91社区

As we rev up for another semester on campus, I鈥檓 reminiscing the recently departed rest and relaxation us students indulged in over Winter Break. The holidays present the perfect opportunity for 91社区鈥檚 Arts students to sink their teeth into their favourite forms of media 鈥� whether that be literature, podcasts, movies, music, or more. I wanted to take some time to review some notable pieces of art & media consumed this break by 91社区鈥檚 student body.

Personally, I spent my Holidays watching cheesy Christmas romantic comedies 鈥� at this point, it鈥檚 a tradition. I unfortunately made the mistake of first watching Paul Feig鈥檚 Last Christmas. A half-baked homage to George Michael鈥檚 song bearing the same name, Last Christmas executes every cheesy holiday trope with the finesse of a toddler-decorated gingerbread house 鈥� not to mention the cheap, one-dimensional portrayal of socioeconomic issues like immigrant alienation following Brexit.

Still, not all hope was lost! I found everything I could wish for in a holiday rom com in Something from Tiffany鈥檚 (dir. Daryl Wein). Based on , this movie takes place in New York, and is the epitome of a cheesy holiday movie without feeling tiresome and overexaggerated. From the impeccable costume design to the fateful mix-ups that bring the two leads together (played by Zoey Deutch and Kendrick Sampson), Something from Tiffany鈥檚 is the perfect lighthearted, charming film to watch while drinking hot chocolate by the fireplace.

Moving on from my own whirlwind of a rom com search, many Arts students consumed some pretty intriguing media, including Maria Gheorghiu (U3 Urban Studies) and her love for chemistry, drama, and elevator music:

鈥淥ver the break, I found myself enamoured by Patricia Highsmith鈥檚 The Price of Salt and R茅jean Ducharme鈥檚 L鈥檋iver de force. Both being stories of passion, infatuation, and heartbreak, they bring the reader along for the ride as one set of lovers drive through the vastness of the United States, while another tries to find their way in life through the streets of Montreal.

A perfect complement to Highsmith鈥檚 heart-stopper is Todd Hayne鈥檚 Carol, which brings the characters to the screen through Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, two phenomenal actresses who embodied the story better than anyone could have. What鈥檚 more, as the film鈥檚 beginning is set a few days before Christmas, it鈥檚 the perfect holiday movie.

This break was all about 1960s-70s Italian film lounge music for me. Pieces like Armando Trovajoli鈥檚 鈥淟鈥檃more dice Ciao鈥� from The Libertine and Bruno Nicolai鈥檚 鈥淚n automobile鈥� from La dama rossa uccide sette volte, which I can only describe as elevated elevator music, set the tone for the weird, liminal period of time between Christmas and the New Year.鈥�

Many Arts students took their well-deserved time off to catch up on some of the hottest new film releases, most notably Aarthy Thiruthanikan (U3 English Literature & Finance) who watched Avatar, and Jane Carli (U2 Cultural Studies) who had an interesting take on the recent .

Aarthy had no complaints about Avatar. She shares, 鈥渁head of the second movie鈥檚 release, I rewatched the first Avatar movie during the break. Being able to experience the beauty of Pandora and its interconnectedness was illuminating. Bottom line: the depth of the film allows viewers to uncover more with each rewatch.鈥�

Jane, on the other hand, raises some thought-provoking critiques relating to the relationship between portrayals of queer female characters in media and how they can reinforce larger structures of misogyny:

鈥凄辞别蝉 Tar provide a cunning commentary or overplayed critique on cancel culture? Blanchett鈥檚 stellar performance might make one question whether the story is actually fiction; however, anyone who has proximity to the music world will find that the over-the-top dialogue filled with unnecessary and unrealistic music vocabulary references gives the narrative away.

Given the utter lack of female representation in classical music, Tar holds promise as it centres not only a female conductor/composer, but one who identifies as Gay. Instead of playing with these characteristics to portray some version of a positive storyline, Todd Field turns Blanchett鈥檚, character into a wholly egotistical, misogynistic villain without any redeemable qualities. Although I very much wanted to like the movie, I couldn鈥檛 get passed the highly far-fetched and impractical nature of Blanchett鈥檚 character as an openly gay maestra in an incredibly selective and disciplined field who uses her identity to justify and get-away with her behaviours.鈥�

Shifting gears to more literary pursuits, Solmaz Salehi (U3 English Literature) discusses her pleasantly surprising experience with a Sci-Fi short story collection:

鈥淎 short story collection I read during the break that heavily impacted me is titled Tenth of December by George Saunders. I dislike science fiction with a burning passion but Saunders mixes small doses of sci-fi with major problems in American society (problems such as immigration, poverty, class differences, etc.) to create the perfect balance. His narratives shift so smoothly and each story has a captivating voice and tone. Usually with short story collections, one or two stories are weaker than the others, but not with this one. If I become a high school teacher one day this book is what I will force my students to read.鈥�

Last but certainly not least, Sarah Gaudio (U3 Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies) tackled a lengthy list of all forms of media:

鈥淥ver the holidays I watched Wednesday and Single's Inferno. I read Before The Coffee Gets Cold (I recommend it, it's great) and started Parable of the Talents. In terms of music, I specifically listened to 鈥�Bound 2鈥� by Kanye and 厂窜础鈥檚 SOS album 鈥� and of course some Christmas movies!鈥�

Hopefully these reviews from your fellow Arts students provides some good recommendations the next time you鈥檙e scrolling through Spotify or wandering a bookstore looking for something intriguing. We鈥檝e provided a list听of where to watch, listen to, or read, everything mentioned in this article below 鈥� though maybe save the movie marathons for Spring Break!

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Movies & TV:

1. Last Christmas (directed by Paul Feig) available on
2. Something from Tiffany鈥檚 (directed by Daryl Wein) available on
3. Carol (directed by Todd Haynes) available on
4. Avatar: The Way of Water (directed by James Cameron) still in theatres; soon to be available on Disney Plus
5. 罢谩谤 (directed by Todd Field) available on
6. Wednesday (directed by Tim Burton) available on
7. Single鈥檚 Inferno available on

Books*:

1. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith available at
2. L鈥檋iver de force by Rejean Ducharme available at
3. Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders available at
4. Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi available at
5. Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler available at

* You can likely also find these books at your local bookstores 鈥� check out places like The Word Bookstore, De Stiil, Saint Henri Books, and more!

Music:

1. 鈥淟鈥檃more dice Ciao鈥� by Armando Trovajoli listen on
2. 鈥淚n automobile鈥� by Bruno Nicolai listen on
3. 鈥淏ound 2鈥� by Kanye West listen on
4. SOS by SZA listen on