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Movies/TV/Theaters

My review of ‘You’

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By: Kendra Shanklin

*Warning: this review contains spoilers

‘You’ is a psychological thriller about a guy named Joe Goldberg who is a charming but dangerous obsessive man who becomes obsessed with women and goes to the highest standards to insert himself into their lives. The show is rated TV-MA for its murdering, violence, and sexual content.

Recap:

In the first season Joe works at a book store and a customer comes in named Beck who is looking for a good book and asks Joe if they had it and they have a conversation. After that conversation ended Joe instantly fell in love and knew that Beck “was the one for him” and knew he needed to become close with her. After that day Joe would think about her on a daily basis.

Once Joe got home he opened his laptop and started typing Beck’s name on social media looking at her pictures and even looking in the background of her photos to find her address .

The next morning, he walks to her place and sees her through the window and watches her while she’s getting ready. After that he finds her schedule and gets his day ready at the same exact time as hers, and starts stalking her throughout the day. Once Joe finds out Beck has a boyfriend he gets angry and wants that obstacle removed immediately because he doesn’t want anything blocking his chance of getting with Beck.

After that day, Joe heads back to Beck’s and sees the door open. He doesn’t want to be suspicious so he acts like Beck’s boyfriend so he wouldn’t have people second guessing about his behavior.

He then snuck into Beck’s house and went through all of her stuff to see what he could find and went on her computer and through all her pictures.

After snooping he hears the door open and gets scared and he jumps in her shower trying to hide so Beck won’t see him. He then hears Beck on the phone saying how she’s going to a bar and he has the idea to also go to the bar so he can see her.

He then goes to the bar and stalks her for awhile until he sees Beck get drunk. When he notices she’s taking a subway home he follows her. While trying not to get noticed he sees Beck stumbling by the train tracks and falls. He runs towards her and helps her up and notices she drops her phone but doesn’t say anything.

My rating:

In my opinion I love this show. It’s really mysterious and you never really know what is gonna happen next. I love how there’s like the inner voice of his thoughts. Lastly, I like how it shows flash backs from when he was a child to show the reasoning behind his behavior.

If you like shows that have crime and psychological thrillers I recommend that you watch this show. I rate it a 9.5/10

Thank you for reading my review. I hope you enjoyed my review and are willing to watch this show after seeing it.

‘You’ is available to watch on Netflix and Amazon video.

Movies/TV/Theaters

The curse of reboots

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By: Hermekay Dehaney

Image made with ChatGPT

We live in a time when Hollywood is fueled by trying to replicate nostalgic content to relive popular and beloved films and shows with reboots and sequels. While some Hollywood directors and producers hit the mark with shows and movies such as ‘Cobra Kai’ and ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’  which are high-grossing reboots, the majority fade away, either getting canceled after one season or becoming box office flops. 

There is a popular quote that says, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” I think that quote indirectly applies to movies/shows as well.  A key factor in good shows is that they know when to end effectively, which leaves a lasting impression on critics and viewers at home. For example, shows like ‘Breaking Bad’, and ‘The Good Place’ are often praised for ending their show successfully. When shows continue past their prime, it leads to low viewer rates and creative decline, a perfect example is the show, ‘Riverdale.’ There are obvious exceptions to this rule, shows like ‘Modern Family,’ ‘The Office,’ and ‘Friends’ are often regarded as some of the best TV shows that have run for more than 9 seasons. 

Reboots might seem safe on paper. When executives try to reboot popular shows and movies that nobody asked for, it feels like a quick money grab from executives and actors who starred in the original. They believed that since people enjoyed the original and a beloved original actor is returning to star in it, viewers will enjoy the reboot, which is not true. It only works if the execution is right. If it doesn’t have the creative magic and storyline that the original show captures, it’s bound to fail. 

Examples include  ‘Gossip Girl (2021), which is a reboot of the original ‘Gossip Girl’ that was first released in 2007; ‘Fuller House’, a reboot of ‘Full House’;  ‘That 90’s Show’, a reboot of ‘That 70’s Show’; and ‘Gilmore Girl: A Year In The Life’, which is a reboot of ‘Gilmore Girls’. All of them were betting on brand recognition to be successful, but ultimately flopped, some canceled after only 1 season. 

I’ve noticed that when reboots don’t evolve with their original audience, the reboot falls flat. I remember in 2019, Disney+ announced a ‘Lizzie McGuire’ reboot, but it was later shelved before it was filmed due to creative differences between the executives and Hilary Duff, who plays the main character. Hilary Duff wanted it to be a more “mature” show because the original audience of the show has grown up, which means their tastes have evolved. She also wanted her character who would’ve been in her 30s to be in a more realistic real-life adult situation. Disney+ disagreed and wanted it to be more of a family-friendly show approach. This disagreement ultimately led to a cancellation of production. I think it was the right choice because if they had let Disney+ win,  the show would’ve been added to the list of canceled reboots after 1 season due to it failing to connect with the original audience for being too juvenile. 

Rebooting cartoons to live-action also always fails. Animated shows have different rules compared to live action, cartoons operate on a totally different scale, and their visuals and tone are totally different. What might look good in 2D sometimes looks awkward In live action. These projects struggle to have the features that only animation can capture.

Reboots are just a lack of creativity, they fail to understand what audiences want. It’s not always just the familiar face and nostalgia that pulls viewers in, it’s the creative vision that involves mixing something old with something new without trying to completely change the storyline from the original. Viewers want a new perspective but a similar style. So, if Hollywood wants to keep on revisiting classics, they need to start creating something worth watching.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Prison Break’ review

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By: Sasha Deans

*Warning: This review contains minor spoilers

I think ‘Prison Break’ is a great series that is definitely meant for people who enjoy more serious and intense shows. It’s not at all a fun and games type of show like something you’d see on Disney. Instead, it’s very realistic and maybe even scary realistic at times. There are also a lot of very sad and heartbreaking scenes that make you think about what really happens in high-security prisons.

The show does a good job of portraying the range of criminals in prison. Of course, the two brothers, Michael and Lincoln, have a unique story. But aside from them, you see inmates who have committed serious crimes like rape, murder, assassinations, and high-level theft. However, there are also people in there for lesser crimes, like carjackers. This variety makes the show very interesting because you get to learn each criminal’s backstory and why they ended up in prison.

One of the things I really love about Prison Break is how it shows the harsh reality of the American prison system. It makes you wonder what’s really going on in our government that we may not even know about. The show subtly reveals the dark side of the system, and it really opened my eyes to what could be happening behind closed doors.

Another huge theme in the show is the relationships between the characters. One of my favorites is the friendship between Michael and Sucre. They started off as cellmates in Season 1 but ended up becoming lifelong best friends who would do anything for each other. Their bond is really heartwarming to watch, especially considering the dark environment they’re in.

But the most powerful theme in the show is definitely family love. Michael spent most of his life resenting his brother Lincoln, but the moment Lincoln was sentenced to death, Michael did not hesitate to risk his entire life, career, and freedom to break his brother out of prison. It’s a perfect example of family over everything. You also see a similar bond between Lincoln and his son, LJ, who would do anything for each other.

I also really enjoyed the love stories in the show, like Sucre and Maricruz. Sucre literally escaped prison just to be with Maricruz and their daughter. Another powerful love story is Michael and Sara’s. Michael had to make extremely dangerous and life-threatening decisions just to protect Sara, showing how strong their love was.

The acting in Prison Break is absolutely amazing. It feels very realistic, and the suspense is heart-stopping. The show has a lot of action—like gunfights, car chases, aircraft escapes, bombs, and more. So, if you love high-action, intense shows, this is definitely one you need to watch.

Final Verdict:

I would give Prison Break a 5/5. It has everything—action, suspense, drama, romance, and shocking plot twists. It’s definitely not a lighthearted show, but if you enjoy a deep, serious, and realistic series, this is absolutely worth watching. It will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Highly recommended!

You can watch on Netflix!

Getting To Know/History, Movies/TV/Theaters

How ‘Sesame Street’ changed education

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By: Kara Fini

In 1969 ‘Sesame Street’ was aired on television. It was the first time that there was an educational show for all children and its impact showed.

Before ‘Sesame Street’ was created most children were exposed to cruel shows meant for adults. A study done by the University of Michigan showed that the average American child had seen 16,000 deaths on TV before they turned 18.

Although there were children shows on TV like ‘Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood’, they were meant for middle class children and gave an advantage to middle class children who knew more before they started school. The founder, Joan Ganz Cooney, observed that and wanted there to be a show where children of every class would be able to start school on a more even playing field.

When ‘Sesame Street’ first aired, it was an almost immediate success. Children who watched the show were seen to have higher knowledge in math, reading and writing before they started kindergarten. The impact was so big in some parts of the US that districts had to change their elementary school curriculums because too many kids had already learned what they were trying to teach them. It wasn’t only educational learning, but social and emotional skills too.

‘Sesame Street’ gained some backlash for its diverse cast and hard topics that it covered. It took a very long time for it to be aired on TV, but ‘Sesame Street’ never backed down from this backlash. They wanted to have a television show that all kids would be able to see someone like them in. They introduced more puppets that came from different backgrounds and continued to cover heavy topics like childhood poverty, natural disasters, death and racism.

‘Sesame Street’ paved the way for tons more educational shows and showed us how you can turn a harmful thing like television into something beneficial.

If you want to hear a more detailed explanation on how ‘Sesame Street’ changed education, a history day project made by Maeve Callahan-Schreiber is available on YouTube from the YouTube channel ‘The Better Angels Society’ with the title “Sunny Days: A Turning Point In Children’s Television”. Maeve is currently a 9th grader at Como Park Senior High School, and represented SPPS at the National History Day in June getting second for Junior Individual Documentary.  

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Gilmore Girls’ season one review

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By: Priya Anderson & Ruby Anderson

Source: Screenshot from Ruby’s IPhone, Gilmore Girls opening credits

The 2000s TV show ‘Gilmore Girls’, created by Amy Sherman-Palladio, is a comedic drama set in the fictional Connecticut town Stars Hollow that is centered around the relationship between single mother Lorelei Gilmore and her teenage daughter Rory Gilmore.

Season one of Gilmore Girls introduces many important characters such as Lorelei and Rory. This mother-daughter duo sets the stage for this show as they have a quirky and loving relationship bringing together themes of family, relationships, and friendship. Lorelei, who is played by Lauren Graham, is the hard working single mother of Rory. Throughout the season Lorelei navigates the hardships of single motherhood, relationships, and the tough expectations of her wealthy parents. Rory, played by Alexis Bledel, is an intelligent and ambitious 16-year-old girl with dreams of going to Harvard. During season one we follow Rory’s journey after being accepted into the prestigious school, Chilton Academy.

Stars Hollow is the perfect setting for Gilmore Girls. With its eccentric but charming characters, the small New England town is full of personality and factors into the show’s comforting feel. Stars Hollow includes a variety of businesses and shops from Luke’s Diner to Ms. Patty’s dance studio. Residents of Stars Hollow are a big part of what makes the town so perfect. Luke Danes (Scott Patterson), the owner of Luke’s Diner, is a grumpy but lovable character we see often throughout the show. His diner is the town’s hangout spot and Lorelai and Rory’s favorite place to eat and relax. There is also the towns dance instructor, Ms. Patty (Liz Torres) who loves to gossip and involve herself in town events. Lorelai’s workplace, The Independence Inn, introduces us to her best friend Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy) who is a talented chef and an important character to the show. The many more amusing characters in this community help add a comedic relief to more serious aspects of Lorelai and Rory’s hectic lives.

The complex relationship between Lorelai, Rory, and Lorelai’s parents Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann) creates an important narrative throughout the show. After Lorelai seeks help from her parents to pay for Rory’s tuition she is, in return, forced to have dinner with her parents and Rory every week. Tension between Lorelai and her parents is common throughout the season from their wildly different lifestyles and lack of understanding of each other. Emily and Richard show what life was like for Lorelai before she became pregnant with Rory and left home to take care of her on her own. Lorelai’s difficult relationship with her parents is shown in conflict and are some of the most important moments throughout the season.

While ‘Gilmore Girls’ is mostly about family, the theme of love and romance also plays a big role. During season one we follow the love story between Rory and her first boyfriend, Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki). Early in the season the two meet at Stars Hollow High School shortly after Dean transfers there from Chicago. The two quickly start dating after Dean finds interest in Rory and they begin to get to know each other. The brief yet serious relationship between Lorelai and Max Medina (Scott Cohen) begins when Lorelai meets the Chilton teacher at a parent teacher meeting not long after Rory begins school there. The relationship between the two starts off slow as Lorelai is hesitant due to Max being her daughter’s teacher but quickly becomes serious throughout the season.

Rory’s acceptance into Chilton Academy created many new difficulties. The elite school is a big difference to the public school she attended with her best friend, Lane Kim (Keiko Ageno) who is a recurring character throughout the series, and is known for her love for rock music and her struggles with her strict mother. Chilton being a great way for Rory to be accepted into Harvard, is an academic challenge in Rory’s life bringing her piles of school work and introduces her intense classmate Paris Geller (Liza Weil) who quickly becomes a rival to Rory as she sees her as a student who wants to take her spot as top student in her class.

‘Gilmore Girls’ season one sets off the series to a great start introducing loveable and relatable characters, as well as offering a great atmosphere for a show that will be loved by many for years to come.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Heartstopper’ Season 3 review

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By: Persephone Pond

‘Heartstopper’ is a Netflix original series based on the Webcomic written by Alice Oseman. Directed by Andy Newbery, season 3 of this show released all 8 episodes on Thursday, October 3rd, and received overwhelmingly positive reviews. This article is a quick, spoiler free review from the perspective of a long time fan.

Seasons 1 and 2 focused largely on building foundations of relationships between characters and expanding on the experiences of coming out as queer, while season 3 dives deeper into mental health issues that teens deal with and the experiences of moving further into a relationship. From the perspective of a queer teen who has been through much of the same things these characters in the show have, the writing deals with these heavier themes incredibly well.

Good representation of the lived experience of queer people is not an easy thing to find, luckily more and more writers have been incorporating these sorts of themes into media nowadays. In contrast, representation of mental health issues, especially eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder, are still largely stigmatized in today’s society. Charlie Spring, the protagonist of ‘Heartstopper’, deals with these issues in season 3, which changes the atmosphere of the show from lighthearted to kind of depressing. Although these heavy themes make the season more sad, it’s so important to spread awareness, especially in today’s society where these problems are not uncommon, they’re just repressed.

Charlie and Nick, the protagonists of the show, deal with the stress of mental illness, while side characters still get enough attention to grow an attachment to them. Season 3 also brings up more controversy about binary transgender teens, non-binary gender exploration, and asexuality, which weren’t elaborated much on the past 2 seasons.

Overall, these characters have a way of pulling on anyone and everyone’s heartstrings, and season 3 of this show is so powerful. I highly recommend sticking with ‘Heartstopper’, or starting from the beginning.

Movies/TV/Theaters

Halloween movie/show recommendations

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By: Beverly Stinson

My favorite holiday of the year is coming up and I’d love to share some of my favorite horror/Halloween movies and shows to binge-watch on Halloween or during October.

I’m someone who struggles to find good horror media to watch so I find things like this useful when I need something to watch.

  1. The Scream Franchise

The Scream Franchise is one of the most popular horror series ever. I’d say most people have seen at least one of the movies before. I didn’t become a fan until early 2023 and I became obsessed very quickly.

The franchise is good to watch if you love a continuous story and if you love Horror comedies. It’s also good for people like me who love a good slasher but without a ton of gore.

But even though it’s a good series to watch in full I’d recommend specifically ‘Scream’ (the original), ‘Scream 5’ (also labeled as just ‘Scream’) and ‘Scream 6’. You don’t really need all the lore from the other 3 movies to understand the plot of ‘Scream 5’ and 6 as they focus more on new characters.

‘Scream 6’ is my favorite movie, and compared to all the other movies there are more gory scenes but not too bad. There’s also ‘Scream’ the TV series which is not the same as the movies at all and it’s also incredibly gory. So, if you like gore then the show is where you wanna go.

Where you can watch:

‘Scream’ 1-4 (R): Max

‘Scream’ 5-6 (R): Paramount+

‘Scream’ show (Mature): you can rent it on YouTube or Amazon Prime

  1. ‘The Boy’

‘The Boy’ (PG-13) is a very underrated movie but it’s one of my favorites. I do feel like it takes a certain type of person to like it. It’s a very slow-paced movie which is something that usually draws people away, but to me, the slow aspect of it makes the ending even more unsettling.

In my opinion, it’s not very scary, it’s more just suspenseful. It doesn’t have any gore or really any blood. The storyline is so interesting and to me it’s unique. And since a lot of people probably haven’t heard about it, I’ll give a short summary.

It’s about an American woman traveling to the UK to babysit a boy from a rich family, but when she gets to the house, she learns that the child she’s babysitting is actually a lifesize porcelain doll.

Again, it’s one of my favorite movies, though I knew the twist before watching it so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

Where to watch: Hulu & Paramount+

  1. ‘Totally Killer’

‘Totally Killer’ (R) is a fairly new movie to the slasher scene so most likely a lot of you haven’t seen it. When I heard about this movie I expected to like it and I really did.

It’s a horror comedy but to me it’s more just a comedy.

It’s about a girl in 2023 who goes back in time to the ’80s to stop a series of killings and save her mother. It’s such a fun movie honestly; it references other slasher movies including ‘Scream’.

There is one part of the movie that annoys me which is the main character trying to make the characters understand things that people in the ’80s don’t understand; it’s just a little pet peeve throughout the movie.

I love the plot so much, it’s literally ‘Back to the Future’ mixed with a slasher, but another thing I don’t like is the ending. I feel like it was so unnecessary.

But anyway, it has a good amount of gore for a slasher and will definitely make you laugh.

Where to watch: Prime

  1. ‘Lisa Frankenstein’

‘Lisa Frankenstein’ (R) was a movie I was looking forward to when it was announced, I already knew it would be something I like.

It’s a Horror comedy as well as a romance. It’s about a teenage girl who accidentally raises a man from the dead and they begin to collect body parts to piece the man back together all while Lisa is trying to gain the attention of a boy she likes.

It’s such a good movie all the way through, it’s so hilarious and has a good ending. It has a small amount of gore as there’s dismembered body parts shown but it’s not really bad. I really love the ‘Frankenstein’ take on a slasher movie; I’d say it’s a pretty unique movie. It also is a pretty good love story.

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

  1. ‘Supernatural’

‘Supernatural’ (TV-14) is a pretty popular show I’d say; it has 15 seasons so it’s definitely not a watch it in one day kind of show.

It’s about two brothers who are demon hunters and they go around doing just that. The first two seasons are mostly different plots for every episode but then it starts to have a main thing going on around the 3rd season.

It showcases a lot of different monsters, demons, and ghosts throughout the entire show. I’d say it’s not that gory for most of the episodes but there are some bad ones.

It’s also mainly a horror/comedy I think.

Where to watch: Netflix

  1. ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (TV-14) is another one I’d say is pretty popular or was more popular when it was streaming. It’s one of my favorite shows, especially because it’s mainly about vampires.

It’s about a girl who has been chosen to be a “Slayer” which basically means she has this supernatural strength to use to fight monsters, especially vampires. It’s another show that has a different plot every episode with different monsters but it also has a main plot pretty much every season, in which there are 7.

It’s a drama but it definitely gives a Horror/comedy feeling, which obviously I love Horror/comedy if you couldn’t tell.

And this show gives me the most Halloween feeling out of all the recommendations.

Where to watch: Hulu

Some other good things to watch would be:

  1. The X trilogy
  2. ‘The Vampire Diaries’/’The Originals’
  3. ‘The Winchesters’ (Spin-off of ‘Supernatural’)
  4. ‘My Babysitters a Vampire’
  5. ‘Beetlejuice’
  6. ‘The Craft’

Those are all my recommendations. I really love all the movies and shows in this article and I hope it gives you a sense of some things to watch during the Halloween season.

  • Beverly