By: Mia David

On September 5th, 2022, National Geographic released the documentary series ‘The Edge of the Unknown.’ It was filmed and produced by photographer, filmmaker, and mountain athlete Jimmy Chin.

The series consists of 10 episodes that each follow athletes doing extreme sports. From snowboarders and skiers to rock climbers and kayakers, Jimmy Chin tells the stories of athletes risking their lives for their sport.

The athletes tell stories of times they were forced to question whether risking their life is worth the reward.

Angel Collinson is one of the best skiers in the world, male or female, and in episode 2, she makes her way up to Alaska to ski down some of the most unique and challenging terrains in the world. While making her way down the line, Angel stumbles and falls 1000 ft down to the bottom of the mountain.

Angel is shaken to her core. It was a rude awakening that forced her to reflect on her career; the hours she spent on the slopes and the childhood she had lost to the sport.

After that, it was simple for her. She walked away from skiing ultimately, much to the shock of her family and friends. She didn’t feel the risk and sacrifice were worth the title she earned and the rewards she got.

Not everybody feels this way after facing the extreme danger of the Alaskan mountains. In episode 5, Travis Rice says, “There are so many little mini breakthroughs. I, to this day, continue to chase that feeling that gives me a sense of living.”

Travis gets caught in a deadly avalanche and somehow makes it out with no serious injuries. Although Travis almost lost his life that day, he is quick to get back on the slopes with the support of those around him.

In Travis’ case, it raises the question of whether or not someone should give up something that could take their life if that means losing the one thing that makes them feel alive.

One last example is Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbuic, who kayak in rivers in Central Africa with their mentor and friend Henri Coetzee. Throughout the journey, they face the threat of crocodiles and hippos. One day, on the river, Henri’s kayak is flipped, and a crocodile drags him under the water; Ben and Chris have to quickly paddle away because there is no hope for saving him.

These athletes continue to experience different life-threatening events and have to pause and reflect on their choices. For some, it’s simply lowering the stakes or walking away; for others, they jump right back into the game.

For those who don’t spend their days climbing mountains, it’s hard to understand how you could get back to the sport after a terrible accident. Chin describes it like this, “In the adventure world, there is a certain understanding that we choose to do what we do and we do it intentionally.”

Chin has an episode discussing his life-threatening adventure where he should have died but miraculously made it out alive. However, like others, he can’t resist the thrill and adventure he finds in the mountains. He says in episode 8, “It’s really impossible to describe the insatiable calling of the big mountains.”

For people like Travis, Ben, Chris, and other athletes in the series, the call to adventure is unlike anything else. Whether it’s mountains, rivers, or the ocean, it’s impossible not to return to the one place you feel alive.

This idea of the risk worth the reward could be debated for a long time. We can pull in different aspects like the level of risk, family and loved ones, and the health of individual people. We must also consider the love, passion, and freedom said person feels towards these sports.

You can watch this series on Disney+.

By: Eva Olson

‘Stranger Things’ came out with a fourth season on June 1st this year. It has 7 episodes currently, but there are two more coming on July 1st because they couldn’t fit the whole storyline into 7 episodes. Episode 8 will be 1 hour and 25 minutes and episode nine will be 2 hours and 30 minutes long. In total, these two episodes will have a running time of almost 4 hours.

There was a new character introduced this season; Eddie Munson. Eddie is played by Joseph Quinn. He is a stereotypical 80’s metal head with an electric guitar and long hair. He’s the leader of the Hellfire Club that Dustin, Lucas, and Mike are all a part of and play Dungeons and Dragons in. He’s very funny and it’s entertaining to see him and the rest of the main cast together. I really like him so far and I’m looking forward to seeing him in the next two episodes.

This season felt more eerie and creepy than all of the previous seasons. It had many scenes that looked like they were straight from a horror movie. The season also felt darker not just in the sense that it was scary but also just in the brightness of some of the nighttime scenes. I kept having to readjust my brightness to see what was going on.

This season was very interesting because I got to see more of Eleven’s past in the lab and the rainbow room. All of the scenes in the lab were super creepy, especially the character played by Jamie Campbell Bower. I got to see more of the other kids who were in the lab, as well as more detail on how Eleven got out.

Overall, I enjoyed this season a lot and I can’t wait to see the final two episodes of it. I’m currently rewatching it because I loved it so much. It kept me on my toes the entire time and was constantly freaking me out. I would recommend this show to anyone except for people who get scared easily. I would give this season a 5/5 star rating. “Stranger Things’ can be found on Netflix.

By: Eva Olson

‘(500) Days of Summer’ is a romance/comedy movie starring Zoe Deschanel as Summer and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom Hansen. This movie follows the story of Tom and his relationship with Summer over 500 days.

This movie was very interesting because it would go back and forth between different days of their relationship out of order. One minute of the movie could be a day after they broke up, then the next it could be pre-break up. This really kept me on my toes throughout the whole movie and made it extremely intriguing.

I enjoyed how the film wasn’t a typical romance/comedy movie and it had a kind of sad feel to it. It was cool to watch Tom’s journey in getting over Summer and realizing that some people aren’t meant to be.

I loved the soundtrack of this movie. I really liked how they met in the elevator because Summer was playing The Smiths. I also found the scene where Tom was dancing to “You Make My Dreams” by Daryl Hall & John Oates amusing, especially when the cameo of Harrison Ford as Han Solo showed up in the car window.

The characters were all very complex and layered. I could relate to almost every character through their personalities or their actions. I liked how each character had their flaws and wasn’t perfect; this made them feel more real.

I thought the costumes were all well done. They all fit the characters and suited their personalities very well. I really enjoyed the setting too, and the fact that it was in Los Angeles was interesting.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It was well done and I found the storyline very intriguing. I would give it a 5/5 star rating. You can watch this on Amazon Prime Video.

By: Samera Adam

‘A Madea Homecoming’ is a 2022 comedy film produced by Tyler Perry, who also plays the role of the main character.

The movie starts off with a barbecue that takes place in Atlanta Georgia. Mr. Brown is in charge on the grill where he is seen putting a lot of gasoline in. After being warned, he then accidentally sets himself on fire.

While the majority of the backyard was on fire, everybody else was too busy preparing for Tim’s graduation.

Madea, the main character, is done putting up with the family drama and nonsense and now speaks up. She will not let the family members ruin her great grandson’s grad party. 

Tim is on his way to Madea’s house where he and his friend Davi have a big announcement to make.

As the movie goes on more and more family members start showing up.

Laura and Silvia eventually come. Laura is Tim’s mother, while Silvia is the friend/lawyer of Laura’s divorce.

Tim wants his father to be at his graduation party. Laura then puts her feelings aside for her son even though Richard, Tim’s father, left her with no money. The whole family thinks that he should not be invited.

Later that night, Agnes tries to surprise her nephew, Davi, at Madea’s house. Agnes is the aunt who took Davi in after both of his parents had passed away.

When arriving at Madea’s house, Cara, Laura’s sister, is there to open the door. Agnes then does a “Wakanda forever” gesture and gets the door slammed in her face.

After Cara comes back to give her a second try, Agnes walks into the house uninvited. 

Agnes then makes a joke about Madea’s size. Madea then grabs her by her scarf, lifts her up and starts threatening her. When she notices everyone is silently staring at her, Agnes says “Why do you all look like you have your knickers in a bunch?”

Everybody is silently thinking “knickers” referred to the N-word with the hard “er” at the end, but later she explained it meant underwear.

Later on, Laura and Agnes are washing dishes. Agnes reveals that Davi is retiring to Ireland to take over the family’s farm. 

Madea’s family thinks that that’s a waste of his talent. He just finished law school and is in debt but instead he wants to fly across the world and not use his degree. 

Though this movie was supposed to be a comedy, it wasn’t that funny. I would give it a solid 3 out of 5. You can watch it on Netflix.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

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.

By: Eva Olson

*Contains Spoilers*

The new Marvel series ‘Moon Knight’ premiered on March 30th, 2022, with a single episode. This show stars Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant. ‘Moon Knight’ follows the journey of Steven Grant, who lives in London, and works at a museum gift shop. But, he has a separate personality, Marc Spector. Steven blacks out when Marc is in control of his body and often wakes up with blood on his hands. He soon discovers Marc is the avatar of the Egyptian god of the moon, Khonsu.

This show’s special effects and costumes are very well done and unique in my opinion. This show is very visually appealing. The setting in Egypt was captivating and I loved how they incorporated the moon into the background. I thought it was really interesting how they used different costumes for Marc and Steven to show their different personalities.

‘Moon Knight’ is like the other Marvel miniseries ‘Wanda Vision’ in the sense that you don’t know or understand much at first, and it is very confusing but, as you continue to watch it makes more sense. This makes the show very interesting and intriguing and makes it hard to wait for a new episode to come out. It also makes it entertaining to try and predict what will happen next.

There are only five out of six episodes out so far, but I love it and wish it was a longer series. The 4th episode, was left on a huge cliffhanger/big reveal. You don’t really need prior knowledge of any Marvel movies or shows to understand this.

Overall, I really like this show and would recommend it to any Marvel fans or action fans. I would give ‘Moon Knight’ a 5/5 star rating. It is available to watch only on Disney+.