Review Archives - Queen's Journal

Remembering Peter Parker in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

Written on January 14, 2022. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

I used to go to this day camp in the summer. It had a tube slide, but I never slid down—I climbed up. I would climb and climb, pretending I was Spider-Man. When my mom came and picked me up at the end of each day, I told her I was Spider-Man and I believed it was true. I had low expectations going...

‘Sex Education’ is back and raunchier than ever

Written on October 22, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

Kinks, aliens, hookups, cheating—the new season of Sex Education has it all. The plot of the show’s third season primarily revolves around new head teacher Hope. She essentially acts as the Disney villain of the show, attempting to reinvent Moordale Secondary School as a pillar of academic excellence...

‘Dear White People’ Vol. 4 absolutely wrecked me

Written on October 1, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

I’ve been obsessed with Dear White People (DWP) ever since the Netflix series’ controversial premiere. This show about how Black students and other students of colour navigate a predominantly white institution has lined up perfectly with my time at Queen’s. When the final season premiered last week,...

‘Zack Synder’s Justice League’ deserves its second chance

Written on March 26, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Zack Synder’s Justice League is a reminder that the good guys always win. Back in 2017, the original version of Justice League limped into theatres. An all-star cast couldn’t save the movie from becoming an all-time-worst superhero box-office flop. Reviews for the film ranged from lukewarm to downright...

‘Ginny and Georgia’ misses the mark by hitting too many

Written on March 24, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

One minute you’re laughing, the next you’re on the edge of your seat—and the entire time you’re confused about what’s going on. That’s the experience of watching Ginny and Georgia. The new Netflix original series centres on flirty and fun southern belle, Georgia Miller, and her strained relationship...

‘Euphoria’s special episodes are beautifully unnecessary

Written on January 29, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

When Euphoria announced two unexpected special episodes last November, there wasn’t much indication of what those episodes would look like. The announcement said little more than that two episodes, one focusing on Rue and the other on Jules, were produced during the pandemic and would be released...

‘Fate: The Winx Saga’ does too much with too little

Written on January 29, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

With a mere six-episode season, Fate: The Winx Saga—a teen adaptation of Nickelodeon’s hit Winx Club series—already lacked the space to do much with the vast world it inherited from its predecessor. While it uses the rich Winx world to its advantage, Fate tries to do too much with the little it has. The...

‘The Crown’ brilliantly portrays the decline of the British monarchy

Written on January 26, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

I swore I would never be one of those people who watched The Crown. From the outside, it seemed like another series about the uptight British monarchy, layered with dry political humour and hidden history lessons in every episode. Then I saw the trailer for Season Four. I don’t know exactly what draws...

Stick with ‘WandaVision’—it’s headed places

Written on January 22, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

It’s easy to fall in love with the tried-and-true format that has made Marvel movies so successful and reject anything straying from that formula, but WandaVision is a good reason to keep an open mind. WandaVision, a new show set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), presents viewers with a...

The sole problem with ‘Soul’

Written on January 22, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

Disney and Pixar’s Soul could be a perfect knockout, but it plays things too safe. The new film is appealing in all dimensions. The animation is, as we’ve come to expect from Disney and Pixar, stunning, and the voice actors do a phenomenal job at delivering this brilliantly written tale. It almost...

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ doesn’t properly depict addiction

Written on January 15, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

While stylish and bingeable, Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit fails to portray an authentic struggle with addiction. Based on Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel of the same name, the hit Netflix adaptation begins in the mid-1950s and transitions into the 1960s, following orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya...

Travesty in the ‘Ton: ‘Bridgerton’ slips up

Written on January 15, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

This article contains discussions of sexual assault and may be triggering to some readers. Without holiday plans to look forward to and with the incoming frost chasing us all indoors for good, I entered a lull in November—then the Bridgerton trailer dropped. From the second Julie Andrews’ narration...

AMS Fall in Review

Written on November 29, 2019. Posted in News.

As the fall semester draws to a close, The Journal sat down with the AMS executive team to review the status of the goals outlined in their September platform. President Auston Pierce, Vice-President (Operations) Jessica Dahanayake, and Vice President (University Affairs) William Greene touched on...

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: the feminist Halloween show we’ve been waiting for

Written on October 30, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

If you want a ‘90s nostalgia fix, Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina won’t do the trick. This reboot is nothing like its 1996 sitcom predecessor. Gone are the light-hearted days of Sabrina the Teenage Witch—this adaptation trades high school hijinks and comical mishaps for blood, murder, and...

A Star is Born is a musical masterpiece

Written on October 16, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

With the massive successes of Hamilton and La La Land, the past few years have ushered in a new era of widely-beloved musicals. A Star is Born, starring Lady Gaga and first-time director Bradley Cooper, triumphantly added to this trend last week. The third remake of the 1937 original, Cooper’s adaptation...

Big Mouth’s second season continues reign as TV’s funniest cringe-comedy

Written on October 12, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

When Netflix’s animated comedy series Big Mouth came out with its first season last summer, audiences were surprised by its star-studded cast, bizarre-but-amazing premise, and cringe-worthy puberty jokes. Its second season, which was released on Oct. 5, doubled down on its wacky sense of humour while...

'Forever' isn't the TV show you're expecting

Written on September 28, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

The set-up for Forever, Amazon’s newest half-hour comedy starring former SNL powerhouses Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen, is a married couple decides to shake up their annual fishing trip and try skiing. The punchline is a delicate and understated rumination on the value and drawbacks of monogamous...

Emmy Award nominations not as progressive as they seem

Written on July 30, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

If you’ve heard anything about this year’s Emmy Award nominations, it’s probably been centered around the idea of progress. Voted upon collectively by the Television Academy, some have publicly commended the awards for their unusually diverse set of nominations. The fanfare isn’t unwarranted. Sandra...

Drake’s Scorpion boasts something for everyone

Written on July 30, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

Spiteful and romantic messages. Sweet and salty lyrics. Hard and soft beats. That’s the all-encompassing description of Drake’s newest album, Scorpion. Released on June 29, and divided into an ‘A side’ and a ‘B side,’ Drake’s double album consists of 25 tracks which cater to both the hyped-up, ‘Let’s...

The Handmaid’s Tale’s second season is a warning for white women

Written on July 30, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

As Canada’s southern neighbors question their democracy, and rights seem to be little more than suggestions, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale is here to remind us that the worst is yet to come. The eerily-relevant dystopian drama, which recently wrapped up its second season, should serve as a wake-up...

American Crime Story’s second season underwhelms

Written on January 23, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle.

I truly hope the second season of American Crime Story will serve as a successful follow-up to the first season’s success. But after seeing this first episode, I find myself left with more questions than answers. I’ll admit I was already skeptical before watching the second season premiere of Ryan...

Three of Kingston's best coffee shops

Written on September 12, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

Kingston is a city with a latte of coffee shops, and for good reason – with three post-secondary schools and a combined total of over 30,000 students, the city hosts a lot of people who need a lot of coffee. But which coffee shop serves the best cup of joe? Where is the best place to study? And which...

One Roadtrip, One Canada 150

Written on July 31, 2017. Posted in Arts.

5514 km is a long way to travel without leaving Kingston. On Canada Day weekend, The Screening Room and the Agnes Etherington Centre coordinated to present a historical road trip across Canada, featuring short films from underappreciated national treasure The National Film Board and an exhibit of...

Small Batch, big flavour

Written on April 6, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

On the outside, Small Batch seems like nothing more than a small storefront with a bright turquoise awning, squeezed between a nail salon and a clothing store. But on the inside, the Princess Street gem is a perfect marriage of specialty coffee, local art and small town comfort. Let’s start where...

Coffee in the Northside

Written on March 17, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

Price range: $$$ Coffee cup score: 4.5/5 High ceilings, lush plants and espresso with a kick — the new Melbourne-inspired café on Princess St. is a breath of fresh, caffeinated air. Northside Espresso + Kitchen, sitting on the corner of Princess and Clergy, is nothing if not classy. The white building...

A walk through The Forest of Deen

Written on February 16, 2017. Posted in Arts.

Warning: this article contains spoilers. Liam Dowling’s debut novel, The Forest of Deen, is a compelling first effort that attempts to tackle large social issues, but ultimately fails to grasp the complexities behind these concepts. Dowling, ConEd ’18, has produced an engaging first novel critiquing...

Queer film fest leaves our reviewers 'reeling'

Written on February 10, 2017. Posted in Arts.

“It’s time to get OUT!” screams the Reelout Queer Film Festival. In its 18th installment, the festival brought nothing short of groundbreaking films to the Kingston community last week. Originally established in 2000 by OPIRG, Reelout is a collective arts project that seeks to celebrate gender and...

Review: Santa Clarita Diet excels at double negatives

Written on February 7, 2017. Posted in Lifestyle.

Santa Clarita Diet is “not-not” a lot of things. It’s not-not fun. It’s not-not something that makes me laugh out loud. And it’s not-not intriguing to see Drew Barrymore bite off Nathan Fillion’s fingers. But it’s also not-not bad. Let me take a step back....

Getting my nuts cracked

Written on January 27, 2017. Posted in Arts.

I have to be honest — I’m no ballet expert. Before I walked into The National Ballet in Toronto, I had to ask my girlfriend, “Are there words in The Nutcracker?” To which, if you know ballet at all, she replied no. I was doomed. When the lights faded to black, I was sure I was going to fall asleep...

Tag: Review

The Journal, Queen's University - Since 1873

Get the App

Get the App