By: Carla Tizcareno

The new Doctor Strange movie was underwhelming to say the least. I am a major Marvel fan and I was extremely disappointed. It was long and the plot didn’t seem to have any sort of direction. If you’re really looking for a Doctor Strange movie, this one doesn’t give it justice. If anything, it was more about Wanda and the multiverse.

To start off, the techniques they used to film seemed pretty dated. It reminded me of a lame horror movie from the 90’s. Which makes sense because when you look at the director, Sam Raimi’s, list of movies he directed, they are mostly boring horror movies from (guess when) the 90’s.

I personally find it weird that the 1st Spider Man movies were actually good because Raimi’s list of movies is not impressive. Movies like the 1985 film ‘Crimewave’, and 1992 ‘Army of Darkness’, are some of the examples of the movies that he directed. You can tell that it was him from the unnecessary perspective flips, quick camera changes during fight scenes, editing skills, and the lack of attention to detail.

Marvel movies are known for their production and well thought out scenes. There is one scene at the beginning of the movie where you see the same man run away from a monster 4 times, all from different angles. During the fight scenes there is so much movement and the camera cuts in and out so many times that I got dizzy just looking at it.

Comparing fight scenes from this movie to any other Marvel movie is so depressing. The editing quality totally ruins the potential in every scene. The quality of the edits can easily be ranked on the same level as the 2003 ‘Hulk’ film. The jokes are weak and not timed well. There isn’t enough build up to the moment to make it a good joke that adds a decent amount of comedic relief whilst also going back to the original situation naturally.

If I’m being totally honest, the acting was weak and boring. Xochitl Gomez, the girl who played America Chavez, in my opinion, was not the right actress for the role. She went from playing Dawn, from the Netflix original television series, ‘The Babysitters Club’, to a Marvel movie. Her acting in ‘The Babysitters Club’ wasn’t even good, so it didn’t surprise me when I realized her acting in this movie was the same way. Her Spanish was botched and her general acting skills were like watching a middle school play. Her character was supposed to be Puerto Rican but apparently the Marvel movies directors don’t seem to care about the accuracy from the comics.

After watching the movie my first thought was “They’re pranking us. This has to be a joke,” and I still believe that. 4/10. You can see this movie in theaters.

By: Eva Olson

‘Cruella’ aired May 18th, 2021 in theaters. It stars Emma Stone as Estella and Cruella de Vil. Estella is very smart and ambitious while Cruella is wicked and revenge-bent. Throughout the movie she switches between Cruella and Estella making the movie all the more fascinating.

This movie’s storyline and plot were very different from ‘101 Dalmations’ which made the film super entertaining to watch. It was fun to try and find the differences between the Cruella in the animated ‘101 Dalmatians’ from 1969, and the Cruella in this movie. Also, seeing how Dalmatians tied into this storyline was amusing.

All of the main characters had a lot of layers to their characters. Emma Stone did an amazing job as Cruella.

Emma Thompson also did an amazing job in making me dislike her character the Baroness.

This movie shows you a lot about Cruella’s backstory and what her story is. You get to see a lot of Cruella as a child. You also get to learn more about her friends Jasper and Horace which was very interesting.

The setting was mostly in London in the 1970s, which was very cool and made the movie very visually appealing. Hellman Hall, where the Baroness lived, was very eerie and creepy. Throughout the whole movie the weather was kind of dreary and gray which really matched the movie and set the tone.

The costumes in this movie were eye catching. Mostly because one of the main themes in this movie is fashion, and Cruella is an aspiring fashion designer. I especially loved Cruella’s dress that she lit on fire. All of the characters’ outfits were so captivating, especially Cruella’s, and really showed their individual personalities.

Overall, I liked this movie more than I thought I would. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to just about anyone. I would give this movie a 5/5 star rating. You can watch ‘Cruella’ on Disney+.

Since Netflix launched, it has had over 222 million subscribers in over 190 countries. It is one of the world’s leading entertainment services that includes: TV series, documentaries, and feature films. Subscribers can play, pause, and resume watching, all without commercials. 

Netflix has reported that they are losing subscribers for the first time in a decade, which brings their total subscriber total down to 221.64 million. It has also been reported that they will lose another 2 million subscribers before the end of June.

Due to losing subscribers, Netflix has begun firing employees that work on Tudum, a pop culture website that markets Netflix programs. The Tudum website launched last December 

 Experts have given reasons for why this is taking place. Netflix has increased its price, leaving subscribers to pay a third more than they were less than two years ago for the same service. For the people who share passwords with family members, Netflix has stricter controls with the hope that those sharing passwords will turn into subscribers. 

Netflix has released a letter that says, 

“Sharing passwords likely helped fuel our growth by getting more people using and enjoying Netflix. And we’ve always tried to make sharing within a member’s household easy, with features like profiles and multiple streams. While these have been very popular, they’ve created confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared with other households.”

But, Netflix continued in the letter, the free rides — the company estimates more than 30 million accounts are sharing their passwords in the U.S. and Canada — aren’t going to continue indefinitely. One solution currently being tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru is paid sharing plans.

“There’s a broad range of engagement when it comes to sharing households from high to occasional viewing,” the company said in the letter. “So while we won’t be able to monetize all of it right now, we believe it’s a large short- to mid-term opportunity.”

I feel that they have increased their price without upgrading it like adding new shows, and adding more features to it. Also, if they keep the shows people like on there they wouldn’t be losing so many members. For example, ‘Friends’ and ‘The Office’ recently left Netflix for Peacock.

Netflix losing subscribers also contributes to them canceling shows and not renewing them for another season. ‘Julie and the Phantoms’ is one of the cancelled shows that upset many on TikTok. The fact that you often have to wait a year or more for a new season of a show, also doesn’t help.

The upcoming addition of commercials seems like just another reason why people will want to cancel their subscriptions. Overall, Netflix should stay away from commercials and keep shows people like.

By: Salman Said

The new teaser for ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ has arrived and the teaser garnered 34 million views on YouTube in the first 10 days of its release. The last we saw of the lovable god was during ‘Endgame’ when he went into a deep depression from the deaths of his family, and failure to save the universe. Towards the end of the movie he finds solace and begins his travels with the Guardians of the Galaxy. 

During the teaser he goes through a rigorous training montage wearing a trucker hat titled “Strongest Avenger” a memento to the self-proclaimed nickname he gave himself in ‘Thor Ragnarok’. Afterwards, he comes out muscular; his hair is back to its long blond ponytail look, and his prosthetic eye finally matches the color of his other eye.

The song that plays in the teaser, “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” by Guns N Roses, depicts Thor’s new found freedom after vacating his royal position to Valkyrie. The song fully captures Thor’s transition to a new portion of his life. He exclaims “My superhero days are over” before the beat drops, only adding onto the fact that he’s ready for this new transition. We also see him promptly leave the Guardians of the Galaxy, further doubling down his previous exclamation.

The teaser points to a more peaceful phase in Thor’s life, one without war and bloodshed. Toward the middle we see Thor soberly looking at a snowy monster. In the comics, this monster was a god itself and a long-time friend of Thor. We don’t see the antagonist, Gorr the God Butcher, in the teaser, but seeing the corpse of a god, it’s safe to say that Gorr was the culprit. 

Gorr, who’s played by Christian Bale, is set to make his MCU debut this July. In the comics, Gorr was born in a barren land without food or water. Gorr’s family and village were very pious and prayed for salvation from the gods, but their prayers were never answered. Gorr tragically lost his pregnant wife due to these conditions and was left widowed with one son. When his son, Agar, was near death, Gorr lied to him to ease his suffering. Agar subsequently died soon after.

The grieving father stumbles on 2 gods fighting on his planet. In disbelief Gorr stands and watches but, one of the gods begins to cry out for Gorr’s help; angered that a god was asking for his help after countless times Gorr himself cried out for their help, he picks up the All-Black Necro Blade, and murders the god. 

Now on a mission to murder every single god, punishing them for their laziness and mistakes, he flies across the universe with the Necro-Blade and murders gods, one by one.