Retrospective: ‘Passage to India’ satisfyingly concludes Lean’s career
In 1858, one year following a massive and violent rebellion against the East India Company, the entirety of the Indian subcontinent would become a colony under the direct rule of the British Crown in what was to be known as…
Aimless ‘Fossora’ exhausts listeners with drawn out songs, concepts
Icelandic singer and producer Björk (“Country Creatures”) released her tenth studio album “Fossora” on Sept. 30. The album comes five years after the release of her last project, the folktronica-inspired “Utopia.” “Fossora” takes a new sound holding up to the…
‘Blonde’s’ looks do little to hide ugly narrative underneath
“Blonde” supposedly intends to challenge viewers to look past the looks and status of cultural icon Marilyn Monroe (Ana de Armas, “No Time to Die”) and instead dive deeper into the tortured mind of the true person behind the celebrity:…
New Kid Cudi album dives deep into artist’s emotions, R&B style
R&B and rap icon Kid Cudi (“Tequila Shots”) recently released his eighth studio album “Entergalactic,” topping off an already busy year for the artist. Cudi released “The Boy Who Flew To The Moon (Vol. 1)” in July, which is the…
Innovative rom-com ‘Bros’ shines through LGBTQ themes
“Bros” is the newest film from comedy director Nicholas Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall’’) and starring its co-writer Billy Eichner (“The Lion King”). It is an LGBTQ rom-com with a lot of heart and a lot of laughs with jokes that…
Laker Review highlights four ‘spooktacular’ Halloween songs
For the month of December, radio stations switch their playlists to entirely carols, novelty songs and other wintertime songs from the austere tradition of “Silent Night” to the white guilt of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Halloween gets no similar…
‘Hocus Pocus 2’ puts nostalgic spell on cult film’s fans
Despite its critical and box office woes, “Hocus Pocus” has prevailed as a Halloween classic since its 1993 release thanks to its infectious camp, charming, yet cartoonish leads and family-friendly take on the macabre. Naturally, the announcement of the cult…
Editorial: Have Marvel films overstayed their welcome?
In the spring of 2019, I was in the movie theater with my brother in Rotterdam, the Schenectady suburb, not the city in the Netherlands, when we watched “Avengers: Endgame.” We were psyched. The both of us grew up with…
Rina Sawayma dives into contemporary pop rock with ‘Hold the Girl’
Japanese-British pop rocker Rina Sawayama (“Follow Me”) released her second studio album “Hold the Girl” on Sept. 16. The album is the follow-up to her star-making debut album and ode to Y2K, “SAWAYAMA.” The album made her an instant alt-pop…
