Why ‘Dune: Part Two’ Is Undoubtedly the 2025 Oscars Best Picture

There is a tendency in film for a sequel to never match the success or the brilliance of its predecessor. However, Dune: Part Two makes for an outstanding exception. 

Director Denis Villeneuve brought us Dune in 2021. Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel was finally done justice in film after the lackluster attempt at an adaptation in 1984. We were introduced to the world of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his family, the House of Atreides. Dune tells the story of the desert planet Arrakis where the most valuable resource exists: spice.

Deciphering The Unknown: Contemplating the Voice of a Generation

Looking to fill a free January afternoon with music, you may have seen the acclaimed Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. But who exactly was Bob Dylan, the vagabond phenomenon who breathed fresh life into the folk movement? To understand this enigmatic musician who evaded even the limits of his own craft, we must look beyond the realms of cinema which often aggrandizes heroism and glosses over the shortcomings of cultural icons. We turn instead to the transformations that punctuated his career and the complex life that went with them. Busking on the bustling New York streets – 1960

Picture a young Bob Dylan in the familiar cold of a New York winter, bundled under layers of wool knits that barely fit him anymore.

Let’s Talk about Sex: On ‘Babygirl’

In Sigmund Freud’s Madonna-whore complex, some men cannot become aroused by women they perceive as innocent. The Madonna cannot be the disrespected, yet sexually viable, whore. In the modern movie-goer’s Madonna-whore complex, if a female character is not sexual, she is one-dimensional (Madonna). If the female character’s sexuality is overt, she is a male fantasy (whore). This is why many don’t get Halina Reijn’s Babygirl.

‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ and Tech Overreliance

Aardman Animations exists today as one of the only animation companies specializing in stop-motion animation. Though lacking many of the resources major animation studios possess, Aardman has created an impressive library of renowned claymation films, such as the Chicken Run series and the Shaun the Sheep series. Last month, the studio released Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, the second feature film entry in the beloved Wallace & Gromit series. The film masterfully addresses complex modern topics such as smart home technology, artificial intelligence and law enforcement agencies while staying true to the series’s semi-retro style and elaborate usage of visual comedy. The film acts as a successor to Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, a 1993 short film with a comical plotline hilariously unrelated to its “sequel,” featuring a villainous penguin called Feathers McGraw trying to steal a diamond.

‘The Brutalist’ on Art, Capitalism and the Immigrant Experience

Perhaps the most famous Brutalist building in the United States is the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Brutalist architecture is characterized by raw concrete walls, imposing geometrism and repetition, reshaping space for the human collective and providing a site of modern living and life for the people. 

The J. Edgar Hoover Building was voted the ugliest building in the U.S. in 2023. Perhaps it’s no surprise that director Brady Corbet uses the tensions between Brutalist and American visuals and ideals to unearth the tensions between the Jewish immigrant and artistic experience in the U.S.

In the film, The Brutalist, László Tóth is a Jewish immigrant, Holocaust survivor and architect. In the first act, “The Enigma of Arrival,” László arrives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Maybe this is the American Dream he should strive for: A shot of the Statue of Liberty upside down wavering in the sky and his friend Attila (Alessandro Nivola) who has changed his last name to assimilate.

TEST SPINS | Miley Cyrus: ‘Bangerz’

At their foundation, resolutions are motivated by a desire for change, whether it be intellectual growth, physical gain or emotional clarity. Sometimes, people take these resolutions a step further and use them as an opportunity to completely redefine who they are. You know the saying — “new year, new me.” Few artists embody this idea of transformation, of rejecting who they were in favor of an entirely new persona, like Miley Cyrus. With the release of Bangerz, Cyrus sent the world a very clear message: she is not Hannah Montana anymore. But then, who is she?

‘Oyasumi Punpun’: A Window Into Darkness

Growing up, I have had an acquired taste in literature. It was the macabre staples: H.P Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and Franz Kafka. These are the authors we are taught to know from a young age and they dive into the human mind, the nature of the unknown and the existence of darkness within our own lives. I did not realize that this acquired taste would lead me into the world of Oyasumi Punpun, a manga that encapsulates all of the themes of darker pieces in a unique format. I was never really a comics or manga fan, but something about this title caught my interest and kept it ever since.

A Holiday Movie Guide

The holiday season is finally upon us. Regardless of your religion, it is unlikely that you will be able to escape the peppermint-flavored drinks, the string lights, the jolly music and, of course, the holiday movie nights this month. Maybe your friends will be looking to relax after a long study session this finals season or maybe your mom will force you to watch one at 8 p.m. this winter break. Perhaps you’re looking for a movie to show you the meaning of Christmas. In whatever circumstance you need it, I have compiled a list of my personal favorite holiday movies, ranging from the classics you just haven’t seen yet to some that are only lightly holiday themed.

Threads of Fear: How Nuclear Apocalypse Stories Haunt Us More Than Horror Films

Two weeks ago Russia became the first nation to use an intercontinental ballistic missile in combat. Though the missile was reportedly experimental and not armed with nuclear warheads, its deployment was an ominous reminder of how close humanity still is to the brink of nuclear war. As international tensions rise, so too does the relevance of art that explores these catastrophic possibilities. Putin’s nuclear Sabre rattling will only grow lounder and so I think there is no better time to look back at Threads, a film that not only epitomizes the post apocalypse genre but I would argue is one of the most frightening films ever made, more so than any traditional horror film that is. 

Threads, written by Barry Hines and directed by Mick Jackson, was created to outdo its American counterpart, The Day After, which the filmmakers believed softened the horrors of nuclear war. Set in Sheffield, England, the film begins by drawing the audience into the lives of Ruth Beckett and Jerry Kemp, an ordinary young couple preparing for marriage and parenthood.