Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is Better than Bridgerton
I am a casual watcher of the show Bridgerton. Each season that has come out has been enjoyable. Though I have not read any of the books, Julia Quinn presents a fun and interesting take on the Regency era that Shondaland has adapted brilliantly for Netflix. Bridgerton is good entertainment, where I can be engaged while it's on-screen and then disengage and forget about it as soon as it's turned off. I started Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story with the same expectations, but I soon found myself thinking about it even when I was not actively watching. And now that I’ve finished it, I still find myself thinking about it because it was absolutely incredible. (Warning: Spoilers ahead)
I am by no means a player of Dungeons and Dragons or DnD for short. My knowledge of the game is more peripheral - my brother and best friend are avid players, my roommate listens to DnD podcasts all the time, and I’ve made a character sheet or two for fun. But I am a Pine Nut (aka a Chris Pine stan) and a lover of a fun fantasy movie, so as soon as I saw the trailer for Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, I knew I was in for a treat. And I’m happy to say the movie did not disappoint.
“Unconventional found family featuring parents with shady jobs” is a genre that seems to have taken the anime world by storm in the past couple of years. The most popular example of this is Spy X Family, featuring a spy father, assassin mother, and telepath daughter, who don’t know each other’s secret identities and end up a family out of convenience. But this 2023 spring season has given us another top-notch anime that fits into the genre: Buddy Daddies. The show tells the story of Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa, two hitmen who are partners and best friends, and how they ended up the fathers of a young girl named Miri. Though none of them are related, the three swiftly become a family.
Something that has been weighing on my mind, and I’m sure the minds of many others, is the potential ban of TikTok. Now, I am not embarrassed to admit that I have a minor addiction to the app, checking it a couple of times a day for no insignificant amount of time and also posting my own content quite frequently. The idea of my new favorite form of social media being gone is disheartening. It is an important app for many people who rely on it for entertainment, work, news, education, and more. But there are some serious security concerns regarding TikTok, as the data it collects could be used in dangerous and damaging ways. My questions are these: can those concerns be resolved in a safe, compromising way that doesn’t end in the ban of the app in the US? What did the Congressional hearing really accomplish besides showing everyone how technologically inept and incredibly rude US politicians are? And is TikTok even the real issue here, or is it just a front to cover up an incredibly invasive and privacy-breaching bill that the US government wants to pass?
This December, the blockbuster film from Japan, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, will be receiving a limited theatrical release in the United States. The film title is long and complicated, as is the Evangelion franchise. It originally was a beloved (if controversial) anime whose first episode aired in 1995. Later, Evangelion would include a movie continuation, a manga series, and a “Rebuild” theatrical series. Thrice Upon a Time is the final film of the “Rebuilds,” acting as a permanent conclusion for a franchise that has had many indefinite endings. Though it all seems overwhelming, Evangelion is genuinely one of the best pieces of media I’ve ever experienced, and every minute spent watching or reading it is worth it.
The saying goes that in romance, opposites attract. But for Katia and Maurice Krafft, this was not the case. Born in nearly the same place, at the same time, with the same passion, it seemed like the two could only have been meant for each other. Both loved volcanoes more than anything else, deciding as individuals and as a married couple to dedicate their lives to them. Katia and Maurice worked as volcanologists, scientists that study active volcanoes, and they documented much of their explorations within films, books, photographs, and more. It is this documentation that has been compiled to create the documentary Fire of Love (2022). Though the couple died in 1991 during the volcanic eruption of Mount Unzen doing what they loved, their memory lives on through this beautifully stitched-together archival footage. Fire of Love celebrates all levels of life and love, from the big - volcanoes and the earth they emerge from - to the small - humans and their unique bonds.
Glee first aired in 2009 and had its final episode in 2015, but it still remains a pop culture fixture. There is something about the show, as well as its characters and cast, that continues to resonate with audiences even today. Sure, Glee is not perfect. There are simply too many lines of dialogue, plot points, and song choices that would not fly in 2022. But it was, and remains, a cultural reset. No TV show at the time was anything like Glee, and there hasn’t been anything like it since. Something about a show choir full of high school misfits dealing with serious issues (and some not-so-serious teenage drama), all while singing musical hits from decades ago to now, really speaks to viewers of all ages and backgrounds.
Join Buzzfeed Unsolved’s Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej on their new show Ghost Files. Together, they investigate different haunted locations using a range of ghost-hunting tech while regaling viewers with the history of the site. The two wile away the time (and the fear) by bickering and bantering, poking fun at each other and any ghouls in the vicinity. Each episode features haunting evidence as well as absolute hilarity, making it the perfect watch for the spooky season!
The end of the 20th century saw the creation of a ton of queer musicals, featuring LGBTQ+ characters and stories on stage and on screen. Many are known to those outside of the musical theater community, such as the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Rent, while others tend to be known by Broadway fans only. Hedwig and the Angry Inch falls into the latter category. Despite being a bit lesser known, Hedwig remains a powerful story that still resonates with audiences today, dealing with topics like longing, loss, acceptance, and self-love.
