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Movies

“Ocean’s 8” Film Review

The highly anticipated film, considered a “gender-bent” version of the original Ocean’s trilogy, Ocean’s 8 (directed by Gary Ross) is doing really well at the box office. But how does it compare to the original series, or even fare as a standalone film? The reviews so far are a mixed bag, and after watching the movie, I can truthfully say I understand some of those perspectives, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Here’s what I thought. Warning: spoilers ahead! Ocean’s 8 (2018) starred an incredible ensemble cast, and I was super excited to see some of my favourite actresses interact…

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Books

Sleeping Giants Book Review

Do you ever have those books where you just tear through them and then can’t remember what your life was like before having read it? Well that was how I felt last week after finishing Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel .My life was not forever changed, or made any different by reading the novel really, but there was something about it that felt inescapable and undoubtedly right. Now, that might seem like a rather odd thing to say about a book, but looking back, the thought of that story not being in my mind seems incredibly odd. The novel, set up in…

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5 Best Series

5 Best Series: Understanding Other Cultures

As a child, I never really noticed the lack of cultural diversity in the shows or films I watched. Since I was growing up in a fairly diverse city, race wasn’t something I was very conscious of – until I started to get older. That’s the thing about systemic racism; you don’t necessarily notice it until you actively start analyzing and questioning the societal “norms” we were taught. People may not have been calling me names or making fun of my culture in obvious ways, but racist ideologies and cultural ignorance were (and are) embedded into institutions and every day…

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Collaborative

Sense8 Series Finale Review

Sense8 premiered their series finale last Friday amidst much anticipation and excitement. The show, which has had incredible ratings, was cancelled after their second season by Netflix due to budgeting reasons. As a show that prides itself on authentic representation, it would travel around the world to the actual locations it featured in the show to film, and consequently racked up quiet the budget. However, it was not a decision that sat well with the fan base. We ourselves posted about how much we thought the show deserved a third season, which you can read here. Within a few months,…

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Books

Giving Jane Austen a Chance

How many times have you heard something along the lines of “Jane Austen’s books are girly”, or met people that believe Austen’s books are only geared towards female readers? If you haven’t heard such a thing, then consider yourself lucky, because I’ve heard it too many times. The problem with making such a sweeping generalization is that it gives a completely false and reductive summarization Austen’s works, as well as fostering toxic sexist notions (eg. that it would be emasculating for a male to read Austen). In actuality, Jane Austen has written some of the most feminist-fuelled, challenging, satirical, and…

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Movies

“The Greatest Showman” Unveiled

The Real History Behind P. T. Barnum and The Circus The Greatest Showman has quickly become a favourite amongst new releases in the last six months and I am in no way and exception to that. I absolutely adored the movie! How could you not? Everything from the characters, the music, the society defying love story were utterly lovable. However, despite all the feel-good feelings I got out watching it and listening to “This is Me” on repeat, I could not shake the discomfort I felt at the blatant re-writing of history going on in this movie. For any of…

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