Contemporary Art Expresses Fantastical Reality
By Teresa Fanzo
Peter Hamlin’s “Living Matrix Palace.” Photo by Teresa Fanzo.
A new exhibit at Lehman College Art Gallery, Castles in the Sky: Fantasy Architecture in Contemporary Art, features architecture with a twist, conjuring an imaginative reality.
The show, which opened on October 13, 2018, highlights the work of artists from different backgrounds and aesthetics. Lehman senior Eric Ramirez, a graphic design major, observed, “The artists are creating works that push the boundaries of architecture in ways that reflect their individual stories and life experiences”.
Some artists chose to go to extreme lengths by making enormous sculptures while others created simple paintings drenched with symbolism. Robert Hite’s “River Tower, 2007” is an example of one these huge sculptures. The impossible-seeming sculpture droops at the top, almost like a dying flower, representing the merging of fantasy and reality by standing tall despite its sad droopy quality.
Gustovo Acosta’s “Eclipse.” Photo by Teresa Fanzo.
Robert Hite’s “River Tower.” Photo courtesy of Marie-Claire Milius.
Julie Langsam expresses this idea more directly in her painting, “Gropius Landscape (Master’s House Kandinsky / Klee), 2014,” which shows a modern house with a cloudy sky. The bottom half of the painting is abstract with three big blocks, each containing different patterns made up of smaller blocks. The colors in the bottom half are similar to the ones in the top, a movement which represents reality shifting into the abstract.
Laurent Chéhère’s painting “Cabaret, 2017” is smaller, at 90 x 90 cm. The painting shows a floating house with an elephant hanging at the bottom. The artist brings her own twist by adding things to fit the theme of a carnival, such as a doll face and a lollipop as well as the elephant, likewise showing the merging of reality and fantasy.
The strange elements are what seem unreal here, the doll face especially, all turning out to be real things. The fantasy element comes with floating sky. This modestly sized painting also shows that within the exhibition space, not one size or type of piece overpowers another.
All the pieces in the gallery use architecture to represent the idea of the convergence of fantasy and reality, while fostering an atmosphere of wonder. The artists featured in the exhibit created pieces that portrayed the unimaginable, impractical, and inspiring designs for architecture that tests their own boundaries and reality itself in ways that are almost shocking.
Lehman senior and art major Jadie Meprivert said, “Each piece is able to shine.”
New Halloween Is the Goriest Yet
By Hector Bello
Promotional poster for “Halloween.” Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Four decades after its original release in 1978, “Halloween” leaves fans with mixed feelings.
“Halloween” tells the story of sixty-year-old serial killer Michael Myers, who murdered his sister Judith in 1963 and was locked up until his escape in 1978. Since then, Myers continuously returns to his quiet hometown in Illinois to prey on new victims.
In its 40-year run, the franchise has had tremendous success with 11 films about the infamous Michael Myers, played by actor Nick Castle. The first movie grossed a total of $70 million worldwide. The newest movie grossed a total of $77.5 million in its first week, topping the box office for the month of October.
Michael Myers kills the most people in the 2018 film -- a total of 17. Throughout the movie, Myers sadistically terrorizes his victims. In one scene, he steps on his psychiatrist’s head. In another, he pins one of his victims to the wall with a knife. He also destroys a man’s jaw and takes out all the teeth of another man.
The gruesome, bloody scenes evoked skepticism in audience members like Lisa Sheridan, a student from the CUNY Graduate Center. She commented: “Long on gore, short on plot. The movie serves its market ‘date night movies for high schoolers’. I tend to fuse ‘Friday the 13th’ and ‘Halloween’ in my mind because they were so similar.”
Other students appreciated the film’s dark humor. Alana Johnson, a York College graduate, said, “my favorite scene was when the killer went into the house of the babysitter and the kid ran downstairs screaming that he saw the Boogeyman. That was funny.”
Funny or not, the bloodshed is relentless. Michael Myers is shot and stabbed repeatedly in the movie but does not die. Spoiler alert: in the end, Myers’ sister, Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), locks him in a gas chamber inside her basement and burns him alive. Injured, she manages to make it out of the house alive after a final fight with the serial killer.
Her survival is an example of one way the film goes in a new direction. Most of the previous movies, with the exception of “Halloween III,” show Strode running away from her brother, who wants to kill her after he murders her immediate family. However, this time their roles have been reversed, with Strode now much stronger and ready to defend herself against her brother.
The alteration satisfied some fans. “The new twist did a lot of justice to the franchise,” said Jason Moreno. “It was a solid movie…[with] nothing stupid.”
Johnson agreed, “I don’t really like horror movies. However, it was a great movie and I don’t regret coming.”
To all the gore and horror fans, “Halloween” will not disappoint.
Malek Shines as Mercury in Queen Biopic
By Michael Omoruan
A poster for the UK release of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Photo courtesy of Flickr.
According to a report from Deadline, the biopic on the British rock band Queen was in its development stage for almost 10 years. Now the wait is finally over. The film, called “Bohemian Rhapsody” after one of the band’s most well-known songs, features Rami Malek in the lead role of Freddie Mercury. Best known for his Emmy award-winning portrayal of Elliot Alderson, an introverted cybersecurity engineer on USA Network’s “Mr. Robot”, Malek plays one of the most charismatic and legendary performers in rock ‘n’ roll history. He plays the role almost effortlessly, from Mercury’s humble beginnings as a baggage handler to his set at the Live Aid benefit concert.
Malek is joined by Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor; Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon; and Gwilym Lee as Brian May, who were Mercury’s bandmates. A cameo appearance from Mike Myers is a golden nugget for Queen fans. In 1992, Myers starred in “Wayne’s World”, a motion picture spin-off of his “Saturday Night Live” character, Wayne Campbell. In the iconic scene, Campbell, along with his best friend Garth Algar, played by Dana Carvey, sing along to the Queen song “Bohemian Rhapsody” in Garth’s AMC Pacer. However, in the film “Rhapsody”, Myers plays EMI record executive Ray Foster.
In an interview Myers gave on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he described the character as “fictional,” based on a number of record label executives who doubted that anyone would enjoy the ambitious, revolutionary sound of Bohemian Rhapsody. In this role, Myers crushes it doing what can be best described as Shrek if he were raised in Liverpool during the 1970s.
Ironically, this cast was not part of the original vision of the film. Instead, according to Deadline, big names like David Fincher, director of “Social Network” and “Gone Girl”, were. Eventually, 20th Century Fox settled on “X-Men: Apocalypse” director Bryan Singer to helm the film, which was plagued with production issues. After halting production due to his inability to arrive on set in London, Singer was replaced by “Eddie the Eagle” and “Rocketman” director, Dexter Fletcher for the remaining scenes. Although Singer still holds the title of director, Fletcher was given the executive producer credit.
Various audiences were on the edge of their seats after seeing the embodiment of timeless classics like “We Will Rock You” and the eponymous title song. The sound mixing and cinematography was impressive. The dazzling display of lights brought it all together and the Dolby theater speakers made it feel like a live performance was taking place.
The film brilliantly conveys the dark side of fame and fortune, as well as Freddie Mercury’s promiscuity. When Malek comes to terms with his AIDS diagnosis, the audience sees his true acting ability, as the vulnerability in his eyes is palpable. All of the band members were played exceptionally well, and one can definitely foresee Oscar nominations for Malek and costume designer Julian Day. The issues and conflicts that halted production on this film are barely noticeable. Anyone who’s a true a rock n’ roll fan or loves a great biopic will love this one.
The Charmed Ones Return to Fight New Battles
By Kimberllee Mendez
The Charmed logo. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
The most powerful witches of all the magical realms, aka the Charmed Ones, are back and reimagined for 2018. A definite must-see, this reboot showcases the power of sisterhood with all the special effects a fantasy show needs.
Gracing the WB network, now the CW network, for eight seasons in the 90s, the original Charmed Ones—sisters and witches by birth -- fought demons, warlocks and everything evil using unique spells. Prue, Piper and Phoebe each had a different power: telekinesis, freezing the flow of time, and foresight, respectively.
The new series features new names, new faces and some new magic. In episode one, biological sisters Melanie and Maggie Vera reunite with Macy, who has lived alone for most of her life, after their mother is murdered by a demon from the Underworld. These sisters have the same abilities as the original trio, but Maggie can also read people’s thoughts.
One defining moment from the original pilot episode recurs in the reboot: the night all the sisters are reunited in their home, all the lights go out. This shows the Power of Three is formed and united, allowing their powers to be awakened. This Power defines what the Charmed Ones are: their combined powers makes them unstoppable to any demon they face.
In this version, they are also facing a social scene set in today’s age of social media. The sisters are regularly online, and a lot of women-driven movements such as #MeToo are shown making headlines. One subplot introduces a protest movement starting in the college that Mel and Maggie attend. The protestors demand that a professor who has molested a student be removed from his position and Mel is shown protesting all over campus.
Mel is also openly gay and in a relationship with the homicide detective, Niko Hamada, who was her girlfriend before Mel knew of her own magic and the case of her mother. Their relationship becomes strained after Mel’s mother is murdered and three months later Niko leaves Mel. The new sisters also have a different ethnic background and different skin tones than other main characters, something that was not seen in the previous show.
This updated show promises all girls that they have a little magic within them and proves that sisterhood is worth more than anything. It should certainly be on your DVR list to watch this month.