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[the-contemporary-critic]

Reviewing Conan Gray’s Never Ending Song

The Lyrics

Like many of his songs, the lyrics deal with a relationship that isn’t working out. Like the title suggests, the relationship is never-ending.

Before I go into if I like the lyrics, let’s go over my interpretation. The most obvious point is that this relationship won’t give up. Even if Conan tries to “turn the page” the relationship goes on and on and on.

Although Conan mentioned trying to end the relationship, there also seems to be a need for it to continue. The relationship took so much out of and from him, like his adolescence, that giving up would be a waste. It’s almost like they’re already in too deep and this cycle has trapped them. And to be honest, I love it.

The lyrics are great. I’ve said it before, but lyrics are what sell a song to me and I’m sold. They’re relatable and well-written lyrics. Like many of his songs, the lyrics make the song ten times better for me.

Favorite Lyric(s): “Tried to turn the page, but our story wasn’t stoppin’”

The Aura

Conan went for a new feel with this song. The stars are the most iconic part, I would say. It almost gives a vintage rockstar kind of feel.

In terms of the music video, I loved the theme. The dancing in the grocery store at night just added to the vintage feeling I was getting. That might not be the intended feeling to be felt, but it was there.

Overall, the aesthetic and vibe of the music video was a lot of fun to watch and cute.

I have to say, the deeper, almost-British voice isn’t my favorite, but it doesn’t ruin the song at all.

Compare & Contrast

The song is new for Conan, mainly because of the lower voice. I would say the aesthetic of it is pretty new too, with the stars, yellow, and black. Regardless, there’s still that iconic Conan Gray flair to it.

The lyricism is typical Conan. I can imagine them being sung the way his other songs are. I can imagine hearing these lyrics on the Kid Krow album or Superache album. They’re great.

One song it reminded me of while listening was Telepath. They both have a retro feel to them and some similarities in meanings, too. I would say that’s the most similar past song.

My official rating for the song is:

✬✬✬✬½. This song is going to be never-ending on my playlist these next few weeks.

[the-contemporary-critic]

Reviewing Netflix's "The Hollow"

The Hollow is a two season Netflix Original that came out in 2018.

Spoilers ahead.

The Plot

Adam, Kai and Mira wake up in a suspicious room. They have no memories and no way out — except for a vent near the ceiling. From here, they work together to get through what they find to be a video game. They compete against another team: Vanessa, Reeve and Skeet’s team. Each of the players has a power chosen before the start of the game.

In season 2, they all remain in the digital world even after completing the game. The characters investigate and go through the game again, but not as players. They find The Hollow used the memories of the past players for a developing game: the Hollow Life. The game consists of digital versions of the players.

A glitch caused their digital selves to be sentient. Their real world selves are still going through life. So, when Skeet dies, the real world version of him is fine. Vanessa caused the glitch by cheating using a contact lens that blocks access to her memory. After all this, the current game they were in ended and the Hollow Life was taken offline. At the end of the series, they live happily in their digital world.

The plot is definitely unique. The show had this one overarching plot, the video game and Hollow Life, while also having smaller moments, like Reeve and Adam’s conflict. It was fun to watch. The characters all had the same goals, yet there was a good amount of drama conjured up in each of the episodes.

Now at a certain point, the plot did bore me. I ended up dropping the show around episode seven of season two, but I picked it back up recently. I watched the show start to finish on 1.5x speed in two sittings.

After rewatching it, I don’t know why I ever dropped it.

Besides the creativity of the plot, the pacing is perfect. Every episode focuses on a distinct part of their quest, making it easy to plot when and how everything happens.

Some episodes have two small quests in one, some with just one quest and a larger quest might be split in two. There isn’t any point in the show where you feel like too much or not enough is happening.

The Characters

I honestly loved all the characters by the end of the show. At first, I didn’t like Vanessa, Reeve or Skeet much. But this makes sense as they were the opposing team. When they join forces with the main three, you enjoy them more.

Mira was my favorite character. She was this bold girl who was very smart. I loved her.

Kai was a very close second. He brings a touch of humor to perfect the show.

Adam is tied with Kai. I’m a very indecisive person, but these characters are making it even harder. He was a great leader and always had a good strategy.

They had well-balanced characters who all worked together well. The relationships between the characters were also done right. The dynamic between each of the teams, and then Mira, Adam and Reeve, were both interesting aspects of the plot to see.

Speaking of Adam and Reeve, I feel like there was this layer of romantic interest there. This is a common theory, but it really seems like they were exes. That’s just another thing I love about the show: the diversity & representation in both sexuality and race.

The Ending

Now, for some, the ending was confusing and needed some clearing up. To me, I understood what was going on pretty well. It took a little while, and I had to take a step back a few times, but I figured it out.

I liked the ending; it was nice to see them happy with the way things were. I feel like season two just left off on a clean & clear note, which is the best type of ending for a show.

The creators also ended season one nicely. There was an ending — the end of the game — but there was also something to hook the viewer into season two, aka Vanessa’s eye glitching.

The Artstyle

I loved the design of the character! I even went out of my way to re-create them in the game, Everskies. They were unique and fun.

It's not just the designs of the main characters, even the side characters and villains were designed well. It made the show even better for me. Mira had on my favorite outfit.

Overall

I loved the show and I would definitely rewatch it. I honestly wish it had a larger fanbase so I can see more fan edits and fanart of it.

Would I recommend to a friend? Yes.

Rating: ★★★★★

[the-contemporary-critic]

Reviewing “The Grants” by Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey has done it again with another single off her upcoming album. Let's review the different aspects of it and the overall song.

The Lyrics

Lyrics are the first thing I pay attention to for a new song. All it takes is a couple of good lyrics for me to get hooked.

The overall meaning of the song is taking the memories of your family through life and death/the afterlife. There are very strong values of family and memories. There isn't a hint of romantic love or materialism.

These lyrics aren't as personal to me as some of her others, but they’re still good.

The lyrics sell the song to me.

Favorite Lyric(s): “And I wanna take mine of you with me

I'm gonna take mine of you with me”

The Aura

To be frank, the aura & ambience aren't why I like this song.

While I don't hate or even dislike it, it's not the sound I listen to casually. I have to be in a specific mood to enjoy it.

The feel of the song has an obvious influence from gospel music. In the song's intro, we have what I could define as a choir singing & practicing.

The gospel influence goes beyond the feel of the song; she references her pastor and heaven in the lyrics. It seems to be an underlying theme second to the theme of family.

Compare & Contrast

In terms of lyrics, the first thing that I thought of that's in complete contrast to this song is "Money Power Glory" At face value, the song seems to be about materialism & greed. But then you consider that she's said that the song is satirical. When she says all she wants is money, power, and glory, she isn't being serious; "The Grants" reiterates that. In money power glory, it seems like she's preaching materialism & greed, but it's the opposite and emphasizing that those aren't her values, and now she's explaining what is: family.

Overall

The song is a pleasant song. I don't hate or dislike it at all. Will it be my favorite song of the album? No. I know that for certain.

I prefer A&W, and I’ll like other songs on the album more than this one too. Unless all the other songs are perfect, this one won't be my least favorite either.

Overall, I like the lyrics more than the feel of the song. I’ll still add it to my personal Lana Del Rey playlist, but I wouldn't be shocked if it's commonly skipped.

My official rating for the song is: ★★★½

[the-contemporary-critic]

Hello!

My name is Branda. I’m a high school student in San Diego and the writer of this blog. I moved to the US when I was a year old and have lived in San Diego ever since.

I started this blog because I plan on becoming a journalist in the future. One of my many hobbies is writing, I absolutely love it. I’ve written short fiction stories, poetry, essays (obviously), and non-fiction articles. The purpose of this blog is for me to review different media I interact with. That’s another one of my hobbies; watching TV shows & movies, reading, listening to music, and taking it all in to process.

I do a lot of things outside of this blog. As I mentioned, I’m a high school student but I also take college classes at my local community college. I run a Banned Books club and I’m part of a booktok club at school. I have a YouTube channel where I go over the math I learn. I’m the type of person who finds a busy & chaotic atmosphere to be relaxing. That’s why I do so much.

Going back to the purpose of this blog, I watch & read a lot of stuff. Even with so much, I have favorites. My favorite TV show is the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. When I type "teen" into my keyboard, it autocompletes the title. I watched it when I was a kid and I started a trend of rewatching my childhood shows last year. I rewatched this one, and it stuck.

As for my favorite movie, it surprisingly isn’t TMNT-related. My favorite movie has to be the movie adaption of The Outsiders of S.E. Hinton.I read the book in my 7th grade English class and I fell in love. I love all the characters, the dynamics between them, and the plot. My favorite character will always be Ponyboy, but my favorite duo has to be Dally and Johnny. After all, Johnny was the only thing Dally loved.

My favorite book isn’t The Outsiders, although it is a very close second. The only book that manages to beat it is The Stranger by Albert Camus. I was in a reading slump and the book brought me back to life. It was my introduction to absurdist literature and philosophy. I’ve only ever fallen farther in love since.

My favorite musical artist is most definitely Lana Del Rey. One thing l1l talk about more soon is that I absolutely love Lana Del Rey no matter how much I can’t stand her cult following. I’ve listened to her for 17,290 minutes in over 2 years. Now, don’t judge me for this, but my favorite album of hers is UItraviolence. Norman Fucking Rockwell doesn’t even come close to Ultraviolence. My top three most streamed songs of hers are all from the UItraviolence album. If her new release can top UV for me, I’d be honestly be a little shocked.

If we bring up the k-pop industry, my favorite artist does obviously change. I don’t listen to any 4th generation music, but I’m still attached to 2nd and 3rd gen artists. SHINee is the 2nd gen artist that tops the list for me. They have the best vocalists & dancers in one group. They’ve tried so many concepts and have started so many trends. There’s nothing you can dislike about them.

I’m now done ranting about favorites. I can’t wait for you all to join me on this blog & I’s journey. I know I’m going to enjoy it, and I hope you do too :).

[the-contemporary-critic]

Reviewing the Pilot, “Rise of the Turtles,” of 2012 TMNT

The Plot

The first episode of the 2012 show starts with the four turtles training in battle. The show introduces Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. In blue, we have Leo with katanas. Raph in red and with his sais. Mikey in orange as he uses his nunchucks to fight against Leo. Donnie has a bo staff and a purple mask. Already we can see their character reflected in the color of their masks and their choice of weapons, which I’ll address in another section.

It’s clear Ralph & Leo are the two best fighters. They beat their brothers in their 1-on-1 battles & go on against each other. At the end of their battle, Raphael wins & we meet Splinter.

Unlike the turtles, he’s a rat. Splinter is their sensei & their father. He seems wise & has plenty of authority.

In the kitchen, the family is celebrating their “mutation day,” aka their 15th birthday. Splinter goes into the backstory of their mutation & how they became a family. They have kept the canister that had the mutagen responsible for their mutation, which Mikey refers to as “mom.”

The four ask Splinter if they can go to the surface for their birthday, & after some hesitation, he allows it. This is where the real adventure starts.

As they wait for nightfall, Leo watches his favorite cartoon, Space Heroes. Often, the scenes in the cartoon illustrate the themes of the episode. Leo also dreams of being like the captain in the show. The others don’t find the show as appealing as Leo does.

Finally up top, they fall in love with New York City. This is where their love of pizza starts as they scare off a delivery boy who drops a pizza while driving off. As they jump from rooftop to rooftop, Donnie catches a glimpse of April O’Neil & falls in love.

At that same moment, she & her father get kidnapped. The four decide to help against Splinter’s wishes of staying away from humans. Although all of them are decent fighters, they have no chemistry with each other. The entire battle is a mess. Both April & her father get carried away by the mysterious cloned men.

The others go off & leave Mikey alone for a bit, then he makes a discovery. The men aren’t actually human; they’re robots with aliens controlling them. The viewer sees the other three don't listen to Mikey much. He is a bit ditzy and intelligence isn’t what he’s known for, but there’s a sense that they just see him as stupid. He’s ignored.

Back in the lair, they blame each other for why they lost the battle. Splinter explains that they weren’t prepared & the fault is his as he had not trained them as a team but as individuals. He considers not letting them back up until another year of training, but Donnie objects. As Splinter thinks about it, we see a photo of human Splinter with presumably his wife & child. This causes Splinter to allow the four turtles to go back to the surface & save April & her father. This is also when Splinter gives Leo the position of leader. Ralph is clearly upset about this decision.

The turtles stake out a spot that has the same logo as the van that kidnapped the O’Neils. Mikey doesn’t fully understand the plan, Ralph is doubtful, & Donnie is bored. Just as Ralph complains about how no one will show up, someone shows up. Leo mimics the captain from Space Heroes, but the others are already gone & starting the fight.

After chasing down the guy, they’re confronted with the same canister as the one they’ve preserved from their mutation. This is where part one of the pilot ends.

My Review

I’ve already completed the show, so this isn’t the first time I’ve viewed this episode. But this also gives me a different point of view as I’m already aware of all the characters & what everything leads to.

Going back to the color of their masks & weapons, we see that there is a connection between the personalities of the turtles & their colors and weapons.

Leo’s blue represents his trustability, dependability, and tranquility. These traits are why he’s picked as the leader. His weapon is widely known and a classic. It works for him perfectly as he easily beats Mikey in their 1-on-1 battle.

Ralph’s red shows his fiery and sometimes aggressive personality. His sais are weapons used for stabbing and striking but have a good defense too. Like his weapon, he’s an all-rounded fighter but prefers to be on the offensive.

Donnie wears purple, a color associated with individuality, creativity, and wisdom. This is clear as he’s the science guy of the team, which makes him useful but alienates him from his brothers as they couldn’t care less about science. His staff isn’t the best weapon, which shows that he’s not a fighter, but a thinker.

We see Mikey in orange. Orange is a color related to positivity, liveliness, and high energy. All the perfect descriptions of Michelangelo. His nunchucks also represent him well. Their origins are unknown and they were popularized through pop culture, which already seems like a Mikey kind of thing. They’re weapons that are difficult to use, as they can’t simply be swung around, but it’s obvious that they’re perfect for Mikey.

The characterization set up in this episode is a good foundation for what they later develop into. It shows the viewers the turtles’ personalities & dynamics of the team. For example, Ralph’s temper & Leo’s calm don’t go well together and that’s shown in this episode.

Splinter’s character is also expressed well. We even get to see some of his ninja skills when he tells the backstory. Throughout the entire show, I wished they would’ve allowed for some more of the fatherly aspect of Splinter to come through. It would’ve been nice to see this here in the beginning.

The plot of this episode isn’t the best in the series, but it’s good enough to drag you in. After it ends, you want to watch the next episode to find out if they save April, if they can work together as a team, and if they end up believing Mikey. You also want to figure out more about the strange alien robots and why they kidnapped the O’Neils. There’s also the canister of mutagen that the guy had that was the same as the one that mutated the turtles. It leaves plenty of intriguing unanswered questions that can only be solved by watching the next episode.

There was a good amount of light-hearted humor in there. The episode didn’t have me laughing until tears, but there were parts of it where I did laugh. Its action & adventure is fitting for children and fun to follow along with. One thing I didn’t like was how abrupt the kidnapping was, but once again, this is a children’s show. And that one trait didn’t ruin the entire episode for me.

Overall, I would rate the episode an 8 out of 10. Out of all 5 seasons, this wouldn’t make it in the top 10 for me, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near the bottom 10. It had good humor, adventure, action, and characterization. It was good, but not perfect.