Arts & Culture

The 2023 Academy Awards Return to the Mellow Ceremony We Know Them As

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The 2023 Academy Awards marked the 95th anniversary of the annual award ceremony, and unlike last year, the night was calm and drama-free. The previous year’s ceremony gained attention for the “slap heard around the world” when Will Smith, who won “Best Actor” later that night, slapped actor and comedian Chris Rock on stage while he was presenting an award. This year’s Oscars were much more mellow, with celebrities on their best behavior and no real surprises as far as who took home awards and who left empty-handed. Of course, host Jimmy Kimmel made a few references to last year’s drama in his opening monologue, but luckily, nothing like that incident was seen this year. Instead of being overshadowed by scandal, this year’s ceremony celebrated some deserving and historic wins across all categories.

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Black Panther 56th Commemoration: Jalil Muntaqim

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Stark against a black background, outlined in red stood the words “We Still Charge Genocide.” These words — never introduced or directly explained — provided the setting for Jalil Muntaqim’s two hour talk on the plight of the African-Americans, his fight for freedom as a Black Panther and what Cornell students can do to pursue systemic change in America.  

Muntaqim was welcomed October 27 in Klarman Hall for a commemoration of the Black Panther Party— hosted and put together by Brice Roundtree ’24; Prof.Russell Rickford, history; the Pan-African Students Association; the International Students Union; and the Department of American Studies — which marked the 56th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California on October 15, 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton. The audience of the talk was diverse, with Muntaqim speaking to students, professors and practicing law professionals. In Muntaqim’s talk, he described how he grew up in Oakland and San Francisco, California and his being exposed to an influx of racial tension in California as a teen. These national tensions prompted him to speak out against racism, joining the Black Panther Party in his teen years. When asked by Rickford how he was radicalized, Muntaqim said the aftermath of the assassination of Malcom X made him curious about the different parts of the 1960s struggle for civil rights.

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Avengers: Infinity War Roundtable

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What was your favorite moment from the movie? Lev Akabas: Every single time that Thor called Rocket “Rabbit.” Also the ending. I know some may criticize it for taking the easy way out with a cliffhanger or exploiting cheap emotion, but it was also genuinely surprising. I’ve been consistently entertained by Marvel for the past ten years, but truly surprised? It’s been a while.

Arts & Culture

The Sun’s Top 10 Superhero Movies of All Time

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Avengers: Infinity War comes out in three days. I’ll say it again. Avengers: Infinity War comes out in three days. It’s a remarkable time to be alive, to see the culmination of a full decade of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies – one could argue the culmination of thousands of years of human civilization. It’s a perfect time for The Sun’s Arts and Entertainment section to count down our list of the top 10 superhero movies of all time in advance of what is surely the most highly anticipated comic book movie ever.

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HAGOPIAN | Protesting Pollution by Not Breathing: How To Fight an Evolving Capitalism

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A pretentious person I know referred to this year’s batch of Oscar-nominated short films as a “mixed bag,” which in my mind means that they must be pretty good. My personal favorite, “The Eleven O’Clock,” is a delightfully original comedy about a patient of a psychiatrist who believes he’s the psychiatrist. The rest of them are nearly as good, albeit a deal more serious. “The Silent Child” tells the story of a deaf girl whose parents fail to get her the help she needs, while “Watu Wote” addresses Christian-Muslim conflicts in Africa. These serious films are so unabashedly serious that they almost come across as narrative-based public service announcements; each credit sequence is peppered with statistics, authentic footage and calls to action.

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Black Panther Roundtable

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What was the best moment in Black Panther? Jonvi Rollins: Black Panther taking Killmonger to watch the Wakandan sunset. The moment perfectly exemplifies the “good heart” of the title character while farther humanizing his adversary. The paths of the men finally converge as Panther takes steps to understand, through Killmonger, his duty to others outside of his nation. Andrea Yang: T’Challa’s second visit to the spirits of the past Black Panthers, in which he speaks to his father again and makes a decision about what kind of king he wants to be.

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Black Panther: Good King, Maad Nation

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“You are a good man with a good heart. But it is hard for a good man to be king.”

These are the deceased T’Chaka’s final words to his son T’Challa before the latter is crowned king of Wakanda, an African nation that poses as a third world country, when in reality it is one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world, thanks to the natural resource of vibranium. Throughout the Black Panther, T’Challa has a hard time accepting the contradiction of this statement: there is a disconnect between the man he is and the king he must be. As a whole, the film questions (and answers) its own permutation of T’Chaka’s proclamation: can a good superhero film have heart and explore themes of race, power and privilege, or will its genre conventions — namely CGI spectacle and quippy one-liners — reduce it to simply being blockbuster entertainment? Black Panther shows that the two can be harmonious; Ryan Coogler’s film is at once a celebration of blackness, a sobering analysis of the responsibilities and obligations that people of privilege and power have and a dazzling superhero film in its own right.