1899 is a multi-everything show: Multilingual, multicultural, multigenerational, and with multiple plotlines. Even the most intuitive of viewers are guaranteed to be thrown by one of the plot twists—because spoiler alert, there are multiple! The eight-episode Netflix series, released on Nov. 17, follows passengers on a cross-Atlantic naval voyage thrown[Read More…]
Film and TV
Coping with the Netflix-ification of a classic: ‘Wednesday’
How does a piece of media become a classic? Time is certainly a factor. Whether it’s a book, movie, or a particularly captivating ensemble, classics remain relevant and hold up through changing cultural landscapes. One such enchanting “classic” emerged between the pages of The New Yorker in 1938 with the[Read More…]
Seeing Quebec through a new lens in ‘Lida Moser Photographer: Odyssey in Black and White’
In the summer of 1950, Lida Moser set out from New York City on a journey to capture the spirit of Quebec through photographs. She was a single woman travelling with three men: Ethnologist Luc Lacourcière, folklorist Félix-Antoine Savard, and Paul Gouin, cultural advisor to Premier Maurice Duplessis. She did[Read More…]
Fictionalized adaptations of real-life serial killers should not exist
As announced earlier this month, Netflix has extended its new Monster anthology series past its first installment, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which was released on Sept. 21. With at least two more projects in the works, the creators hope to follow the stories of “other monstrous figures who have impacted[Read More…]
The insipid paradox of ‘Love is Blind’ season three
Reality TV tends to teeter between frivolous, Kardashian-esque antics and deranged social experiments. Combining these unique worlds is a puzzling balancing act, but one that’s kept the genre afloat for years. Arguably the most prominent category of reality TV is dating shows, such as The Bachelor, Love Island, or, more[Read More…]
Look out for ‘The Mole’: Among Us, but in real life
Netflix’s newest reality show The Mole refreshingly reinvents the group-challenge show that The Amazing Race or Big Brother brought into the limelight. This series is a reboot of the 2001 show of the same name, which was cancelled after five seasons. Luckily for audiences, Netflix seized the opportunity to bring[Read More…]
Lost birds find their way back home in new documentary
Content warning for colonial violence Daughter of a Lost Bird, directed by Brooke Pepion Swaney, debuted in 2021 and premiered as part of a film series called ‘Body and Land,’ presented by Cinema Politica, a non-profit media arts organization with a mission of supporting the work of independent, politically-minded filmmakers.[Read More…]
What we liked this fall reading break
As the second official Fall Reading Week comes to a close and McGill students are thrust back into the throes of midterm season, downtime can feel like a fleeting dream. For students who have time to read non-academic books or for those looking for a new study soundtrack, here are[Read More…]
Just a bunch of hocus pocus: Another unnecessary sequel
Twenty-nine years after the release of the Disney film Hocus Pocus, the Sanderson sisters are stirring up trouble once more. The first film follows teenager Max (Omri Katz) in the town of Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween. While visiting the former cottage of the long-dead Sanderson witches, Max lights a candle[Read More…]
‘Do Revenge’ could do better
What happens when you throw Gen Zs into a classic revenge plot? Netflix’s new teen drama, Do Revenge, gives us a fresh, yet unsatisfying look: It avoids predictable characterizations while still relying on tried-and-true dramedy tropes. The film enlists actors from a range of successful teen shows—Euphoria, Riverdale, Outer Banks,[Read More…]
