Local bands

Ever since Encanto was released at the end of 2021, TikTok has been buzzing non stop about all aspects of the movie. From Lin Manuel Miranda’s superior soundtrack to the heartbreaking-yet captivating story, people couldn’t get enough. The origins of the Madrigal family begin after young Alma and Pedro are forced to fl ee their village as a result of armed confl ict. Pedro sacrifi ces himself trying to protect his family and the rest of the village and a heartbroken Alma are left to grieve the loss while having to take care of her young triplets, but not without consolation. By some miracle, the family becomes blessed with magical gifts—except for Mirabel. Growing up without a “gift,” Mirabel becomes ostracized by her family. Photos are taken without her, and she waits in the shadows as Antonio receives his gift. She feels as if she has to try and compensate for that with hard work, while many of her family members see it as her getting in their way. The more Mirabel tries, the more Abuela Alma dismisses her. Abuela Alma poses herself as the pillar; always pushing everyone to do what they’re supposed to do and shunning those who dare to do something different. But as I’ve interpreted it, this comes out of fear of losing anyone else like she did her husband. Unfortunately, in her attempt to keep the family together and functional, she emotionally abuses its members. As we see with Abuela walking down the hall and everyone standing on guard, everyone feels like their gift determines their worth. This is what pushes Bruno away. Since his visions are often negative, his family sees them as “bad omens” instead of just a vision of what the future holds. They don’t understand his prophecies, and pretend there are no problems. Bruno is the one blamed whenever things go wrong, when he is just the messenger. The same thing happens to Mirabel when she tells everyone the magic is vanishing and the casita is falling apart. Abuela immediately shuns her in front of everyone, and even blames her for the situation. She assumes that since Mirabel doesn’t have a gift, she must be the problem. There’s a common theme of pressure within the family. Luisa, Isabela, and Pepa all have intense pressure on them to be perfect at what they do, and to constantly fi x what’s wrong in the community. The song “Surface Pressure” touches on this topic for Luisa, with lyrics expressing “I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service” and “Who am I if I can’t carry it all?” While Abuela Alma doesn’t directly tell them they need to be perfect, she shames them when they’re not. In the case of her second daughter Pepa, Abuela is always trying to get her to push away her feelings and be happy, even though she can’t be happy all the time. Abuela continues this coercing behavior when she pushes Isabela to marry Mariano for the family, even though she never asks her. Seeing Mirabel and Bruno as the scapegoated black sheep made their meeting seem even more heartfelt, as they relate to each other. As I was in theaters watching it, I couldn’t help but laugh at all of the hilarious quips Mirabel provides to poke fun at Bruno’s eccentric behavior. I laughed hysterically at his alter ego Hernando, who’s not afraid of anything, and I cried out laughing when Mirabel let go of Bruno’s hand because she got scared from the rat that climbed up, only to fi nd that the fall was only about fi ve feet. Bruno’s endearing personality carried the movie for me, as whenever he came on screen there was something to laugh about. Seeing him make his own dinner plate behind the wall so he can be at the family table without “harming” his family was so sad to see. This made Bruno’s confrontation with Abuela all the more anticipating. When the family welcomes him back, it was such a sweet relief. But the resolve didn’t come easily. After Abuela harshly scolds Mirabel, saying she’s ruining the family, Mirabel makes it clear that the person responsible for the casita being in trouble is Abuela pushing everyone too hard. This realization catches Abuela off guard, quite literally “opening her eyes” like Mirabel had begged for earlier in the song “Waiting on a Miracle.” In a dramatic destruction, the house falls into shambles and the candle’s light goes out. After the house falls apart, Abuela realizes her wrongdoings. We see her backstory explained more in detail with a beautiful Spanish song “Dos Oruguitas.” She explains that she was just trying to make her husband’s sacrifi ce seem worth it, but she lost sight of what the gift was really for. Not only was the movie multifaceted in its portrayal of the pressure of family relationships, the soundtrack itself made some loud noise in the music scene. For the week of January 21-27, the Encanto soundtrack reached #1 for global albums on Spotify, and for the second time ever, a Disney animated fi lm song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the masterpiece that is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Everything about Encanto pushed beyond my expectations and is another reason why Lin Manuel Miranda should be considered one of the top artists in the industry at the moment. Bringing incredible layers to an animated movie, I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a Disney fan-favorite.

Disney’s “Encanto” released on November 24th, 2021, but it’s still going strong in 2022. The movie has been very popular on social media platforms.

Photo from Disney/Flickr

“Arcane” doesn’t deserve the hype

By TIMUR MARKOWITZ ‘24 Staff Reporter

Arcane’s release has brought Netfl ix yet another hit television show. The beautifully-animated television series has become one of the most well-received shows based on a video game, and it has been a smashhit with fans. League of Legends fans are overjoyed with the new television series based on the game, with excellent animation and amazing fi ght scenes. However, beautiful animation and distinct style does not compensate for a complete lack of an interesting story. Clichéd characters and dialogue make the show lackluster, with the only character with any essence being Jinx, who has more than one personality trait and is shown to actually make decisions that benefi t her and not just the plot. Nonetheless, this television series emphasizes fi ght scenes, with dozens in each episode rather than developing an interesting story with good writing. While the fi ght scenes are beautifully drawn, they take up most of each episode’s runtime, and are a waste of the viewer’s time as they carry little signifi cance to the story. Despite having potential, Arcane plays it too safe and fails to bring anything new or interesting to the world of television. It pales in comparison to shows that take the necessary risks to remain relevant. Most of the show’s characters are incredibly simple and merely exist to serve the

plot, rather than affecting the plot themselves. While some may respond saying how amazing the growth of Jinx’s character is throughout the series, this is merely one character in the show, and her character brings nothing new to the story of an insane antihero with a need for vengeance. Additionally, in the third episode of the show, she argues with her sister Vi, and immediately states how Vi is no longer her sister, which is absurd, and a perfect example of how fl awed this show is. The characters don’t Excellent style and make decisions, as the animation is writing has created a outweighed by a world in which character merely exists ridiculous amount to drive plot forward of cliches. without any real reason. Excellent style and animation is outweighed by a ridiculous amount of cliches. Others may state that the show’s unsubtle themes of poverty and class disparity make it worth watching; however Arcane’s total lack of depth makes it a show not worth watching, as better television shows dive into similar themes in more interesting ways. While some may fi nd the show interesting, its tendency to beat a dead horse and repeat previous clichés makes it a show to avoid. In a television climate fi lled with shows that take the risks of Game of Thrones, have the characters of Dexter: New Blood, and the dialogue of Succession, it is apparent that Arcane brings nothing new to the table. I’d rate it a 1/5, as a result of poor dialogue, clichés, and being generic to the extent where it provides nothing new.

South Jersey’s local rock scene

By MICHAEL SORENSEN ‘22 Staff Reporter

There is lots of young local talent waiting to be found in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area. One of these bands is a Pink Floyd tribute band known as Us and Them. This faithful tribute comprises of Maxx DeGregorio on lead guitar and lead vocals, Grace Halter on lead vocals and bass, Charlie Bove on rhythm/lead guitar and backing vocals, Nick Cianfrani on keys and backing vocals, and Carson Reuter on the drums. Both DeGregorio and Cianfrani are seniors at Eastern. DeGregorio has been chasing his dream since the age of seven, and he’s fi nally making it come true. However, there is a compromise. “Once I got the opportunity to do what I love and get paid, I started to move high school to the back burner. It took a while for me to start to be able to balance my social life, multiple bands, and my education. Still to this day, after multiple years, I fi nd myself having to make compromises with my education in order to keep my dream alive,” he said. The band has played in venues such as the Stone Pony, Hard Rock Café, World Café Live, The Laughing Fox Tavern, The Crown at the Queen Theater, and The Bitter End. Another local rock band is Sugar Rush Rocks, which covers a wide variety of material from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The band features Bibi Valdes on lead vocals, Michael Sebastian on guitar, Grace Halter (also from Us and Them) on bass, and RJ Hill on drums. This band has established a signifi cant following in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area, and has played at impressive venues such as Dobbs on South and Trocadero Theatre. Most recently, they played at Geets Diner & Bar in Williamstown. Another band that has played at The Laughing Fox was a trio called Banned For A Day, composed of Josh Greeno, Thomas Greco, and Georgie McNelia. Each member occasionally swaps instruments depending on the song. They play a wide variety of songs from bands like “Van Halen,” “Rush,” “Greta Van Fleet,” etc. They are slowly gaining a following. Last but not least, a band called Wring Me Out is wringing out the ears of their fans. These “rowdy teenage noisemakers” are Cole Clark on lead vocals and guitar, Aidan Kehoe on lead guitar, Ellie Taube on vocals and bass, and Derek Mosetter on the drums. Their latest show was at Thomas Murphy’s Pub on February 26th at 4:00pm. They will also be one of the bands featuring in the One Giant Leap showcase at the Anchor Rock Club on March 12th. Tickets are now available on their website.