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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Culture Corner

The Arts Desk’s weekly pick of movies, TV shows, books and music

Movie: “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” dir. by  Michael Fimognari (2021)

The final “To All the Boys” movie finally arrived last month, and it was my favorite addition to the series. Let’s admit this truth: Lana Condor carried the entire series on her back with her charm and adorable sense of humor. She is everything we could want in a main character, and we are robbed of seeing her in more productions, so I am sad to see this series come to an end. However, it was a bittersweet moment because I loved the way things wrapped up. As Lara Jean plans out her life, she sees herself next to Peter Kavinsky at Harvard, where they both go on adventures and never have to say goodbye at the end of the day. But when a trip to New York University comes along and college acceptances roll in, Lara Jean has to reevaluate her decision of whether staying near Peter is worth her new dream school. 

Book: “Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun” by Cornelia Funke and Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro’s beautiful movie “Pan’s Labyrinth” was turned into an illustrated book. The book adheres to the movie’s creepy yet whimsical aesthetics, as young Ofelia goes through three challenges, trying to prove that she is the lost princess. Set in World War II (as in the movie), young Ofelia and her pregnant mother must move in with a sadistic captain. Thirteen-year-old Ofelia is hopeful that fairy tales exist, so when a creepy faun reveals that she is the princess of an underworld realm, Ofelia is quick to take on the task to prove it. The princess is said to have left her kingdom one day, but the sun was so bright that it erased her memory. Her father, stricken with grief, decided to open up multiple portals so that she could return home, but because so much time has passed, only one portal remains, and Ofelia must quickly complete the three tasks in order to return home to her realm and be at her true parents’ side.

TV Show: “Light as a Feather”

This Hulu original depicts the challenge that I was too afraid to accept as a teenager. The challenge “light as a feather, stiff as a board” is when a group of friends tries to lift someone with just two fingers. The show takes this challenge and tells the story of four friends inviting the new girl over on Halloween to play the game. They quickly regret their decision as they notice each girl starts to die off the way the game predicted. Because I never liked the introduction to the game, which proclaims the person lying down as dead, I was never up for playing it. The show isn’t the best horror series, but it kept my mind off of homework for a while, and it was a nice twist on the popular slumber party activity. 

Artist: Dove Cameron

Dove Cameron herself is a literal angel so it only makes sense that her voice is angelic. She doesn’t have an album released yet, only a couple singles throughout her career. But saving all of those singles and listening to them on repeat is sort of like an EP. Cameron was made for live theater, which is what she worked on most before COVID-19, but it’s a blessing to have her released music that I can appreciate at home. 

Written By: Itzelth Gamboa — arts@theaggie.org

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