Emmy Awards lose luster due to lack of star power


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The Emmys, supposedly the show to celebrate all the best in television, were held on a random Monday night in August this year. They were moved from their usual September date by the bigger and better ratings NBC can get with Sunday Night Football, and bullied off of their cushy football-less Sunday night slot by […]

Simple, affordable dishes begin with Italian pasta


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Every week, I’ll be sharing simple, healthy and affordable recipes to encourage college students to cook from scratch. There are few foods more comforting than a steaming bowl of spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce. Familiar and satisfying, pasta is the ideal dish for a long night of studying or a cozy dinner with roommates. Since […]

Warner Bros. Studios unveil plans for Justice League


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After years of frustrating false starts (Superman Returns, Green Lantern) and a disheartening number of unrealized or abandoned projects (Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman, George Miller’s computer-animated version of Justice League), the superstructure of the DC cinematic universe is finally beginning to take shape. While Marvel Studios continues to add to its menagerie of spandex-clad do-gooders, […]

22 Jump Street and the problem with comedy sequels


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Based on a painfully dated police procedural remembered for launching Johnny Depp’s acting career and not much else, the first 21 Jump Street movie should have been a spectacular misfire, another cautionary tale about the dangers of exhuming a once-popular television series and hastily retooling it to attract modern audiences. Instead co-directors Phil Lord and […]

Edge of Tomorrow risks summer blockbuster fatigue


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Who wouldn’t pay to watch Tom Cruise struggle against the ravages of time? On paper at least, Edge of Tomorrow has all the ingredients of a surefire hit. Cruise’s latest foray into the world of pop-dystopia boasts a compelling, high-concept premise, an aging but still-bankable leading man, a cast of genre stalwarts including Emily Blunt […]

Maleficent revamps one of Disney’s greatest villains


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From Snow White’s vainglorious Evil Queen to 101 Dalmatians’ felonious fur fetishist Cruella de Vil to Ursula the show-tune-belting sea witch in The Little Mermaid, Disney has conjured up some of the most iconic female villains in cinema history. For the better part of eight decades, these licentious ladies and murderous mademoiselles have schemed, stolen […]

Star Wars needs an Expanded Universe


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“I felt a great disturbance in the Force,” a shaken Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness) tells Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) during a pivotal scene in George Lucas’ original Star Wars. “As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.” The wizened old Jedi was responding to the psychic aftershocks of […]

Preparing for Cinco de Mayo


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Congratulations on enduring the last week of classes, Trojans. I can honestly say that this semester has been one for the books, but it is not over yet because we have two weeks of finals and then comes summer vacation. Since this is my last column of the semester, I want to leave you with […]

Road trips prove that absence makes the heart grow fonder


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In my first column this semester, I wrote about the frustration I felt hearing the “Beat L.A.” chant at a Kings game. If there’s anything I want people to get out of this column, it’s that they should give this city a real chance. Especially for new transplants, Los Angeles can feel overwhelming at first. […]

New online media streaming platforms challenge Netflix


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It’s an interesting time for streaming media, both in the level of competitiveness and the possible legal trauma associated with it. With the competition becoming more serious, companies are trying to get exclusive content to entice the masses. The biggest acquisition of late was Amazon obtaining the rights to classic HBO shows, the first time […]