The average person would not know what to do with 50 pounds of sand at their disposal — but Tufts senior Bryan Miller is not the average person.
The time has come: The final installment of Coffee with Creatives is here. Wipe your tears and pull up your breeches, for we must carry on. I’m choosing to end this magnificent run of creatives on a rather mythical note with the one and only Holly Simon.
Every band interview starts the same way. The movies “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984) and “Almost Famous” (2000) captured this dynamic, often casting the journalist as “the enemy.” Fortunately, this band was gracious enough to welcome their so-called adversary to an Italian dinner before their gig — providing a chance to learn about their origins, creative process and what lies ahead.
Since Feb. 27, the 14th annual Women Take the Reel film festival has brought female voices to the screen through a series of films and workshops hosted across universities and institutions in the Boston area. Tufts has the privilege of hosting the final event on Thursday evening, which will feature two short films directed by women. The festival, which was founded by MIT’s Women’s and Gender Studies department, investigates issues pertaining to gender, race, sexuality, class and feminism. The films featured are directed entirely by women, highlighting their unique perspectives within the industry and world they occupy.
If you watched the Oscars this weekend, you may have noticed that someone was missing. This someone chose to hang back this year, letting the others hold the spotlight for once. It’s only fair, for filmmaker and Tufts alum Tim Leong (LA’22) would have swept it.
Nestled within the winding corridors of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts’ senior studios is a curious space, one in which cultures, colors and clothes collide. It is the space in which artist Ian Choi, a fourth-year BFA student, works on her latest piece.
Have you ever been to the sweaty basement of a house show, a chic gallery opening or a movie screening packed with film bros and been too intimidated to speak to the artist themselves? If so, then welcome to Coffee with Creatives, a column dedicated to exploring the on-campus and local arts scene, all while platforming the artists’ voices.
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.
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.”
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).
