Queen of Katwe refreshes familiar narrative

Queen of Katwe (2016) is a recent film based on the life of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga), a young chess champion from Uganda who was raised in the slums of Kampala. The film features critically lauded actors Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo and boasts a winning performance from newcomer Madina Nalwanga.

Festival flaunts the best of historic Pigtown

Although it rained almost all afternoon on Saturday, Oct. 8, crowds filled the streets from noon to 7 p.m. at the 15th annual Pigtown Festival. Spanning several blocks of Washington Boulevard, the festival featured live music, booths set up by local businesses and artists and a smorgasbord of street food, both pig and non-pig related.

Alloverstreet event highlights Baltimore’s art

Last Friday evening, Baltimore’s monthly artist-run art marathon, Alloverstreet, offered a wide range of exhibitions, galleries and artist talks in Station North to satiate art lovers and intrigue artistic novices.

It’s Such A Beautiful Day is packed with emotion

Poe exhibit gives a look into his world

The name Edgar Allan Poe is one tied to the city of Baltimore, as this is both the city where he lived for some years and the city where he died and was buried. “The Enigmatic Edgar A. Poe in Baltimore & Beyond” at the George Peabody Library shines a spotlight on the talented writer, placing emphasis on both his life and the impact of his work after death.

Why I spent my summer reading female authors

You Can’t Touch My Hair intersects race, feminism

If you’re anything like me, the daily coverage of this presidential election has you feeling completely exhausted. Being subjected to rhetoric entrenched in bigotry, racism, homophobia and a disregard for women’s rights and values can feel flat-out depressing, and it’s easy to fall into a pit of helplessness and despair.

Ty Dolla $ign’s take on Campaign season

Ty Dolla $ign, charismatic dread-headed king of the hook, the golden child of the west, Mr. Saves-Any-Song-With-A-Feature, dropped his ninth mixtape Campaign on Sept. 23.

JAM is hit and miss as performance, festival

Traveling in packs, students wandered past the FFC on their way to the Ralph S. O’Connor center, filtered past the security and entered JAM, the Johns Hopkins Annual Music Festival. There was a steady stream of roving students from 5 p.m. onwards. They were greeted by a gymnasium floor covered by a tarp with a raised platform and a big, curtained backstage.

Films of 2016 lack plot and variety

Movies are a living, breathing, moving art, but they’re also a business. Not only that but movies require tens to hundreds to thousands of people working on a single project. As a result, movies can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce. In light of that, for the majority of the year, when you look up what movies are playing, you sigh and search for when the next Avengers movie is coming out.

Show binds Walters Museum and Morgan State

Art and Music Bring Us Together was a concert at the Walters Art Museum focused on the sensory experience of art and music. The performers were Daniel Colin Xavier Rich, a baritone, and Samuel Springer, who played piano. The goal of the evening was to emphasize the broader connections between music and art. The concert was held in the sculpture garden at the museum. Visitors were encouraged to imagine walking through the galleries and listening to this music, as William and Henry Walters the museuem founders, and their guests might have done decades ago.

Witness showcases a mix of laughter, tears

Witness Theater, a Hopkins theater group that produces student-written plays, held its fall showcase last Friday through Sunday in Swirnow Theater. The showcase, produced by junior Renee Scavone, showed off five plays, entirely acted, directed and produced by Hopkins students. Each play was a smooth blend of creative bite and emotional energy, touching on topics both serious and light-hearted.

Zeds Dead opens Northern Lights tour in Baltimore

Canadian electronic duo, Zeds Dead, opened their lastest world tour (with shows in Canada and Europe) at Rams Head Live! this past Thursday. The duo brought Getter and Mija collaborator Ghastly with them as an opener.

The Exorcist holds up even while intoxicated

The Dandy Warhols crash and burn

When I found out I’d won tickets to see The Dandy Warhols at Rams Head Live! on Sept. 27, I was excited for the show. I mean, what could be better than free concert tickets? Plus, as an avid fan of Veronica Mars (watch it on Netflix if you haven’t already), I went through a period of several months when their song “We Used to Be Friends,” the show’s theme, was stuck in my head.

Hopkins Film Society highlights French cinema

“It’s supposed to be important,” said the upperclassman who mentioned Pierrot le Fou, the Hopkins Film Society’s choice for a movie screening in Shriver Hall on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Book festival offers students a literary retreat

“Don’t get stuck in the Hopkins bubble!” This is a phrase Hopkins students have heard over and over, one that is drilled into many heads during orientation. “That’s not going to happen to me,” most proclaim to themselves internally. Fast forward three weeks and sometimes new students don’t travel farther than the Starbucks on St. Paul Street.

Love and Darkness showcases Portman’s skill

A Tale of Love and Darkness is the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman, who is a triple threat as the film’s star, director and screenwriter. The film is based on the early life of Amos Oz, a prominent modern Israeli novelist. The film depicts his life as a young boy living in Jerusalem with his mother and father during the founding years of the State of Israel. Portman was born in Israel and returned there for the setting of this film, which has a screenplay almost entirely in Hebrew.

Murray-loving critic takes on St. Vincent