by Reese Cassidy ’28 on September 25, 2025

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A&E - Film & TV

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Amidst the chaos going on with ABC, Dancing with the Stars has begun its 34th season. 

DWTS is a reality competition that pairs celebrities and professional dancers. Each week, the couples perform a ballroom dance in front of judges, getting votes from both the judges and the fans watching from home. Once all the votes are tallied, the lowest-scoring team gets sent home, and the winning couple wins the Mirrorball Trophy. The new season premiered last Tuesday, but the cast was announced two weeks before and has been a talking point since. 

While the number of couples varies each season, this season has 14 couples—one pro and one star in each. There are many returning pros this season and one new addition, Jan Ravnik. He is starting this season having just returned from performing the entirety of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, during which he was one of the most well-known backup dancers and was very prominent in Taylor Swift: Eras Tour (2023). In the past, he has also performed with Bruno Mars and Mariah Carey, so it is safe to say he has lots of experience. Other than Ravnik, the rest of the pros have been on past seasons of DWTS and are already largely known by the show’s fanbase. The pros are Alan Bersten, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Daniella Karagach, Emma Slater, Ezra Sosa, Gleb Savchenko, Jan Ravnik, Jenna Johnson, Mark Ballas, Pasha Pashkov, Rylee Arnold, Val Chmerkovskiy, and Witney Carson. 

This season’s stars come in a large variety of ages and careers, ranging from ages 21 to 58, including athletes, actors, singers, influencers, comedians, and even a zookeeper. It seems as though there’s something for everyone in this season, so no matter who is watching, it will be exciting. Some of these stars are up and coming or even at their peak of stardom, but others are well past it and were cast as stars for the older generations. This includes Andy Richter, who is most known as the comedic sidekick of Conan O’Brien, though some viewers may recognize him for voicing Mort in Madagascar (2005). Stand by Me (1986) star Corey Feldman and The Parent Trap (1998) actress Elaine Hendrix are also among the older stars of this season. There are always a couple of professional athletes among the cast, and this season is no different, with two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis and one of the most well-known and well-loved U.S. Olympic athletes: gymnast Jordan Chiles. The casting directors of DWTS also never fails to find some reality TV stars. This season, there are even two stars from the same show: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (2024) stars Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt. They will compete alongside Hilaria Baldwin and Dylan Efron, who is widely known as the brother of High School Musical (2006) star Zac Efron. There are multiple familiar faces for Gen-Z to watch out for, as they may be stars they grew up with. First, Danielle Fishel, who is best known for her character Topanga on both Boy Meets World (1993) and the spin-off Girl Meets World (2014). Then, two famous voices: Scott Hoying from Pentatonix and Lauren Jauregui from Fifth Harmony. The two stars causing the most talk and likely bringing most of the views for this season are Alix Earle and Robert Irwin. Earle has had a quick rise to fame over the past few years after her “Get Ready with Me” videos went viral on TikTok. Since then, she has been in movies and even a Super Bowl commercial. Irwin is possibly the most famous zookeeper in the world. Being the son of Steve Irwin, he has always been in the public eye. After an impressive first episode, a lot of America seems to think now is truly his time to shine. A Mirrorball Trophy may be in his future as he is hoping to carry on his sister, Bindi Irwin’s, legacy after she won season 21.

While fans all over the country have already made their picks on who they hope to win,  it’s not too late to tune in and cast your votes on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

by Ian Gualtiere ’27 on September 25, 2025

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A&E - Film & TV

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To many, there was always a certain glow to movies from the previous century. Maybe it was the way the film met the light while capturing the action, allowing a fabulous fuzz to appear on our screens nearly 50 years later. Audiences could go to theaters to see dreams captured on celluloid and movies where actors truly turned into the characters they sought to convey. The idea of going to see a favorite actor was, is, and will always be a reason to go out and see a new movie; there is a certain allure to a film that promotes itself on raw star power. Many movies attempt to place all the eggs in one basket by hiring numerous A-list actors and celebrities to draw people back into the theater seats. Only a few movies rise to the occasion by complementing the actors with a great plot; examples would include the commercial and critical successes of Oppenheimer (2023), Avatar (2009), and The Dark Knight (2008). These movies allowed their star actors opportunities to shine alongside each other in a thoughtful and meaningful way, but other movies simply attempt to sell their product only by highlighting how many great actors they can afford. Examples include great actors like Russell Crowe, who was accused of phoning it in for his performance in The Mummy (2018), or how Robert De Niro was seen to have tarnished his legacy by starring alongside Zac Efron in Dirty Grandpa (2016). 

One actor had been able to subtly use his charm, skills, and subtle brilliance to shine above the rest, regardless of whether he was alone or starring alongside other talented actors. Robert Redford died last week, on Sept. 16, at the age of 89, and closed a long and celebrated 56 year career in television, film, and theater. Beginning his career on Broadway in the late 1950s, he also appeared on a string of television shows. However, his growing acting chops and unapologetic good looks carried him onto the silver screen, where he made his film debut in 1960. As the romantic comedy Barefoot in the Park (1967) premiered, he was easily typecast into the good-looking, blonde male stereotype, but his integrity as an actor outweighed his image as he searched for more unconventional and grittier roles. That unconventionality would be found when he starred alongside Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), as the two portrayed stubborn cowboys in a dying western frontier. The image of Redford as a charismatic, intelligent, and reliable actor allowed Redford for a decade of success in the 1970s. A string of hits would see Redford going back into the solitary western genre with Jeremiah Johnson (1972); a 1950s romance with Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973); a reunion with Paul Newman in the world of 1920s crime in The Sting (1973) would give him the only Academy Award Best Actor Nomination of his career; an adaptation of the classic The Great Gatsby (1974); a CIA spy thriller with Three Days of The Condor (1975); and the politically charged All The President’s Men (1976), where he starred alongside Dustin Hoffman as they portrayed real-life investigative journalists trying to uncover the Watergate Scandal of the Nixon Administration. 

By the early 1980s, Redford had become increasingly politically active and was pursuing films with darker subject matter to reflect the materialist American culture he questioned. The result of these motives would culminate in his directorial debut with Ordinary People (1980); it is a film that explores the slow but unstoppable destruction of an upper-middle-class family after one of their sons takes his own life. The movie would be awarded at the Academy Awards with four wins; Redford would take home one Oscar for Best Director. The 1980s and 1990s would show a strong binary effort of Redford the actor and Redford the director. The baseball classic The Natural (1984) and the seven Oscar-winning Out of Africa (1985) would continue to cement Redford as a talented actor, while the Montana-set period drama A River Runs Through It (1992) and the scandalously criminal plot of Quiz Show (1994) would give Redford further respect as a director. 

Redford was also known for his outspoken support for environmentalism, Native American rights and recognition, and LGBTQ+ rights; a career in support of the arts and politics would make Redford a constant trustee and councilman on several progressive and social issues. One of the defining testaments to Redford’s legacy was his commitment to the independent film production industry. With the salary he received from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Redford bought a ski resort near Park City, Utah, that he renamed “Sundance” after his character in the film. Redford cultivated a region solely dedicated to independent films, as the Sundance Film Festival is now the United States’ largest annual independent film festival. Largely thanks to Redford’s direction, the Sundance Institute, Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel are all located in Park City. 

Redford was an authentic actor and director who defied the conventional role of a typical actor coasting on his good looks; he was instead someone who pushed the boundaries of topics many did not want to talk about and broadcast his opinions through the medium of film. The subtlety of Redford relied heavily on his ability to have one glance at the camera, and the audience would not just see his piercing blue eyes, but they would see the truths, dreams, and frustrations of American society, which did not want to see its reflection on the silver screen. 

by Andrew Katz ’26 on September 25, 2025

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A&E - Film & TV

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In 1999, when HBO released the first episode of The Sopranos, the standard for television shows changed. The Sopranos followed the life of Tony Soprano, a sociopathic mob boss who had to balance the drama of his biological family and his organized crime family. This show kick-started the Golden Age of television shows, which we are still in today. As people look for more shows that can match the level of The Sopranos, very few are able to do it. The most recent show to reach this upper tier of television shows is Succession.

Succession, running from 2018 to 2023, is a fictional show loosely based on the Murdoch family. The story begins with Logan Roy, the CEO of Waystar Royco. This is a giant corporation that has many different entities including ATN News, which delivers a shocking announcement on Roy’s 80th birthday that he is not planning on retiring, as he was expected to. This devastates Kendall Roy, his eldest son, who was supposed to be the future CEO. As the title of the show is Succession, the story follows the drama of the fight over who will be Logan Roy’s successor when he finally retires. For most of the show, there are three main contenders to the Waystar Royco throne: Kendall, Roman, the youngest son, and Shiv, the daughter. Other characters in the show are also trying to climb the corporate ladder. Two of these characters include their cousin Greg and Shiv’s husband Tom. The show, through four seasons, consistently shows the cynical nature of our capitalist world, especially through the characters doing the most embarrassing things just to be associated with power and wealth. The scene that shows this the best is the “boar on the floor” scene.

The “boar on the floor” scene takes place as Waystar Royco is attempting to acquire Pierce, another media empire. This plan goes south when someone from Royco’s side leaks this information to the press to tank the deal. Logan becomes angered by this act of disloyalty, as it is one of his main values, and he decides to have dinner with everyone aware of the deal. Logan questions people about their thoughts on the deal. He eventually pulls out three people whose responses he did not like, and tells them to sit on the floor. He then makes them oink like pigs, further humiliating them. As the men comply with this humiliating ritual, Logan throws two sausages for the three men and states that whoever doesn’t eat one is the one who ruined the deal. Though this game has nothing to do with actually finding out who leaked the information, it shows the power Logan holds, as he can have high-up executives humiliate themselves just because he chooses to. This scene also shows what greed can do to someone.

Everyone in the room lets this happen as they are scared Logan will take their power away. This one scene is representative of the entire show. Every person around Logan will do whatever he wants because of his power and their greed to be associated with wealth and power. They are puppets of Logan’s throughout the show, doing whatever he wants. Very few times have people ever gone against him, and if they do, they fail. Succession shows that this cynical nature is what our capitalist society rewards. One must be willing to sacrifice all values to be considered successful. When people sacrifice their values, only care about themselves, and are obsessed with power, they become sociopaths. And what Succession tells us is that only sociopaths win this game to acquire power and wealth in our society today. Overall, Succession is a must-watch TV drama that shows us the darkness in our society. Succession beautifully balances seriousness with the satirical scenes of the show and ends perfectly, making you want more of the show instead of dragging the story longer than needed. If you enjoyed shows like The Sopranos (1999), The Wire (2002), or Breaking Bad (2008), you will likely love Succession.

by Mia Gasbarro ’26 on September 18, 2025

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A&E - Music

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The Album That Defines Pop in 2025

When the cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh album, Man’s Best Friend, surfaced online, it quickly sparked debate. The imagery drew strong reactions and garnered conversations about gender and power. Instead of letting the controversy overshadow her work, Carpenter transformed the backlash into buzz. Beyond the controversy, Man’s Best Friend is making headlines as it showcases everything from disco-infused pop songs to beautiful, sad ballads, all of which work cohesively to turn bold imagery into equally bold music. The album has proven to be one of Carpenter’s most ambitious and dynamic projects yet, blending sharp wit with polished pop to secure her place at the center of today’s music conversation. 

Carpenter has come a long way since her debut during her Disney Channel days. Now, she is steadily creating a place in pop music with her strong songwriting and playful energy. Her 2024 album Short n’ Sweet, featuring the viral hit “Espresso,” earned her three MTV VMAs and secured her position as a rising pop star. Building on that momentum, her seventh album, Man’s Best Friend, appears as her boldest and most talked-about project yet, with the album debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. 

Musically, Man’s Best Friend is a bold and vibrant blend of disco-pop and R&B, developing a sound that feels both retro and fresh. Carpenter balances catchy hooks with witty, self-aware lyrics to create songs that are playful and flirty. The album showcases everything from upbeat dance anthems to slower reflective ballads, highlighting her versatility as an artist. Standout tracks like “Manchild” emphasize her ability to blend humor with a polished pop production, while other tracks explore themes of love, control, and self-discovery, adding a surprising element of depth to the album. Overall, the album’s sound reflects Carpenter’s growing confidence and willingness to experiment, making it a cohesive yet unpredictable listening experience. 

Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend is more than just another chart-topping album—it’s a cultural moment that reflects how today’s artists use music, visuals, and even controversy to start bigger conversations. For students, her rise feels especially relevant: she’s a young artist navigating fame, creativity, and public opinion in real time, much like our generation navigates its own identity in a fast-changing world. This album reminds us that pop culture isn’t just background noise, it’s part of the story of who we are right now. In the end, Man’s Best Friend isn’t just a win for Carpenter, it’s a reminder that pop culture moments shape how our generation connects through music. 

by Ian Gualtiere ’27 on September 18, 2025

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A&E - Music

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The world was introduced to the Gallagher brothers in April 1994. Their band, Oasis, had just released “Supersonic,” a single that would define British music for the next decade. A string of hit singles, EPs, and albums would propel the Manchester band into the stratosphere. Helmed by creative lyricist and deadpan older brother, Noel, and brought to life by the nasal voice and erratic behavior of younger brother Liam, Oasis would take to the top of global charts thanks to the anthemic songs of “Live Forever,” “Rock N’ Roll Star,” “Slide Away,” “Wonderwall,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and “Champagne Supernova.” Several years of tabloid headline news, apparent legendary stories, and notable fights between the brothers would continuously follow the band after every tour, rowdy night out, and family get-together. Yet the two would make up and continue playing in the band. 

By the turn of the century, Oasis had cemented themselves as one of the most popular bands in the world with over 49 million copies sold with only three albums: Definitely Maybe (1994), (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1996), and Be Here Now (1997). For the next seven years and four albums, sales would begin to dwindle, and audience and critical reception would start to turn. The band would see various lineup changes, and the brothers would continue to take their frustration out on each other, despite being in high demand for concerts and festivals. The end of Oasis occurred in the summer of 2009, after Liam contracted laryngitis and canceled a show in Chelmsford, England. Several days later, on Aug. 28, another canceled appearance in Paris would prompt Noel to release a statement on the band’s website declaring that he was leaving Oasis, stating that he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.” The next 15 years would see bitter tensions between the brothers, public call-outs on television and social media, and proposed reunions for a hefty cost. For the time being, Oasis had remained a pleasant memory for those who experienced their popularity, and an incredible jewel to newcomers who discovered past performances on streaming, television, and documentaries. These sentiments would culminate in a new generation of Oasis fans, calls for a reunion, and overall popularity starting to surge by the early 2020s. Almost 15 years to the very day of the breakup, a new generation was able to witness the announcement of the band reforming and going on tour. All of the band’s social media accounts posted a message with a new image of the brothers on Aug. 27, 2024, stating, “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised.”

The Gallagher brothers’ travel itinerary started in Wales on July 4, and then headed across the border to play shows in London and their hometown of Manchester. The brothers went north to Scotland and then across the Irish Sea to finish the Europe leg of their tour in Dublin, on Aug. 17. The much-anticipated reunion touched down in Toronto for two shows just a week after Dublin and the tour rolled through the American border towards Chicago for a single concert on Aug. 28. The final three locations for Oasis would be held in East Rutherford, NJ; Pasadena, CA; and Mexico City to finally close the curtain on the North American leg of the tour on Sept. 13. Liam, Noel, and company will eventually travel back to London to play two shows in their home country that were added to the tour due to such high demand. The debaucheries, however, do not end in the Western Hemisphere as the band ships off to South Korea, Japan, and Australia for shows in Oct. and Nov. The tour finally ends in South America as the brothers look to play shows in Argentina, Chile, and eventually Brazil. 

Up until this point, nearly 1,917,000 avid fans have lined up for security clearances, bought pints of their favorite beverages, and held their closest friends and relatives to sing along to the reunited Gallagher brothers. I was in attendance for their Dublin show on Aug. 17 in Croke Park. The city was tense, like a family about to host highly esteemed guests for a dinner. Painted murals of Noel and Liam sporting their famous Adidas tracksuits and bucket hats were strewn on nearly every street corner; pubs descended into intoxicated sing-alongs, filled with people trying to belt their hearts out to decades-old songs; and lines of people arrived early to Croke Park, dressed in heavy parkas and John Lennon-esque glasses, in the hopes that they can stand closer to the rock stars than everyone else. My brother and I bought tickets nearly a year ago to stand in the pit of hundreds of avid supporters—drawing deep breaths and personal space were ideas of the past that simply did not matter to us. As the brothers walked out onto the stage, holding hands of reconciliation, utter chaos and jubilation erupted from the nearly 80,000 fans. Many threw their beverages into the air with fervor and started to jump on beat with the music being played. These concerts are not what some critics have called “a money grab from two bitter middle-aged men;” they are the release and relief of a tense world. They have been a refuge for communal love, excitement, and pure rock. As messages of enjoying life, reflecting on the love of music, and defiant individuality (and perhaps a few pints in the middle) were highlighted throughout the Gallaghers’ songs, everyone in the crowd knew that there is a beauty in the experience of life. These concerts are a celebration of life and the promise of living forever. As Noel and Liam flew out of Mexico City this past weekend, fans chanted “¡Viva por siempre!” and “¡Viva Oasis!”

by Sydney King ’26 on September 18, 2025

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A&E - Film & TV

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Why Netflix’s Unknown Number Documentary was Bad

On Aug. 29, Netflix released a new documentary that was guaranteed to get buzz because of its sheer evil. Unknown Number: The High School Catfish centers around teenager Lauryn and her ex-high school boyfriend Owen, and how their lives were forever changed due to the digital harassment and psychological torture inflicted on them by an unknown number in a group chat over the course of 20 months. Since the documentary has been out long enough, I feel that it is appropriate to include spoilers: the culprit of these disturbing and nightmarish texts was Kendra, Lauryn’s mother. And at the end of the one hour and 30 minutes, I felt like what I was watching was less journalistic and more like a Lifetime Original movie. 

I have two main issues with the documentary: the first being its editing, and the second its incorporation of Kendra. They chose to interview Lauryn twice, once around the time her mother went to jail, and the other was more recent to the film being made. The problem arises here because the audience is left completely in the dark about the different interviews and their timelines, making Lauryn’s reaction to the reveal of her mother’s identity seem questionable. Lauryn’s initial reaction to finding out that her mother has been tormenting her for almost two years unsettled a lot of viewers. Lauryn seemed stunned by the information, not speaking and showing no discernible emotion. Shortly after this, her mother embraced her, Lauryn allowing it, but her blank expression remained the same. 

I am not surprised at all by Lauryn’s reaction. How is a daughter supposed to act when her mother has been anonymously bullying her, sexualizing her ex-boyfriend, and specifically targeting her deepest insecurities incessantly over two years? She was shocked. But this reaction, combined with comments made in her interviews, put many audience members off from Lauryn. In the first chronological set of interviews, Lauryn expresses a deep desire to see her mother again, and excitedly keeps communication with her through her prison stay, making it seem like the abuse had no effect on her. Meanwhile, in her more recent interview, Lauryn seems much more skeptical of her mother’s behavior and hesitant about continuing their relationship in the same close fashion as it was before. She has not seen her mother in over a year, and does not yet know when she will be ready to talk to her again. But these interviews are spliced together so that Lauryn’s feelings are not being accurately portrayed, and in my opinion, set her up to receive more public backlash. 

The documentary’s worst crime is the inclusion of Kendra and how exactly she influences the plot. In the first half of the film, Kendra is being interviewed as everyone else is, describing her feelings and actions when the texts started despite her having already served her sentence for committing this crime. Once she is revealed as the villain, the last half of the documentary consists of her lying—about crimes she has already pleaded guilty to, mind you—and defending her actions. What Kendra did was inexcusable. The way Netflix portrayed a criminal as if her actions were justifiable and explainable was very disturbing to see. For a better understanding of this case, I would recommend reading the article The Cut wrote about it, as it goes further in-depth on the abusive and unwell mother Kendra was.

by Thomas Marinelli ’26 on September 18, 2025

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A&E - Film & TV

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Nostalgia Done Right

Coming back to Providence College after this summer, I was reminded of the summer of 2020. Perhaps not as fresh to many people anymore—maybe even purposefully forgotten, due to the COVID-19 pandemic—but nonetheless, it’s a time that has stuck with us for reasons we probably did not see at the time. I remember it very well. I was 15, still a high school student, though some of you might have still been in middle school. No matter our age, I bet many of us watched Avatar: The Last Airbender repeatedly that summer and felt like a kid again.

The first summer of the COVID-19 lockdown probably felt like a chance to finally relax for most of us who are now in college. It’s not something many of us remember as clearly now, as it goes with most summers, as we age, each loses the glow it once had. Avatar was one of these shows that had an original audience, but when it was brought back, it was just as bright and great as it was before. Its streaming numbers hit all-time highs in 2020 for obvious reasons: people were at home, bored, looking for escapes, and trying to watch something that would make a dull day not so bad, maybe even a little more like life before the COVID-19 pandemic flipped all of our lives upside down. Many of us kids and teenagers fell into this same routine, looking for something to pass the time. But with Avatar, I think most of us wished that excitement would never leave. 

Netflix did it right. They loaded up their service with as many shows as they could, not just for adults or kids, but for teens as well. Teens had grown up with shows like Avatar. I remember coming home from school as an eight-year-old and watching it with my sisters like an afterschool ritual—something I think many others experienced in one form or another. It was familiar, but also forgotten. Seeing it again on Netflix as a top-10 show for 61 days (one of the longest-running top-10 shows of the year), we watched it just as if we were watching it for the first time, but with that inner child inside us that watched the original version all those years ago.

Avatar was a children’s show, but anyone could relate to it. It was nostalgic, yet funny. It was deep and emotional, with each character developing uniquely over the three seasons, but in very human ways despite their cartoon nature. Aang was goofy, kiddish, and lovable, but he always carried a heavy weight on his shoulders and knew he had to do anything possible to protect the people he cared for most. Uncle Iroh (my favorite) loved his nephew Zuko throughout the entire show. Despite watching him make mistake after mistake, he always believed Zuko was good at heart and returned to his side, no matter how many times Zuko pushed him away. Zuko himself embodies the most change: capturing Aang was the only way for him to go home after being banished. Zuko never had a choice; everything in his life felt like failure if he wasn’t serving that objective. He only began to change after asking himself what he truly wanted. Avatar is a show that deals with loss and revenge, but also with newfound color, love, and peace. It was never just a story about a kid defeating a villain—it was about balance and finding peace in a world deprived of it.

Avatar meets every facet of what makes TV work. It was an ideal comfort show that carried a sense of excitement at the same time. Let’s not forget that it originally ran on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, alongside shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, Drake and Josh, and The Fairly OddParents. They are all great shows, but none reached the same depth as Avatar, which likely worked in its favor. Avatar was able to create a cult following, a spinoff show (The Legend of Korra), a movie, and later even another live-action series. But like any show or movie, its hype dies down, people move on to the next thing, and the summer ends. The Legend of Korra was popular and ran for several years, but it was never going to be the same for kids who watched the original show and then rewatched it again in 2020. The live-action series had promise, but felt more like a cash grab to profit off the hype and never really landed with anyone who had already lost interest in the show after the summer of 2020. Avatar as we knew it effectively went back into the dark as the nostalgia faded and that summer turned into another school year—another year anticipating the next summer, and another year finding it wasn’t the same.

The summer of Avatar: The Last Airbender, like so many summers, did nostalgia right, but it was never meant to last. Its day in the sun was bright for the time we had it, but now, years later, it’s hard to remember just how much we enjoyed it. For the time we had, though, it was nice to remember what it was like being a kid again before too much time had passed. If we take anything away from Avatar, it should be to remember that all things must pass—nostalgia, happiness, sadness, anxiety, summers—but that doesn’t mean they weren’t important, even if you wished they would never end.