

Movie Review: Lion
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [See-Saw; 2016] Rating: 7.5/10 Based on a true story, Lion chronicles the life of Saroo Brierly, who was separated from his family at the age of 5 after accidentally falling asleep on a passenger train that departed during mid-sleep in his hometown of Khandwa, India. Twenty years later, while living in Australia with his adoptive family, Saroo begins to a search to find his origins using only Google Earth, and what he can remember. What follows i


Album Review: Metallica - Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [Blackened Recordings; 2016] Rating: 6/10 Key Tracks: “Atlas, Rise!,” “Halo on Fire,” “Spit Out the Bone” It’s safe to say that Metallica is one of, if not the most influential heavy metal band in all of music. Albums such as Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets are widely considered to be the band's best, as it established their genre of music right from the start. Unfortunately, since the start of the new century, the band has had trouble f


Movie Review - Christine
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [The Orchard; 2016] Rating: 9/10 Christine is an American-British biographical film that gives viewers a look at the final weeks of news reporter Christine Chubbuck’s life, who orchestrated a live suicide in front of thousands watching at home in 1974. Phenomenal acting by both Rebecca Hall and Michael C. Hall coupled with Antonio Campos’s great directing is enough to give this movie the attention it deserves. People won’t be seeing this movie to


Album Review: gobbinjr - vom night
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [JMC Aggregate; 2016] Rating: 8.5/10 Key Tracks: “manatee,” “vom night” vom night is the newest EP released by Brooklyn native Emma Witmer, who performs under the name gobbinjr. This relatively short, but sweet, six-track EP clocks in at a little over 19 minutes, but gives listeners enough to be left satisfied. It’s child-like (though repetitive) melody, mixed in with synthesizer and cleverly thought out lyrics, proves to people that gobbinjr may


Movie Review: Denial
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [Bleecker Street; 2016] Rating: 6.5/10 In 1993, American author and historian Deborah Lipstadt released her book, Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, which provided the history of the Holocaust as well as an analysis of the Holocaust denial movement. It was in this book that Lipstadt called out English author and denier David Irving, accusing of him of fabricating history as a means of pushing his “racist” agenda. Thre


Movie Review: Hell or High Water
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [Sidney Kimmel Entertainment; 2016] Rating: 8/10 Hell or High Water comes from the popular idiom, meaning to do whatever it takes, no matter the circumstances. This fits the movie perfectly, which follows Toby and Tanner Howard, a pair of brothers who aim to rob a chain of banks across West Texas in an effort to raise enough money to prevent their recently deceased mother’s farm house from undergoing foreclosure. On the other side, two rangers ar


Album Review: Solange - A Seat at the Table
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [Saint; 2016] Rating: 8.5/10 Key Tracks: “Cranes in the Sky,” “Don’t Touch My Hair,” “F.U.B.U” Solange Knowles' new album, A Seat at the Table, is her first full-length project in nearly eight years. It’s been in the works since 2013, so anticipation was high in the upcoming weeks prior to its release. By incorporating several different styles and genres into each song and combining it into a single concept, Solange assures listeners that it was


Movie Review: The Innocents
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [Mars Distribution; 2016] Rating: 8/10 Prior to its release earlier this year, The Innocents revealed very little to the public. People didn’t know anything about the movie, including the plot, so when movie goers when to see it for the first time, they were in for a treat. Based on a true story, The Innocents is a French film that takes place during the last few months of World War II, at a small convent in Poland. Nearby, a French Red Cross is


Movie Review: Don't Think Twice
By Justin Cudahy, Contributor [The Film Arcade; 2016] Rating: 8.5/10 Improv is a form of theatre that does not get the attention it deserves. So when I found out that comedian Mike Birbiglia was going to be directing Don't Think Twice, a movie centered around the subject, I was already on board. Don't Think Twice is centered around The Communes, a six-person underground improv troupe who perform every week in a small theatre in NYC. While it does appear that each member has e