The official submission from France for the Academy Award is "Mustang" (2015), a debut movie by Director Deniz Gamze Özgüven. While representing France in the competition, the film itself is set in Northern Turkey and is in Turkish. An ambitious film that tackles conservatism, sisterhood ...
After a long metamorphosis on Steam early access, the Lovecraftian horrors of this crumbling manor are ready to be unleashed. Ancient entities of darkness have awoken, and countless brave individuals must force them back into the abyss from whence they came. "Darkest Dungeon"(2016) by Red ...
Amidst the deluge of midseason television premieres, Jennifer Lopez’s new NBC police crime drama “Shades of Blue” (2016) seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. Starring in and producing the show, Lopez is clearly the main draw, but, unfortunately, it is hard at times to praise anything other ...
If there’s one thing Alejandro González Iñárritu’s recent films do not lack, it’s vitality. Whereas “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”’s (2014) relentless pulse propelled the film to success at last year’s Academy Awards, González Iñárritu’s latest release, “The ...
Truth, as the well-worn cliche goes, is often stranger than fiction. In "Making a Murderer"(2015), a new Netflix documentary series that premiered on Dec. 18, 2015, truth and fiction are virtually indistinguishable - in more ways than one. Despite the fact that it recounts true events, the ...
Two days before his death on Jan. 10, David Bowie released “Blackstar” (2016), an experimental rock and jazz album produced by long-time collaborator Tony Visconti. Fans, critics and fellow musicians found the 25th studio album from the legendary English pop and rock star to be a welcome arrival, ...
“Are video games art?” is a question that is being asked with increasing frequency as the medium matures. The debate surrounding the artistic merits of video games is not black and white, but unfortunately often degenerates into simple comparisons between unconventional indie games made by small ...
The premise is daring: can the genesis of a mop that revolutionized the household cleaning industry and the story of the determined woman behind it make for a compelling drama? That is the gamble David O’Russell takes in "Joy" (2015), which premiered on Dec. 25, 2015. Starring Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano, the famous inventor of the Miracle Mop, the film tracks her real-life rise from de facto family matriarch to successful entrepreneur. By the film's end, we are expected to breathe a sigh of relief that Joy has traversed a rocky path to success, laden with jealous stepsisters, incompetent QVC hawkers and greedy parts suppliers. But unlike Ms. Mangano’s improbable success, that sigh doesn’t feel well-earned. The greatest failure of "Joy" is that it can’t invest the viewer in any of its characters' trajectories—even that of the headstrong woman at its center.
One of the best albums of 2015 was released last month to little fanfare. In a year where Adele made her long-awaited, triumphant return to the music industry, and Kendrick Lamar released one of the most innovative hip-hop albums in years, Troye Sivan, a 20 year-old Australian YouTuber, managed to ...
As a genre, “true crime” typically brings to mind classic nonfiction masterworks like "In Cold Blood" (1966) and guilty-pleasure cable television about grisly murders, serial killers and police chases. Public fascination with the genre is nothing new, but it appears to have entered a renaissance ...
“And the nominees are …” The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Jan. 14 its nominations for the 88th Academy Awards, to be held on Feb. 28. “The Revenant” (2015) and “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) lead the way with 12 and 10 nominations apiece, with “The Martian” ...
Jeremih has held a stable presence in the world of radio-friendly, sexualized R&B over the past seven years. His fame began with his breakout single, “Birthday Sex” (2009), which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and immediately garnered him comparisons to R&B legend R. ...
Rebecca: This week's edition of NYSD was supposed to be our dad edition, but instead we will be having my mom (again) and Pooja’s dad edition. Rooting for the Mets for over 50 years has caused my dad to cherish the little things (he does not see NYSD as one of those things) and to feel comfortable ...
A junior double majoring in general psychology and child studies and human development, Amy Bu has had a passion for art “since forever” and initially focused her efforts on illustration.In the ninth grade, Bu's artistic tendencies led her to create a “short 14-to-20-page-[long] magazine” ...
On Dec. 4, Kid Cudi dropped his year-in-the-coming “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” (2015).The album was first announced as a project at the beginning of the year, and was named in March.From the outset, Cudi, born Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, pitched the album as a standalone piece apart from his ...
Jordan-born photographer Tanya Habjouqa primarily focuses on depicting issues of human rights and gender in the Middle East. While Habjouqa’s work spans much of the region, she is currently based in East Jerusalem, and her most recent project, a photobook titled “Occupied Pleasures,” documents the ...
Why spend those late nights in Tisch actually studying for your finals when you can spend them wracking your brain about all the glorious -- and sometimes terrifying -- conspiracy theories that people have managed to come up with? If you're looking to do a lot of thinking while still maintaining ...
Amy Lee, most famous for being the golden voice of goth rock band Evanescence, has proven herself to be a skilled and expressive singer over the years. Since October, Lee has been recording and releasing striking covers of well-known tunes, starting with Portishead's "It's A Fire" ...
Finals got you down? Take some time off at one of these weekend happenings:Kiniwe: Emmanuel Attah Poku, an African music and dance lecturer, will lead Kiniwe in a performance of traditional music and dance from Ghana. Tufts’ Blackout Step Team, Envy Step Team and B.E.A.T.s will join in the performance, ...
There’s more to Texas-based trio Ringo Deathstarr than an incredibly clever band name. Formed by guitarist and singer Elliot Frazier in 2007, the band has toured with the Smashing Pumpkins and earned comparisons to pioneers of the shoegaze sound, such as The Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. ...
