REVIEW: Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour was a crazy 2-hour and 45-minute-long film, and I enjoyed every second of it. I highly recommend experiencing it in theaters instead of at home; unlike regular movies, people sang, danced, cheered, and clapped in their seats (some even stood)! Although nothing could ever compare to seeing her perform live, the energy of the crowd was great and I felt like I got a glimpse of the ecstatic atmosphere at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles: the last stop of Taylor’s tour in North America and where the movie was shot. Not only was her tour sold out, but the movie the night I watched it was too!

Like most people, if you weren’t lucky enough to see her live, then the film is the next best thing. I’m not a Swifite, though I was in my elementary days. That’s why I especially enjoyed the discography in The Eras Tour, which covered all the music she’s released in the past 17 years of her career, including the three albums she never got to tour with. As the title of the tour suggests, it was truly a journey through all of her musical eras, and she ended the night with her most recent album Midnights (2022). My favorites were the classic You Belong With Me and Love Story.

The cinematography was absolutely amazing and truly captured Taylor’s stage presence and control over the crowd. The camera work showcased everything so well, such as the great chemistry between her and the backup dancers and singers, the stage set-up, and the graphics. The most breathtaking transition was right after she finished performing Our Song; as she walked towards the back of the stage she suddenly jumped down and became one with the ground, swimming with her striking red dress. She had several wardrobe changes throughout the night, ranging from black cloaks and white flowy dresses to glittery skin-tight bodysuits. They helped express the emotion of each era and she pulled off each one. In addition to being a phenomenal singer, Taylor also proved that she was a great dancer, guitarist, and pianist throughout her performances.

Though it was the longest movie I’ve ever seen it never felt like it dragged on. I highly recommend watching it, even as a casual fan or listener. It simply won’t be the same as watching it at home, so get a ticket soon! There will be multiple showings up until October 26th at the Michigan Theatre.

Review: Seoul Station

*Played at the State Theatre on October 6th and 12th*

Despite being produced in the same year and by the same director, Seoul Station (2016) is the lesser-known prequel to the famous movie Train to Busan (2016). Interestingly enough, Seoul Station is an animation whereas the latter is a live-action film. The director Yeon Sang-ho is well known for his brutal stories, and while I haven’t seen Train to Busan yet, Seoul Station certainly did an excellent job of portraying not only the brutality of a zombie apocalypse but also the social disparities between income classes, especially emphasizing the discrimination against the homeless community.

There were three main characters: Hye-Sun, her boyfriend Suk-gyu, and her father Ki-woong (in the featured image, Suk-gyu is on the left and Ki-Woong is on the right). Like a typical zombie movie, the plot revolved around survival. However, Hye-Sun and Suk-Gyu were in the lower class and that was already enough of a struggle before being further exacerbated once hell broke loose. To me, what was most interesting wasn’t their endeavors to live, but rather the humorous character dynamics and the focus on economic differences, which I felt to be the true horror highlighted by the writers. The wealthy were rarely, if not never, featured. 

In Seoul Station the color palette was very grim and muted; even the bright pink of Hye-Sun’s dress appeared gray. I enjoy watching animated films, but I haven’t seen many Korean ones. The character designs were realistic and diverse, which I felt made the animation pop due to their facial expressions. The voice acting hit differently, too, because the characters had similar voices to people I know. However, the animation itself didn’t flow as smoothly as I expected. In the beginning, it felt clunky, but I quickly adjusted and didn’t pay much attention to it afterward. My favorite part was the incredible plot twists, which were so shocking I couldn’t stop talking about it with my friends after. In fact, a majority of the audience gasped at one specific scene and the excitement rose in the theater. 

I heard from others that although it’s meant to be a prequel, the two movies are surprisingly disconnected from each other. It apparently didn’t add much to the storyline of Train to Busan and would’ve been normal to be a separate world. Since I haven’t seen Train to Busan I unfortunately can’t compare the two very well, but I’ve always wanted to watch it. I’m excited to see more of Yeon Sang-ho’s work, especially since it’s such a praised movie. If you’re looking for a funny horror movie that also implies a deeper meaning, I recommend Seoul Station! It’s a shorter movie, around an hour and a half, so it’d be a good film to engross in during a busy time like midterm season!

 

REVIEW: Michigan Pops Orchestra “A Night at the Popscars”

The featured image above was taken from their Instagram: @michiganpops

This semester’s Michigan Pops Concert has been my favorite out of all the concerts I’ve attended! There was a crazy line at the door and the crowd turnout was also the largest I’ve seen, so much so that the start time was postponed to accommodate more audience members. It’s always refreshing to see that both children and the elderly are present in addition to college students; it shows that this student organization is popular among locals too.

They had a large and impressive list of repertoire (most were already familiar to the audience thanks to the theme they chose) and I appreciated how well they balanced the amount and order of classical and contemporary music. My favorite and most anticipated piece was Howl’s Moving Castle, but I wished it was longer. I felt that the arrangement could’ve been better too, though that doesn’t mean the Pops Orchestra didn’t play it well.

It seemed like there were more featured soloists in this concert than in the previous ones, but I think it still showcased the orchestra as a group pretty well without being overshadowed. Unfortunately, there were some balance issues and at times it was hard to hear the soloists.

The winner of this year’s high school concerto competition was a Sophomore from Huron High School, which is so impressive since the winners have historically mostly been Seniors. She played the Lalo Violin Concerto, and she exuded so much power and charisma as she performed. Shoutout to the violist who gave an amazing show of Bohemian Rhapsody and the pianist who shined during La La Land! You can watch them on Youtube, but nothing will beat the live music so pull up next year!

As for the skits, the most memorable part for me was when some students wore paper swans on their heads as they performed swan lake. It impressed me how well-made the swans looked!

It appears lots of members will be graduating, which is a little sad, but I’m looking forward to what changes the remaining and new Pops board and members will bring us next year.

 

REVIEW: Cocaine Bear

To be completely honest, I was rather disappointed after watching this movie. Perhaps it was because my friends hyped it up so much or the comedy just wasn’t to my taste, but it had too many plotholes for it to be satirically viable. Having a comedy movie be understandable is a personal preference though, so I’m sure a lot of people didn’t mind that. There were certain scenes that I found funny since they caught me off guard (I won’t elaborate much to avoid spoilers), but most of the time I got upset about the character development and storytelling.

They use gore and of course, the consumption of cocaine, as their comedic selling point, so if you’re easily squeamish or not interested in that I don’t recommend this movie. Well, I don’t recommend it in general. There are also lots of jump scares, so beware if you’re startled easily! If I had to rate it on a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a 4.5; that may be a controversial statement though.

I did end up watching this movie twice to show others how ridiculous it is; I guess watching this with others could be a good bonding experience! The second time around I could understand more of what was going on. Many of the characters have Southern accents and there are a lot of characters in general that become hard to keep track of, so if you can watch it with subtitles it’d be super helpful.

To summarize, I don’t think this film was a must-watch.

PSA: I had mistakenly thought and questioned how much of the film was true but none of it is, which may have played a factor in my disappointment. Now that you know what you’re getting yourself into, give the movie a shot! Or don’t, it’s up to you.

PREVIEW: Michigan Pops Orchestra Concert “A Night at the Popscars”

As we approach the end of the semester, the time for the Michigan Pops Orchestra’s concert approaches too! This semester’s theme is “A Night at the Popscars,” meaning they’ve selected a variety of music that’s related to Oscar and other award-winning films.

Many pieces they have selected are teased on their poster (the featured image above) which can be found around campus and on their Instagram @michiganpops. It looks like Howl’s Moving Castle, Star Wars, and West Side Story will be featured, with Howl’s being my most anticipated one!

I’m wondering how the Pops members will have done justice to the Oscar-winning films with their own directing and acting. I’m sure they won’t disappoint though, and I’m looking forward to which movies they’ve chosen to recreate (Star Wars probably being the most likely one).

The concert is at 7:00 PM at the Michigan Theater on Saturday, April 8th. Tickets can be bought online, at the ticket office, and sometimes at Mason Hall, or you can even get a free ticket with a passport of the arts!

PREVIEW: Cocaine Bear

Cocaine Bear is a film notorious for its origin: the true story of a bear having found and eaten cocaine. I personally don’t know much about the movie or how much of it is based on true events, but my friends have been very excited to watch it for its goofy nature.

The genre of Cocaine Bear is thriller and comedy, and it’s a relatively short movie (or at least what I felt was short: 95 minutes). I tend to stay away from both of these genres because I don’t have the confidence to watch thriller movies and lack interest in watching comedies (in theaters at least), so I’m curious about how I’ll feel about this film in terms of quality, history, and personality.

The movie is soon to stop showing, so either check it out yourself or wait to see if it’s worth based on others’ or my review!