Arts & Entertainment

Pandemic Releases

Must Read Fall Books

By Kailyn Becker | Photo by Kailyn Becker

By Diza Pandey | Photos by Diza Pandey

The past few months of 2020 have seen unprecedented changes in the movie industry as producers continue to figure out how to best respond to a global crisis. People no longer have the option to go out and watch movies on the big screen. Some producers have resorted to releasing movies to the home market earlier than usual, while others have pushed back their deadlines. With all of that being said, an abundance of movie companies still plan their releases, even if they do come with a longer wait.

The James Bond movie, No Time to Die, originally anticipated to be out this past April, has become one of the many movies to have their release dates moved back due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Chris Pereira, the film expects to be released on November 20th. The horror film Come Play will be released October 30th, just before Marvel's release of Black Widow on November 6th. Disney's Mulan has been released straight to homes on September 4th. Disney has sold access to the big budget, live action remake for $30 on Disney Plus; its streaming service already costs $7 a month. The Netflix original TV series, Outer Banks, proved a big hit when it released its first season in April. According to Express, Season 2 will be released at the end of 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many dilemmas, and turned plans for this year upside down. However, many exciting films still expect to be released in the upcoming months of 2020 and 2021, so keep watching.

When fall comes and the days grow shorter, a warm blanket and a good book can be comforting, maybe even a pumpkin spice or a cinnamon candle. As the trees change colors, try to find a book that relates to the wonderful season of fall. Everyone has different fall reads, especially during Halloween, with all the scary thrillers that will keep anyone turning pages for hours. Many people ask the question, "What book should I read next?"

According to Bustle.com, start off with The Secret History by Donna Tart for a great fall read. This college novel enchants the stuff of legends and contains the best of nearly every aspect that fall has to offer: a back-to-school story, mysterious and dark deeds under the cover of the night, and the iconic atmosphere of New England, Massachusetts.

Moving on to some romance novels, a great suggestion could be The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert. If a fan of romance, this sweet novel will make fall dreams come true. Sanna, a cider maker on her family's farm in Wisconsin, has her life changed forever when a man winds up at the orchard. This book feels bittersweet, full of heart, and tinged with just a little splash of spice.

If looking for a thriller, go for IT By Stephen King, in which a lovable group of friends come up against evil in the form of Pennywise, a terrifying killer clown. The story alternates between the past and present, showing how friends have to face and re-face their fears and trauma throughout their lives. If wanting a reading experience that will keep everyone up all night, this one will do the job.

To end off with a happy novel, The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern will be the one. This dreamy novel describes a whirlwind trip to the circus making people want to read it over and over again. The setting of the crisp autumn air pairs perfectly with the story of Marco and Celia, two performers in the magical Le Cirque des Rêves, who find themselves rivals in a long-standing challenge. If proof existed that fall can be the most fantastical season of them all, Morgenstern's novel will be that reminder. All of these books have great aspects to recommend them and emerge as some of the best books to read during the fall.

Educated Book Review

By Daniela Paris | Photo by Daniela Paris

May 27, 2020

Tara Westover, a Cambridge scholar and graduate from Brigham Young University, published Educated, an autobiography detailing her precarious escape from her deeply religious, Mormon, survivalist family, in 2018, to critical acclaim. As a student struggling to find motivation while learning from home, I simply had to read this book about a young woman's journey from teaching herself the most basic math at the kitchen table to attaining a PhD from one of the world's most prestigious universities. In addition, the autobiography came heavily recommended from none other than the former president of the United States, President Obama.

I found myself completely immersed in this book from start to finish. In the span of a couple of hours, I only left my chair twice-the first time, to grab a snack, and the second time, to charge my Kindle before it died a couple of pages from the end. The story took hold of me in a way that no other autobiography has done before.

In 334 pages, Westover, with a slightly formal, but unadorned, prose, tells the story of her life: of growing up in a household with a crazed father who truly believed, at one point, the world as his family knew it would end, of never attending school or stepping foot inside of a hospital, of slowly becoming one of the few children left in the house as all others fled, of finally resolving to leave her toxic household and enter a classroom for the first time. She details the end of her relationship with her family, as her brother turns manipulative and cruel, as her sister turns against her, as her father manipulates her into doubting her own memories.

Westover examines the story of her life with a sort of detached, scientific point of view, allowing the reader to view the tragic events of her youth through a cleaner lens. Perhaps it makes perfect sense that Westover would apply this dry form of storytelling to her telling of how she got her education-she did, after all, study to become a historian. Nevertheless, Educated documents a tale of perseverance, of braving the odds, of self-evaluation and self-motivation (and at times, asking for help) that will resonate with the student in all of us-especially now, when even finding the motivation to view an online lesson can be a struggle.

As with all works of nonfiction, however, one must examine the contents with a skeptical eye. Many reviewers of the autobiography have pointed out some apparent continuity errors in Westover's telling of the story-places where the story appears to be altered or overblown, or events don't add up. Emily May, a prominent book critic on Goodreads, a social site that allows users to track books they've read and written or read reviews, made a compelling point: "Intelligence is not the main thing required to attend Harvard or Cambridge; being able to pass exams and perform the system's dance is. Someone without formal education should have no idea how to do that," she wrote in her review. Westover recounts several instances in which family members recovered from what should have been devastating accidents with the help of her mother's combination herbs and essential oils; May and other reviewers question the validity of this as well, speculating that some of the autobiography may be more fiction than fact.

Further research reveals a review that Westover's brother posted on Amazon. He claimed that certain parts of the autobiography, such as the level to which the Westover parents discouraged the pursuit of higher education, had been distorted. It would be hard for readers to know the truth of those statements. The question becomes this: how much of an autobiography must be objectively true for its message to be validated or invalidated?

I don't know the answer to that-maybe that becomes a question each reader must answer for him or herself. I will say that regardless of its credibility, Educated makes a fantastic read that will grip its readers to the very end. A senior missing out on the last year of high school or college, a person finding it difficult to learn while stuck at home, or a student of any type, needs to read this book. It will have an impact, or at the very least, lead to some interesting thoughts and conversations.

Tom Clancy's: The Division

By Ash Willis

During this quarantine season, what better time to play Tom Clancy's The Division, a game about the worst possible outcome of a virus. Set in 2018, The Division pulls players into the frigid winter landscape of modern New York while they try desperately to combat the deadly Smallpox outbreak. Players can take on this task alone or with friends in a co-op environment.

The Division offers stunning graphics of New York City while staying accurate to the structures present in real life. From correctly labeled districts to overlooked buildings such as the UN building, New York Post Office, even Bryans Park the correctly made map adds to the post-apocalyptic feeling the game strives to show players.

The game begins on Black Friday in 2015 when infectious strains of virus get placed on dollar bills and spread, giving the disease the name, "The Dollar Flu". The effects of the pandemic lead to the complete shut down of the city causing mass panic which leads to mass loss of life. After first responders proved to be ineffective, the city called in the Division. According to thedivision.fandom.com, the games official wiki, the Strategic Homeland Division, referred to in the game as the Division, specially trained agents make up the agency to bring order back to areas that have been affected by catastrophic events, institutional collapse, or societal breakdowns.

Throughout the game, players work with leaders of a specific field to better help restore normality. The player works closely with section leader Faye Lau, a character injured in the opening scenes of the game. Through Lau, players meet the three leaders of different fields; Dr. Jessica Kandel in charge of medical, Captain Roy Benitez in charge of security, and Paul Rhodes in charge of the technical wing. Each of these wings assigns the player different missions to complete in order to expand the wing, in turn giving the player more perks to choose from.

Players can choose different skill sets, armor, perks, and other items to better suit their level and play style. Perks, separated into categories, a riot shield for security, medical devices for medical, and sentry turrets for technical.

Players become tasked with bringing crime and fear in the city down before it spreads across the river to Boston. Players fight different groups of enemies, from Cleaners, fire wielding enemies whose main objective remains the burn the virus from the city, to Rikers, escaped convicts from Rikers Island, who unlike the gangs encountered in the game, thrive on the violence as they try to claim Manhattan for themselves.

While some outlets such as IGN have called the game's playstyle repetitive, the grind of saving New York from a widespread pandemic can be a much-needed distraction from actual quarantine. The game has many challenges, higher-level enemies, as well as large "dark zones" where the virus hit the hardest. The Division falls on the cheaper side for a game of its size. However, they just released the sequel, The Division 2, set in Washington, D.C. Check Steam, a free PC gaming platform, for both platforms.

Tiger King Overview

By Ash Willis | Photo by Ash Willis 

Released on March 20th, 2020, Tiger King managed to capture the attention of audiences even amongst a pandemic. The show, detailing a rivalry between the owner of a tiger zoo and the owner of a tiger sanctuary, brings both Carol Baskin and Joe Exotic into the spotlight while sprinkling in other well known names like Doc Antle and Jeff Lowe. A spoiler warning for anyone who has yet to watch the now eight episode series, the following paragraphs will talk about events unfolding throughout the episodes.

Episode 1 introduces the audience to the eccentric personality of tiger park owner Joe Exotic, the self proclaimed "Tiger King". Running his own exotic wildlife park, writing and singing country music, performing magic for kids at schools, eventually running for President in 2016. Viewers also meet Carol Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue, a sanctuary for rescued big cats. Carol, immediately shown to be a big annoyance to Joe, his rival of sorts, her views on the rights of big cats differing completely from Joe's.

Episode 2 introduces more characters into the story, Though mentioned in the first episode, the second shines a light on the cult-like personality of Bhagavan "Doc" Antle. According to cinemaholic.com, Doc's organization, though somewhat brushed over in the documentary, could be considered cult-like, grooming young women to not only work for him, but to join his many wives. Viewers soon meet a red herring in Carols mind, Mario Tabraue, ex drug lord who witenssed the murder of an ATF officer, the series even aggredits him with being the "self proclaimed scarface". At Joe's zoo, one of his workers sticks his arms into a tiger cage and has it nearly ripped off. Saff, the worker, was immediately taken to the hospital. Later he decides to amputate his arm, going back to work after only days in the hospital. After this event, the show introduces viewers to John and Travis, Joe's two husbands.

Episode 3 focuses solely on the missing persons case revolving around Carol Baskins second husband Don. Many of those in the documentary believe strongly that Carol killed her husband, feeding him to the tigers they kept together. According to the series, one of Don's old builders claims Don used to bury money and gold bars so that no one would know how much money he truly had. After Don goes missing, Carol collects his will and changes it, giving herself most of the property and assets, even going so far as to change the wording of his will to include if he "disappeared". Joe gets a copy of Carol's diary and reads it piece by piece to his web show before making a song about Carol called "Here Kitty Kitty"

Episode 4 goes further into the feud between Carol and Joe, moving from lawsuits of copyright to Joe openly threatening Carol on his web show. Joe threatens to send Carol snakes in the mail for her birthday, even going as far as shooting a blowup doll dressed up as Carol. Joe's studio gets lit on fire, burning everything inside while also killing alligators housed in the same building, from this point the audience can see Joe start to unravel.

Episode 5 revolves around Joe running for President in 2016, then moving onto Governor when he doesn't win the nomination. As the court battles with Carol worsen, Joe begins to tighten his grip on his husbands, causing John to leave him and, in a tragic accident, Travis shoots himself.

In episode 6 and 7 the reason for Joe Exotics' stay in jail becomes unveiled as a plot to kill Carol. After beginning a business partnership with Jeff Lowe, Joe decides to ask one of Jeff's workers, Alan, to do the dirty work. The last two episodes describe the efforts of law enforcement to arrest Joe for the crime with evidence, landing Joe in the cell he remains in today.

Overall, Tiger King remains a thrilling documentary series, detailing so many stories that all end up with the conviction of Joe Exotic. Tiger King falls onto a list of shows anyone should watch during this long quarantine. Tiger King can be found on Netflix with its newest episode containing interviews with the cast.