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.
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!
Joji’s concert at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C., as part of his Pandemonium tour, was full of as many dramatic musical performances as fun comedic interludes.
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.
The Barnstormers’ performance of Witness for the Prosecution is a thrilling experience which implicates the audience as jury members in an authentic murder mystery.
Arts & Entertainment Editor Timothy McShea sits down with one of the JHU Gospel Choir’s publicity chairs, Bethy Belai, to discuss the beauty and sense of community in worshipping through art.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
On the third day of Hoptoberfest, the Hopkins Student Organization for Programming (HOP) puts on a “Show Day,“ featuring student groups such as Korean Pop Motion (KPM) and the JHU Yong Han Lion Dance Troupe.
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.
Can you feel that? The leaves are turning orange, the air is getting a bit chilly and Kevin Feige is knocking on your door letting you know there is another Marvel Studios release. Time to blow the dust off my Disney+ account to watch Loki's season two premiere.
This weeks picks include singer-songwriter Sampha’s new album Lahai; internet personality Ziwe’s literary debut with Black Friend: Essays; Flashback, directed by Jed Shepherd and Everyman Theatre’s first performance of The Chinese Lady.
Drake continues to follow his own formula with his newest album For All the Dogs, which was released this past Friday, Oct. 6. Lacking creativity and cohesion, Drake once again fails to deliver a true classic album.
DBH is a theater company that produces “cultural expressions of African descent into play, skits, monologues, poetry recitals and dance presentations.” Unique to itself, DBH is the only theater company on campus whose main focus is on representing Black identity and communicating their experience through art.
There’s something special about the excitement of a theater minutes before the lights go down. People are flipping through the programs or chatting with their friends, and theater group members are doing their last checks and preparations before showtime. You can never know for sure exactly what kind of show you’re going to be in for.
In a cinema landscape where almost every horror film is a metaphor, it becomes slightly disappointing when a film doesn’t execute its messages well, or when it fails to land on any message at all. Regardless of its muddy themes, Bishal Dutta’s feature film directorial debut, It Lives Inside, puts a twist on the possession horror film archetype by following an Indian-American teenage girl’s experience with an evil spirit from Hindu mythology.
