Share: Battle royale games have seen an uptick in popularity over the past couple of years. Starting with mods (customization of games made by the public) for online survival games like Arma 2, the objective of the game is to survive, and to be the last person or team standing. The genre started to gain momentum with the release of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in 2017. It wasn’t until the start of 2018, when Fortnite rapidly ascended to the pinnacle of the battle royale craze and became …
“We the Animals,” a beautiful dream
Share: Filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar’s whimsical and potent feature film “We the Animals” hit Netflix at the beginning of this year after its limited run in theaters. Based on the 2011 Justin Torres novel, the film follows Jonah (Evan Rosado) in a powerful debut performance. Jonah is the youngest of three brothers growing up in a mixed-race, working class family in upstate New York, stumbling along a turbulent road to self-discovery. After an awards season of immense critical praise for the generic, feel-good examination of race …
Sidewalk Cafe: Espresso with a touch of kitsch
Share: The local coffee shop is a place many hold near and dear to their hearts. If one looks past the local Starbucks, local cafes give us that warm, fuzzy feeling. Nestled in a walking district, or on the corner next to a college campus; over-plush lounge chairs, soft lighting and friendly acquaintances beckon us to sit and relax. The coffee shop gives us two things: caffeine and hygge. Simply put, they are irresistible. Brief aside: hygge is a Danish concept that is a quality …
‘Dead to Me’ leaves you dying to know more
Share: Netflix’s latest original series “Dead to Me,” sprinkles dark comedy and suspense with a compelling mystery that continuously builds — and does so exceedingly well. What makes the show excel isn’t just the storyline or its actors, but the friendship and connection that forms between two polar opposites linked by one similarity: grief. Follow:
Maestro’s ‘modern Mexican’ masters mediocrity
Share: Nestled into a corner of Memorial Square in downtown Pasadena, Maestro “modern Mexican” fare is, to be fair, adequately labelled. Its menu is loosely based somewhere within the umbrella of “Mexican,”and its interior and menu also strive to fit into the equally large umbrella of ‘modern.’ Follow:
‘Barry’ steals the throne away from ‘Game of Thrones’
Share: So here we are, the end of an era that has spanned from 2011 until Sunday. While the series finale of the pop culture icon that is “Game of Thrones” aired sunday night, for me at least, it was overshadowed by a show that has completely out played Thrones all season long. Follow:
The Hustle: Hustling its way to a good laugh
Share: Innocent comedy or a questionable underlying political stance? The Hustle implicates a feminine twist on the 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Anne Hathaway as Josephine Chesterfield and Rebel Wilson as Penny Rust, who play complete opposite characters from their last films. Anne Hathaway’s last film Serenity, was critiqued as one of her worst debuts, while Rebel Wilson’s character in Isn’t It Romantic was reviewed as mediocre. In the Hustle, Hathaway ditched her helpless ex-wife character and Wilson remained her cheesy, comedic self. They …
Halsey’s new song highlights the frustrations of women
Share: Body image issues, beauty expectations, catcalls, societal expectations and angry women are all issues that star in Halsey’s newest music video for her first single “Nightmare”, off her highly anticipated third album. Her explosive new single- and even more powerful music video- are angry and political, fighting back against the expectations of women everywhere. While Halsey hasn’t released the name of her upcoming album, she has set an extremely high bar with how amazing this song is. Compared to some of her other music …
Delicious ‘Asian Fusion’ chicken…by a white girl
Share: Certain foods, when done right, can facilitate religious experiences. Fried chicken is one of those foods. So I jumped at the chance to review one of Old Pasadena’s most recent additions, Daddy’s Chicken Shack. A Houston native, co-owner and co-founder Pace Webb first made a splash in the Los Angeles culinary business with her fine-dining catering company, Taste of Pace. What began as a one-time request for sliders by a client, turned into a joke with her father: to set him up for retirement …
Obamafest: The uplifting trainwreck
Share: The event — thrown by the city of Los Angeles to rename Rodeo Boulevard to President Barack Obama Boulevard — started at noon. Or at least it was supposed to. By 12:30 p.m., the only people inside the event were people who were working at booths and food trucks. Follow: