Arts & Entertainment

Sequel to Happy Death Day is an unexpected success

By JUSTIN KIM
February 20, 2019

From the writer of all those Paranormal Activity sequels comes yet another horror movie sequel, Happy Death Day 2U. It feels like an odd combination of the time-loop films we know fairly well at this point — basically, a crazed science project, countless ...

Bollywood Hungama/CC BY-S.A 3.0 Actor Suraj Sharma features in Happy Death Day’s new sequel.
Raph_PH/CC BY-S.A 2..0 Charli XCX many of her popular hits on February 18 at Rams Head Live.

Charli XCX disappoints crowd at Ram's Head

By CLAIRE GOUDREAU | February 20, 2019

When I saw that Charli XCX was putting on a concert in Baltimore with tickets selling for only $22, that ticket was in my cart almost faster than I could read the offer. With so many of her songs topping my middle school playlists, it would have felt dishonest to do anything else.

Isn’t it Romantic fails to fully subvert expectations

By COLE DOUGLASS | February 20, 2019

If Isn’t It Romantic was a character in a romantic comedy, it would be the first-act love interest: attractive, charming, generally a nice enough guy, but the protagonist isn’t going to burst into the church at the last second to stop their wedding. The parody of romantic comedies/actual romantic comedy has some good jokes and a lot of heart, but its attempts to subvert the expectations of the genre, though admirable, often feel underdeveloped — especially in the film’s final moments. Still, for all of its flaws, Isn’t it Romantic finds a lot of humor and heart in the clichés and is ultimately a fairly enjoyable, if shallow, satire.

COURTESY OF JHU BARNSTORMERS

Barnstormers impress with The Wolves

By RUDY MALCOM | February 14, 2019

The Barnstormers presented their Intersession show, The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, in Arellano Theater this weekend. The play — directed and produced by juniors Sydney Thomas and Maya Singh Sharkey, respectively — featured nine young women on a high school indoor soccer team. 

Cuarón’s Roma explores the complexity of womanhood

By KATY OH | February 14, 2019

Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is the sensational masterpiece we are all — and should be — talking about. The film has also become the center of attention for the upcoming 91st Academy Awards, where it has secured nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Screenplay. And these prestigious accolades come just after countless other titles it has claimed over the few months since its 2018 debut at the 75th Venice International Film Festival. 

Courtesy of Trevor Higuera Astrale’s EP, the things you cannot see tells his story of introspection.

Astrale navigates a new sound with EP release

By EVELYN YEH | February 13, 2019

I have depression. At my lowest points, I physically can’t stop myself from crying, and working on music is the only thing I’ve found that rescues me from breaking down further. On a more regular basis, my depression manifests in the very typical form of being unable to get out of bed.

New sports drama High Flying Bird soars high on Netflix

By CHRISTIAN HELGESON | February 15, 2019

High Flying Bird is a film of contradictions. It’s a film about basketball, one of the most dynamic sports ever created, yet also one where the action primarily takes place in nondescript business rooms, hotel lobbies and living rooms. It is also one of many recent films shot entirely on an iPhone, but its stylistic trappings are more indebted to classic Hollywood than to any new stylistic possibilities the iPhone has opened up. It is both a film where Netflix (the film’s distributor) figures in as a major plot point and also one where men conduct backdoor business in saunas like it’s the slickest thing since buttered bread. 

Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0 Actress Zazie Beetz stars as Sam in new sports drama film High Flying Bird.
Mark Kari/CC By-SA 2.0 Penn Badgley plays Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s thrilling new show You.

Netflix’s thriller show You doesn’t hit the mark

By CATE TURNER | February 13, 2019

If you’re like me, then you probably spent the majority of not only your winter break but also the entirety of Intersession dedicating yourself to exploring the depths of every streaming service out there. If you, indeed, are like me, then you watched You, the confusingly-named Netflix original series featuring Penn Badgley, who played the infamous Dan Humphrey on Gossip Girl.

How you can become a tried and true music fan

By NIKITA SHTARKMAN | February 13, 2019

Tired of listening to the Spotify Discover playlists? Bored by the same artists that pop up on the top 100 charts? Want to become more well-versed in music? You’ve come to the right place. In this article I’ll lay out a simple road map that will turn you — a boring layperson who listens to lo-fi music while studying — into a well-respected, nay I say sophisticated, music fan.

Courtesy of Cole Douglass Students from the Baltimore Chinese School performing at the Walters.

The Walters celebrates 2019’s Lunar New Year

By COLE DOUGLASS | February 13, 2019

In honor of the recent transition into the Year of the Pig, the Walters Art Museum hosted a celebration of the Lunar New Year on Sunday, Feb. 10. The event featured a wide array of activities that balanced education with entertainment, such as a series of shows organized by local performance groups. All in all the Lunar New Year Celebration was a fun and family-friendly event that more than lived up to the high standards set by its predecessors.

Ariana Grande’s newest tattoo typo sparked controversy online

By RUDY MALCOM | February 6, 2019

I always thought that my Spanish teachers in middle school were lying to me when they insisted that Google Translate was grotesquely inaccurate. But then Ariana Grande got a kanji tattoo that read not “7 rings” but instead “small charcoal grill.” She tried fixing it, and the ink now translates to “Japanese barbecue finger.” In the song whose title she sought to commemorate on her hand, Ariana opines that “whoever said money can’t solve your problems / must not have had enough money to solve ’em.” I can’t help but wonder how many times she’ll have to spend money on fixing her tattoo to solve it!

esheehanphotos/CC BY-SA 2.0 Intended to say “7 rings” after her latest single, the tattoo mistakenly said “small charcoal grill”

New Sylvia Plath short story published

By CARVER BAIN | February 6, 2019

Sylvia Plath died in 1963, and yet her writing has lived on. Plath’s poetry collection Ariel was published two years after her death, establishing her as an icon in 20th century poetry. But Ariel does not contain the only material written by Plath published posthumously — far from it. More poetry followed in the ‘70s, and as interest in the poet grew, her private letters and journals followed. 

Black Heritage Celebration opens with local poets

By COLE DOUGLASS | February 6, 2019

The highlight of the opening ceremony for the Black Heritage Celebration on Friday, Feb. 1 was undoubtedly the poetry, though the conversation was lively and the hot chocolate provided some much needed warmth as well. To kickoff its year-round initiative to celebrate African-American history and culture, the Office of Multicultural Affairs invited a group of incredibly talented poets to read their work and reflect on the experiences of people of color in the United States. Through their unique voices and powerful poems, the three women who read crafted an experience that was equal parts thought-provoking and heart-breaking, and their performances formed a strong cornerstone for the rest of the event series.

COURTESY OF COLE DOUGLASS Mecca Verdell performs at the Black Heritage Celebration last Friday.
GAGE SKIDMORE/CC BY-SA 2.0 Natalia Dyer stars as Coco in Netflix’s new movie Velvet Buzzsaw.

Velvet Buzzsaw fails to fit into comedy or horror

By KATHARINE LEE | February 6, 2019

Velvet Buzzsaw, the latest comedy-horror film to air on Netflix, is a savage jab at the modern art community’s apparent descent into depravity. While an elevator pitch for the film sounds great — art comes to life and torments those who have let their greed exploit art — Velvet Buzzsaw turned out to be a nearly two-hour comedy-horror feature berating the culture surrounding modern art with no laugh-out-loud comedy and no hide-under-the-covers horror.

Mike Krol’s new Power Chords is a bit one-note

By NIKITA SHTARKMAN | February 6, 2019

You guys remember rock? The genre in which shirtless singers wear tight leather pants, do copious amount of drugs and are unabashedly cool? Rock has somewhat faded from the mainstream consciousness, but the music is far from dead. Last week, singer/songwriter Mike Krol, released one of the best rock records of this year: Power Chords. The project is loud, brash and still somehow grippingly tender.

Andrew Subiela/CC By 2.0 Toro y Moi combines the genres of pop and electronic with his conceptual EP.

Artist Toro y Moi releases a celestial-feeling EP

By KATY OH | February 6, 2019

Toro y Moi’s most recent album, released on Jan. 18, radiates just what we all need: Outer Peace. A chillwave genius and a talented graphic designer, Toro y Moi (also known as Chazwick Bradley Bundick) has incorporated his experimental brilliance in the 10 track LP. The 2019 album follows after almost a decade since the start of his professional music career when he released his debut album Causers of This in 2010. 

James Blake assumes new form with Assume Form

By NIKITA SHTARKMAN | January 31, 2019

James Blake makes good music. He’s been making good music for a long time. His first track, released back in 2009, “Air and Lack Thereof,” was a slapping dance song that he made in his bedroom. Since then the quiet, London-based producer dropped three fantastic albums, won the Mercury Prize and became one of the most sought after song writers, collaborating with pop icons such as Kanye West, Beyoncé and Frank Ocean. Blake is known for being your favorite artist’s favorite artist.

Ferran/CC BY-2.0 James Blake’s new album Assume Form showcases his new Los Angeles style
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Netflix and Hulu’s Fyre docs offer contrasts

By COLE DOUGLASS | February 3, 2019

Almost immediately after their respective releases, documentaries Fyre Fraud and Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened quickly attained a level of memetic popularity almost on the level of the titular music festival itself. Hulu’s decision to release Fyre Fraud the day before Netflix’s Fyre was slated to release quickly grabbed the internet’s attention, and the subsequent sniping between the two streaming platforms made the whole conflict even more enticing.