Since 2013鈥檚 鈥淔rozen,鈥� Disney has demonstrated a conscious attempt at steering toward material with greater socio-political significance, shedding the archetypal characters of Western medieval romances and diversifying their stories. Who says the damsel in distress needs a dashing knight-errant? ...
The artist documentary appears to be a deceptively simple concept. It鈥檚 all too easy to assume that if you follow a superstar around with a camera for long enough, you鈥檒l stumble upon depth and greatness.聽 Take Shawn Mendes鈥� 鈥淚n Wonder鈥� from earlier this year. What was marketed as a revealing ...
Earnest but often unrealistic, Amy Poehler鈥檚 鈥淢oxie鈥� misses the mark on its attempt to communicate revolutionary feminism within a modern high school.聽 Based on the young adult novel by Jennifer Matheiu, the recent Netflix original film 鈥淢oxie,鈥� released March 3, tells the story of Vivian ...
Written and directed by Chlo茅 Zhao, 鈥淣omadland'' is a simultaneously intimate and effusive meditation on the stratum of unsettled Americans. These nomads are often flippantly deemed the outcome of some sort of failure, be it economic dissolution or domestic upheaval. Zhao鈥檚 film challenges this ...
Why do we love to watch sociopaths? The ordinary couch potato would likely run for the hills if they were to knowingly pass by one on the street, and yet we can鈥檛 seem to look away from them on-screen. 鈥淚 Care A Lot,鈥� directed by J Blakeson, suspects our corporatized culture may have something ...
鈥淢inari鈥� opens with the American heartland flitting past the inquisitive faces of 6-year-old David (newcomer Alan S. Kim) and his older sister, Anne (Noel Kate Cho). The young boy eventually dozes off, but the mother, Monica (Yeri Han), wears an expression of growing unease as she drives the beat-up ...
Virginia Woolf wasn鈥檛 very online. Neither was Jane Austen, nor Joan Didion. Even Zadie Smith, who started writing after the internet鈥檚 inception, has sworn off Twitter. To be an author is to remove yourself from the Discourse 鈥� the chorus of opinions and commentary circulating throughout media ...
From the opening notes of Ignorance, the album is a culmination of Tamara Lindeman鈥檚 musical efforts. Using an avant-garde blend of jazz and folk, Toronto-based Lindeman has produced a piece of work that perfectly encapsulates the often harsh realities of present-age climate anxieties.聽 Formed in ...
With no end in sight to COVID-19, K-pop luminaries are offering some long-awaited escapist relief from pandemic doldrums with two of the biggest female soloists in the industry, HyunA and IU, returning with a heartfelt embrace of selfhood and all its imperfections. HyunA鈥檚 seventh Mini-Album 鈥淚鈥檓 ...
In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart tried to define a legal threshold for detecting pornography: 鈥淚 know it when I see it,鈥� he wrote. Yet the average American television watcher these days doesn鈥檛 have the luxury of Justice Stewart鈥檚 discerning eye, and the border between intimate ...
Released on Feb. 5, South Korean girl group Aespa鈥檚 second single 鈥淔orever鈥� is a sweet, polished rendition of SM Entertainment Songwriter and Producer Yoo Young-jin鈥檚 early 2000s original. The soft ballad鈥檚 late-winter feel is a distinct change from Aespa鈥檚 debut single 鈥淏lack Mamba,鈥� ...
In July 2020, Taylor Swift released her surprise album, 鈥渇olklore,鈥� which became the saving grace of an otherwise tragic year for many fans. Refreshingly different from her recent pop albums, 鈥渇olklore鈥� combined indie-folk with Swift鈥檚 trademark country narrative to form an enduring and authentic ...
Maggie Rogers appeared on the music scene seemingly overnight. Blink and you probably would have missed it. As the story goes, she got her big break in a master class session with Pharell Williams at New York University鈥檚 Clive Davis Institute where she played a recording of the now-hit song 鈥楢laska鈥� ...
If you haven鈥檛 heard her on the radio or listened to her talk show, you鈥檝e probably seen her picture online, crying, fainting or smirking. Wendy Williams, the radio shock jock turned daytime talk show host turned everlasting meme, reports on celebrities while being one herself. The weight those ...
Twenty-year-old Arlo Parks released her first full length album Jan. 27, 鈥淐ollapsed in Sunbeams,鈥� a beautiful series of reflections on love, hope and hopelessness. 鈥淚 wanted to create an avalanche of imagery,鈥� the British singer-songwriter said in an interview with Apple Music. 鈥淚鈥檝e always ...
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ramin Bahrani (鈥淢an Push Cart,鈥� 鈥淐hop Shop,鈥� 鈥�99 Homes鈥�), 鈥淭he White Tiger鈥� is a darkly satirical rags-to-riches tale that reveals the ugliness behind India鈥檚 entrenched social hierarchy and explores the underdog鈥檚 retaliation against the inequitable ...
The 2021 return of Saturday Night Live featured first-time host John Krasinski 鈥�01 and musical guest Machine Gun Kelly for a refreshing episode on Jan. 30. Krasinski was originally scheduled to host in March 2020 to coincide with the release of his film 鈥淎 Quiet Place Part II,鈥� but his hosting ...
Why do Americans worship at the altar of the tortured genius? 鈥淭he Queen鈥檚 Gambit,鈥� written and directed by Scott Frank and released last October, answers this question and more in a strikingly gripping fashion.聽 Perhaps we demand an explanation 鈥� or better yet a sacrifice 鈥� for greatness, ...
On Feb. 25, 1964, the budding Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) defeated Sonny Liston to earn the title of heavyweight boxing champion in an upset victory. After Clay鈥檚 astounding win, NFL star fullback Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) envisioned that the two would go to a luxury hotel to celebrate the victory with ...
It feels like there are more movies about New York City than there are inhabitants. It seems there is no subject (save love) that has been discussed in media as much as Manhattan. Still, Martin Scorsese, a native New Yorker and director of many New York films, can鈥檛 seem to get enough. In his new ...
