azeemlcpsarts

[azeemlcpsarts]

On May 11, 2019, I went to see Pokemon: Detective Pikachu at the Regal Cinemas in Hyattsville. Strangely enough, while I was fully aware that this movie had no need to exist, I did have some kind of expectations for it. That said, I had been a fan of the games for a number of years before this, though.

The CGI was actually pretty good, and the designs for the Pokemon weren't terrible (which is all they needed to be). The tone present in the first half of the movie was legitimately interesting, though the second half got really stupid really fast. Overall, the movie was a 6/10. Worth watching, but with low expectations.

[azeemlcpsarts]

On April 6, 2019, I attended Kreativity’s Spring 2019 end of semester show, Puzzles and Paradoxes, in the Clarice. The show consisted of a number of different aspects, ranging from dance to singing to dramatic performances. Notably, me and a few other friends (including Garrison, pictured here), came to the show to support another friend of ours, Adri Alonzo, who was a part of the performance. The performance that stood out to me the most was the dance sequence set to Billie Eilish’s “bury a friend,” with the sequence bearing the same title. The choreography throughout was fascinating, and the song itself is pretty catchy, which didn’t hurt either.

[azeemlcpsarts]

On Thursday, March 2, I saw Captain Marvel at the Regal Cinemas in Hyattsville. Generally, I thought the film was interesting, being a fun time with great characters. The acting was solid, with the leads having great chemistry, but I found the adaptation of all the cosmic aspects of Marvel's comic universe to be disappointing at best, bringing down the whole film and botching an opportunity to adapt one of Marvel's richest characters.

Adaptation issues aside, I thought the movie was a solid 7/10 and look forward to its plot following up in Avengers: Endgame.

[azeemlcpsarts]

On Saturday, March 2nd, I attended Sherwood High School's Rock and Roll Revival event. This was an annual concert of student performances covering both classic and modern rock music.

I kept my expectations in check prior to going in, since this was a student event, but the performances went above and beyond what I expected. The highlight of the presentation was definitely the cover of 'Take On Me,' both due to the performer and the quality of the song.

[azeemlcpsarts]

On Tuesday, February 12th, I visited the Posing Beauty in African American Culture exhibition at the David C. Driskell Center. The exhibition explored presentations of African American beauty throughout history in a variety of mediums.

I found the dynamic framing on display in the portraits in the exhibition to be the most visually striking aspect of the work presented, with a number of different situations shown through the lens of beauty.

[azeemlcpsarts]

On Monday, December 3rd, I attended the Terpzone's open mic night, located in the Stamp. The event was a presentation of students' self-made stand-up comedy routines, each in roughly 5-minute blocks.

The entire event wasn't overly long, as there were only about four performers as I recall. The sets covered a variety of topics, ranging from the common theme of life on campus to humourous stories from one's past.

By the time the last set concluded, I was inclined to try my hand at the event, but instead elected to try to put some time into planning out and practicing some material. Regardless, I plan to perform at the next Open Mic event.

[azeemlcpsarts]

On Monday, November 26th (delayed a week due to illness), I went to see the Mirrored Re-Collection housed in the Stamp Gallery. The gallery explored the constant othering of the fundamental natures of the artists' identities.

While there were a number of aspects at play in the works, what stood out most to me was the commentary on the dehumanization of non-citizens of primarily Muslim countries. Being descended from a Muslim family myself, I found the work to present a powerful voice that resonated with me far more than I expected it to.

One of the pieces that stood out most to me was the video collaboration, Strappa.

[azeemlcpsarts]

On Saturday, October 20, I saw Kero Kero Bonito perform at the Milkboy Arthouse, right here in College Park. Opening for them was a group named Tanukichan, which I had never heard of before. While their vibe was more laid back, a significant distance from the headliner, I enjoyed them as well.

This was my first time at the Milkboy, and the venue was large enough to support a crowd, but small enough to present a more low-key show. An interesting point was the fact that the floor was kind of "bouncey" (which initially elicited safety concerns, the show being on the second floor of the venue), when the encore of the show was coincidentally the song "Trampoline."

Overall, I'm glad that I had an opportunity to see them, since I'm a huge fan of their music, and seeing Flamingo performed live was especially awesome.

[azeemlcpsarts]

Music: On Wednesday, September 19, I saw Childish Gambino AKA Donald Glover perform in Washington D.C., a part of his ‘This is America’ tour. The show was absolutely fantastic, and managed to be extremely personal despite me having seats up in the nosebleeds. Glover has stated that this tour will be his last under the Childish Gambino moniker, and as a fan of his work from all the way back to his “Because the Internet” album in 2013, I really enjoyed the opportunity to experience this twilight of this act in his career. The venue was especially convenient, since the Capital One Arena is a mere moment’s walk from the DC metro station, and I felt that the “laser” effects were a great visual, even if they didn’t add to many songs beside “3005.″ Overall, it was a fantastic experience that I was glad to have been able to attend.

[azeemlcpsarts]

Film: On 9/15/2018, I went to the Hoff Theater’s screening of Solo: A Star Wars Story.  Though I had seen the film before, it was interesting to see it in a different setting, as my original viewing had been at Baltimore’s Senator Theater. The Hoff’s projector seemed to add a blue tint to most neutral-colored scenes, which I thought was interesting, though not especially compelling in terms of adding to the viewing experience. In addition, going into the movie a second time allowed me more mental freedom to appreciate the more technical aspects of the film that would otherwise be lost in a blur of CGI upon initial viewing. Overall, the film was adequate, with Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian remaining the breakout performance throughout (though Paul Bettany chewing the scenery as crimelord Dryden Vos was even more enjoyable the second time around). The film doesn’t exactly hold up upon second viewing as much of the other franchise does, feeling eminently “safe” above all else. Coming from a die-hard Star Wars fan, where the film itself truly shines is when it abandons the preconception of the “Star Wars” aesthetic and delves into other areas of genre fiction (i.e. the entire heist sequence) or the sequence displaying the Empire’s military perspective, a scene so gloriously reveling in its over-the-top fascistic imagery that it invokes Warhammer 40K, inadvertently or otherwise. In summation, the film was worth the time of initial viewing, but not worth the investment of repeat watching. However, there are details to be appreciated upon a closer look, so there is some value in revisiting the film, just not enough to justify the expenditure of its runtime.

[azeemlcpsarts]

NextNOW Fest 2018 - Pictured above - The Upright Citizens Brigade Tour Co (9/8/18) - Makeup Girl (9/8/18) - Early Eyes (9/8/18) 1. What did you see/hear/learn that was completely new to you? The Upright Citizens Brigade show had aspects that were completely new to me throughout. I was aware of the fact that some improv shows used audience participation to get subjects for skits, but the performers went above and beyond in this aspect, inviting audience members on stage for interviews. Not only were those audience responses used for skits, but those interviews made up a majority of the running gags throughout the show, an extension of the audience participation often used in improv that I hadn’t seen before. 2. What was your favorite performance/experience? Why was it your favorite? My favorite performance was Makeup Girl’s set, part of the Local Music Lover’s Stage. Their sound is reminiscent of one of my favorite indie bands, STRFKR, so finding another exploration of that style in a unique configuration was really interesting. Finding a band that I liked this much was definitely my favorite experience of the festival, and I can’t wait to dive into their discography. 3. How might one or more of the performances/experiences relate to the Arts Scholars theme of Migrations: Populations and Practices on the Move? One performance that directly related to the Arts Scholars theme was the Upright Citizens Brigade’s improv comedy show. The perfomers crafted each show to be unique, drawing on the stories and experiences of the crowd to create an individualized performance for every crowd and location. As with the theme, each location had its own unique experiences, and only through migrations can those individualized experiences be shared.