stuff by paige

I have intended to watch Netflix's The Get Down for a long, long time, and I finally got down to it.  Starring, amongst many names, Justice Smith and Jaden Smith, the two season long show follows a group of friends in seventies era Bronx as they find their passions, purpose, and paths in life through music and the relationships they make along the way. Music is the main theme of the show, with genres such as disco, rap and dj-ing explored by the protagonists. This means for an incredibly lively soundtrack which is used as a tool to navigate the narrative and reveal plot aspects. I have been familiar with the shows soundtrack for a few years, due to being introduced to it by a friend, and this made my viewing all the more exciting as I could sing along as I went. The show isn't all fun and music, however. The Get Down is a complex show, exploring not only tensions and drama in the characters relationships but also historical issues through dark themes, for example: poverty, gan...

 As a faithful Instagram follower of the wonderful Florence Pugh, I was recently introduced to the online mini series Star Force (2020), a parody of Star Trek , which has been placed into the cleverly named genre of "sci-fisolation." What shocks me is that none of my fellow film studies friends have spoken about it! Due to the current pandemic, Star Force has been shot, edited and produced via mobile phones and posted to social media platforms, starring a cast of familiar famous faces, one of the most surprising to me being James McAvoy. Despite being created with a lack of resources which a studio would typically use to make a show like this, Star Force features some decent plot points, humour, plenty of sci-fi driven drama, and of course, a great cast. It's pretty enjoyable, I would say, overlooking the somewhat crude special effects.  Star Trek and Star Wars must be quaking in their (space) boots. Watch and follow Star Force on YouTube or Instagram . ~Paige Nicole

 I feel as though I haven't heard people speaking about Jordan Peele's multi-award winning film Us  in a long time, so I decided that it was my job to do so. Starring Lupita Nyongo and Winston Duke, (both incredible actors), the film takes a psychological approach to the horror genre. The story follows a family of four on holiday as they return to the location in which the mother, played by Nyongo, endured a traumatic experience as a child. The secrets of her trauma and the events of the past begin to unravel and reveal as the family are tormented by homicidal versions of themselves (the title of the film is quite literal). The film is visually stunning the whole way through, shot with a vibrant and vintage feel which ties in well with the theme of personal reflection and reminiscence throughout. There are many clever parallels within the movie, one which I really liked being the ballet comparisons between the tethered and their surface selves as they went about their identica...