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Tuesday, October 03, 2023 — Houston, TX

Arts and Entertainment

A&E 9/6/23 12:41am

Review: ‘Bottoms’ is a welcome addition to the high-school comedy canon

By Jay Collura

It’s uncomfortable how rarely straightforward comedies are released in theaters these days. This is not to say that the cinema is devoid of comedy, as quipping has become an inescapable part of just about every blockbuster of the last decade. Rather, it feels that jokes are either buried within CGI battles or relegated to scripts likely created or, at the very least greenlit, by AI. But “Bottoms,” Emma Seligman’s new raunchy teen satire, is bringing real comedy back to theaters. 

A&E 9/6/23 12:27am

A celebration of diversity launches on the edge of campus

By Hugo Gerbich-Pais

Contrasting the modern brick and tile of the Moody Center for the Arts and directly opposite the bland facade of the Rice police department lies a bright and organic structure — the first traditional mudhif ever constructed outside modern-day Iraq. Opening Sept. 9 with an event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the mudhif is a product of the Senan Shaibani Marsh Arabs project.

A&E 8/30/23 12:21am

Review: ‘Unreal Unearth’ takes us through hell and back again

By Hadley Medlock

Four years after “Wasteland, Baby!” Hozier has returned to the studio to release his third full-length album titled “Unreal Unearth.” Topping charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom, “Unreal Unearth” has become the Irish artist’s first number one album. Though sometimes meandering and honestly a little long, Hozier’s “Unreal Unearth” is a cathartic journey through the nine circles of hell and back again. 

A&E 8/30/23 12:19am

Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist drop one of the best rap albums of 2023

By Arman Saxena

It wouldn’t be surprising to see someone shocked that Earl Sweatshirt dropped a new project. He didn’t post it on his Instagram. It isn’t on Spotify or Apple Music, and the famously reclusive former Odd Future star hasn’t promoted it. You can only find the surprise drop, “Voir Dire,” on Gala Music, a free NFT-backed music streaming service. 

A&E 8/30/23 12:17am

Review: ‘Gran Turismo’ misses the podium

By Jay Collura

If there’s one thing the movie “Gran Turismo” wants you to know, it’s that the plot is based on real-life events. In fact, when I purchased the ticket for the review, it wasn’t for “Gran Turismo,” but rather “Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story,” just in case general audiences somehow missed this point. This overbearing marketing, unsurprisingly, is wholly accurate — the film is obsessed with depicting the events as they occurred in reality. When it works, the film captures the very real exhilaration of motorsport, but at its worst, it’s the cinematic equivalent of reading a skimpy Wikipedia article. 

A&E 8/22/23 11:18pm

A&E’s guide to Houston

By Arman Saxena

Whether you’re new to Houston or have been here for years, you most likely haven’t explored all that the Houston arts and entertainment scene has to offer. From lively performance venues to some of the tastiest food you’ve ever encountered, the Bayou City has a swathe of fun locales to check out and enjoy.

A&E 8/22/23 11:12pm

Albums of the summer

By Jonathan Woo

The music landscape is always changing and shifting, with new artists bursting onto the scene, niche styles getting a wider following and high profile releases scheduled. This year was no exception with exciting runs from Taylor Swift, NewJeans and Travis Scott in particular, so the Thresher has rounded up three of this summer’s biggest releases in case you missed them.

A&E 8/22/23 11:06pm

Don’t miss these summer flicks

By Jacob Pellegrino

This past summer was packed with new movie releases. We at the Thresher know that it can be hard to keep up with so many different films vying for your attention, especially during the height of summer. Here are a few of the highlights to catch you up on anything you may have missed — we promise they’re worth the watch.

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.

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