By: Abisola Dosunmu

*Note: This article contains spoilers

‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ is a movie adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s bestselling original novel. It was released on August 11, 2023, on Amazon Prime. The movie recently reached No. 1 on Prime due to its popularity.

It featured two talented actors starring as the main leads: Taylor Zakhar Perez playing Alex Claremont-Diaz, the first son of the first female president, and Nicholas Galitzine playing Henry Fox, the prince of Britain. They meet, they cause an international scandal concerning a lot of cake during a very public royal wedding, and somewhere in the months of forced – then not so forced – contact to perform damage control, they slowly fall in love. But before that?

The ocean that separates those two couldn’t be wider, according to Alex. Alex has had a problem with Henry ever since he brushed him off at the Olympics, while Henry was just trying to grieve his dead father. This plot point doesn’t change much in the movie, however, the friendship part of their relationship felt rushed, rather than the natural progression and banter that was seen in the book. Understandable, the directors had to smush the entire book into a two hour movie, which meant some parts had to be entirely cut out from the movie, as it is with most movie adaptations. However, the movie would have been better if it was fleshed out in a six part series, rather than a two hour movie.

One thing I liked in the movie was the chemistry between the two male leads, Taylor and Nicholas. They really brought the characters Henry and Alex to life, the charisma and the banter between the two characters was very entertaining to watch. The movie wouldn’t have been half as enjoyable to watch without these two.

Still, the heart of the novel, ‘Red White & Royal Blue’, remains entirely the same in the movie. It reads like a corny romcom on the pages, but the actors and directors really brought the lightness and humor of it to life on screen.

For more information, please visit:

• https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/red-white-and-royal-blue-review-prime-video-gay-romance-1234804922/?scrlybrkr=f20c5174
• https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/13/red-white-royal-blue-review-enemies-become-lovers-in-super-slick-queer-romance-casey-mcquiston

By: Mushtaq Yonis

*Note: This article contains spoilers

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is a sequel to ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, a film based on Miles Morales as Spider-Man. This film stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, and more. It’s directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. The plot revolves around Miles Morales as he journeys through alternate dimensions and teams up with other Spider-People to stop a new villain and to save his family!

Miles Morales is a 15-year-old sophomore in high school who was bitten by a radioactive spider and was Brooklyn’s one and only spider man for a year.

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ was probably one of the best animation movies I have watched before, the way they animated Hobie or Spider-Punk was incredible. Animators typically change poses and details every second frame but for Hobie his pose changed every third frame making it different from the characters around him.

I also love how they added characters from ‘Spider Man: Into the Spider- Verse’ to this new movie, like Peter Porker, Penni Parker, Peter B. Parker, Noir, Gwen, Spider Man 2099 etc.

We also saw some new characters/Spidermen in this movie as well, we’ve seen Ben Reilly or Scarlet Spider, Pavitr Prabhakar, Hobie or Spider-Punk etc. There’s a lot more we’ve seen when Miles visited the Spider-Society and having to fight the Spider Society in order to go home.

One thing I’ve wanted to talk about was the soundtrack for this movie, which was released by Metro Boomin and had features from Swae Lee, Lil Wayne, Offset, ASAP Rocky, Roisee, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, JID, James Blake Nav, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Ei8ht, Don Toliver, Wizkid, Beam, Toian, Coi Leray, 21 Savage, 2 Chainz, and Nas. The professional Rating for this Album 6.4/10 but for me I’ll give it a 7.5/10. My favorite song from this movie wasn’t in the album, which is “Mona Lisa” by Dominic Fike. It was played while Gwen was visiting Miles and they were swinging through the city of NYC.

If you haven’t watched the movie yet I highly recommend you to watch it! It’s still playing in theaters so make sure you watch it!

By: Mushtaq Yonis & Ajmal Abdirahman

1. ‘Weightlifting Kim Bok joo’

This k-drama is a must see. If you’re looking for a light hearted k-drama to watch we recommend this to you! It’s a romcom between 2 college students named Kim Bok Joo and Nam Joon-hyung. Kim Bok Joo is a part of the weightlifting club at her university while Nam Joon-hyung is all about swimming, they both meet by unexpected situations.

2. ‘The Penthouse: War in Life’

As its title implies, this k-drama tells the story of the lives of wealthy elites of South Korea who all reside in the “Hera Palace”. This luxury apartment has many secrets that would ruin the lives of anyone who stayed there. In order to protect their reputation, the people living there would do anything, to the point of doing questionable things.

3. ‘Crash Landing on You’

A strong wind caused an accident during paragliding, causing Yoon Se-ri to land in North Korea as an emergency. While there, she meets Ri Jeong-hyeok, a North Korean soldier. As Yoon Se-ri spends more time with Ri Jeong-hyeok, a romance develops between them as they both attempt to bring Yoon Se-ri back to South Korea.

4. ‘Flower of Evil’

The drama revolves around the relationship between Baek Hee-sung and Cha Ji-won. The couple has a daughter who makes them an ideal family, but Baek Hee-sung is hiding a shameful and cruel past behind his stolen identity.

5. I’t’s Okay to Not Be Okay’

A psychiatric worker named Moon Gang Tae meets a successful children’s book writer named Ko Moon-young. Ko Moon-young is diagnosed with having antisocial personality disorder. During the drama, the two heal each other’s emotional wounds.

6. ‘True Beauty’

‘True Beauty’ is a k-drama about a girl named, Jugyeong whose life changes as she learns how to use makeup after being bullied because of her ugly looks. She goes to great lengths to never be seen without makeup. But when a guy from her school does, named Suho, she thinks it’s the end of the world. The drama introduces another guy from her school, Han Seo Joon who has a rocky past with Suho. It’s a romantic comedy and every episode is very exciting with new plot twists!

7. ‘The Glory’

‘The Glory’ is a thriller k-drama about a young woman named Dong-eun. Who was brutally bullied when she was younger to the point where she had to drop out of school. She wants to get revenge on the people who ruined her life and make them pay for their crimes. The plot, the acting and cinematography are top notch. Each episode hooks you in and there’s never a boring moment! This drama is a very intense watch and is actually based on real events.

8. ‘Sweet Home’

‘Sweet Home’ is an apocalyptic horror k-drama about humans turning into monsters. The main character is a troubled teen named Hyun and he is a high school student. He lost his family in a horrible accident, and now he moves into an apartment alone. Strange things start to happen at his new home, and Hyun must face a new terrible reality where these monsters are trying to wipe out every human in their path. With the residents of his apartment building they fight to survive these monsters. This drama is based on a webtoon, and is highly enjoyable. With many insane twists and turns.

9. ‘Start Up’

‘Start Up’ is a drama about a group of young people in the world of startup companies. The main character, Seo Dal-mi decides to drop out of university and do part time work to achieve her dream of becoming an entrepreneur similar to Steve Jobs. Along the way she meets another young wanna-be entrepreneur named Nam Do San who also wants to achieve great things. The two, along with many others, learn that the business world is hard and things can be successful but fail in a matter of seconds. The story is very enjoyable, making watchers feel many different emotions, like sadness, happiness and a feeling of inspiration. This drama is very beautiful and it teaches that it’s okay to take risks in life even if you get hurt, you take it as a learning experience.

By: Rose Ramadan and Thea Berg

* Note: This article contains spoilers

Many movies have been made throughout the years. They range from all different genres and all different story lines. Some are good, some are bad. All are different. Since there is such a wide range of movies, this article will focus on our all time favorite genre: romance.

What makes a good romance movie? In our thoughts, a good romance movie is made from three major components.

Number one, how the main characters meet. There are many different ways for characters to meet: through friends, online, in person. By far, in person is the best way. Blind dates and online don’t seem as romantic.

Number two, the story line. Of course there has to be some type of drama in the movies, either a love triangle or some type of accident.

Number three, a happy ending. After all other components, a happy ending is mandatory to enjoy a romance movie.

The number one favorite movie of the romance genre in our opinion is ‘The Notebook’. This movie follows a plot of two characters who meet and fall in love fast. Their love lasts for a summer; three short months, but it is full of long adventures. They are deeply in love. However, Allie, the main character, leaves for college, leaving behind her true love. In college, she meets a man and falls in love with him and gets engaged. Seven years have passed since she saw her summer love, but once they meet again, it’s like they were in love just yesterday.

This movie has an amazing ending, with the two lovers falling back in love and living their lives how they had always dreamed. The ending is super sad, however, for Allie suffers through dementia and forgets her true love. With their strong love and connection, however, they remember each other at the end and die happily together.

Another amazing romance movie is ‘Titanic’. This movie includes so many amazing components, however, it ends without the happy ending all viewers crave. Rose and Jack fall in love on the Titanic on their way to the United States. Jack is poor and alone, escaping the harshness of his hometown. Rose is rich and lives with her family, who she plans to escape to be with Jack. Once the Titanic splits, the lovebirds try to stay together and alive. However, there isn’t enough space for both of them to survive so Jack ends up dying, leaving Rose heartbroken in the middle of the ocean.

Another romance movie we love is ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’. This movie is about a girl named Andie who works at ‘Composure’ magazine. She wants to write articles about politics and important things, but her boss has other ideas. She wants her to write about love, shoes, boys, etc. She comes up with an article idea after her friend gets dumped for being too clingy. She decides to find a guy and do everything she can to get him to dump her in 10 days. She does anything any guy doesn’t like, such as being too clingy, or too emotional. When she is picking out a guy to test this on, Ben gets a bet to make a girl fall in love with him in 10 days by his coworkers. She chooses Ben for her article without him knowing, and he chooses to make her fall in love with him…without her knowing.

Throughout the 10 days they go through a roller coaster in their relationship. All sorts of crazy things happen between them. She is starting to get annoyed because he is not seeming to lose interest, and he notices she is taking awhile to fall in love with him.

Towards the end of the 10 days they go to Staten Island to visit Ben’s family, while they are there they both fall in love with each other’s true selves. After the 10 days are up they are both at a jewelry show and their secrets are revealed by each other’s bosses. Both of them are mad and Andie storms out. When she is running off to find somewhere else to write articles Ben chases her down and confesses his love. She goes back and finds new places to write about politics and further her relationship with Ben.

There are many more romance movies we could write about, but we will keep it to these three classics, our all time favorites.

By: Joseph Nelson

On May 5th, 2023, James Gunn ends one of his most successful trilogies. Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ trilogy started in 2014 when the group of misfits would take the theaters by storm, breaking their box office records of that year. The movie was so successful that we got to see a sequel 3 years later with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’. The sequel would go on to also break box office records and solidify ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ as one of Hollywood’s best superhero movies.

6 years later, Marvel fans received dozens of content and movies that molds the plot for the third installment of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. The audience loved it! With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% and a 95% from audience scores. James Gunn’s final send off of his 9 year Marvel project was the best work he has done for the Marvel franchise yet.

Many fans will claim that Marvels recent projects have been pretty meh. But after leaving the theater, those same fans will go on the internet to make videos and talk about how great of an emotional rollercoaster it was for them. Unlike many final Marvel installments, it is hard to find any criticism towards the film as the news filled their headlines with praises and put the film in the best light that they could.

It was truly shown on the big screen that he wanted to end the Guardians of the Galaxy on his own terms. When asked in an interview how he felt about his project finally sunsetting he said “[S]ad and proud.., But I feel like we did what we set out to do and I don’t think we could have done it much better than how we did it.”

Now, like many Marvel installments, just because the main series movies are over doesn’t mean that this will be the last time we will see these misfits on the big screen as Marvel has a tendency to include cameos in their main series films like the Avengers movies.

Overall, it was a bittersweet ending to the movie series that we have come to love and adore and it will be interesting to see what Marvel does next.

For more information, please visit:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/movies/james-gunn-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3.html

By: Greta Johnson

Last month, the full trailer for ‘The Barbie Movie’ was released. Directed by Greta Gerwig and based on the Barbie toy distributed by Mattel, this movie has many people excited and planning to see it as soon as it’s released. It stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Michael Cera and many more celebrities. The trailer that was recently released has about 10.5 million views on YouTube and went viral on social media.

This trailer is about 1 minute and 45 seconds long and it shows Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. The general summary says “After being expelled from Barbie Land for being a less than perfect-looking doll, Barbie sets off for the human world to find true happiness.” We don’t know a lot more about this movie but many people are counting down the days until its release.

In total there are over 41 Barbie movies. Most are animated and made by the same production studio. They show Barbie and her friends adventures and are more low budget films.

This Barbie movie has a budget of 100 million dollars and has been “in the making” for awhile. First announced in 2019, it is set to release July 21, 2023. This movie seems like the most awaited movie of the summer. Surprisingly, the movie is rated PG-13 and it’s directed more for adults and “big kids” than younger kids.

Currently that’s all the information we have on this new movie but I’m sure in the coming weeks more information will come out regarding storyline, actors, and general information on the film.

By: Joseph Nelson

Critics were very hesitant when it came to test screening for the new Mario movie that would hit theaters soon, giving it only a 54% Rotten Tomatoes score before the premiere ,which led to many moviegoers being cautious when buying tickets to see their favorite plumber characters. Little did the critics know how wrong they would be…

The film “Super Mario Bros” is an animated film based off of the 90’s game ‘Super Mario 64’ and its adaptations afterwards so many early Gen Z babies and late Millennials were very excited to finally see their favorite plumbers on the big screen. This showed with the first weekend of the movie being out with the movie making $377 million in the box offices world wide. To put into perspective, ‘Frozen 2’ made $358 million in its first weekend, the movie sequel that followed up from the song (“Let It Go”) that many kids sang for months after release.

Many were surprised by the statistics of moviegoers with 45% of the audience being from the ages of 18-34, which to many was a total shock, but to the people who know about the games and their community, they really didn’t bat an eye.

Many also came to see their favorite A-list actors in an animated movie, as this film hosted some of the biggest actors on the scene with Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Micheal Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach. The production did not waste any money on the casting which turned out to work great. Even after many concerns about the casting, many were pleasantly surprised by how well the actors played their roles.

Two weeks have passed now, and ‘Super Mario Bros’ have now passed as the leading movie in the box offices with many viewers going twice to see the brothers again. In fact, the movie only dropped 41% in sales after its record breaking weekend, which for many critics is unheard of as usually movies drop down on average 60% of its first opening week. I like to think that this goes to show that even critics can be surprised by the success of what many were to believe as a flop of a movie.