Oh, what a time to be a woman! As I finished cleaning the kitchen and preparing a sandwich for my husband, I logged onto Amazon and stumbled upon a category of books called “Women’s Fiction.” The titles in this section featured such scintillating titles as “50 Shades of Grey” and covers with flowers and curlicue lettering. And me? Well,...
Chances are, if you were on the Internet on Saturday, you saw someone mention what is now officially (according to Guinness World Records) the largest ever television simulcast: the “Doctor Who” 50th anniversary special. We knew “The Day of the Doctor” was going to be a big one, teaming up the two most recent Doctors (Matt Smith’s Eleventh and...
How do you think the apocalypse will come?
Meteor impact is always a popular choice. With global warming increasingly in the spotlight, some have argued that we’re in for massive flooding. If “World War Z” and “The Walking Dead” are any indication, zombie invasions have gained ground in recent years.
But if UCR’s Comedy Apocalypse is the final arbiter of what...
In 2011, Ken Scott directed a French-Canadian film called “Starbuck,” a heartwarming story about a slacker 40-something who finds out that he has fathered 500 children due to his sperm donations at a fertility clinic. Despite being a Canadian hit, the only attention the film received was from viewers randomly searching through the foreign movie category on Netflix.
Scott and...
The UCR theatre department’s attempt to modernize “The Rover,” a 1677 play written by Aphra Behn, fell short of capturing the attention of its audience. While the play was not terribly dull or uninteresting, the language barrier between this traditional old-English piece was quite the stumper due to the diction with which this play was written.
“The Rover” is about...
When the thought of a music album crosses one’s mind, it is usually defined by a potpourri of an artist’s recent works thrown together in a 10 to 15 track conglomerate. But with his debut album “Damage Control,” EDM standout Mat Zo takes the listener on a 60-minute journey through a meticulously designed track list whose elements transcend the...
Last week’s Nooner was my first time listening to Alfa Garcia, and I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been the unwilling spectator at bizarre and ambitious indie shows where the discomfort is almost tangible. But without a doubt, watching Garcia was time well spent. She poured her sunshine onto the crowd and her sincerity canceled out the awkward...
Wednesday night at the Barn was looking to be a great one, as it marked the first stop on Chuck Inglish’s Wax & Roll Tour. As a fan of his solo work and The Cool Kids, Inglish’s former duo with rapper Sir Michael Rocks, you can probably guess that I was pretty ecstatic to see the rapper and producer...
I am an unabashed indie rock fan. I can hardly help it. My favorite bands range from Arcade Fire (whose lyrics gave this column its name) to Vampire Weekend to the New Pornographers. Stereotypical? Sure. But you can’t help what you like, right? I grew up hearing 80s alternative music around the house, so it seems natural that I...
Attempting to pinpoint the single feature that made Eminem the best-selling artist of the past decade is a challenging and nearly futile task. After all, there are so many layers to the guy that make him such an engrossing enigma. The man's been called a gifted artist as well as sell-out; a clever poet as well as chauvinist pig;...