Arts

Columns

Read, Write and Be Merry: ‘Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop’

By Merry Jiao | October 17

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for “Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop” by Hwang Bo-Reum.You! Yes you, the person reading this article. You look like you need a hug. I’m imagining that movie clip from Migration, and I promise you will feel better after reading this. Apparently it’s midterm month over on the other side of the pond, so best of luck to all you poor unfortunate souls :)

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Arts

Blood, guts and butts galore: ‘The Substance’ attempts feminist horror

By Ava Dettling | October 16

Much to the disappointment of women and movie-lovers around the globe, recent feminist films have seldom been able to deliver in their nouveau-age, fight-the-man doctrines.“Barbie” (2023), “Poor Things” (2023) and “Blink Twice” (2024) come to mind; while highly stylized and daring, they also lacked in their message of female empowerment. Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” teeters precariously on the precipice, dangerously close to joining the leagues of its fallen sistren.

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Arts

A Plea Trapped in Time: Mahler's Eighth Symphony and the BSO

By Matthew Winkler | October 15

Death loomed. Darwin bludgeoned nature, Einstein assaulted physics and Nietzsche killed God. Trapped by time, a gaunt man sat in the south of the Habsburg Empire, unaware of the coming continental baptism of hell. In eight years, the Great War would bathe Europe in the greatest bloodletting known to mankind. The dense trees and pearlescent waters of Maiernigg blockaded nascent modernity for Gustav Mahler.

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Arts

The Rare Occasions return home

By Shannon Murphy | October 10

On Oct. 4, indie rock band The Rare Occasions performed at the Crystal Ballroom in Davis Square. Their extensive discography consists of songs with catchy melodies, skilled production and introspective lyrics, but they are best known for their hit single “Notion” (2016), which rose to fame on TikTok and other social media platforms in the fall of 2021.

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Arts

Zedd’s Telos Tour is a burst of energy

By Ryan Fairfield | October 10

Grammy-winning music producer and DJ Zedd never seems to stop. After a summer of seemingly nonstop playing at multiple clubs in Las Vegas and headlining Lollapalooza in Chicago, Zedd released his third studio album “Telos” and embarked on the Telos Tour. On Sept. 19, the Telos Tour arrived at MGM Music Hall at Fenway for its first of two shows at the venue.

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Arts

Ballerina Michaela DePrince dies at 29

By Katie Galligan | October 10

Michaela Mabinty DePrince, a Sierra Leonean war orphan turned ballerina, passed away suddenly on Sept. 10 at the age of 29. Her cause of death has not been revealed, but there has been an outpouring of reflections on the inspirational legacy she left behind.  DePrince’s story gained attention ...

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Columns

Adventures of an A-Lister: Movie of the week

By Odessa Gaines | October 10

On Oct. 11, 1975, almost exactly 49 years ago to this day, “ NBC’s Saturday Night” premiered. Half a century later, the live sketch comedy show still somehow graces our screens. And to celebrate such a long, perhaps overstayed, tenure on the network came “Saturday Night,” directed by Jason Reitman. The film follows the first cast of “Saturday Night Live” as they geared up to debut the not yet finished show — 90 minutes of anxiety-inducing scores, witty comebacks and sheer hope and passion holding it all together.

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Arts

‘What’s Wrong with New York?’

By Erin Zhu | October 9

Guess who: A pale, thin, slightly sleazy, ostensibly British man dressed in a black blazer donning sunglasses with a cigarette in hand gallops around the streets of New York. Who else could it be other than The Dare?

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Arts

MJ Lenderman is carving his own indie rock legacy with ‘Manning Fireworks’

By Ethan Essner | October 8

The indie rock genre has split into a plethora of spheres. The introspective lyrics and driving rhythms are standard qualities of an indie album. In essence, it has become a more mainstream style — and seemingly broken away from its narrow identity during the 2000s. It’s been a transformative period for the indie scene with many fine takeaways, but what it desperately lacked was an album elevating and fusing the classic identities of the indie albums from previous decades.

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Columns

Read, Write and Be Merry: ‘Babel’

By Merry Jiao | October 8

I was recently informed by the streets that we have had a dearth of scathing reviews. Everyone, including myself, has been too positive in their critiques, and apparently, insults are what make the editing process entertaining. So here we go.

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Arts

Moonbox Productions’ ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ fails to meet expectations

By Nate Hall and Odessa Gaines | October 7

Moonbox Productions, one of the newest additions to the greater Boston theater scene, opened its first full season at Arrow Street Arts in Cambridge with a production of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” on Sept. 27. Based on the 1988 film starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine as the titular con men, the musical version of the classic comedy made its Broadway debut in 2005. While Moonbox found three excellent actors to fill its leading roles, their production feels incomplete and leaves much to be desired.

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Columns

Adventures of an A-Lister: Going to the movies by myself

By Odessa Gaines | October 4

On Oct. 11, 1975, almost exactly 49 years ago to this day, “ NBC’s Saturday Night” premiered. Half a century later, the live sketch comedy show still somehow graces our screens. And to celebrate such a long, perhaps overstayed, tenure on the network came “Saturday Night,” directed by Jason Reitman. The film follows the first cast of “Saturday Night Live” as they geared up to debut the not yet finished show — 90 minutes of anxiety-inducing scores, witty comebacks and sheer hope and passion holding it all together. 

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Arts

‘Romeo and Juliet’ soars beyond Shakespeare’s expectations

By Jeremy Stern and Alexander Minagar | October 3

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Everyone recognizes these iconic words from WilliamShakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” a classic of 9th-grade English.

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Arts

Conan Gray brings back vibrant 1980s aesthetic in his Found Heaven tour

By Liv Jordan | October 3

Conan Gray performed a satisfying mix of songs that showcased both his emotional depth and his animated personality during the Found Heaven tour at MGM Music Hall at Fenway on Sept. 25.

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Arts

Miranda Lawson showcases solo work at Tufts’ Dances at Noon Series

By Julieta Grané | October 3

Boston-based movement artist Miranda Lawson performed in the Jackson Dance Lab for Tufts Dance Program’s Dances at Noon series on Friday. The series is put on by the Tufts Dance Program, a part of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. In 2013, Senior Lecturer Daniel McCusker founded Dances at Noon as a way to connect the dance program to the larger Boston area dance scene. 

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Arts

‘Megalopolis’ is unparalleled — for better or worse

By Noah Goldstein | October 3

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you tried to make a movie about everything? Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” may have your answer. A sprawling exercise in maximalism, the film, despite its grand ambitions, ultimately captures very little.

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Arts

Femininity as profanity: A review of Mannequin Pussy’s 2024 album ‘I Got Heaven’

By Erin Zhu | October 1

“What if Jesus himself ate my f------ snatch?” This is just one of the many lines from punk rock act Mannequin Pussy’s most recent album “I Got Heaven” and is by no means alone in its raw vulgarity. This type of bold and unwavering confrontation is part of what defines Mannequin Pussy. Take the name, for starters. While the title of the band originated from an inside joke, it also accomplishes what lead singer Marice Dabice believes punk rock is meant to do: subvert and challenge the audience.

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Arts

Hispanic Access Foundation spotlights Latine conservationists through film

By Josué Pérez | September 27

On Sept. 19, the New England Aquarium opened its doors to host a screening of two short films produced by the Hispanic Access Foundation, debuting “Beyond Borders: Tales of Monarcas, Rivers and Two Nations” and “El Canto Del Mar.” A four-person panel followed the screening.

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Arts

BSO’s Concert for the City invites Mayor Wu to the stage

By Teddy Schoneman | September 26

The crowd was a bit raucous at this Saturday afternoon’s Concert for the City at Symphony Hall. The many cliches about the transformative power of art from those who introduced the acts and the interjections in the middle of songs veered towards being annoying. But let’s not dwell on these things. They are not particularly important. Much more important is that several hundred members of our city got to share in the experience of a truly lovely afternoon of music.

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Arts

‘Laughs in Spanish’ explores the ties that bind us at Speakeasy Stage

By Nate Hall and Odessa Gaines | September 26

When the lights go up on Speakeasy Stage Company’s “Laughs in Spanish,” the story begins in medias res. Mari (Rebekah Rae Robles), the young Latina director of a Miami art gallery, has just discovered that her paintings have been stolen, just hours before the gallery is set to open for the prestigious Art Basel festival. In the chaos, Mari’s intern Caro (Luz Lopez) arrives with her boyfriend Juan (Daniel Rios, Jr.), a local police officer investigating the theft. However, the art heist quickly fades into the background as two more faces arrive at Mari’s gallery, transforming a comical opening scene into a big-hearted, telenovela-style story that explores the complexities of familial and romantic relationships.

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