Category: Entertainment

 

The 91st Academy Awards aired on February 24th, 2019.

The show opened in a way it never has before, as Brian May wrote on his Instagram, “…in an avalanche of excitement, looking out on an instant standing ovation from a glittering audience…” Queen, accompanied by Adam Lambert opened the show with a medley of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions,” with a beautiful Freddie Mercury montage to close the performance.

Even though Queen played “We Are The Champions,” neither the band members or the cast of the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, could’ve guessed how true those words would ring to be.

Continuing the pattern of endless nominations and wins this season, Bohemian Rhapsody went home with the most awards, including, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, and the revered award for Best Actor.

Rami Malek, who played a brilliant Freddie Mercury, won and by doing so, made history by becoming the first man of Arab descent to win an Oscar for Best Actor. In his acceptance speech, he said, “I am the son of immigrants from Egypt. I’m a first generation American and part of my story is being written right now.”

Malek’s story, ever so inspiring, similar to that of Mercury’s, is being written right now. And to me, it wouldn’t be surprising if, in thirty years or so, a biopic centered around Malek’s life is produced as he will go down in history and his name remembered for years to come.

Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t the only film to home with lots of awards, let alone to have an abundance of nominations. Both The Favourite and Roma had the most nominations with a total of ten, with A Star Is Born and Vice following closely behind with eight each, Black Panther with seven, and BlackKklansman and Bohemian Rhapsody tied with five nominations.

Green Book, a biographical comedy-drama, took home the esteemed award for Best Picture. Green Book is inspired by the true story of a Jamaican-American classical and jazz pianist, Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), and his Italian-American bodyguard, Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) on a music tour in the Deep South. Ali won Best Supporting Actor for his role.

As for Best Actress, Olivia Colman took home the esteemed award for her depiction of Anne, Queen of Great Britain in The Favourite. This was a big topic of discussion as Colman was completely ignored at the The Golden Globes and other award shows despite her brilliant performance in The Favourite.

Another notable win was Regina King for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Sharon Rivers in If Beale Street Could Talk. In her acceptance speech, she gave a heartfelt thank you to her mother, that brought the audience, and me, near tears.

Another big topic of discussion was Spike Lee’s award for Best Adapted Screenplay as a co-winner for BlacKkKlansman. BlacKkKlansman was based on the book by Ron Stallworth and was adapted into a screenplay by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, and Spike Lee.

Spike Lee’s co-win proved to be a bigger deal than expected due to the fact that it was his first competitive Oscar win. Since 1989 with the release of his film, Do The Right Thing, he has been nominated for five Oscars, yet never won any until this year.

Unsurprisingly, this year’s Best Animated Feature Film was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Grossing more than $360 million worldwide on a $90 million dollar budget, Spider-Man quickly rose to the top of the charts. The film dominated the world as a fan favorite and became celebrated by many for its diversity and atypical depiction of superheroes.

And to hopefully put to rest the one song none of us could escape this past awards season, “Shallow” from A Star is Born took home the award for Best Original Song. The live performance by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sparked lots of conversation as the two looked deeply in love, inching closer throughout the song, begging for tabloids to put it on the front page.

Alfonso Cuaron was also a big winner of the night and won the awards for Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Cinematography, all for his film Roma.

Notable presenters of the night included Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph, Serena Williams, John Mulaney, Barbra Streisand, Julia Roberts, and many more.

Lots of changes were made prior to this year’s Oscars in an effort to increase viewership in contradiction to last years ceremony which had the lowest views in the history of the Academy Awards with less than half of the 57.25 million viewers of the 70th Academy Awards in 1998.

The Academy also announced its plans to create a new category honoring achievements in “Popular Film.” This announcement faced a lot of backlash as it seemed like it would target big blockbuster films in comparison to art house films and other non-mainstream pictures. Many critics claimed it to be a ploy to boost ratings and as the Academy’s desperate grasp at relevancy.

More changes the Academy wanted to make before the show consisted of making efforts to shorten the ceremony, like having only certain nominees for Best Original Song be performed live and having the presentation for awards like Best Cinematography, Best Live Action Short Film, Best Film Editing, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling during commercial breaks. Yet again, the Academy’s attempt at change faced massive backlash by big names like Guillermo del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, and Alfonso Cuaron.

Because of such tremendous backlash, the Academy Awards withdrew their previous announcements and the changes were not applied to the 91st ceremony.

The Academy wanted the 91st Academy Awards to break boundaries, to pull in more viewership, and with terrible decision after terrible decision to try and accomplish both, they certainly did just that.

For the first time in history since the 61st Academy Awards in 1989, the Oscars aired without a host. But it wasn’t supposed to be like that.

In October 2018, the Academy asked Dwayne Johnson, Hollywood’s highest-paid actor, to host the ceremony, as another attempt to increase the audience. It ultimately didn’t work out as Johnson’s filming schedule for the Jumanji sequel got in the way.

The Academy then contemplated having a different host for each of the three hours, but that idea was quickly shot down. Next, the Academy announced that comedian Kevin Hart would host the ceremony, and all was well—for about fifteen minutes.

Quickly after the announcement, a controversy emerged when past jokes and comments made by Hart, containing homophobic and anti-gay slurs, resurfaced. He withdrew from the position two days after the original announcement saying he didn’t want to be a “distraction”.

After the Hart debacle, previous Oscar hosts like Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Rock, and Jimmy Kimmel unsurprisingly expressed no interest in hosting the show. On January 9th, 2019, the final decision to air without a host was made.

As for this year’s exact ratings, the American telecast drew 29.6 million viewers, a 12% increase in viewership compared to the 2018 ceremony.

Even through the ups and downs of this award season, the Oscars still prevailed as one of Hollywood’s biggest nights and entertained millions across the country.

 

 

This playlist is perfect for when you just need to sit back and breathe after a long, stressful week. With string-heavy sounds of Lauryn Hill to smooth beats of island reggae from Fiji, this playlist is sure to help you unwind. R&B and Soul based, I hand picked each song to ensure a perfect fit for this playlist.

1. Flex by Playboi Carti (feat. Leven Kali)
2. Japanese Denim by Daniel Caesar
3. Don’t Touch My Hair by Solange (feat. Sampha)
4. C U Girl by Steve Lacy
5. Morning Ride by Fiji
6. Thursday by Leven Kali
7. I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind by Lauryn Hill
8. Focus by H.E.R.
9. Girl by The Internet (feat. KAYTRANADA)
10. Lost by Frank Ocean
11. Blue Lights by Jorja Smith
12. Gonna Love Me by Teyana Taylor

 

 

 

Asylum

By Helen Pan

The turbulent rain misted about,

cars zoomed across chasing their route.

The shadow watched, perched upon the window sill,

the breeze, so strong, bringing a sudden chill.

 

Drip, rip, the leak in the ceiling,

the hardwood floors, offered sounds of squealing.

The shadow watched, as the snail fought the storm,

It slugs across the wood, trying to find a place of warm.

 

The cars became less and less,

as people were trying to reach their address.

The snail now, half across the sill,

the storm becomes rougher and rougher, no longer tranquile.

 

Drip Drip Drip, the storm becomes violent,

the shadow waits, as the house is silent.

A strong gust of wind comes out the play,

carrying the snail with it, away away.

 

The Longest Word I Could Think Of For a Haiku

By Esther Shackelford

Hippopotamus

Waded deep in the water

Bubbles from nostrils

Ariana Grande’s long awaited album thank u, next was released on February 8, 2019, and with it came a music video to one of the album’s new songs, “break up with your girlfriend i’m bored.” The video was a seductive, dramatic, and unexpected (but not unwanted) surprise for fans everywhere, but it’s mixed messages are stirring troubling accusations for the pop star.

In the video, Ariana is seen at a fancy Hollywood party up in the hills, eyeing an attractive couple before being invited to join them on the dance floor. Grande’s behavior, the visuals, as well as the lyrics, lends viewers to believe that Ariana is after the guy, but in the last two seconds of the video, Ariana appears to go after the woman instead.

Some believe the video was a way of Ariana coming out as bisexual to her fans, while others have criticizing the video as “queer-baiting” and using hints at LGBTQ themes as a way of drawing attention. The most widely believed theme of the video, however, is that of self love.

Based on the song’s title, implied message, and dramatic visuals, I understand those who believed Ariana was going for the guy and that the ending plot twist could have been a potential coming out. Even if I disagree, those who offered this interpretation were not unkind towards the suggestion, so I find it easy to forgive and move on.

I was startled to hear people’s claim that Ariana was “queer-baiting” audiences, but I can’t take the accusation lightly. If she was, in fact, using her connection to the woman in the video as a ploy to appeal to audiences, then there would certainly be a huge issue for Ariana and perhaps the video would have received more explosive backlash than it already seems to be taking.

Most of the “queer-baiting” believers seem to be in understanding that queer baiting is not in fact what the video is about. The issue is the way in which Ariana went about portraying self-love, with visuals that perhaps took it a step too far in using gay themes as an illustration of self love that was interpreted as “shock value.”

The widely accepted view of the video is that the girl in the couple is in fact Ari herself, and the video is only an interesting interpretation of Ariana looking to fulfill self-love. Ariana’s message to “break up with your girlfriend / because i’m bored” is aimed at herself, telling her to break up with her boyfriend as a means to focus on loving herself.

Aside from “thank u next” and “7 rings,” which were released prior to the album drop as standout singles, the trap beat and R&B undertones of “break up with your girlfriend i’m bored” make it one of the strongest on the album, and perhaps one of Grande’s best. And as with anything in pop culture, the song’s meaning is up to individual interpretation. Regardless of whether or not everyone agrees with Ariana Grande’s expression of self-love, the song’s place on the Top Songs Chart is certainly well-earned and well-deserved.

 

On January 10th, 2019, the first episode of American sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine aired on NBC and received the highest ratings it had since 2016. Millions of families and friends gathered together and tuned in to see NBC’s revamp of the original FOX show.

This past May, FOX Broadcasting revealed they had canceled Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a cop show with a diverse and lovable cast set in Brooklyn, NY, and didn’t think much would come from it. This, however, was not the case.

In a span of a little more than twenty-four hours, Brooklyn Nine-Nine went from being canceled, to being heroically rescued not only by NBC, but by the millions of outraged fans, including big names like Guillermo del Toro, Mark Hamill, Lin Manuel Miranda, and many more.

By picking up Brooklyn Nine-Nine for a 13-episode sixth season, NBC saved one of the best shows airing today and a fan-favorite all around the world. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an incredibly important show for all kinds of people.

When it broke out that NBC was picking up Brooklyn Nine-Nine, many comedy and sitcom fans cheered for more than one reason. Not only was a spectacular show being saved, but it was being saved by sitcom (master) NBC. Parks and Recreation, The Office, Friends, Seinfeld, Superstore, and The Good Place, are just a few of the iconic sitcoms NBC has produced, and at long last, Brooklyn Nine-Nine gets to join them.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn’t like other cop shows on television. It skips out on the gore and intensity and instead plays up comedic aspects and twisted relationships, all with the interesting complexity of crime in New York as its backdrop.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has an incredibly diverse cast, full of complex and lovable characters. It’s also been acknowledged that each and every possible relationship between characters has been exercised and shown throughout its first five seasons.

By saying it appeals to the LGBT community, I am mostly referring to Captain Raymond Holt, the out and proud leader of the Nine-Nine, and Detective Rosa Diaz, the mysterious, black-clad bisexual hero.

When I refer to Rosa Diaz as a hero, I mean she’s my hero. Growing up, I never saw anyone like me on television or movies. Especially as someone who is biracial, Caucasian and Mexican, and bisexual, I never saw representation or characters that I related to. That all changed in 2013 when I sat down to watch the pilot episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Rosa Diaz is a strong, complex, intelligent woman that I aspire to be like. Brooklyn Nine-Nine showed her struggle with coming out and having a less than supportive family when she did, but by having such great friends in the Nine-Nine, she felt safe and free to be herself.

Portrayed by actress Stephanie Beatriz, who, at the time of the season’s filming, was going through her own coming out story to the public as bisexual, Rosa plays a key role in Brooklyn Nine-Nine that is both realistic and thoughtful.

Overall, Brooklyn Nine-Nine continues to be a funny, lovable, and important show not only to me, members of the LGBT community, but to people all around the world. I believe Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the greatest sitcoms aired since Parks and Recreation and I can’t wait to see what NBC has in store next for my beloved precinct.

Tarot cards have long been a way of using intuition and astrology to read the future and present of questions and life situations.

To begin a basic understanding of tarot, it’s important to know that traditional decks are composed of a major arcana and a minor arcana. The major arcana cards are usually considered more significant if they show up in a reading considering there are only 22 of these as opposed to the 56 total minor arcana cards. When just starting out as a reader, one should familiarize themselves with the traditional meanings of the major arcana first. As you learn more about the meanings of different cards, it’ll become easier to intuitively read as well as take meaning from the pictures on the cards and tailor your reading to the situation. It’s also important to learn what the suits of the minor arcana symbolize.

A large part of tarot is rooted in astrology and certain metaphysical topics. To fully grasp all the elements of tarot, one should work on their knowledge and understanding of astrology. Certain cards in traditional decks are also symbolized by zodiac signs and planets. Knowing which sign is associated with a card can help further determine the energy of a reading and/or who is involved. Astrology is also useful in tarot if using cards for timing purposes in which case knowing which sign the card represents will tell you between what dates or which season something may happen. The minor arcana can also represent the four seasons with wands as summer, pentacles as fall, cups as spring, and swords as winter.

Another important facet of tarot is shuffling and selecting the cards. It’s important to note that if cards show up in the reverse position, there are different meanings than the upright. These meanings aren’t always the exact opposite of the upright, though. For example, the star card in upright is a symbol of hope, wishes, and creativity. In the reverse it tends to mean some difficulty with getting a project off the ground as well as a creative or mental block. Different readers shuffle their card differently but a common way is to do so in your hand quickly so that a card meant for you may fall out on its own. If you’re shuffling and one or two cards fall or fly out on their own, it’s a good sign from the universe that those cards are important. One can choose to select cards however they’d like, whether that be from in a row off the top or out of a full deck spread out. Some readers believe that the card left on the bottom of the deck is symbolic of the main overall energy of a reading.

Personalizing the experience in other ways depends on your beliefs and what you feel is best to ground your energy for a reading. Many use crystals, candles, prayers, and incense to get in the right zone, but it’s not always necessary for a good reading.

A great way to learn card meanings, new interpretations, and techniques is by getting your own cards read on YouTube using “pick a card” videos. There’s a large community on YouTube composed of tarot readers creating videos based on all types of life questions that can help teach meanings of cards when combined or based on love or money. These videos can be quite helpful if someone’s having trouble interpreting specific cards or if just starting out and needing an audio-visual learning experience.

Every year Hollywood’s finest gathers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for a night of entertainment, fine dining, and nerve-wracking competition to decide who gets to go home with the esteemed award.

This years hosts were SNL alumni and star of NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Andy Samberg, and the revered Sandra Oh, mostly known for her performance on Grey’s Anatomy. This year Oh was the winner of the Best Actress in a TV Drama award.

As for Best Motion Picture, fan-favorite and critic-catastrophe, Bohemian Rhapsody, took home the gold. This became a sudden topic of discussion as the biopic has been consistently under fire for its queer erasure.

Throughout the film neon lights and longing stares were apparently enough to equate for queer representation, and while this was almost more than enough, and not too displeasing for straight viewers, the queer audience shifted in their seats uncomfortably; conflicted because there were heavy tones and faded subplot lines that almost worked, but still didn’t quite meet the mark.

When Freddie officially addresses his bisexuality in the film, he is promptly corrected by Mary Austin (his then fiancee), “Freddie, you’re gay.” This was a key moment in the film, for its what caused the deep rift between Mercury and Austin and forever changed the nature of their relationship, but it also caused a rift between Bohemian Rhapsody and its queer audience. By diminishing Mercury’s self-identification, Bohemian also decimated any idea of bisexuality validation and representation in the film.

While Bohemian struggled with proper representation, the other nominations for Best Motion Picture oozed diversity. The runner ups, BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, and If Beale Street Could Talk, all had dominantly African-American casts, which isn’t something you see very often at American awards shows.

Seeing the nominations prior to the show almost led one to believe major change was taking place, and while its definitely in the works, the film industry has a long way to go, in more ways than one.

Harriet Hall of the Independent had her own idea of what was the worst part of the 2019 Golden Globes. And it wasn’t Bohemian’s win that upset her, it was the ever-deteriorating percentage of established female-directors and the ever-growing male dominance in the industry.

Hall wrote that all was well in the “pale, male and stale film industry,” it was elsewhere, like usual, that the problems lied. Men left the Golden Globes with all of the frontrunners; Best Drama, Best Musical or Comedy (Peter Farrelly’s Green Book), Best Director (Alfonso Cuaron for Roma), Best Screenplay (Green Book) and Best Foreign Language film (Roma).

And while there’s other awards that women happened to win, and they matter too, we can’t pretend they’re as equally mentionable and honorable as Best Drama, Best Picture, and Best Director.

Hall closed her piece with a powerful statement: “Thank goodness women were there [at the Golden Globes] to stand up for themselves—because its clear no one else will.” If nothing else, this years Golden Globes reiterated once again that the film industry has a long way to go before women and people of color alike receive equal standing.