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Monday, June 05, 2023 — Houston, TX

Arts and Entertainment

A&E 4/18/23 11:44pm

Review: ‘Suzume’ is a thrilling, endearing, and at times dark ode to Japan

By Arman Saxena

Makoto Shinkai clearly has a specialty — the “Your Name” and “Weathering With You” director is often said to make the same movie over and over again. It’s true that the three most recent entries in his filmography have all been fantastical, coming-of-age melodramas centered around some sort of ecological disaster, but  there’s nothing wrong with that. Audiences know what they’re getting with a Shinkai film: gorgeously-rendered anime vistas, strong female leads and an emotionally-charged storyline guaranteed to make viewers feel something. While it doesn’t reach the poignancy of “Your Name,” Shinkai’s newest film “Suzume” is one of the highlights in his œuvre.

A&E 4/18/23 11:43pm

Review: IVE embraces confidence on 'I’ve IVE’

By Jacob Pellegrino

After an incredibly successful debut year in 2022, IVE released their debut album “I’ve IVE” to the excitement of fans around the world. Last year, IVE put out two single albums, which are shorter, two to three track projects within K-pop. The sampling of Gloria Gaynor’s classic track “I Will Survive” in “After LIKE” and the moodier sound of “LOVE DIVE” show two distinct sides of the group that are expanded upon in their debut full-length release.

A&E 4/18/23 11:43pm

Review: Nicolas Cage as Dracula is a national treasure

By Hamza Saeed

“Renfield” is a 2023 comedy-horror film centering Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicolas Hoult as Renfield, Dracula’s loyal assistant. My comments on this movie should be prefaced by an acknowledgment of my bias; I absolutely adore Nicolas Cage as an actor. I could watch Mr. Cage do nothing but down an entire Subway Italian without him uttering a word and I would be absolutely enthralled, clinging to the edge of my seat. The subtle facial expressions, the charming yet hungry eyes, and the absolute Adonis of a body that Nicolas Cage possesses could make any film connoisseur faint at just a glimpse. Even taking into consideration my love for Cage’s acting in both his amazing and amazingly terrible works, “Renfield” is another absolute banger of a movie on nearly every level.

A&E 4/18/23 11:41pm

Ink these tattoo and piercing shops into your calendar

By Hadley Medlock

As the weather heats up and requires more tank tops to be worn and long hair to be thrown into ponytails, you might be realizing that more people have tattoos and piercings than you first thought. Whether this has now made you want your first ear piercing or third tattoo, the vital first step is figuring out where to get it done. Now that I have a few ear piercings my dad probably doesn’t like and a fresh new tattoo, I feel almost obligated to give you this list of shops to get your own body modifications done in Houston, if only so you can be as cool as me. 

A&E 4/18/23 11:39pm

Wiess Tabletop stages tragicomedy ‘Fun Home’

By Shreya Challa

Wiess Tabletop Theatre’s spring production, “Fun Home,” will run April 21 through 23 at 8 p.m. in Wiess College commons. The Broadway show is a Tony award-winning production based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.” It was the first show on Broadway to feature a lesbian protagonist, Alison Bechdel, played by three different actors at three different ages.

A&E 4/11/23 11:39pm

Outdoor Show brings music, food, vendors to Central Quad

By Morgan Gage

ktru’s annual spring music festival, the Outdoor Show, is returning for what ktru station manager Keegan Pierce described as their “first year back from COVID.” The outdoor festival will take place in the central quad Saturday, April 15 from 1 to 11 p.m.

A&E 4/11/23 11:31pm

New brews to sip on

By Saswat Pati

While some off-campus places like Common Bond and Agora may be well known to Rice students, we here at the Thresher wanted to provide some new locales to quench your caffeine addiction, especially during the grind of finals season.

A&E 4/11/23 11:29pm

Review: 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' lives and dies on how much you already love Mario and co.

By Arman Saxena

Easter eggs and references -made to please both the casual player and the Mario devotee are what power Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic’s film adaptation of the massively popular video game. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has already broken records, scoring the top worldwide opening of all time for an animated film and having amassed over $350 million in worldwide sales at the time of writing.

A&E 4/11/23 11:15pm

Keep the pride alive with these pieces of queer media

By Arman Saxena

Last week was Pride Week at Rice — so what better time to highlight media created by and on members of the LGBTQ+ community? Here are some of the best pieces of media from queer artists that do an incredible job of illustrating LGBTQ+ experiences. 

A&E 4/11/23 11:14pm

‘Dimensions Variable’ plays with the wearable

By Juliana Lightsey

At first glance, they appear to be two precariously-stacked conglomerations of children’s stuffed animals: a forlorn plush basset hound, a worn stuffed hippo and a deflated giraffe. Then, you spot a distinctly human calf protruding from one of the masses, and suddenly they spring to life, two aggregations of animals, seemingly connected by a hive mind, performing a narrative.

A&E 4/4/23 10:49pm

Review: ‘the record’ is boygenius at their best

By Hadley Medlock

Indie rock supergroup boygenius is back, this time with a 42-minute, full-length LP titled “the record.” Comprised of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, boygenius boasts an impressive fanbase that has long been awaiting their comeback. After the triumph of their self-titled six song EP in 2018 and ongoing wildly successful solo careers, boygenius had lofty expectations to live up to that they easily surpassed with each song on “the record.”  

A&E 4/4/23 10:46pm

Review: 6LACK turns a corner on ‘Since I Have A Lover’

By Jacob Pellegrino

6LACK, pronounced “black,” is an artist known for his music about emotional instability, from unrequited love to unhealthy relationships. “Since I Have A Lover” sees 6LACK, born Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr., embrace happiness instead through his lyrics and instrumentation five years after his last full-length album.

A&E 4/4/23 10:44pm

Rice to host inaugural Moody X-Fest

By Nayeli Shad

To celebrate the $100 million donation made by the Moody Foundation, Rice is hosting the first Moody X-Fest on April 7 featuring free food, games and a concert headlined by GROUPLOVE. The event will be taking place at 5 p.m. in Tudor Fieldhouse.

A&E 4/4/23 10:21pm

Spice up fall semester with these courses

By Arman Saxena

Now that it’s officially registration season, students across campus are looking for classes to add some spice into their fall semester course load, and there’s no better way to do that than with some Rice arts classes. From cooking to creative writing, film to art history, here are a plethora of different classes that students can take next semester.

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