Girls Will Be Girls
(04/28/23 4:00am)
every episode of girls (hbo) is a aesop's fable, the moral of which is "wherever you go, there you are"
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The Fantastical Death and Rebirth of Crybaby
(04/21/23 10:00am)
Melanie Martinez has made waves in the music industry through the exploration of her alter ego Crybaby. Her debut album of the same name followed the twisted world of Crybaby as she dealt with kidnapping, murder, and aching loneliness. Martinez’s follow–up album K–12 navigates Crybaby’s school years with a full–length film being released alongside it. Martinez is dedicated to the craft of concept albums and telling a singular narrative across the entire tracklist. But her latest iteration of the character may just be her most ambitious project yet.
All the New Rage (Gallons)
(04/17/23 7:00am)
What are you doing this summer? “Oh, I’m interning at BORGan Stanley.”
No Sleep, Bus, Club, Another Club...
(04/18/23 6:13pm)
I jolt awake from my fitful, melatonin–induced nap. “¡Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!” blares the speaker in what is reminiscent of an Adam Sandler vacation movie. The book assigned as my spring reading, Ursula K. Le Guin’s anarchist science fiction Dispossessed, lays embarrassingly pristine on my lap, utterly untouched save for a marking on page five and a smear of thick five–a.m.–wake–up–call drool.
Building Community Through Creativity
(04/14/23 12:00pm)
On the night of Friday, March 24, amongst the ancient artifacts of the Penn Museum, another exhibit was on display. Leather skirts, hypnotic patterns, laced corsets, metallic makeup, and skin–tight platform boots circled the third floor of the museum. A red carpet with rose petals sprinkled about led the way into Gallery 54. The lights of the large circular room, with even higher ceilings, were dimmed. Lit candles, brightly colored orbs, and the flash of cameras served as the main sources of light. The Penn Met Gala was a night to remember.
Academia, Angst, and Adulting: Six Movies to Watch to Get Rid of Postgrad Blues
(05/19/23 5:00am)
It may be hackneyed to say this, but college really does go by in a blink of an eye. One minute you’re shading your eyes on your New Student Orientation campus tour in 95 degree heat, maybe a little hungover. Four years go by and the next moment you’re scrolling through Indeed job listings in your first apartment. One thing is certain—grappling with adulthood is hard.
From Hoops to Hollywood
(04/19/23 12:00pm)
With the Madness that was March, I was reminded of a few of my favorite basketball movies. Basketball can be really fun to watch but its entertainment isn’t always guaranteed. A basketball movie, on the other hand, is essentially required to be entertaining. In terms of sports movies, you're bound to find a simple thrill anywhere you look within the genre, but I would argue that the basketball movie has the most to offer out of the bunch. There’s more than your average biopic or family–oriented redemption story, and even when the basketball movies employ those common conventions, they can still often prove to be novel or meaningful in some way. With that in mind, here are some basketball movies are either culturally significant or grossly overlooked in the popular conversation.
Practically Picture–Perfect: The Problems with CGI
(04/12/23 7:00am)
“Run. Run!” shouts Anna Torv’s Tess in episode 2 of The Last of Us. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) scrambles away, army—crawling out of the path of a rampaging, fungus—mottled zombie. She hides, waits for Joel (Pedro Pascal), and breathes shakily. And the second the two of them make a noise, the zombie comes at them again. Its face was clearly once human, but is now overrun by a fan–like pattern of mushrooms. Its colors, albeit muted in the dim light, are a fantastic mix of blues, oranges, and beiges, all toeing the line between believable naturalness and the disturbing unnaturalness of the undead. Its fungal gills, though made of liquid silicone or rubber, look like they grew deep in a haunted forest. If it wasn’t so terrifying, it would almost be beautiful.
What could Possibly be Wrong about Netflix?
(06/02/23 1:33pm)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, The Gray Man, or earlier, Red Notice—these are what Netflix co–chief Ted Sarandos termed as “big event films” and supposedly represent the company’s (I hate to call it a film studio) path forward under a “bigger, better, fewer” refrain after its shocking earnings disclosure last April that resulted in a significant stock value loss. Deliciously packaged and advertised, these “big event films,” however, distressingly stand in every possible way at the opposite of the cinematic art, and I’m not comparing them to esoteric, erudite arthouse productions. Being innovative is an excessively high standard; they’re just not interesting or even entertaining.
The Season Finale of 'The Last of Us' Made All of Us Freak Out
(04/21/23 10:07pm)
Warning: This piece contains spoilers for the season finale of The Last of Us.
The Agony and Ecstasy of Growing Up
(05/08/23 4:00am)
Dolly Alderton knows what she's talking about when it comes to adulthood—or at least what we've come to consider #adulting. Everything I Know About Love is a collection of diary entries, recipes, anecdotes, and ironic reflections of what she learned about parties, dates, work, life, and—most importantly—love in her adolescence and early twenties.
Shakira Teaches a Master Class in the Art of the Revenge Song
(04/09/23 5:34pm)
Revenge songs are not new in the music industry, and neither is Shakira. Music Session #53, Shakira’s newest collaboration with BZRP, exists in the intersection between revenge songs and Shakira’s essence—and it is a song birthed from her long–term partner Pique's alleged infidelity.
Frogs and Flowers: Exploring the Sculptures of Rittenhouse Square
(04/10/23 7:00am)
It’s 5:30 p.m. on the first 60–degree day in March, and Rittenhouse Square is packed. People just getting off work walk their leashed dogs, ranging from tiny white designer ones to mutts that reach my hip. Parents push strollers as children run around without jackets for the first time in months, while friends sit on benches tagged, “In Memorial Of.” An artist rests with his back against the fence, willing passersby to purchase the paintings that sit alongside him. Another plays the flute.
Writing a New Chapter with the Adroit Journal
(04/05/23 4:00am)
When high school students envision Penn, they don’t often think of the arts as being an integral force on campus. The preprofessional track, the competitive environment, and the strong engineering and Wharton schools likely take precedence in their minds. However, the legacy of Peter LaBerge (C '17), founder of The Adroit Journal, continues to grow as more high school students apply to Penn through his influence as a graduate of Penn’s renowned English program.
Rewatching 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' in the Dawn of Asian American Cinema
(04/03/23 4:00am)
Two years ago, during the 20th anniversary of the stone–cold classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee pondered how his sweeping epic had come to be. He realized that when deciding between making an action movie or a drama, he chose both. “I wanted it all,” Lee told Entertainment Weekly. “I didn’t realize I was upgrading a B–movie to A.”
The Hidden Nature of Assault at Penn
(04/12/23 1:00pm)
Content warning: The following text describes assault and can be disturbing and/or triggering for some readers. Please find resources listed at the bottom of the article.
Kali Uchis' Spiritual and Sensual Journey in “Red Moon in Venus”
(03/29/23 12:00pm)
Hot girl summer came early thanks to Miss Kali Uchis. Her third studio album—Red Moon in Venus, released on March 3—is classically her: sultry and airy vocals, stocked with the most relevant features in the industry, such as Omar Apollo, Summer Walker, and her boyfriend Don Toliver. Isolation traditionalists fear not—Red Moon in Venus takes after her revolutionary debut album. She doesn’t shy away from her highly feminine and spiritually sexy powers, which has effectively altered her listeners, colloquially called Kuchis. Multiple TikTok users claim they have glowed up after listening to Uchis, called “the Kali Uchis effect,” with proof to support it.
Cocaine Bear: A Tale of Revenge
(04/04/23 10:51pm)
The latest addition to the “Good for Her'' cinematic universe comes from an unlikely source. Alongside Midsommar’s Dani and Knives Out’s Marta, Cocaine Bear stands tall against the people trying to take her down. Now, the female protagonist is getting exactly what she wants: an insane amount of cocaine. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, the comedic thriller lives up to the genre by following the misadventures of the titular cocaine bear’s interactions with (and often slaughterings of) an assortment of characters. The film leans into the absurdity of the concept and remains self–aware throughout the entirety of its 95–minute run time.
Penn Badgley and The (Un)necessity of Sex Scenes
(03/27/23 4:00am)
Content warning: The following text describes sexual harassment and can be disturbing and/or triggering for some readers. Please find resources listed at the bottom of the article.
'Everything Everywhere All at Once' is the Pinnacle of Absurdist Comedy
(03/31/23 12:00am)
At this year’s Oscars, the hit movie Everything Everywhere All at Once absolutely swept the house with seven total wins. Perhaps one of the most important moments was Michelle Yeoh being awarded the “Best Actress” title, becoming the first Asian woman to win this award after her well–rounded performance. As with any powerhouse win, this received both admiration and admonition by critics. Yet, above all criticism, one truth prevails: This movie gave a voice to experiences of deep rooted generational trauma and healing in a way that left viewers laughing, crying, and experiencing everything in between. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a new, stunning example of absurdist comedy as a dynamic and versatile genre.
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