual lyrical themes. On first listen, I found myself questioning: Why the mask, the military-inspired imagery and the shipping containers?  

COURTESY OF LAVANYA GUPTA The cast of The Barnstormers' production of Twelfth Night, imitating the famous photo of the 2012 Public Theater production featuring Anne Hathaway. From left to right: Katherine Budinger as Countess Olivia, Emma Peralta as Viola and Ander Diez as Duke Orsino.

Art Deco Shakespeare: The Barnstormers' performance of Twelfth Night

By TIMOTHY MCSHEA | October 29, 2024

For their Fall 2024 show, Hopkins’ longest-standing theater company, The Barnstormers, performed one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays, the romantic comedy Twelfth Night. I made sure to attend their first performance on Oct. 24, which had a sparse crowd — likely due to it being on a Thursday — but an energetic atmosphere. 

COURTESY OF JIMMY JOE ROCHE Still frame from Jimmy Joe Roche's Manger, which is an adaptation of the Book of Genesis. 

Film and Media Studies Faculty Showcase highlights four labors of love

By JIYUN GUO | October 28, 2024

On Oct. 13 from 2—4 p.m., four faculty filmmakers from the Film and Media Studies department screened their work... The event highlighted the presenters’ labors of love, with a program that featured the following works: unravelling by Susan Leslie Mann and John Bright Mann, Manger by Jimmy Joe Roche, Turf Valley by Adam Rodgers and Tom Ventimiglia, and I’m Not Your Monster by Karen Yasinsky. 

RUI DO ROSARIO / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR Picks for this week include Chromakopia by Tyler, The Creator, The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins, Juror #2 by Clint Eastwood and Fountains of Rome and La Mer performed by the BSO and the Aaron Diehl Trio on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

To watch and watch for: Week of Oct. 27

By TIMOTHY MCSHEA | October 27, 2024

Whether your Halloweekend just passed, or for some reason you’re celebrating in November (weird choice), there are plenty of new releases and events which will soothe your soul — perhaps enough to reinhabit your body. 

PRINTERVAL / CC BY-NC 4.0 Lizzy McAlpine’s most recent release, Older (and Wiser) contains several emotional deluxe tracks that complement the original release. 

Older (and Wiser): a musical reflection on growing up

By SPRUHA DEO | October 26, 2024

Lizzy McAlpine’s most recent release, Older (and Wiser) won me over before I even listened to it. I cannot emphasize how much I love a good — or bad — pun, and deluxe albums with witty titles are my guilty pleasures (see: guts (spilled) by Olivia Rodrigo and Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale by Tyler, the Creator).

COURTESY OF ISABELLA WANG Megan Pinto performed her debut poetry collection Saints of Little Faith at Bird in Hand cafe, alongside Hopkins MFA student Yuan with their collection Slow Render, and Seo's OSSIA.

Megan Pinto presents debut poetry collection at Bird in Hand

By ISABELLA WANG | October 25, 2024

Poet Megan Pinto held an event at local cafe Bird in Hand to present her debut poetry collection, Saints of Little Faith on Sunday, Oct. 6. Alongside Pinto, Samuel Cheney, Jimin Seo and Jess Yuan presented their work. After the attendees had settled into their seats inside of the atmospheric bookstore, the poets were introduced and the event began. 

Chris Boland / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Strait believes that Rooney’s latest novel, Intermezzo, does not match the quality of her previous books. 

Sally Rooney's Intermezzo: Smut or sophisticated?

By RILEY STRAIT | October 22, 2024

Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, the Sept. 24 addition to her oeuvre, is a novel chronicling the tumultuous relationship between the Dublin-based 22-year-old competitive chess player Ivan Koubek and his 32-year-old barrister brother Peter after the death of their father. Or, more suitably, Intermezzo is a novel chronicling the men’s relationship with women. What could have been a novel interrogating a variety of worthy themes — the function of grief and trauma in love, the explosive or inopportune nature of fate or the destructiveness of family — is instead a novel that reads like a pubescent teenage boy preoccupied with sex.

COURTESY OF RUBEN DIAZ Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield's parting Cancelled tour came to Baltimore at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Unfiltered fun: My night at the Cancelled podcast live show

By RUBEN DIAZ | October 22, 2024

You know that moment when a podcast becomes more than just a weekly listen? When it transforms into a cultural phenomenon, sparking debate, drama and endless TikTok commentary? Yeah, that’s what Cancelled , a podcast hosted by Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield, has done — taking the world of pop culture, scandals and the art of calling out influencers to a whole new level. 

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