Culture & Literature – Page 6 of 35

28Feb

By Harry MearNo Comments

Downsizing the Big Screen

At the end of 2019, cinema was reaching heights it had not previously seen in years with attendance numbers rising, box office income booming and a steady growth of cinema chains warding off hungry streaming service giants. Just over a year later, the film industry continues to grapple with coronavirus safety precautions and cinemas are on their knees with no end in sight to the void of successive lockdowns. Meanwhile, Netflix, Disney + and Amazon Prime have surged ahead of competitors like Odeon and Cineworld to new dizzying peaks of obsessive mass consumerism. One has to ask the question; can cinema adapt and survive in its darkest hour? If the recent recording of the Tom Cruise outburst on-set at Pinewood Studios whilst shooting the latest Mission Impossible flick is anything to go ...

Book review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

25Jan

By Thom Cuffin-MundayNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Book review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

Mark Manson’s ‘counterintuitive approach to living a good life’ can be found in this book, and to say that it changed my life is not even an overstatement. This book starts off with using some of Manson’s experiences and other peoples’ he knew to describe how one might live their life. Through witty and profane prose, Manson then breaks down the issues that these people may have with fulfilment in their lives, which mostly boils down to a misalignment of values. For example, the author describes how some people might value making money, but that ultimately this will result in exploitation and a lack of fulfilment because there is an end goal, and then what you’d spent most of your life working towards seems meaningless now that you have that thing you were wanting – cue mid-life ...

Problematic Authors: A History… and a Future

25Jan

By Mercedes-Georgia MayesNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Problematic Authors: A History… and a Future

The phenomena of problematic authors, revived and re-embittered by J.K Rowling like Voldemort himself, is nothing we haven’t seen before. The sudden revelation of her prejudices is but one in a long line of writers whose private beliefs have either trickled into their works or been openly admitted, including H. P. Lovecraft and Rudyard Kipling. Awful as it was, however, it prompts an important question: do these “problematic works” deserve to be read. The black and white answer is no, especially if one includes in their remit the range of texts on offer from political extremists that try to convince their audiences (sometimes successfully) of the insidious agendas to “erase white people” or “eradicate heterosexuality”. When falsehoods are presented as fact, the risk is clear. However, ...

Online Theatre – Shows to watch during lockdown

25Jan

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Online Theatre – Shows to watch during lockdown

The performance industry has been hit hard in the past year, and actors, writers, and directors have had to get creative quickly to make sure that theatre still got to its audiences. Shakespeare’s Globe did premiers and lessons on their Youtube channel, along with the National Theatre and many other theatre companies that were seeing the country unable to experience their work live. Here are five amazing plays that are available to watch online now. Mosquitos by Lucy Kirkwood (National Theatre, Olivia Colman) A ‘fascinating and provocative’ piece available to watch online is Lucy Kirkwood’s 2017 play Mosquitos. This is a fantastic new dramatic work that centres on the life of Alice, a scientist, with her sister Jenny and her son Luke. It sees personal and professional life dr...

Artist of the Month: Rachel Harvey/ Artist Named Nobody

25Jan

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Visual Arts

Artist of the Month: Rachel Harvey/ Artist Named Nobody

Artist Named Nobody is an art shop run by London-based 19-year-old artist Rae. Having taught herself to paint at age 14, she now specialises in watercolour and sells prints, clothing and more. Her work highlights the beauty of black culture, history and identity, seeking to break the boundaries of ‘black art’. Rae paints facial portraits of black figures with plain backgrounds to show black people as people, not as tools to tell stories about slavery, racism and black love. Her art humanises black people and shows their beauty. “I was first inspired to make black beauty the focus of my work when I had my first gallery exhibition at age 16 and saw a little black girl admiring my painting which featured another black girl showing pride in her identity and natural hair. I never f...

Can listening to music really help us concentrate?

25Jan

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Can listening to music really help us concentrate?

We have all heard the theory that playing Mozart to babies will make them smarter (insert that scene from the original Incredibles movie) and frankly, I have realised there may be a lot of truth in that concept. Not necessarily that listening to Mozart will help you get a 1:1 in your second year mock exams, but that listening to the right type of music might actually help you concentrate a bit better. According to study.com, there are both benefits and drawbacks to listening to music whilst studying. Some principal benefits include the fact that music can soothe the mind of a stressed student; background music can motivate us and help us to keep going when we are about to give up; and some students even link the music they are listening to the information that they are trying to ...

E-Books vs. Print – The Environmental Effects of Reading

18Dec

By Reena BakirNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

E-Books vs. Print – The Environmental Effects of Reading

Reena Bakir In the age of digitalisation, e-readers have come to replace the printed book – spearheaded by an excess of devices like the Amazon Kindle. Slowly dominating the literature sector, digital readers allow users to store thousands of books on a single device, promoting accessibility and ease of use. However, many of us might be wondering just how our reading habits might be harming the planet. Are e-readers truly more environmentally friendly than the traditional book? The publishing industry has long been considered one of the most polluting sectors in the world. The lifetime of the printed book, from manufacturing to disposal, poses many risks to the environment. Of the most obvious of its negative effects is deforestation. The making of paper requires the cutting d...

18Dec

By Harry MearNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

10 Films to look forward to in 2021

Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (Limited Release: December 2020) dir. Francis Ford CoppolaThe Beatles: Get Back (April 2021) dir. Peter JacksonLast Night in Soho (April 2021) dir. Edgar WrightThe Matrix 4 (December 2021) dir. Lana WachowskiNo Time to Die (April 2021) dir. Cary Joji FukunagaDune (October 2021) dir. Denis VilleneuveThe Mauritanian (February 2021) dir. Kevin MacdonaldThe Last Duel (October 2021) dir. Russell CroweTop Gun: Maverick (July 2021) dir. Joseph KosinskiWest Side Story (December 2021) dir. Steven Spielberg

18Dec

By Harry MearNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Sustainability in the Film Industry

Harry Mear When you think of carbon emissions and climate change, the behemoth industries like oil, coal and gas are usually the prime suspects first in mind being the largest contributors towards the 33 gigatonnes of emissions produced in 2019 alone. However, you might not consider the film industry to be a culprit of significantly contributing to the greenhouse gas effect and jeopardizing the future of our planet, think again. According to a 2006 study carried out by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)*, relative to its economic activity in Los Angeles, film production makes a larger contribution to greenhouse gas emissions than the manufacturing, clothing or hotel industries. This is perhaps unsurprising when considering Los Angeles as the home to Hollywood, ...

23Nov

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Mental Health in Pop Music

Clarissa Philpott Author’s note: Please read this at your own discretion. TRIGGER WARNING: There are quite a few direct mentions of sexual assault, substance abuse, self harm and suicide. Lady Gaga - Replay from Chromatica - life dealing with PTSD (to be honest the entirety of this album is amazing at telling stories of trauma and healing!) Despite its upbeat melody and EDM rhythm, the twelfth song on Lady Gaga’s latest album Chromatica called Replay, is actually about Gaga’s PTSD. Whilst a lot of song writers have tended to stray from direct meaning in their songs, and prefer to use metaphors that listeners can interpret themselves, Lady Gaga is almost always straight to the point, in particular when it comes to stories of sexual assault. As a rape surivor herself, she is...