Emma Hazard

Actor James Earl Jones has died at 93 years old James Earl Jones poses for the camera. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Kaitlyn Leister Associate Arts & Culture Editor On Sept. 9, James Earl Jones passed away at the age of 93.  His most notable roles were the voice behind Mufasa in “The Lion King” and Darth Vader in many renditions of “Star Wars.” Jones was a legendary actor on stage and screen, though according to an article by the New York Times, with a collection of at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony; he does not fit into the category of an EGOT. Some are arguing that his Oscar was an Honorary award and so it does not count in EGOT status. Though some are still contesting that he is an EGOT and others are contesting he is not. His list of achievements and roles in various stage plays, television shows, and movies show an entire life of a dedicated actor. His 2012 Academy Award Honorary Oscar was for Lifetime Achievement, and he deserved it. His voice being used for two figures that made a lot of people’s childhoods will forever cement him as a legend to multiple generations. May he rest in peace, his life filled with giving the […] “Actor James Earl Jones has died at 93 years old”

Have you ever wanted to be at the bottom of the food chain? There's a game for that. Emma Fox Staff Writer Have you heard of a game called “Rain World?” Probably not. It was not well advertised, and the only reason I heard of it was a handful of animations about the game I saw. And this game was released in 2017! And I only heard of it in 2023! And then I bought it a year later! Crazy. In essence, “Rain World” is a game about survival and exploration. Surviving downpours of rain, surviving the hunger of lizards, surviving a leap of faith, exploring overgrown scrapyards, exploring spider-ridden corridors, exploring a vast open ocean. You will be wandering around aimlessly. A lot. You will be lost, you will be confused. But that is all part of the charm. You will struggle to find scraps of lore and direction. You will only be guided a bit – basic controls and mechanics – and then you will be left alone. You may be tempted to look up a guide, but I implore you not to unless necessary. I beat the basic campaign with only some Reddit posts and a few maps. You may be thinking, “the basic campaign? There’s more?” And yes my dear reader, there is more. The first campaign you will probably play is “Survivor.” Survivor, along with all the other campaigns, is a soft and squishy slug cat. A cute little blob of a thing that is trying to survive in the world. Every six to thirteen minutes, rain starts to pour down, crushing anything that cannot hibernate. And don’t think you can just hide underground, as it will flood. This happens with most of the other campaigns, too. Trying to survive the rains. Each campaign has its own goal, with some overlapping. You must play the Survivor campaign to play any of the other ones, so you will be well acquainted with the game. “Rain World’s” soundtrack is bonkers. You first listen to something like “Sundown”, and then “GREY CLOUD” and wonder what the heck is happening. You look at this cute pixel art game and think that all the music will be nice and chill. You are wrong. All the threat music is my jam, though. And the “cute pixel art” becomes less cute when you don’t see a bug on the ceiling and it jumps down on you. It is cute at some points, it is beautiful at some points. You may see a rainbow in the background, you may see the shadow of some giant bird. You might what? That’s right! A giant bird! And huge lizards! And overgrown insects! This is the lovely world of “Rain World”. If you are at all interested in the game, get it. Watch a trailer or two, look at fanart, even watch a playthrough if you are willing to spoil yourself a bit. You can even wait for it to go on sale. If you know someone who already has “Rain World”, you can play local co-op on Steam without needing to buy the game. The game is limited to Windows, but if you are a Mac player, fear not. You can get something like Porting Kit or CrossOver to play it (with mild amounts of […] “Have you ever wanted to be at the bottom of the food chain? There’s a game for that.”

K-pop star removed from groups due to sexual allegations NCT 127 poses as an eight-member group. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Emma Hazard Arts & Culture Editor On August 28, SM Entertainment released a statement that Moon Tae-il, more well-known by his stage name Taeil, had been removed from his sub-units of the popular K-pop boy group, NCT, after facing accusations of an unspecified sexual crime. “We recognized the severity of the situation,” SM Entertainment says in their release discussing Taeil’s separation from the group. “Taeil can no longer continue his activities with the team.”  SM Entertainment also stated that Taeil is cooperating with undergoing a police investigation. While the police investigations are currently underway, details about Taeil’s allegations have been kept under wraps. However, as fans learned about the allegations, rumors started to circulate online about what crimes may have occurred.  One X user claims that a motorcycle accident that the singer got into sometime last year probably wasn’t a motor vehicle accident at all, but instead was a cover-up for a physical altercation between Taeil and his victim’s family. Fans of the idol were also quick to assume the age of his alleged victim based on the supposed severity of his crimes, concluding that his victim must be a minor. As this ongoing case continues to rattle the K-pop industry and fans of the genre, many cannot help but be reminded of the dangers of parasocial relationships. If there’s one true thing about K-pop fans, it’s that they can be passionate about their liking for a certain group. In fact, this can be true for any band, no matter the genre. Celebrities have a large presence in our society, so finding information on them through things like interviews can be rather easy. However, celebrities like Taeil can serve as a reminder that no matter how well you may think you know someone, you never know what may be happening behind closed doors. While there are no plans for any upcoming music releases from either of Taeil’s former NCT sub-units, NCT 127 or NCT U, SM Entertainment has chosen to remove Taeil from any online content, as well as allowing NCT 12 […] “K-pop star removed from groups due to sexual allegations”

Is the movie adaptation of ‘Wicked’ worth a watch? Syan Swanger Staff Writer I read the book ‘Wicked’ about two years ago and instantly fell in love. I was so excited when the movie adaptation was announced. However, that excitement quickly dissolved after I watched the trailer. The problem with movie adaptations is that many times the film has to cut out parts of the book. This is not possible for a book like ‘Wicked’. Every single chapter, every single moment, is integral to the story of Elphaba. By taking out even one scene, the entire narrative of the book changes.  Some hope was revived after learning the movie would be split into two parts, but I still don’t think the movie is going to live up to the book. Granted, I only saw a three-minute and 30-second trailer compared to reading the 406 pages.  My main concern about the movie is that it won’t do an adequate job of explaining the numerous traumas of Elphaba’s life that led her to become The Wicked Witch of the West. The book depicts how other’s cruelty affected her life. It demonstrates how others were inherently wicked and she is just a product of her environment. The book is able to show her grief, rage, loneliness, desperation, and need for vengeance. From what I’ve seen in the trailer I don’t have a lot of faith that this will be conveyed. The movie almost seems to dumb down her experiences. It makes her out to be a girl who was bullied because she was different, who was devastated when her idol turned out to be a fraud and spurred her into action. It washes over the fact that her mother resented her, the fact that her father was absent, the brutal death of her mentor, her estranged friendship with Glinda, her constant skepticism of Oz, and so much more. It seems to me that the movie is trying to fit Elphaba into the classic trope of a young woman who had a very difficult life and inevitably becomes the villain instead of letting the events of her life lead the viewers to see how and why she became The Wicked Witch of the West and develop their own opinions of her.  Although I have many criticisms of the movie, I do believe it will be good. The cinematography is beautiful and the vocals are outstanding. I’m eager to see Ariana Grande as Glinda. I think she embodies the character. She’s bubbly and a little ditzy on the outside, but inside she’s extremely caring and passionate. I predict that the movie itself will be a good movie and I’m definitely going to see it. I just don’t think it wi […] “Is the movie adaptation of ‘Wicked’ worth a watch?”

She’s ‘Short n’ Sweet’ like a shot of espresso! Sabrina Carpenter’s album of the summer Payje Davis Staff Writer Sabrina Carpenter has been climbing the ladder ever since the success of her singles “Feather,” “Nonsense”, and “ because i liked a boy,” off of her fourth album “Emails I Can’t Send.”  Carpenter released her lead single, “Espresso” this past April to her August album, “Short n Sweet.” Which became an instant smash hit. It is currently spending its 20th week on the Billboard Hot 100. Carpenter hasn’t seemed to slow down; playing festivals left and right and drawing in massive crowds, such as at NYC’s Gov Ball where she debuted her second single off the album, “Please, Please, Please.” Now, the album is out and it has been charting extremely well, and airing everything out. Songs like “Bed Chem” and “Juno” are very blunt to put it lightly, with those songs said to be about current partner Berry Keoghan, who even starred as the love interest in her “Please, Please, Please” music video. However, things get messy with songs like “Coincidence” and “Taste,” which are rumored to be about pop singers Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello. Carpenter had a fling with Mendes around a year after Mendes and Cabello ended their relationship of three years. But after the short-lived fling, Mendes and Cabello were back together a month later, showing lots of PDA at the 2023 Coachella, but they broke up shortly after. Lines such as “Oh wow, you just broke up again / What a coincidence!” and “I heard you’re back together and if that’s true / You’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissing you,” are rumored to be about the pair. These clapback songs come after Cabello released “June Gloom” off of her album “C, XOXO.”  Which was rumored to be about Carpenter and Mendes’s short-lived fling. Enough with the drama, deep cut songs like “Dumb and Poetic,” “Lie To Girls,” and “Don’t Smile” slid under the radar, despite lyrically being some of the best songs on the album. “Don’t Smile” reminds me so much of “Saturn” by SZA. The dreamy, catchy feel of both songs makes them similar in my mind. I also really liked the country twang vibe of “Slim Pickins.” It’s different from a lot of the songs in Carpenter’s discography but still matches her vibe incredibly well, and I personally love it so much. Despite Carpenter being a Quakertown, Pa. native, she encapsulated that country twang feel on this track perfectly. However, my personal favorite is the feel-good, catchy jive “Good Graces” which just makes you want to get up and dance, even if you can’t dance to save your life. The whisper interlude following the chorus just adds so much more to the “funness” of the song.  I personally would call this a “no skip album” and would tell everyone who is thinking about giving it a listen, to absolutely do it. It is the perfect summer album and it makes sense why Carpent […] “She’s ‘Short n’ Sweet’ like a shot of espresso! Sabrina Carpenter’s album of the summer”

The newest installment of 'Alien' is bringing back horror and controversy The poster for “Alien: Romulus” involving one of the stars of the film fighting off a “facehugger.” PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY UK MEDIA KITS Kaitlyn Leister Associate Arts & Culture Editor Content warning: This article contains mi- nor spoilers for “Alien: Romulus.” Another movie within the “Alien” franchise has graced the big screen with the newest installment, “Alien: Romulus.” According to Collider, a website dedicated to movie news, the film is now the second highest-grossing movie in the franchise. The first still being Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus.” As of Sept. 1, the movie has grossed $283 million dollars both globally and domestically.  This will be a very minor spoiler review of the film, I will be talking about the overall plot and a big controversy behind the film. “Alien: Romulus” is getting back to basics when it comes to the overall plot, a horror movie about trying to survive the titular monster of the franchise, the “Xenomorph.” A smaller plot in the beginning as to why the characters are in close proximity to this creature comes from the ever-looming villain of all “Alien” movies, Weyland-Yutani. The main characters have completed their hours to gain their papers and travel to a terraformed planet with real sunlight away from their mining colony home. Only to be rejected as the company just issued new quotas needed to leave the colony. This drives them to the abandoned space station containing the creature, a chance to leave sooner rather than later to a beautiful new home.  There has been some controversy with the film, involving AI use for one of the characters. This was used in order to bring back the late actor Ian Holm, who sadly died back in 2020. Holm played the character of Ash in the original 1979 film that started the franchise. He is now the character of Rook, a damaged synthetic in the remains of the research station the main characters find themselves in, telling them to run as far as they can when the film reaches the first implantation of a chest burster. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director and writer Fede Álvarez, along with the original “Alien” director and producer for “Alien: Romulus” Ridley Scott, wanted to bring back the one android character that Scott desperately wanted to see again, that of Holm’s character Ash. They had started to think of ways to bring the famous actor back on the big screen, but of course, they needed permission first. The article with Entertainment Weekly stated how Álvarez not only had permission from Holm’s widow, Sophie de Stempel, but also from all of his children. The articles stated that his widow gave permission as Hollywood had not let Holm have more roles after his final film in 2014, and he would have loved to be in the movie. The family signed consent to the images of Holms to be used, and credited Daniel Betts was cast to record lines and give the facial performance, before having the lines run through a voice program and animatronics animated with facial AI effects to get the final look. The family was the first to be shown the scenes, and according to the article, tears were shed to see him again on screen after so long. I was not made aware of the use of AI until after seeing the movie, and know that people might not want to see the film knowing of the AI use. You can have your own opinion on the use of such practices; the rise of AI has raised questions on the ethical side of exactly this type of use in film even with granted permission. When I saw the film, I was terrified the whole two hours I sat watching in an almost empty theater in the middle of a weekday. Álvarez clearly shows how much passion and love for the franchise he put into his work, and it conveys well into the final product. A lot of easter eggs and callbacks to the other films can be found in this one. As someone who has only fully watched the first film, I enjoyed finding each callback and discovering others. Was it the greatest movie of all t […] “The newest installment of ‘Alien’ is bringing back horror and controversy”