Few television series managed to accomplish exactly what Avatar: The Last Airbender did in terms of story, characters, and worldbuilding. It transported us to a world of fantasy, where we actually felt connected to each and every character and the story arcs that they went through over the course of the show’s three seasons. Avatar excelled at building an epic overarching story with its episodes, while also providing smaller-scale episodes that, while maybe not advancing the entire plot, enhanced the characters themselves. Perhaps the most poignant example of this is Season One’s Thirteenth episode entitled “The Blue Spirit”. For a multitude of reasons, I consider this episode to be the best episode of the entire show and one of the greatest episodes of television of all time.

Barbie goes through an almost hero’s journey as she is thrust out of her world- Barbie Land- into the ‘real world’ and learns that maybe Barbie didn’t have the all-encompassing fix-it effect that the Barbies thought. She learns of patriarchy, misogyny, and the anxiety and insecurity that womanhood inherently possesses in society today. It’s overwhelming; she feels, for the first time, something other than ‘awesome’ and ‘amazing’.

As I left the SLC following my third viewing of Past Lives, I heard an overwhelming murmur of phrases which included, “It’s so good!” or “The characters are so real,” and “That was so sad!” all of which are valid assessments. However, while I, too, was repeating many of these phrases, I couldn’t help but feel like the movie was deserving of more than an assessment similar to so many others. In its brisk 106-minute runtime, Past Lives excels in the task of taking the audience into the lives of a mere three characters, giving very little in terms of information on who they are or any in-depth character traits, and bringing us to tears, as we wallow in the idea of lost time.

It’s October 1984. The first true essences of fall have made landfall in the humble town of Hawkins, Indiana. Chilling winds whisper a-top dry corn fields, swaying the stalks ever so slightly. Pumpkin patches thrive as local farmers capitalize on the spookiest time of the year.
The leaves surrender their verdigris shade and don colors of warm brown and soft orange. Melvald’s General store is stocked with spooky halloween decorations, bombarding the shelves for all to partake, as the sheriff watches over the quiet town with a worrisome eye, and only the warmth of his cigarette to bear the cold. These are just a handful of the fall settings portrayed in the second season of Stranger Things, the hit Netflix series created by The Duffer Brothers. As autumn arrives in the real world, there’s no better time to watch (or rewatch) this Halloween-centric season of spooky television.

The recent success of Greta Gerwig’s summer blockbuster Barbie came as a surprise to no one following the incredible marketing campaign from the main cast, as well as the positive publicity already surrounding Gerwig and the cultural phenomenon that was “Barbenheimer.” In just seventeen days, the film surpassed the $1 billion milestone in the global box office on a budget of $145 million, making Gerwig the first woman to have a primary directing credit on a $1 billion dollar film. Likewise, the success of the previously mentioned “Barbenheimer” campaign resulted in Oppenheimer garnering an overall total gross of over $900 million worldwide. Does this mean that creative cinema has finally made its triumphant return, and the studio mindset of franchise filmmaking will finally become a thing of the past? Not quite.

Stop Making Sense, at its core, is the story of a band. It begins with a solitary man, who is faceless but familiar, walking out onto the stage. As the camera follows his feet out from the backstage shadows and into the limelight, this tolerably titled “concert film” has already made its statement as a higher performative art piece -and it’s just getting started.

I am a casual watcher of the show Bridgerton. Each season that has come out has been enjoyable. Though I have not read any of the books, Julia Quinn presents a fun and interesting take on the Regency era that Shondaland has adapted brilliantly for Netflix. Bridgerton is good entertainment, where I can be engaged while it's on-screen and then disengage and forget about it as soon as it's turned off. I started Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story with the same expectations, but I soon found myself thinking about it even when I was not actively watching. And now that I’ve finished it, I still find myself thinking about it because it was absolutely incredible. (Warning: Spoilers ahead)

With summer just around the corner, it is time to get in the proper mood. Just think about it, long walks on beaches, beautiful sunsets, swimming, and no more school. With all of that in mind, I have compiled a list of the perfect films to watch to get you ready for the best summer yet.

I am by no means a player of Dungeons and Dragons or DnD for short. My knowledge of the game is more peripheral - my brother and best friend are avid players, my roommate listens to DnD podcasts all the time, and I’ve made a character sheet or two for fun. But I am a Pine Nut (aka a Chris Pine stan) and a lover of a fun fantasy movie, so as soon as I saw the trailer for Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, I knew I was in for a treat. And I’m happy to say the movie did not disappoint.

The film fades in, and a piece of text appears, “For Our Father, for Fun as a Responsibility, for the Middle Perspective, a Lost Past, Lights on During the Day Time, Lost Love but Still Something There, Excuses, the Fridge Full of Games, Small Apartments & Our Mother." For the next hour and forty minutes, these seeming words of a trivial dedication metamorphose into tactile images, sounds, and raw emotion.