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Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0 Actress Zazie Beetz stars as Sam in new sports drama film High Flying Bird.

New sports drama High Flying Bird soars high on Netflix

By CHRISTIAN HELGESON | February 14, 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. 

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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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.

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

Ariana Grande’s newest tattoo typo sparked controversy online

By RUDY MALCOM | February 7, 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!

New Sylvia Plath short story published

By CARVER BAIN | February 7, 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. 

COURTESY OF COLE DOUGLASS Mecca Verdell performs at the Black Heritage Celebration last Friday.

Black Heritage Celebration opens with local poets

By COLE DOUGLASS | February 7, 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.

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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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. 

Ferran/CC BY-2.0 James Blake’s new album Assume Form showcases his new Los Angeles style

James Blake assumes new form with Assume Form

By NIKITA SHTARKMAN | February 1, 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.

Netflix and Hulu’s Fyre docs offer contrasts

By COLE DOUGLASS | January 31, 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.

Richard Goldschmidt/ CC BY-3.0 Actress Sandra Bullock shines in the lead role of new Netflix movie Birdbox

Bird Box does not live up to the expectations of its meme form

By CATE TURNER | January 31, 2019

Bird Box, a post-apocalyptic Netflix original starring Sandra Bullock, suffered an unfortunate fate that seems to befall more and more projects everyday: It became popular as a meme before it was respected as a film. Based off a relatively successful novel of the same name by Josh Malerman, the film set out with high hopes that were met with mediocre critic reviews. However, because of its massive internet popularity, the film did very well amongst Netflix users, and its 15 minutes of fame undoubtedly brought Bird Box the success it needed. 

Courtesy of Rudy Malcom Roxane Gay discussed her opinions on race and privilege at Loyola on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

Author Roxane Gay speaks at Loyola for MLK, Jr., Convocation

By JACOB TOOK | January 31, 2019

Anyone who knows me knows that Roxane Gay is my favorite writer. She sits atop the list of people I would invite to a fantasy dinner party, followed by Serena Williams and Jaden Smith. I sometimes wonder about the nature of her oft-subtweeted nemesis. And I’ve now heard her live more than any of my favorite musical acts — which is to say, twice.

Thank You, Dad probes Jonestown cult

By NOAH JOHNSON | January 31, 2019

While there have always been individuals who idolize prominent criminals of the past and present, the fascination with cult leaders and other violent people from the 20th century has become more and more mainstream. This increase in popularity has been greatly aided by the focus that pop culture has placed on the crimes of the past. Netflix specials are made about strings of murders that are over a decade old; television shows have entire seasons focused on the rise of a cult in today’s social climate; and internet shows explore unsolved mysteries from the past century. 

Gage Skidmore/CC by-SA 2.0 Shameik Moore at SDCC 2018 discussing his role as Miles in the successful “Into the Spider-Verse.”

Into the Spider-Verse breaks Marvel’s usual mold

By KATHARINE LEE | January 31, 2019

After years of putting out cookie-cutter superhero movies, Marvel finally brings its audience something new with their latest animated hit, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Despite making yet another Spider-Man movie, the writers of Into the Spider-Verse somehow deliver a superhero movie unlike any other. 

Batiste Safont/CC-BY-SA.20 The 1975’s new album release A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships propels them forward.

The 1975’s new album: emotionally honest and musically mature

By EVELYN YEH | December 6, 2018

The most fitting word that represents The 1975’s new album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, is one that the band explicitly uses in a song title: sincerity. Put simply, the record is sincerity in the form of a vast assortment of sounds that fit together peculiarly well. A Brief Inquiry distinctly shows The 1975’s maturation: It is the band’s first major release after frontman Matty Healy’s stint in rehab for heroin addiction.

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