TV review: ‘Big Little Lies’ season 2 delivers underwhelming plot despite strong acting

The courtroom showdown between Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep was the soap opera equivalent to the Super Bowl. Celeste (Kidman) finally turns the tables on conniving mother-in-law Mary Louise (Streep) in a cathartic face-off that establishes an early, palpable tension. But despite the unquestionable star power, the climax of the “Big Little Lies” season two […]

Winter has come: UCLA community evaluates ‘Game of Thrones’ impact, explores what’s next

This post was updated May 20 at 1:49 p.m. “Game of Thrones,” Breaker of Records, Last of its Name. Throughout its eight-year run, the HBO series has become heavily embedded in today’s culture, defining an era of epic, ubiquitous fantasy television. The show’s medieval influence and expansive online following skyrocketed its popularity and contributed to […]

‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 recap – Episode 1: ‘Winterfell’

Winter is here: The final season of “Game of Thrones” is one of the most highly anticipated television events of the last decade. Follow our columnists as they explore students’ weekly reactions as an iconic era of pop culture comes to an end. Beware, spoilers lie ahead. The “Game of Thrones” season premiere boasted all […]

Enthusiasm abounds in Pauley Pavilion as Dance Marathon 2019 begins

A choreographed dance to “Burnin’ Up” by the Jonas Brothers kicked off UCLA’s 18th annual Dance Marathon. The fundraiser’s first hour also featured an address by Pediatric AIDS Coalition President Melissa Miller, a fourth-year political science and Russian Studies student, who explained the theme of this year’s Dance Marathon: embrace. She said theme refers to […]

Second Take: List of best director nominees indicate gender inequity remaining in Hollywood

The number of female best director nominees throughout the 90-year history of the Oscars can be counted on one hand. Although Greta Gerwig’s 2018 nomination for “Lady Bird” seemed to indicate a shift from the Academy’s historical sexism, the 2019 nominees prove Hollywood’s glass ceiling has hardly been cracked. The all-male candidates – Spike Lee, […]

2019 Oscars predictions

The Academy shed its distaste for showy blockbuster films for the 2019 Oscars. The eight films nominated for best picture have grossed a combined total of $1.2 billion at the domestic box office – the highest-earning batch of nominees since 2011. While predictable political dramas “Vice” and “Green Book” are well within the Academy’s comfort […]

Author examines shades of grief, aftermath of tragedy in new book at Hammer Museum

Evgenia Citkowitz met Mona Simpson around 35 years ago – she was the latter’s summer intern at The Paris Review. On Tuesday, Simpson, a novelist and English professor at UCLA, will moderate a book talk at the Hammer Museum centered around Citkowitz’s new fictional novel “The Shades,” which was released June 19. Citkowitz is the […]