Anthony Pantalone, Staff

Writing about “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is not easy. I write this openly and honestly when I say that words make it difficult to describe this film. Words make it difficult to even describe the experience of watching it in a theater. I laughed a lot. I cried a lot. I audibly said “What?” a lot. Therefore, the only word that comes to mind when thinking about the latest cinematic effort by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert is ‘triumph.’ Between its acting, directing, editing and, most of all, its screenplay, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” represents a creative triumph on all fronts. In the same way that the Daniels wrote this screenplay as a response to the worsening postmodern state of the world after 2016, its hopefulness and meta-modernism take a stand against nihilism. The important thing to know about this movie though is that nothing can prepare you for the experience of watching it. Whereas I would usually provide a brief plot summary, it genuinely would benefit the viewer to know less going in. I can’t recommend it enough. If there is one movie you watch this year, it should be “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Utilizing the Potential of your Cast

One thing this film does extremely well is utilize its cast to the utmost potential of each actor’s star caliber. Michelle Yeoh (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” “Shang-Chi”) leads the film as Evelyn Wang—a role that is both a physical and emotional powerhouse. With an extensive background in Hong Kong kung fu movies, this role allows Yeoh to show off her physical strengths in fight choreography while also producing the dramatic and comedic performance of a lifetime. Alongside Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan especially shines as her husband Waymond Wang. Quan returns to acting in an emotional tour de force performance after famed childhood roles in both “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Quan noted he never actually would have returned to working in front of a camera if not for the cultural milestone of “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018 for Asian actors in prominent leading roles. His performance has easily been my favorite of 2022 so far and likely one of my favorite performances of the past few years. Stephanie Hsu also delivers a great performance that is versatile and threatening while also incredibly heart-breaking. Finally, it’s important to note Jamie Lee Curtis (“A Fish Called Wanda” “Freaky Friday”) who truly embraces her talents as a comedic actor in this film.

Everything on a Bagel: Insane Absurdism Works

The Daniels overcome issues at the heart of many movies that revel in absurdism or use weird sci-fi concepts like a multiverse by anchoring a strong emotional core to all this insanity. There is a bagel that has quite literally all of existence on it. There is a racoon named “Racacoonie” who controls a chef like the rat in “Ratatouille.” There are scenes where all human beings have hot dogs for fingers. There is also a scene where two rocks talk only through subtitles. But the emotional core of the movie is so well written and weaved throughout every aspect of the story that this scene ended up making me cry. This film goes to crazy places, yet it always stays grounded in the humanity of its characters. The main existential struggles and family trauma of the protagonist always remain at the root of the story’s events despite the absurdism.

Blending Genre

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is especially skillful at blending genres in a way that is not usually executed well in other films. It’s science fiction. It’s a dark comedy. At moments, its fight choreography makes it feel like a kung fu film. At times, it is an emotionally crushing drama. On a basic level, it’s a slice of life movie about doing your taxes. The Daniels in one scene even attempt to pay homage to the moody tension-filled atmosphere of Wong Kar-wai’s romantic masterpiece “In the Mood for Love.” The pure creativity of its screenplay is on display throughout the use of different genres, yet this blend of genre never feels disjointed or works to confuse the audience. Instead, the film embraces a metamodern tapestry of genres to tell a grand narrative about existential anguish, the effects of trauma, and healing.

Anthony Pantalone, Staff

Joachim Trier’s 2021 feature “The Worst Person in the World” explores the endless purgatory of a person’s 20s and the uncertainty and crushing anxiety that coincide with the freedom of adulthood. Set in Oslo, Norway, the film follows Julie — portrayed masterfully by Renate Reinsve (“Welcome to Norway,” “Oslow”) — as she waits for her life to start. After dropping out of medical school and switching various career paths, Julie is unsure of what lies ahead. She bounces between career paths in psychology, photography and commentary writing. She finds herself in a relationship with a man in his 40s. At the beginning of the movie, she does not know what preferred shape her life will ever take. The next two hours detail the experiences of the protagonist as she grapples with various relationships, doubts about the future and the pervasive feeling of being stuck.

         Nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay at this year’s  Academy Awards, the film has already received widespread critical acclaim. While set to face stiff competition from Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” in the International category, “The Worst Person in the World” may hold a realistic chance of winning Best Original Screenplay. The Cannes Film Festival in summer 2021 even nominated the film for the highly coveted Palme d’Or before awarding it to Julia Ducournau’s “Titane.” Reinsve obtained the Best Actress award at this film competition though — an achievement appropriate for her entrancing performance.

The nomination for Best Screenplay is an inspired choice by the Academy, because the script from Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier easily serves as the film’s strongest quality. Split into a prologue, twelve chapters and an epilogue, each section varies in length and details pivotal moments for the main character traversing her 20s. This story-telling device feels ingenious as it progresses the story forward easily while effectively showing how each character grows over time. The prologue finds the main character pivot from various career paths as she faces indecisions. Each chapter then focuses on a specific period in this young woman’s life and slowly creeps towards a crescendo in the final chapters and epilogue that reveal deeper insights about life and love. As a coming-of-age film, a theater goer already knows the main character will learn an important lesson and undergo a transformation, but Joachim Trier somewhat subverts genre norms with this movie. The screenplay takes the audience on an imaginative route to the film’s finale by making you feel like you are reading chapters in a book about this young person’s struggles. Certain sequences utilize animation and hallucinations, and one scene even shows the main character stopping the world around her. This particular sequence was my personal favorite scene andshows Julie flip a light switch and freeze almost every single person around her in place for an entire day. She then runs through the quiet, sun-soaked streets of Oslo in a moment of jubilation and glee. The rest of the day is spent on a date with a potential love interest with whom she had shared a night years earlier. The scene feels utterly euphoric and overcomes the anguish and regret of youth. When one feels stuck in a career, living situation or relationship, they often somewhat desire to diverge on a different unknown path. There is an underlying desire to try out a new relationship, quit their job or even fundamentally change their life. In reality, a person cannot stop time to find what they actually want before settling down and making a life for themselves. The protagonist does though. Her own freedom from the constraints of mundane life and the opinions of other people reflect the strong desire of many young people to freeze everything and break away from their current life trajectory.

As someone who recently turned 21 and now faces the rest of my 20s laid out before me, the film strikes a terrifyingly relatable chord. It’s difficult to figure out what I should be doing — what to reasonably yearn for within a career or a fulfilling existence. I don’t think I ever truly will know. I also think that no one ever truly does either. This film at least makes me feel less alone in this search. It presents the idea that some fulfillment can be simply found in the journey and not just by reaching a desired destination, career or relationship. It’s a soothing reminder that humans always have the ability to find some semblance of stability throughout the chaos of youthful instability. Julie continuously does not feel secure and stable even though she continuously grows older. Her resistance to getting her life together causes this protagonist to continuously make misguided decisions and view herself as “the worst person in the world.” The inherent doubt and indecision that comes with being an adult must make every young person “the worst in the world” to some degree.

By James LeVan

Speculative fiction is an amazing genre, not only because it takes us on a journey across time and space to far off worlds, but also because it manages to hold up a mirror to humanity and makes us confront our very nature. That is what Chinese author Cixin Liu does in his “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy , consisting of “The Three-Body Problem,” “The Dark Forest,” and “Death’s End.” The books detail the thousands of years of conflict between humanity and an extraterrestrial race of aliens who seek to conquer the Earth and eradicate humanity. Liu uses his trilogy to discuss questions of human nature, the importance of the greater good, humanity’s role in the universe and how to fight mass surveillance. Each book individually is a masterpiece of literature, but to genuinely appreciate the story Liu has written, one should read all three, as he takes us from the fall of Constantinople to rural China at the height of the Cultural Revolution; the novels also include large city-space stations and  a pocket dimension at the end of the universe.

Ever since I first learned of this series from my professor, I was eager to get my hands on the book.  I learned that my local Barnes and Noble had only one copy left, so I rushed over there to get it just as they were closing. As soon as I grabbed it, I saw that it earned the praise of several noteworthy people including “Game of Thrones” author George R. R. Martin, Mark Zuckerberg and even former President Barack Obama. Curious, I began  reading it two weeks before classes  started and was immediately hooked. Once I was done, I ordered the complete trilogy, and what I found was an epic writer who deserves some more acclaim than he currently has.

The first book in the series, “The Three-Body Problem”, is a mystery tale about a nanotechnology scientist named Wang Miao and a detective named Dai Shi who  investigate the strange deaths of several scientists. These deaths connect  to a bizarre computer game, in which players attempt to understand the nature of a distant world that rotates between stable and chaotic eras. “The Three-Body Problem” is unique because it feels like a mystery novel. It is set on the eve of humanity’s realization that they are not alone in the universe and are set to be exterminated in four centuries. 

The second book,  “The Dark Forest,” feels like a wartime novel. Humanity begins to prepare for the eventual arrival of an alien race. The book’s main protagonist, Luo Ji, a former astronomer turned sociologist, has been chosen by the world government to join an elite group of individuals and plan humanity’s counterattack in secret. The third and final book in Liu’s trilogy, “Death’s End”, is a historical  story and features a young prostitute who visits  the Byzantine Emperor and informs Luo Ji of a strange power she has that may save his empire.  

“Death’s End” is the largest of the three texts, taking readers thousands of years into the future as humanity and the aliens are locked in a relationship of mutually assured destruction. Liu takes us through various periods of human history as our species goes further into space and becomes a part of an epic intergalactic struggle. 

One of things the author does well is that he manages to tell his stories, not from a single perspective or character, but from multiple perspectives. Each book has its own protagonists but the trilogy is about humanity as a whole. There is one chapter in “The Dark Forest” where Luo Ji is talking to another important character, and they give him the secret to saving humanity. The whole scene is told from the perspective of a spider, who observes the ordeal while crawling on a tombstone. The scene is incredibly beautiful and the fact that Cixin Liu can write from these different perspectives is a testament to his skill.

Each book asks various questions about whether we are redeemable and if so, how do we redeem ourselves? Several characters in the books ponder the nature of humanity and whether we can evolve on our own, or if we need the aid of an outside force to make us do so. Liu tackles the use of mass surveillance technology and how to get around it, and the struggle between sacrificing personal desire in the name of duty. Each of the characters struggle with this as they must decide whether to sacrifice their own wants and needs for the good of humanity. The final theme I gathered was that opposing factions need one another. The trilogy shows that both sides are needed to balance one another; humanities help us to understand the mental and spiritual reasons for why we are, while the sciences explain physical reasons. Alone, each only tells half of the story, and both are needed to understand the bigger picture.I only have one major critique about Cixin Liu’s work. The amount of hard science in his books can be daunting. Liu’s background is in computer engineering, and as a result, he sometimes spends pages discussing theoretical science. If you are not familiar with those fields, it can make his books intimidating and hard to follow at times. However, you eventually learn to skim to get the gist of what he is saying and can understand. The main story is good enough that you can train yourself to either get around or understand the basics of what he is saying.

The “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy is a trilogy that will supercharge your imagination. As I read each book, I was left pondering human nature, our place in the universe and what will become of us when the universe begins to fall apart. It is a humbling epic and strongly recommended for anyone with the time and patience to read them. 

Jeriann Tripodi, Staff

Header image: Stereogum

Lady Gaga’s alleged dognappers have been arrested

Two months after pop singer Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot and her two French Bulldogs were stolen during a robbery, five people have finally been arrested. According to Yahoo, the suspects range from 18 to 50-years-old. Three were charged with attempted murder and robbery. Two were charged with accessory after the fact. One of the adults taken into custody is the woman who returned the stolen dogs to the police station after the pop singer offered a $500,000 reward for the pets to be returned safely. 

Kim Kardashian looks unrecognizable with new blonde look

Reality star and socialite Kim Kardashian has changed her hairstyle several times throughout the years, however, her most recent look shocked fans. Posting to her Instagram story, the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star shared the process of her transformation, which included her eyebrows being bleached. The reality star then shared a photo with her makeup fully done while sporting blonde eyebrows and honey blonde hair. After driving fans into a frenzy, the final photo showed Kardashian as a brunette, as she indicated that the blonde look was not permanent and was only for a photoshoot. 

“The Celebrity Dating Game” set to premiere this summer 

On June 14, “The Celebrity Dating Game” will premiere on ABC. This new game show is adapted from “The Dating Game,” which was a game show that aired from 1965 to 1986. It will follow the same dating format, but with a celebrity spin. Each episode will follow the stars as they pick one suitor out of three bachelors/bachelorettes from a hidden panel based on their answers to a range of questions. The identities of the celebrities will also be hidden from the suitors. Taye Diggs, Hannah Brown and Iggy Azalea will be the first three celebrity contestants. Also, Michael Bolton and Zooey Deschanel will be co-hosting. 

“Kissing Booth 3” set to be released this summer

Netflix has announced that the third and final installment to the “Kissing Booth” series will arrive on the streaming platform on August 11. According to TeenVogue, the teen rom-com’s plot will revolve around main character Elle’s huge college decision that will have an impact on her close relationships. All of the main cast is expected to return. “The Kissing Booth 3” is rated PG-13 and stars Joey King, Jacob Elordi and Joel Courtney.  

Number one song on the Billboard charts: week of May 1, 2021

According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Rapstar” by Polo G. This is the second week the rap song is at the top spot. 

Nolen Kelly, Staff

The newest Disney+ miniseries from Marvel Studios is “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and Marvel’s transition from “WandaVision” to this is like watching the witch comedy “Hocus Pocus” and immediately following it up with the James Bond flick “Skyfall.” The show centers on Sam Wilson, or the Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker,” “The Adjustment Bureau,”) and Bucky Barnes, or the Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Once Upon a Time,”) dealing with the passing on of their friend and super-ally, Captain America, aka Steve Rogers. Despite being the second miniseries from the super movie conglomerate, there are a few kinks they still need to work out. 

I think the best place to start when talking about this show is the characters and the chemistry of the two leads, the titular Falcon and Winter Soldier: Sam and Bucky. I think they are pretty goofy together and work very well like a couple of good pals. There are moments of light humor that quickly shift into some good fighting chemistry and sometimes end with both of them dealing with what happened in serious conversation. Sam and Bucky, and by extension Mackie and Stan, have good on-screen chemistry that started in the movies and is definitely the reason they were given this show. Next is an incredibly important character, Isaiah Bradley, who I really want to talk more about but I think it is best to watch his story for yourself and just experience him and why he is important. He is an important piece of not only the MCU but is also an important reflection of what real world historical images are created and what is hidden. HBO’s limited series adaptation of the graphic novel “Watchmen” does this as well and they do it incredibly well, but I would say the history of Isaiah Bradley is a more gut-wrenching and emotionally poignant story. Without spoiling much, his tale holds up a mirror to America’s history of systematic racism in a way only a superhero story can.

Just as much as this show tackles very serious subjects like race and institutional corruption, it also brings a refreshingly silly comic relief to many of its character moments. The cinematography also lends to the situation, being impressively animated during action scenes, but showing that charm and silliness of the characters when they quip or joke around. For example, because of some of this camera work I had a running joke with my roommates while watching that Anthony Mackie had a GoPro strapped to him at all times because the series constantly cut to a close up of his face while doing stunts aptly titled “Mackie Cam.”

• 

• 

• 

Anyone who is in the pop culture space on Twitter has seen the video of Baron Zemo dancing in the club, so it is not much of a spoiler to say that returning from his only other appearance in the MCU in 2016’s “Captain America; Civil War,” is Baron Zemo, played by Daniel Brühl (“Rush,” “Inglourious Basterds”). Rather than being the show’s antagonist he is the “knows everyone and everything” character that helps the two leads get to the places they need. Brühl as Zemo is a delight. I liked him more as a villain in “Civil War,” but his help in progressing the story made it pretty interesting at times, taking them to interesting places like the fictional South Eastern Asian city of Madripoor. 

Another additional character that brought a lot to this series was former Captain of the United States Army, John Walker, played by Wyatt Russell (“Overlord,” “22 Jump Street”). I really liked Walker in every episode he was featured in. Walker is initiated by the United States military as the new Captain America despite the role originally being intended for Wilson, showing that they would rather choose a white soldier as America’s role model than a Black superhero. Fantastically portrayed by Russell, he starts off as a very unwanted character who then stems into someone you feel a little bad for and enjoy watching. But, in his final stretch you either really root for him or you really want him to fail. I personally rooted for him the whole way and without giving away his story, I think Marvel has some incredible potential with Walker in the future. He is cocky and charming yet not a complete jerk, and Russell’s performance is so good I am officially creating my second petition targeted towards Marvel to give a miniseries or movie series specifically for Wyatt Russell as John Walker in the future. My first petition is to give “Daredevil” a proper finale and fourth season, but I digress. Finishing off the list of notable characters is the antagonist, Karli Morgenthau, leader of the terrorist group The Flag Smashers. I don’t think it’s a hot take to say her story was very bland, rushed, unfinished and uninteresting. Erin Kellyman as Karli was fine at best. Her plot was really just a generic “villain wants to take over the world and anyone against us is bad” kind of story. I could not find any kind of interest in her story with the only exception being a conversation she has with Wilson about oppression and resistance. 

I went into this show not very excited because everything else Marvel had been putting out was big budget sci-fi focused, but for them to step back to espionage as their next step was a little strange. It is not very hard to get interested in this show, luckily. There are plenty of substories going on that quickly become “filler” content, although some of it is just fun. For every story that drags on there is one that is interesting and cool enough to keep you wanting to see the end. The finale is both a ‘hit’ and ‘miss’ episode that is a good amalgamation of all of the things the show was: fun, rushed, action-packed, long and filled with good character moments. I want more John Walker, I wish there were less subplots and I liked what I got. There is enough referential comic content to keep the nerds, like me, happy and enough visual spectacle to keep casual viewers interested. The story itself is fine and a bit predictable at times, the pacing is occasionally frustrating and the dialogue gets pretty dumb and irritatingly cliché at times. I found a lot to like and a lot to dislike out of this and I am still not sure which I prefer between “WandaVision” and “TFATWS” but I do think this was a step in a good direction for Marvel. I realize my grading system has always been horribly confusing thus far with the Collegian, so to simplify it I’ll just use letters. “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” is a light to decent “C.” 

Jeriann Tripodi, Staff

Header image: NME

Caitlyn Jenner announces she is running for governor of California

On April 23, former Olympian and reality star Caitlyn Jenner took to Twitter to announce that she will be running for governor of California as a Republican. Uploading a statement that outlined her agenda, Jenner captioned the photo by stating, “I’m in. California is worth fighting for.” Joining the growing list of candidates hoping to take the place of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, Jenner is the most famous non-politician to run for governor of California since Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to NDTV.com. 

Demi Lovato shames frozen yogurt shop and then apologizes

After visiting Los Angeles frozen yogurt shop, “The Bigg Chill,” pop singer Demi Lovato posted on her Instagram story: “Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from @thebigchillofficial when you have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter. Do better please. #dietculturevultures.” When the small business direct messaged Lovato and shared that these options are for their customers who are vegan, diabetic or have celiac disease, she apologized on Instagram Live that her message was “misconstrued.” 

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro arrested for domestic violence

On April 22, “Jersey Shore” star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro was arrested in Los Angeles on domestic violence charges toward an “intimate partner,” according to Enews. The reality star is currently on probation from a previous domestic violence incident involving ex-girlfriend Jen Harley. However, TMZ reported that Harley was not involved in this most recent alleged incident. Ortiz-Magro has since been released on bail. 

Les McKeown dies at 65 (1955-2021)

On April 20, pop singer Les McKeown passed away suddenly at the age of 65. McKeown was best known for being the lead vocalist in the 1970s boy band Bay City Rollers. Some of their biggest hits were “Saturday Night,” “I Only Wanna Be With You” and “Bye Bye Baby.” 

The Weeknd releases “Save Your Tears” remix and video featuring Ariana Grande 

On April 23, the Weeknd released the highly anticipated single and music video for his “Save Your Tears” collaboration with Ariana Grande. In the song that was originally from the Weeknd’s “After Hours” album, Grande joins in on the second verse with new lyrics and can be heard harmonizing throughout the remix. The sci-fi music video features the two Grammy Award winning artists in animation form.  

Emilia Clarke will join Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” series

Actress Emilia Clarke is set to star alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn in the new Marvel series on Disney+, “Secret Invasion.” The “Game of Thrones” star, who is new to the MCU, has not spoken publicly about her role in the series, and Marvel has declined to make a comment. According to Yahoo, Jackson will reprise his role as Nick Fury, and Mendelsohn will reprise his role as Talos. It has been reported that “Secret Invasion” will follow Fury and Talos as they try to stop the Skrulls, who are shape-shifting aliens that have infiltrated Earth. 

“Mortal Kombat” becomes the biggest R-rated opening during the pandemic to date

After an intense race with Japanese anime film “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,” “Mortal Kombat” topped the box office during its opening weekend in the U.S., earning an estimated $22.5 million. With more theaters recently opening up in North America, this weekend has become the “highest-grossing industry weekend of the pandemic,” according to ComScore. As a result, the martial arts fantasy film was able to reap the benefits as it became the highest grossing R-rated film released during the global pandemic. 

Number one on the Billboard charts: week of April 24, 2021

According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Rapstar” by Polo G. This is the first week the rap song is on the charts. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the US.. is “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift. This is the first week the country pop album is on the charts. 

Nolen Kelly, Staff

Header image: ABC

The 93rd Oscar Awards Ceremony is finally over and it was a strange one. For those who watch them annually like I do, you know how pleasant the highs were and how uncomfortable the lows got, but if you did not watch it, this is where I come in to recap all the big wins, the bizarre filler segments and Don freaking Cheadle that happened on Sunday, April 25 at the Academy Awards. 

Starting off is “Nomadland,” which won the coveted Best Picture award. I think this was a rough category to pick one single winner and it makes sense they went with “Nomadland.” I would say the only two movies that were in real competition for the award would have been “Nomadland” and “Minari.” The other movies nominated may have been good, but there was likely no chance “Promising Young Woman,” “The Father” or “Sound of Metal” were going to win due to the films being primarily driven by a solo performance. I really enjoyed “Nomadland,” and I am happy it won. “Nomadland” may have been another solo performance film, but I think that the freeform nature of the whole film made it feel like more than just a story about Fern, the protagonist.

Speaking of “Nomadland,” Frances McDormand tied Meryl Streep for three Oscar wins for her performance as Fern in the Best Picture winning film. I could have seen this award going to Viola Davis for her role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” but aside from that I do not think this was a hard category to pick. I am a big Carey Mulligan fan, especially when she starred alongside Ryan Gosling in the 2011 neo-noir drama “Drive,” but I did not think she would walk out with an award for this, unfortunately. Youn Yuh-jung scooped the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in “Minari.” I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing “Minari” or even any of the other performances nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category, but I think this win made the most sense as well due to the amount of attention “Minari” was getting for its performances. There is no way the Academy would have the cajones to award anything associated with the name “Borat,” so unfortunately Maria Bakalova did not have much of a chance to win. Glenn Close received a nomination in complete opposite receptions for her performance in “Hillbilly Elegy,” an Oscar nomination and a Razzie nomination. Razzies are the Oscars for bad movies with frequent nominees being anyone associated with Adam Sandler and big muscular action stars like former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. Long story short, Glenn Close was not winning, and she especially was not winning after she twerked during a violently uncomfortable segment that took place earlier in the night. I will get to that later.

Transitioning onto what was the most controversial win of the night, Sir Anthony Hopkins became the oldest winner of the Best Actor award for his performance in “The Father,” a film about dealing with dementia and trying to remain a good father. I have not seen the full film, but I have seen some moments that are a bit hard to watch as his dementia quickly breaks Hopkins’s character down in a heartbreaking way. I gave my thoughts on who I think actually should have won, Riz Ahmed, in my review of “Sound of Metal.” Although the late Chadwick Boseman picked up the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” he was ultimately not awarded the posthumous Oscar. I could have seen this award going to either Boseman or Ahmed, but Hopkins is a quality actor and I do not think his win was the worst decision ever. To be frank, the biggest shock of the night was that Don Cheadle was not awarded Best Actor for simply gracing the Academy Awards with his presence.

 Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah” and I am really happy for him. I remember seeing Kaluuya at the 2018 Oscars for “Get Out” and I knew that his time would be very soon and now here we are. This category had no bad results. All the nominees are phenomenal and I would have been happy to see LaKeith Stanfield, another future talent I have my eyes on, the genius Paul Raci from “Sound of Metal,” Sacha Baron Cohen, the best actor from “Trial of the Chicago 7,” or “Hamilton” actor Leslie Odom Jr. for his time as Sam Cooke in “One Night in Miami.” 

For a full list of Oscar nominees and winners, please check out our rundown, but let me break down some other notable awards in a lightning round. Nine Inch Nails’ members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross beat Nine Inch Nails’ members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to become two-time Oscar winners for their soundtrack for Pixar’s “Soul” which also won Best Animated Feature, yes, this statement is correct; Trent and Atticus were nominated twice in the same category for “Soul” and “Mank.” Chloe Zhao won Best Director for “Nomadland” and Danish Drama/Comedy “Another Round” won for International Feature Film. This film did not win, but I recommend the documentary “Collective” about a Romanian nightclub fire that severely injured many and killed several more. An investigation into the hospital treatments of the victims led to a countrywide scandal about hospital fraud in the dilution of its products. It is a fascinating documentary that somehow did not go global, and kept me glued throughout.

So much stuff happened at the Oscars that were not even related to the wins and losses of the nominees. Best Supporting Actress nominee Glenn Close took part in a segment to guess a song’s relation to the Oscars and was given Da Butt’s “You Were Getting Down” and so she stood up and did a twerk/stanky leg hybrid dance and I straight up did not enjoy it. I also did not appreciate the lack of Don Cheadle winning awards in all categories, I would say it is the biggest robbery of any performance in history and I will be boycotting next year. I thought it was adorable when Youn Yuh-jung won Best Supporting Actress and introduced herself to presenter and fellow two-time People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive winner, Brad Pitt. In Hopkins’s thankful speech that he would put out the following day, he paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman and thanked everyone for his new achievement. The In-Memoriam section was nice, but of course there were a few missed names including “Glee” actress Naya Rivera and “Arrested Development”/ “Archer” matriarch, Jessica Walter. One of the most notable aspects of the entire award show was that it did not take place in the Dolby Theater where it annually takes place but rather at the Union Station Los Angeles.

All-in-all the 2021 Academy Awards were kind of awkward during the filler segments, but the winners were some real history makers. A lot of good decisions and a decent amount of diversity in the nominations alone made this show pretty positive. The lack of a single host and the change of scenery helped keep the show going and I cannot wait to see what other incredible movies we will get for next year.

Nolen Kelly, Staff

Header Image: Netflix

If you have ever heard the lines “You can’t handle the truth,” “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you would have invented Facebook” or “He gets on base,” then congratulations you are aware of the god of super silly speeches and nerd words: Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin has an impressive filmography ranging from TV to film to dramatic theater that are all varying testaments to how Sorkin may just be one of the greatest script writers of all time. “The Trial of the Chicago 7” which is also written by him will not go down in this legacy as a positive. “Trial of the Chicago 7” follows the trial of the seven men who were charged for leading protests and obstructions in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention in 1968. 

Writer/Director Sorkin’s work is nothing short of absolute poetry. He has explicitly stated in interviews that he loves the way words sound and that he tries to imitate the musical back and forth sounds of conversation as if it was a play. The opening scene of “The Social Network” is a perfect example of Sorkin’s technical mastery as it comprises 10 minutes of Mark Zuckerberg making you, specifically you, mad at him for being a cocky nerd as he breaks up with his girlfriend, Erica Albright. “Trial of the Chicago 7” is not the Sorkin masterpiece that it could have been. I do not think it was a bad movie, but I do think there were some glaring errors with the overall structure and deliverance of the movie. 

I briefly want to talk about a lot of the things that made this movie effective, because there is quite a lot, despite my criticisms. The costumes and casting were impressive. I do not just mean they made a good choice picking Sacha Baron Cohen; I mean Baron Cohen actually looks like the real Abbie Hoffman for who he was based, and it just so happened that Baron Cohen gave a good performance in the process. The costumes and hairstyling are pretty good, and I also think the sets and set designs were an important part of the world building that helped to showcase the 60s well. 

This movie has some rough pacing issues, a couple characters are frustrating but not in the way they intend and I had virtually no empathy for any characters for any reason other than I guess I hope they do not go to jail. Keep in mind this is all based on entirely real events, so the ending is clear from the start. The majority of the movie takes place in the court during the actual trial. They would frequently cut back to the events of the story that they are retelling and this messes with the flow of everything. A scene could either be slow and conversation driven then frantic and violent the next. The court interrogations are very slow and long and are not very gripping. I had a hard time staying interested in the story during the court scenes because it was always the same thing over and over again; Judge hates hippies, hippies disrespect judges, Bobby Seale is not supposed to be here, someone does a thing that moves the story up slightly, end of the day. Every now and then they cut back to the catalyst, but it never really is interesting. The feeling is the same for the riot scenes. Although they managed to capture the stylistic zeitgeist of late 60’s riots and protests I do think that a lot of the emotional impact of the violence is dampened by the rest of the story.

The cast is absolutely stacked yet only one of them gave a notable performance. Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman was enjoyable and was my drive to keep watching because I just wanted to see him frustrate Judge Hoffman (no relation) to no end. He gives a speech about three quarters of the way through when he was on trial that was probably the best moment of the whole movie. I thought Jeremy Strong (“Succession”) as Jerry Rubin had a couple notable scenes but I did not love Yahya Abdul- Mateen II (“Watchmen,” “Aquaman”) as the Black Panther leader Bobby Seale. I do not know if this is a story that you have to understand the full historical context of or this movie told the whole story but it just felt like there was so much missing from the Bobby Seale story and it really hurt Seale’s character arc because, again, it was repetitive and felt directionless to the point that the movie probably would have progressed the same without him. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays a very bland antagonist lawyer and Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman was more of an annoyance than a judicial obstacle to work around. I found myself getting frustrated with him but not in a way that I think was intended. Eddie Redmayne was built up to be the shining light in the resistance’s movement, but I really felt nothing watching his scenes. They all had solid motivations and were interesting characters, but I really did not actually care about what was going on with each individual character. A lot of the chemistry felt kind of nonexistent too with the only actors with any sense of togetherness being Baron Cohen and Strong. 

I feel like I personally missed a lot of the point of this movie, but I feel that this is a result of the way the film was made. It portrayed itself in an important way, and while it did have that feeling of “this is an important event,” I did not think of this as an actual retelling of a real event, but rather a dull fiction story. “Trial of the Chicago 7” was a bit of a disappointment for me. I went in expecting big things from Sorkin and it did not even have the things that make Sorkin great. To be clear, it is not a terrible movie or a bad movie, but it is messy, and it is disappointing. I am feeling like “Trial of the Chicago 7” is just “Okay” on a scale of “Bad” to “Perfection.”