Literature
With the fall of summer and the dawn of another fall, how many books did you read? There will be less judgement than usual if the answer was mostly a disheartened realization of not as many as we always wish going into summer. There simply can never be such a thing as having read too many books, and 2015 has been rife with those that shouldn’t be forgotten on a list, gathering dust.
The literary tragedy of summer 2015 was what many hailed as Harper Lee’s legacy, “Go Set a Watchman,” but upon release, turned out to be merely an echo of the author’s masterpiece that publishers should have left alone. The controversy that surrounded it didn’t dull fans’ furor or prevent it from being on the best seller’s list, but it’s undeniable that the book was no more than a first draft for the true genius Lee was capable.
David Lagercrantz returns as the author of the fourth installment in the “Millennium” series, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” as a continuation of Lisbeth Salander’s tale. Apparently it was decided back in 2013 by publishers that Lagercrantz would write the first posthumous novel for Stieg Larsson’s bestselling “Millennium” series. While initial critics are objectively acknowledging the stellar writing and more-than-above-average portrayal of such masterfully crafted characters, they’re still wondering whether eight years was too soon to continue the series.
Inspired by, and in the wake of, the Black Lives Matter movement and the events of Ferguson, fantasy author N. K. Jemisin penned a new novel, “The Fifth Season.” She writes of a world that is ending both literally and metaphorically, and she does so without any semblance of hopelessness in it, because the end is sometimes not the enemy, but the saving grace from the world when it has become terrible.
I suggest you start reading.
- Maham Hasan
Movies
We are on the cusp of the fall film festival season, which is going to bring a tidal wave of great new films to the public eye. And there’s so, so much good stuff coming.
At the top of my personal list is Todd Haynes’ “Carol,” a love story between (the absolutely untouchable) Cate Blanchett’s wealthy urbanite housewife and Rooney Mara (who’s like, one of Blanchett’s heirs apparent) as a department store clerk. Adapted from “The Price of Salt,” Haynes’ return to feature filmmaking after eight years (he did “Mildred Pierce” for HBO in 2011) promises to be one of his best. And while I’m — as a rule — against trailers, the breathless and wordlessly mesmerizing minute and a half teaser currently out for the film sells it better than I ever could.
Very quickly, “Beasts of No Nation” is directed by “True Detective” season one’s helmer Cary Fukunaga and will launch simultaneously on Netflix and in theaters, so that’s a game changer. Johnny Depp looks to make a comeback in “Black Mass.” “The Danish Girl” and “Suffragette” offer transgender and feminist history respectively. Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” and (reigning champ) Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” are both still shooting. And, finally, come December there will be new “Star Wars.” Keep it locked.
- Austin Wellens
Video Games
Welcome back to school, game kids/squids. If you’ve enjoyed your summer of splatting fools left and right in Nintendo’s family-friendly cephalopod shooter “Splatoon” in between sunset-to-sunrise nights of monster hunting in CD Projekt RED’s “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” then you’re probably hungry for a few new games to carry you through the winter.
The one the largest audience would care about will be “Star Wars Battlefront,” a new game in the PlayStation 2 squad-based shooter series. The old ones were developed by Pandemic Studios, people who made mediocre games like “Destroy All Humans!” and “Mercenaries”; the new ones are developed by DICE, people who make better games like the “Battlefield” series and “Mirror’s Edge.” That’s not to say this game will necessarily be better than the old ones, but it’ll probably be easier and more fun to control and shoot with your stormtroopers. Previews show this’ll be one of the best-looking games ever made, so we’ll see if that holds true.
Then there’s “Fallout 4.” There’s every indication that the follow-up to Bethesda Softworks’ foray into the post-apocalypse will be just as big a hook into our lives. Both come out in November, so until then, we’ll feast ourselves on games like “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” and an experimental line-up from Nintendo.
- Alex Lovendahl
Music
Festival season is over, and after music enthusiasts have finally finished cleaning mud from day two of Bonnaroo from their cuticles and purged the multitude of festival drugs from their system, they will be eagerly awaiting what the latter half of 2015 has to offer in terms of new music.
The first half proved to be a tough act to follow, with Los Angeles seeing a renaissance in G-funk and astral beats that have made artistic and political waves across the country. Lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s already classic album To Pimp a Butterfly have been chanted during protests against police brutality and college parties alike, and Kamasi Washington’s The Epic perfectly fused the current landscape of hip-hop with long-form jazz.
So what do the coming months have up their sleeves for releases? With certainty, we’re getting new albums from Deerhunter and Alex G, two bands that have reignited energy in rock music. Both albums have singles out showcasing a sneak peek of great music to come.
With less certainty, we’re getting new efforts from Kanye West and Frank Ocean, two artists that are notoriously mysterious when it comes to their studio and release timelines. But with Yeezus focusing on his new fashion line with Adidas and Ocean focusing on being just a beautiful human being, we might have to wait another semester for some album drops.
With all the new coming in, what can we see on its way out? For one, Migos and the rest of the Atlanta crew will have to step up their game if triplet flow and trap beats are to survive in popular music. ILoveMakonnen has a new album on his way, but the breakout star might not have what it takes to keep a scene afloat that thrives on song hooks going viral. Hopefully, the reign of festival EDM will come to an abrupt end.
No matter what happens, the last half of 2015 is looking to be just as wild of a ride as the first.
- Jake Witz
