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The 14th Annual SLAM Benefit and Showcase: DJ Got US Slammin’ hosted by the Hopkins SLAM Hip Hop Dance Group filled Shriver Hall with energy and zeal on Nov. 12. With the stage extravagantly decorated by iconic SLAM colored balloons, the showcase this year not only celebrated the diverse dance groups around the DMV area but SLAM’s 20th anniversary as well.
For some welcome distractions from the busyness of midterms, look no further than diverse range of releases slated for this week!
As the weather begins to plummet and Thanksgiving Break approaches, the stress induced by the mere thought of impending midterms threatens to overwhelm me. Yes, I could study, but when I saw Enola Holmes 2 was released on Oct. 27, I had to carve two hours out of my schedule to watch it.
Over the first weekend of November, the Barnstormers presented playwright William Inge’s Pulitzer-winning play Picnic at the Arellano Theatre. Written in 1953 and set in a small Kansas town, Picnic is a touching coming-of-age story about love and passion — both young and old.
There is plenty to explore in the arts this week! The incredibly successful Japanese anime One Piece Film: Red plays in American theaters, and Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is this week’s revival film at the Senator Theatre. The much-awaited Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also opens in theaters this week!
104 years after the armistice of World War I, all veterans have long past and their memories are left to the history books. Having lived in peacetime my whole life, my concept of war is very abstract, so I expected the war movie, All Quiet on the Western Front, to be a fun action-packed watch. However, I quickly realized that this was a very grim film. All Quiet on the Western Front, released on Oct. 28, is a German anti-war film that brings the reality of war back into its horrific focus.
It was 8 p.m. on the Saturday of Halloweekend, and the Arellano Theatre was buzzing with a bright, relaxed energy as the audience waited for the show to start. I saw a few familiar faces in the crowd, and I wasn’t surprised. The beauty of improv is that you never know what to expect each time, and the comic chaos that the Buttered Niblets (Nibs for short) create on stage every show keeps you coming back for more.
It turns out that I was wrong in thinking that the most exciting Mudd 26 could get was a Breaking Bad reference in the middle of an organic chemistry lecture. Behind those same squeaking doors, in front of that same projector and chalkboard, Hopkins Rocky Horror held a midnight performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Oct. 29 that took the cake.
As the semester chugs along, don’t forget to take out some pockets of time to sit back, unwind and relax. Ushering us from October to November is a diverse assortment of releases, ranging from personal dramas to compelling horror.
To say I was excited for Netflix’s release of The School for Good and Evil on Oct. 19 is a huge understatement. It was beyond mere excitement. From a countdown starting months in advance to frantic replaying of the teaser trailer when it dropped, I was borderline obsessed.
The premise of a group of people stranded on an island is an overdone trope in modern media. However, while Triangle of Sadness is not radically different in its approach to the content, it definitely succeeds in presenting it in a way few have done before. This is primarily because of its extensive focus on power dynamics before the characters get stranded. In fact, the ‘stranded on an island’ storyline only composes the last third of the film.
What can we do when language fails to bridge our thoughts with each other? As the son of an immigrant mother who was illiterate, this is an ongoing question Vietnamese American writer Ocean Vuong returns to in his poems, essays and novels. His work centers around communication, as if with each poem, he reimagines ways to streamline his emotions.
In what may arguably be one of the biggest album releases of the year, Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album Midnights was released on Oct. 21. The 13 tracks depict “sleepless nights” from across Swift’s life, drawing on her strong storytelling skills and sharp lyricism.
I have never understood the hype surrounding Shakespeare’s infamous play, Romeo and Juliet. Personally, I’ve always found it to be a long-winded, pompous display of iambic pentameter spouted by two-dimensional and horrendously stupid protagonists. I am convinced that if some author today, not in 1597, tried to publish this same play, nothing would come of it. It would never be put to print or taken to the stage.
Anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles has clearly never seen Apocalypse Now. Directed by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola (director of The Godfather trilogy), Apocalypse Now is epic in all proportions and stands out even among the greatest of war films. There is no aspect of the film — from its production to the very fact that it was actually completed — that isn’t wildly fascinating.
Believe it or not, fall break is upon us — though only after we’ve finished three more days of classes. But then we’ll all finally have a moment to breathe, sleep and really sleep. Thankfully it’s an exciting week for releases across the board, especially with a much-anticipated album from a certain singer-songwriter who needs no introduction.
Marvel Studios’ Werewolf by Night is a television special that was released on Disney+ on Oct. 7, and is a single-episode story about what happens when a group of monster hunters are gathered together to compete for the ownership of the magical “Bloodstone” after its previous owner passes away. However, one of the monster hunters is not who they say they are.
With Halloween just a few weeks away, if you’re like me, you’re likely on the lookout for a festive, spooky film to snuggle up and watch over a bowl of candy corn. Luckily, this October has been filled with new horror films, from Halloween Ends, the last in the Halloween trilogy, to Prey for the Devil coming out on Oct. 28. However, as someone who enjoys a milder scare, I was beyond ecstatic when I heard Disney+ was releasing a sequel to the 1993 cult classic Hocus Pocus on Sept. 30.
The week-long festivities of Hoptoberfest 2022 concluded on Oct. 8, with an exhilarating performance from Brooklyn-born rapper Desiigner at Shriver Hall. Known by his stage name Desiigner, Sidney Royel Selby III is perhaps best known amongst the Gen Z undergraduate student body for his hit debut single “Panda,” which premiered in December 2015. By May 2016, “Panda” had reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, ending a nine-week streak of “Work” by Rihanna featuring Drake.
Dimmed lights, hushed chatter, a spirited ambiance. Last Friday this was precisely what surrounded me as I settled in for Witness Theater’s 2022 Fall Showcase. Taking place in the Arellano Theater, the showcase would be featuring four student-written, produced and directed plays. I knew I’d be in for a ride. It began with a bang. From its very first words, the opening play, directed by Rafael Stamillo and written by Timothy McShea, reeled me right in. A man, calling himself Poe (Jack Webster), yells with a very specific brand of insanity as a woman, Sophie (Cassidy Wauben), stumbles upon him. Soon she meets the man in charge, Eliot (Siddharth Ananth), and the situation begins to unveil itself. These men are not who we think they are, nor are they exactly who they think they are. With a title like Eliot’s Madhouse of Poets, I thought I knew what I was getting into — but what ended up playing out rose spectacularly above those expectations. A brilliant British accent from the character Will (Aidan Alme) won’t soon be forgotten, and gags with props varying from a skull to a blue jay plushie added a delightful touch. Laughs sounded from all around as the play made light of the dangers of method acting — or perhaps, method writing. The next play, intriguingly titled Bizarre Love Quadrangle, was written by Madison Epner and co-directed by Brianna Groch and Nyore Onovae. Set during finals season, the gist goes like this: Jasper (Ander Diez) tries to convince his girlfriend Natalie (Lily Wilson) to go on a double date. With some tongue-in-cheek bribery, he eventually succeeds. And so, across the quad come Jasper’s friend Morgan (Helene Apollon) and her girlfriend Miranda (Andrea Guillén). As the two pairs meet, pandemonium immediately breaks out. They have their wires crossed — and in many more ways than one. Simply said, awkward has never been such an understatement. The breaking of the fourth wall was particularly enjoyable, and the horrors of interpersonal conflicts could not have been better illustrated. Interspersed moments of physical comedy added dynamism, while the grounded campus environment made it extra relatable. On the flip side, the third play took quite a departure from reality. Co-directed by Angala Rajasegaran and Varen Talwar and written by John Liu, Scream Slay Replay opens on a much darker note. A psychopathic killer (Jeremiah Hadwin) roams a summer camp as two campers, Jennifer (Kirsten Choi) and Billy (Yona Levine), work out their next move. Trapped in a cabin together, they're evidently at odds, with the seemingly kind-hearted Jennifer facing scathing cruelties from Billy. Gradually the reasons behind this become clear, as does the exact nature of the said camp. Initially what appears to be a horror concept takes a turn when mind-bending elements of science fiction come into play as the story progresses. There were moments of genuine shock, such as when the killer reveals himself, armed with a knife and an artfully created mask. The somewhat ambiguous ending, involving two kids (Daniel Wen and Harley Tran), twists everything on its head. Before long we had arrived at the last play, In Midair. Directed by Guillén and written by Cassandra Mitsinikos, it takes place amid the world of a traveling circus troupe. Making an escape with a bag slung over her shoulder, Erin (Annie Radin) is caught by Thalia (Hannah Kosak). Thalia makes quick work of the situation, deducing that Erin is running away — again. We soon learn that both girls are trapeze artists, with Erin relatively new to the circus. She suffers from an imposter syndrome of sorts that Thalia helps put to rest in a candid, heartfelt conversation. The performances were especially captivating, hitting the hardest when Erin reveals her vulnerabilities and the true reason she originally left home. Notably there was an impressive duality to Thalia’s character — she conveys an indomitable inner strength as a mentor to Erin, while concurrently managing to share her own insecurities truthfully and disarmingly. It was an unbelievable joy to watch these nuances play out.