Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
November 8, 2024

Arts & Entertainment



ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN AND LAYOUT EDITOR 
This week’s picks include the latest Studio Ghibli film from Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron, a historical mystery novel called The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, the Pink Friday 2 sequel album from award-winning rapper Nicki Minaj and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra performing Vivaldi, Liszt and Brahms at Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall. 

To watch and watch for: Week of Dec. 3

This week’s picks include the latest Studio Ghibli film from Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron, a historical mystery novel called The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, the Pink Friday 2 sequel album from award-winning rapper Nicki Minaj and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra performing Vivaldi, Liszt and Brahms at Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall.


CRAIG DUFFY / CC BY-NC 2.0
David Fincher, the director of The Killer, is the creative mind behind movies like Fight Club, Gone Girl and Se7en.

The Killer: David Fincher’s new take on empathy

Does it feel like every new Netflix release somehow makes it to No. 1 in movies in the U.S. on Netflix? Conveniently, yes. Does every single one of them even deserve to be there? Absolutely not. Will I continue to watch every single one of them? Yes, especially if they’re by David Fincher.



BANTRANIC / CC BY-NC 3.0
The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie follows a night security guard at an abandoned pizzeria as he tries to survive its murderous haunted animatronics.

The Five Nights at Freddy’s film is enjoyable but still plagued by predictability

When my friend and I burst out laughing at an unintentionally funny jumpscare, I knew that the Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) movie wasn’t going to succeed as a horror movie. Instead, it exists in the weird space where it doesn’t achieve real horror but rather uses subdued scare tactics to achieve a PG-13 rating (and ultimately, get a larger audience for the box office).


PHILIPPA WILLITTS / CC BY-NC 2.0
Gen V is a spinoff of the popular show The Boys and follows the lives of students at a university for superheroes.

Gen V doesn’t hold back in its dystopian take on college life

What is a superhero? I think, for most of us, what instantly comes to mind is a caped crusader in brightly colored spandex. This costumed person uses their superpowers, which vary from flight to invisibility to X-ray vision, to fight bad guys. They do what’s right. They’re moral. They protect their city or their world from the stuff the average person can’t. 


 ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN AND LAYOUT EDITOR
This week’s picks include a highly-anticipated prequel film to the Hunger Games trilogy, a novel by Michael Cunningham taking place over only three days called Day, a rock album by country star Dolly Parton and a pair of operas at the Peabody Institute.

To watch and watch for: Week of Nov. 12

I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving. You’re looking forward to Thanksgiving. Even our professors are probably desperate for a break. With that in mind, if you want to get started on break early, we here in the Arts & Entertainment section have the best new releases and recommendations for you!



ARANTZA GARCIA / DESIGN AND LAYOUT EDITOR
This week’s picks include the new superhero film The Marvels, Rebecca Yarros’ highly anticipated sequel to Fourth Wing, a collaboration album between Meek Mill and Rick Ross and a performance of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.”

To watch and watch for: Week of Nov. 5

As finals season draws closer and closer, the weather is getting frostier and student groups are finally starting to crank out the performances that they’ve been rehearsing for all semester.




COURTESY OF CONRAD LOUIS CHARLES
The Peabody Jazz Ensemble is led by renowned trumpeter Sean Jones, the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair in Jazz Studies.

The Peabody Jazz Ensemble energetically performs tunes from Joe Henderson, Thad Jones and more

But back in the day, when jazz was pop, it was the music of youth! It was the music of talking back to your parents, staying out too late, being cool, having sex with people you barely knew and generally being young and wild. It shook its hips and swung between virtuosity and depravity. The Peabody Jazz Ensemble brought that young vitality into the music, live and free, in their concert on the evening of Oct. 27.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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.



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