Boston’s Paradise Rock Club hosted “trop-pop” band Summer Salt for their “Driving Back to Hawaii” tour on Sept. 20. Celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their debut EP “Driving to Hawaii” (2014), the band played the album in its entirety for the first time ever for a live audience.
When I first mentioned to my fellow film peers that I do not catch enough new releases because of the outrageous prices of movie tickets these days (not to mention the sheer number of movies that come out every week), they quickly bullied me into joining the AMC Stubs A-List.
When I walked into an empty theater to watch “Reagan” last weekend, my expectations were low for two reasons. First, I’d only learned of its existence the day before, and nobody I talked to seemed to have heard of it either. Second, I hate former President Ronald Reagan. Any director trying to make a film about him will need to take his very real and numerous shortcomings seriously. The film’s poster, one of the few pieces of promotional materials I had seen, depicted Reagan in a cowboy hat in front of the American flag. It did not inspire me with hope. I was ready to be angry.
It’s been nearly two years since my review of “Pearl” (2022) was published, in which I explored the intricacies of Ti West’s second installment of his horror trilogy. Two years later, I am once again drawn to the keyboard to discuss West’s third installment, “MaXXXine.”
Rarely does a band manage to write a collection of songs that cohesively exemplify the entire thesis of an album. Hoboken trio Yo La Tengo gracefully accomplished such a feat on a plethora of occasions. But the tangible gloom of the 2000 album “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out”is perhaps the greatest display within the band’s catalog.
Professional artist and Tufts senior Makai Murray’s newest show, “Reflection Before Progression,” will open at the Hunter Gallery of St. George’s School in Middletown, R. I. on Sept. 28th from 6–10 p.m.
Since August, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts has been home to “Ulises: Assembly” — an exciting residency and exhibition that puts the spotlight on the often-overlooked labor of bookworkers. The Philadelphia-based Ulises collective, formed in 2016 by Nerissa Cooney, Lauren Downing, Kayla Romberger, Gee Wesley and Ricky Yanas, takes center stage at the Grossman & Anderson Galleries with its first institutional residency and solo exhibition. Running through Nov. 10, this exhibition is more than just a display of art — it’s an invitation for Tufts students and the Boston community to engage in an immersive exploration of art publishing and collective practice.
Welcome! I’m glad you’re here spending a bit of your day with me! This is the first edition of what will prove to be the absolute best, most Earth-shattering book column ever. Because, obviously, it’s being written by the coolest, funniest, most nonchalant managing editor turned study abroad liaison the world has ever seen.
On Sep. 6, thousands of fans poured into Boston’s Symphony Hall for a performance that was far from your typical night at the orchestra. While some audience members dressed business casual, others opted for outfits and paraphernalia from a galaxy far, far away, as the Boston Pops delivered an immersive performance of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015).
Sept. 22 will mark the 25th anniversary of the premiere of “The West Wing,” an iconic political drama from the mind of Aaron Sorkin that earned 98 Emmy nominations and 27 wins in its seven-season run, Even after 25 years, the show continues to have a lasting impact on the world of entertainment and politics. The show’s legacy can perhaps be best summarized by Janel Moloney, who played Donna Moss, who said, “The show has not stopped but seemingly gotten more popular, remaining in the Zeitgeist, surging when people need political comfort — which these days is always — and amassing new devotees every day.”
Coming over thirty years after the original film, Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a complete marriage of ridiculous gags and charming storytelling. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” kicks off with the death of Charles Deetz, where his death by shark attack is told through stop motion animation.
The name change from “Pussy Island” to “Blink Twice” might have been the film’s first mistake. What could have been a bold and subversive thought piece on sexual trauma and women’s revenge, with “Pussy Island” became the rather trite and familiar play of power dynamics seen in “Blink Twice” (2024).
In an age when TikTok is flooded with videos of thousands of people lining up for hours at Taylor Swift merch trucks, it is hard to agree with Gentleman’s Quarterly’s statement that we are experiencing “The End of Merch.” The article, published at the beginning of the summer alongside others as part of “Merch Week,” seems to argue that while merch, the abbreviated form of the term merchandise, may be commercially successful, its golden age in the world of fashion has come to an end.
American reality dating show “The Bachelorette” debuted over 20 years ago; the series, a spinoff of “The Bachelor,” follows a single woman and a panel of men vying for her affection until the season finale, in which the final man standing proposes to her. Typically, the lead of “The Bachelorette” is a well-liked contestant from a previous season of its counterpart show. Despite running for over two decades, the franchise had never cast an Asian lead –– until this spring. Jenn Tran, the Vietnamese American star of the 21st season of the show, seemingly made history. At the time of the announcement, Tran had expressed enthusiasm over her casting, saying she felt “so grateful and so honored to be the first Asian Bachelorette in this franchise” and that she was excited “to see Asian representation on TV.”
As the end of summer rapidly approaches, we now have the insight to describe those three golden months through a list of music, and it is an undeniable fact that former Disney Channel star Sabrina Carpenter will end up somewhere on that list.
As his reputation suggests, former Black Midi frontman, Geordie Greep, has always had a knack for channeling noisy percussion and fuzzy guitar feedback to create a beastly sound. His jarring progressive compositions are only overshadowed by dramatic vocal delivery. Each song can be compared to some theatrical climax one would witness on a Broadway stage. His voice is full of emotion and vibrancy, comparable to a Frank Zappa level of sonorous whimsy. His new work, “The New Sound,” will be his first solo album independent of Black Midi following the band’s announcement of an indefinite hiatus.
If I were to associate summer with three words, they would be rest, rejuvenation and, most importantly, reading. The months of June, July and August are crucial to reassure my conscience and my Goodreads that I am indeed keeping up with my TBR — I often divide my vacation into phases based on the books I intend to read, to go with my desired aesthetic or vibe. My TBR is erratic at best, and it’s difficult to pick just two books, but we are working with a word count here. Here are my top two reads of this summer:
In 2015, Pixar Animation Studios released “Inside Out,” an animated coming-of-age film centered around the mental landscape of Riley, a young girl who just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco. The protagonists are the personification of Riley’s basic emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness; whichever emotion was controlling the central console determined what emotion Riley was feeling. The film was considered a massive success, grossing $858.8 million at the box office against its $175 million budget, cementing itself as one of Pixar’s most influential and successful children’s films. At the end of the movie, the emotions gather around a large button that appears on the central console labeled “Puberty” to which Joy dismisses, saying “Things couldn’t be better! After all, Riley’s 12 now. What could happen?”
This summer seemed to fly by, especially if you spent half of it at the movies watching film after film. Films came out every weekend between June 1 and August 31, from sci-fi to coming-of-age to Marvel releases. While many films were highly anticipated, a few stood out.
The cover of Charli XCX’s latest album is instantly recognizable, with the word “brat” pasted carelessly in a blurred resolution on a pane of lime green. Careless, indeed, is the word that comes to mind for this album — and that is its greatest success.
