Arts and Entertainment 670 results

“The Father” is a Poignant Look at the Devastating Reality of Dementia

by Kathryn McDonald According to the World Health Organization, there are approximately 50 million people worldwide who suffer from dementia, with an additional 10 million new cases each year. These staggering statistics make dementia one of the most common health conditions in elderly populations, with nearly 5-8% of those over the age of 60 experiencing some form of dementia.  It is little wonder, then, that the recently released film “The Father,” directed by Florian Zeller, ...

Season Finale Is A Mixed Bag of Satisfaction and Disappointment

by Sam Acosta The finale for “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” is finally here, and it does some things well while butchering others. While I didn’t feel completely let down by the ending of this series, everything is so rushed that some of the story beats end up feeling unresolved. Episodes four and five gave me a lot of hope for this finale, but this episode ultimately wastes that momentum and lands a little flat.  One thing I did love about the finale was Sam’s transition into ...

From the Silver Screen to Your Living Room: The Theater vs Streaming Debate

by Sam Acosta In late 2020, Warner Brothers made an announcement that rocked the movie industry: all of their 2021 movies would be available on HBO Max on the same day they were released into theaters. This revelation sparked much debate within the industry about the future of the theater business. With COVID-19 restrictions forcing many theaters to close down indefinitely (sometimes permanently), the future of the industry is highly uncertain. For some, the movie-going experience is one that ...

Feminism in Film

Why Hollywood’s empowerment narrative falls flat by Breanna Beers The mere inclusion of a female protagonist was once considered box office suicide, especially for major franchises with predominantly male fanbases. Movies like “The Hunger Games,” “Divergent,” and “Captain Marvel” have repeatedly disproven that theory, driven in part by the rise of modern mainstream feminism in the early 2010s. Accordingly, we’ve seen more and more movies with women in the center of the ...

Taking Christian Music Out of Context: The Movie: The Musical

by Sam Acosta In this incorrigible ode to Steve Curtis Chapman, “A Week Away” manages to not only ruin my memories of church camp but somehow remove God from the experience as well. Over the course of an hour and thirty-four minutes, I was forced to endure painfully written dialogue, Christian stereotypes on steroids, and theology that feels like it came as a prize in my Chick-Fil-A kid’s meal. Luckily, the production value of the film is very good, so at least that was nice.  The ...

Episode Five Gives Us Our New Captain America

by Sam Acosta This episode gives us a deeper look into the mind of Sam as he wrestles with whether he should take up the mantle of Captain America. Boasting one of the greatest fight scenes to ever grace the MCU and some truly moving moments, episode five continues the upward trajectory of amazing quality and high expectations started in episode four. I loved this episode so much, and there is a lot that I want to unpack here.  First, let’s talk about the intro scene. After Walker ...

Former CU Art Professor Tells Stories, Helps Veterans Heal with Military Dog Sculptures

By Sarah Bean James Mellick pulls life out of maple, walnut and cedar, telling stories of dogs with bright eyes and attentive tails — and battle scars. In 2015, Mellick created the Wounded Warrior Dogs collection. Eight sculptures tell the stories of military dogs with various injuries, each one representing an injury their veteran counterparts have suffered from. The eighth is a plain box with a flag draped over it. Mellick’s initial aspiration was to raise awareness about vetera...

Is Disney Getting Too Powerful?

by Hunter Johnson When Disney bought Pixar, fans had nothing but excitement. When they bought Marvel, fans were cautiously optimistic. When they bought Lucasfilm, that optimism turned to concern. Then they bought 20th Century Fox, one of their biggest competitors in the movie-making industry, fans came to an agreement that Disney’s growth had become downright terrifying. Now, Disney seems to own everything. They sneakily bought the majority shares of ABC and ESPN back in the ‘90s and ...

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Brings A Legendary Rivalry to the Big Screen

by Nick Ratliff “Godzilla vs. Kong'' is one of the biggest blockbusters to come out since the pandemic started last March. Because new releases have become so rare, the hype and expectation for this movie were very high. After the success of the first three films in the MonsterVerse, this climatic crossover needed to be nothing short of greatness. “Godzilla vs. Kong'' takes place five years after Godzilla killed Ghidorah, his primary rival titan. Titans are enormous beings who ruled ...

Episode Four is the Redemption Fans Have Been Waiting For

by Sam Acosta This episode is the best of the series by far. The story, the acting, and the action all come together in a perfect cinematic symphony that will thrill you and make you feel like a superhero. What I was very worried would end up being a failed endeavor on Marvel’s part is now a show that I can’t get enough of.  The first scene provides one of the series’ most emotional scenes thus far. We see Ayo and Bucky back in Wakanda before the events of “Infinity War.” Ayo ...