Since “Wicked” (2024) was released, audiences have been “holding space” for the second movie. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, “Wicked: For Good” had flurries of teenagers and adults alike, decked out in green and pink, flocking to movie theaters. The movie completes the story arc established in the hit Broadway musical of the same name.
 The movie picks up after Elphaba, learning of the Wizard of Oz’s deception, soars into the air on her broomstick in the number “Defying Gravity” featuring Cynthia Erivo’s iconic vocal riff. Unfortunately, the Wizard and Madame Morrible start a smear campaign, positing Elphaba as the new Wicked Witch of the West and her best friend Glinda as the Good Witch. Audience expectations for the sequel were high, following the cultural influence of the first movie. “Wicked: For Good” indeed succeeds in exploring new dimensions of Oz and the girls’ relationship, but ultimately, its magic falls flat compared to its predecessor.

Many aspects of the film work to make Glinda the main character, but do so at the cost of Elphaba’s own development. For instance, after the number “Wonderful,” Elphaba makes a (temporary) agreement with the wizard. Knowing her steadfast commitment to protecting animal rights, the audience has a difficult time understanding her intentions in doing this, and the act seems out of character for her. 

Additionally, Elphaba’s freeing of the animals interrupts Glinda and Fiyero’s wedding, resulting in Glinda being left alone at the altar. Although this raises the stakes in an audience-engaging moment, it ultimately makes Elphaba and Fiyero look like horrible people, which slightly dampens their cause. On a production level, the color grading of “Wicked: For Good” is slightly better than that of the first part (and the visual effects during “No Good Deed” are top-tier), but in some scenes, such as Glinda the Good’s speech to the Ozians, the characters still look washed out.

In all fairness, the original Broadway show didn’t leave much substance for the director John M. Chu to work with. The movie takes place over the span of the second act of the show, already criticized for a lack of pacing and enormous plot holes. It’s obvious to see that Chu tried to stay faithful to the original musical but attempted to develop certain aspects even further. For example, the addition of a new song “Girl in the Bubble” reveals more of Glinda’s past and her dreams, something that the original musical didn’t have time to flesh out. 

The movie overall did a decent job at transforming Glinda from a ditzy, selfish blonde, to a powerful figure willing to make a real change, hence the line “I have been changed for good” in the closing song “For Good.” 

Overall, the movie stayed true to the stage show and gave the characters more depth.  And for all the people who have been a “Wicked” fan since the musical, you know your heart skipped a beat when Grande and Erivo recreated the poster image in the ending scene. However, it might be safe to say the gold mine of Cynthia Erivo memes that we got from the Wicked press tour were more memorable than the actual movie. For the average non-theatre kid, “Wicked: For Good” did not defy our expectations but provided enough closure to end this green-pink frenzy.

Wicked: For Good review

**NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR (1922) directed by F.W. Murnau**

Blood, coffins, and bats: nothing says Halloween quite
like vampires, and no film has portrayed the vampire quite
like F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.”
In this illicit adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel
“Dracula,” Max Schreck stars as the nightmarish Count
Orlok, a performance so believable that it spawned legions
of conspiracy theories about Schreck’s own possible
vampiric origins.

Filmed in stark black-and-white, “Nosferatu” follows
a young real estate agent named Thomas Hutter, played
by Gustav von Wangenheim, who travels to Transylvania
in order to sell a house to a mysterious count. The film
is truly a product of its time: an indescribable terror of
"The Other" pervades every frame, the disease-bearing
rats ubiquitous in the film reminiscent of those once
infesting the battlefield trenches.

Despite clearly being from a different era, the
nightmarish atmosphere, excellent lead performances,
and easily transmutable story lend it a timeless quality—
it’s no wonder that it has yielded a myriad of remakes
over time. The latest of these, Robert Egger’s 2024 film
of the same name starring Bill Skarsgård as the titular
vampire and Lily-Rose Depp as Hutter’s wife Ellen, is
proof of the enduring legacy of Nosferatu as one of the
most influential achievements in the history of cinema
and the horror genre.

Seeing this movie performed with a live score to a soldout audience at the Princeton Garden Theatre last October
was one of my best moviegoing experiences. I love this
movie not only for the scares and storyline but also its
occasional silliness and, ultimately, the influence that it
continues to have on film over a century after its release.

**AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) directed by John Landis**

Foggy English moors. Local superstitions. Practical
effects good enough to award it the first ever Academy
Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. “An American
Werewolf in London” may have been poorly received
upon initial release, but in the years following its release, it
has grown into a cult classic of the horror-comedy genre.
In it, college students David Kessler, played by David
Naughton, and Jack Goodman, played by Griffin Dunne,
are backpacking across the north of England when they
stop for the night at a pub, where they are cautioned of a
mysterious creature who lurks the local moors.

Neither heeds these warnings, however, and what
follows is a surreal, grisly comedy of errors. Naughton
gives a great performance, transforming from an average
good-humored New Yorker into a snarling man-beast.
Though Rick Baker’s practical effects are deservedly the
most famous aspect of the film, the rest of the movie is
up to par. The omnipresent humor balances out the often
startling violence that the third act dives into head-first,
and the friendship between Naughton and Dunne’s
characters, along with a relationship that Naughton forms
later on, provides a strange emotional core to the movie.

I love this movie not only for being Griffin Dunne’s
breakout role but also for the bizarre, gruesome, giddy
amusement-park ride it is. “An American Werewolf in
London” is a highly entertaining film that successfully
satirizes some elements of the horror genre while dutifully
paying homage to others.

**THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) directed by Jonathan Demme**

There are few cinematic characters who haunt the public
consciousness quite like Anthony Hopkins’ Dr. Hannibal
Lecter. Eerie and restrained in his famously Academy
Award-winning 16 minutes of screentime, Hopkins is a
force of nature, staring down the camera with a chilling
intensity. Despite his undeniable excellence, however,
the film is Jodie Foster’s; playing the hard-working FBI
trainee Clarice Starling, Foster adopts her secondhand
briefcase and West Virginian accent with ease.

Throughout the film, Starling struggles with the sexism
imbued in the culture of her chosen profession and her
past as a poor orphan growing up on her cousin’s farm
following the death of her parents.Strangely enough,
Lecter seems to be the only person in her life to respect
(or, at least, understand) her unfortunate circumstances.
The strange chemistry between the two is a kind of
sinister symbiosis that pushes the tightly-paced plot along:
Starling is assigned to interview the incarcerated Lecter
under the guise of a psychological survey. The assignment
quickly reveals itself to be a ploy by her supervisor, Jack
Crawford, to get Lecter’s professional opinion on serial
killer Buffalo Bill. Intense close-ups on the lead actors’
faces famously characterize the interview scenes, but the
camerawork is deft and stylish throughout, drawing the
tension out to highwire suspense in the gripping third act.

Though I do harbor a particular fondness for all
Hannibal Lecter adaptations, I think that “The Silence of
the Lambs” is the best among them. Though the film is
now famous to the point of innumerable parodies, to me
Hopkins’ Lecter has never lost his ability to frighten. The
first (and only) horror movie to ever receive the Academy
Award for Best Picture, “The Silence of the Lambs”
remains a classic of the genre that will be celebrated for
decades to come.

Classic horror movies to add to your Halloween watchlist

As graduating seniors decked out in their caps and
gowns walk across the stage to receive diplomas, the
moment calls for music matching the emotion of
the occasion — something appropriately grand and
celebratory, but also upbeat and hopeful.

**Pomp and Circumstance**

The trio section from Edward Elgar’s Pomp and
Circumstance March No. 1 is a very common graduation
song in the United States. On June 18, the majestic
melody will once again serve as the processional for
PHS’s graduation, accompanying seniors as they file
onto the front lawn to begin the ceremony.
Originally composed as part of a series of marches
celebrating British imperial power and glory, it was
notably performed for the coronation of King Edward
VII in 1902. The march was later played when Elgar was
awarded an honorary doctorate from Yale University.
It made such an impression that other universities also
began playing it for graduation. Pomp and Circumstance
subsequently spread to high schools as it became the
tradition it is today.

**March from Verdi’s Aida**

This bold and triumphant march from Giuseppi
Verdi’s opera “Aida” sets the mood for a grand new
chapter. In the opera, the piece is played as Egyptian
military commander Radames leads the Egyptian army
returning from a victorious battle against the Ethiopians.
PHS Orchestra plays this piece for the recessional while
graduates exit, but its energy has made it a favorite for
ceremonies around the world. In the Philippines, it’s
traditionally used as the graduation processional and
is known as “Martsang Pandangal,” or “honors march.”

**Gaudeamus Igitur**

Latin for “let us rejoice,” Gaudeamus Igitur is a
beloved academic anthem often sung at university
graduations in Europe. The lyrics and music for the
version sung today date back to the late 18th century,
but parts of the song can be traced as far back as the
14th century. Despite its age and Latin text, the song is
far from solemn. Its cheery tune combines with lighthearted lyrics that celebrate youth and student life,
while reminding graduates to seize the day.

**Auld Lang Syne**

Most commonly associated with New Year’s Eve, the
timeless Scottish folk song never fails to evoke nostalgia
and memories of friendship and shared experiences. In
Japan, the familiar melody is adapted to different lyrics
in “Hotaru no Hikari,” meaning “glow of a firefly,” and
is played as a farewell to the graduating classes.

Come graduation day, these tunes will mark the
closing of this chapter of this year’s seniors’ high school
experience. Once the music fades, a new piece begins
as seniors embark on the next stage of their lives.


Graduation music around the world

“Snow White” (2025), the recent live-action remake
of the classic 1937 animated film “Snow White and the
Seven Dwarves,” has been marred by controversy since
the moment Disney announced the start of production.
What started as an attempt to simply update the classic tale
for a modern audience quickly turned into a high profile
storm of hate comments and public
backlash.

The original story is familiar to
most. Based on the Grimms’ fairy
tale, it follows Snow White, a kind
and beautiful princess
w hose evil
stepmother,
jealous of her
stepdaughter’s
beauty, forces
her to work
as a ser vant.
When the Evil
Queen’s Magic
Mirror tells her
Snow White is more
beautiful than she and
the Queen tries to kill
her, Snow White is
forced to flee into
the forest, where she
befriends seven
dwarves. After
the Evil Queen
attempts to kill her once again (this time with a poison
apple), Snow White falls into a deep sleep, but is rescued by
a handsome prince and presumably lives happily ever after.

The charming animation and fun music, combined with
the novelty of it being the first full-length animated film
made the original movie an instant success, grossing around
$2.3 billion (adjusted for inflation) at the box office, more
than any other animated movie in history. So, the 2025
remake had big shoes to fill.

There are some key differences between the original and
the remake: instead of a prince, Snow White falls in love
with a commoner; and instead of just riding off into the
sunset at the end, she deposes the Evil Queen and takes
control of the kingdom. Unfortunately, pretty much every
aspect of the movie sparked intense dispute, from the two
lead actresses’ opposing views on the war between Israel
and Palestine to the comments of Snow White’s actress,
Rachel Zegler, surrounding the original film, which she
called “extremely dated.”

The handling of the seven dwarves in particular became
very controversial. The decision to use CGI to bring the
beloved characters to life instead of casting actors with
dwarfism made many members of the dwarfism community
angry, as well as fans. The movie, which came out in theaters
a few months ago, was not particularly well received by
fans. Expected to gross $48–58 million in its first weekend
in theaters, “Snow White” only brought in a disappointing
$42 million, according to IMDB.

However, the film does have some good elements. Despite
Zelger’s comments regarding the original storyline, she
brings a fun new twist to the character of Snow White.

She explores a new depth to the character that was not
included in the original. The character of the prince has
also been updated effectively. Instead of a prince, the love
interest Jonathan (played by Andrew Burnap) is a bandit
and rebel, giving his character a touch more personality
than the original, sort of bland Prince Florian. Additionally,
I liked that we get to see his relationship with Snow White
evolve over the course of the film, so it’s less insta-love and
more realistic.

In my opinion, the best part of the new film is the music.
It keeps many of the beloved original songs like “Whistle
While You Work” and “Heigh-Ho” for a touch of nostalgia,
while also adding exciting new ones like “Waiting on a
Wish.” In addition, I thought that the sets were beautifully
designed and let you really become immersed in Snow
White’s world as the story unfolds. From the imposing,
beautiful castle to the seven dwarves’ quaint, cozy cottage,
the sets added a lot of whimsy and magic to the film.

However, I do think that the movie had many flaws. For
example, I found the use of CGI for the seven dwarves a
bit creepy, and I thought they stood out in a negative way
among the other characters. I also definitely preferred the
costumes from the original film to this one, especially
Snow White’s iconic dress, the updated version of which
I didn’t love.

Despite its controversies, “Snow White” still has many
good pieces that make the film appealing. So, I suggest
going to the theater and seeing the movie for yourself
before deciding on what you think about it. Even if you are
a die-hard fan of the original, there will still be something
to enjoy in this magical updated fairytale!

Meet Disney’s new Snow White

Photography has been around for more than two hundred years, capturing moments in time that are forever immortalized with a click and a flash. As technology evolves, cameras can now easily take high-resolution pictures that don’t require any effort whatsoever to develop or share. Editing and filtering apps are plentiful and can help photographers stylize and perfect any image. However, the resurgence of Polaroid cameras has sparked a throwback trend toward imperfect photography. The joy of Polaroid photography is based on its flaws, its spontaneity, and the fun of bringing back what’s old as new again. 

Unlike professional cameras or phone cameras, Polaroid cameras are not super-accurate or predictable. Pictures often end up with odd lighting that creates high contrast between the subject and background. Because the photo cannot be edited, the camera captures the true essence of the moment. This type of unfiltered reality is so rare in today’s photography that Polaroids can be a refreshing break from the constant perfection we see on social media. 

“Phones are boring, social media is so fake, but with Polaroids you can’t fake it,” said Viraaj Pasricha ’28. 

Since the point is imperfection, people can grab their Polaroid camera and click away without worrying about the precise angle, lighting, background, or even their smile.

Polaroids are also gratifying and are a different way to share and remember special moments. Our grandparents and even our parents collected printed pictures to document their good times, but few our age have photo albums. 

“They’re so much more precious than digital photos,” said Pasricha. 

By taking a bunch of Polaroid pictures at an event, friends can each take some home, pin them up on the wall, and enjoy looking at them in a completely different way than staring at their device. 

Ultimately, Polaroids have become so popular due to the recycling of trends. Clothing styles from the 1980s are trendy, and old-school cars like the Trans Am and IROC are coveted again. So it’s not surprising that trendy stores are selling Polaroid cameras and film while playing Tears for Fears in the background. Maybe one day our grandkids will dig up our phones and call them vintage!

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