Venue 369

Ellie Robson Venue Editor

concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk Hello! Welcome to 369, our slightly spooky Halloween issue! The lovely Jo Castle has returned and done another cover for us to settle us into the cosy Autumn spirit. I urge you to spend some time with her piece, you find more to appreciate the longer you look at it! We’ve leaned towards the dark and chilling sides of our sections for this issue to celebrate the macabre weekend just gone. As the evenings get darker and colder, familiarise yourselves with some film, book, and game recommendations for the nights you’re not spending in the LCR. The past couple of weeks have been a mini summative season for most, but I hope it’s over now and that you can reward yourself for your hard work! The middle of semester is when I most feel the loss of an academic half-term, and have the desire for a break, so give yourself a day off if you can! And I’ll try to take my own advice...

Amelia Rentell Venue Deputy Editor

concrete.venuedeputy@uea.ac.uk Hi everyone, let’s first address the elephant in the room - the botched sudoku of last issue. Yes, yes... we heard your cries and passive aggressive notes on the editorial desk. I got the thing wrong. I wish I could say it’s because I don’t like the sudoku at the back (I do not have the patience for it), but actually it was that 4th year over-tiredness that’s really to blame. Anyway, it’s good to know so many of you do the bit on the back but I hope you’ll enjoy our incredibly spooky word-search instead. Aside from that mishap, my last few weeks have been alright. I had my first essay (results unknown). I made some baked goods for my housemates and watched all the twilight films (more on that another time). Best of all, I had my reading week last week which, I have to admit, did not consist of much reading. However, it was a good time to relax and really think about the next few weeks before Christmas - lots to prepare for between now and then. Enjoy our Halloween issue, a spooky time of year not just in terms of Brexit extensions. See you next time!

Featured Articles: Our Fashion editor, Maya, has a great interview with Emma Harrowing - the director of Norwich Fashion Week.

Head to the Gaming section for Monique Santoso’s article, “Politics in Gaming”. Mixing business with pleasure.

SECTION EDITORS ARTS - Leia Butler

concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

FASHION - Maya Coomarasamy concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

CREATIVE WRITING - Oliver Shrouder concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

02 Cover art: Jo Castle @reverseorangejuice

MUSIC - Lewis Oxley

concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

GAMING - Martha Griffiths concrete.gamingtech@uea.ac.uk

FILM & TV - Fin Aitken

concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

Horror favourites Coraline - Neil Gaiman

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley For me, the best horror book is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. A story about abandonment, power, beauty and what it truly means to be human. This just scrapes the tip of the iceberg of why the book still haunts me. When you factor in that Shelley was 18 when she wrote it, grieving from a miscarriage and hiding in Europe with Percy Shelley after their elopement, you have to admit that she was one incredible woman and the book is a testimony to her title as the woman who ushered in the age of sci-fi.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a wonderfully strange and scary story. Somewhat reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, Coraline finds a door that leads to familiar, yet frightening world. I love this book because it’s so original. From creepy button eyes and sardonic talking cats to attempting to steal souls, it’s a unique kind of horror that’s great for kids and adults alike. It’s bizarre, but it just works so well.

Nerisse Appleby

Martha Griffiths Image: Flickr

The Shining

The iconic status of ‘The Overlook’ in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is confirmed by the fact that the BFI shop stocks socks emblazoned with the geometric carpet design that sprawls throughout the labyrinthine corridors of the fictional hotel. Intentionally impossible architecturally, with internal windows appearing to have light pouring in from outside, the design is steeped in a sense of imprisonment. An art piece on a massive scale, Kubrick’s set encapsulates violation of normative space key to effective horror. It is the illogic hidden within the walls of the seeming freedoms of the vastness that lulls its inhabitants into a false sense of security.

Imogen Carter De Jong

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Kohada Koheiji - Katsushika Hokusai Katsushika Hokusai’s Kohada Koheiji is my favorite horror painting. Based on real events, the skeleton is the cuckold and murder victim, Kohada Koheiji, who returns from the dead to seek revenge and torment his unfaithful wife and her lover. Now only flesh and bone with some skin and hair clinging to his skull, he pulls back a mosquito net to give them a ghastly wake-up call for dumping his body in a swamp. With Koheiji’s googly eyes and humorous grin, the painting induces the right amount of shrieks and laughter.

Monique Santoso Image: Public Domain Pictures

Storytelling Why do we love stories so much? Everybody loves a good story. It’s incredible, when you think about it, just how universal our appreciation of stories is. Whether in books, plays, films or songs, humans across the world have always enjoyed stories. This was a fact that I’d never been forced to consider quite so much before coming to UEA and beginning my Creative Writing course. It’s really brought to my attention the importance of structuring stories to appeal to our human sensibilities for clarity and closure. But there was one comment that didn’t sit well with me. My tutor brought up religion and claimed that our love of stories helps explain why their grand universal narratives are attractive. Belief in a world with God provides comfort and order to our universe by turning every aspect of human life into a story that has meaning and purpose. But I, as a religious believer myself, am not convinced by this. I want to look deeper into this unique relationship between humans and stories and

ask the question of why it exists. An audience goes into a story with certain expectations. A story must have a conscious structure, everything must make sense and every action should have consequences that are paid off in a satisfying way. Every ending should feel right, as if it were always building up to end that way. Yet, according to an atheist worldview, this is precisely how the universe works: random and without any conscious structure. Could it be that we love our stories to have a structure that makes sense, not just as a hopeless wish, but because it reflects a structure that does exist in our universe? When considered in this way, it seems almost a paradox that our hatred for randomness and love of structure would lead us to reject the idea of a structured universe and feel more assured in a random one. The alternative, I think, is at least worth considering.

Read Sam’s full take on the subject online

Samuel Savelli

My introduction to the Gothic I’m a big fan of the Gothic; literature, art, movies, architecture, you name it. The creatives who cultivated this interest from a relatively young age were filmmaker Tim Burton, and by extension, Helena Bonham Carter, and author Marcus Sedgwick. Many people are familiar with the work of the former two, but, in my opinion, the works of Sedgwick go woefully unappreciated. He’s primarily a children’s and young adult author who I distinctly remember being introduced to in my year nine English class, with his 2007 novel, ‘My Swordhand is Singing’. It’s the first book that I read during secondary school that I couldn’t get enough of, and I remember giving it the excited dedication that’s possible when you’re in year nine and have no other responsibilities.

It’s an unconventional vampire story, and is reminiscent of Burton’s nuance, showing that things can be eerie and bizarre without being outright scary. As a bit of a wimp when it comes to horror, I loved it. Sedgwick is one of those authors I wish more people knew about. As with many children’s writers, his work holds a lot of value for adult readers, and by exploring Sedgwick’s works outside of my English class, I came across one of my favourite novels, ‘White Crow’. The Gothic is a genre that I’m really passionate about and I wish was given more attention in traditional media, without just being sold as something weird. If it’s something you’re not too familiar with, Sedgwick is a great place to start!

Ellie Robson Images: Flickr, Pixbay

Vote We asked you this question:

Are horror pieces of literature and art only relevant at halloween?

89% yes

11% no

I don’t think that art pieces are ever seasonal. Take ‘The Scream of Nature’ by Edward Munch. That could be classified as scary but it wasn’t only popular around Halloween as it has become a well known piece of art.

Gabriela Williams

Horror literature and art is not something linked to Halloween in my opinion; halloween literature or art, if such a thing exists, would be though. I’d go as far as to argue that Halloween has become more of a comedic holiday with the commercialisation of the holiday.

Jack Oxford

I can’t speak on the topic of art, but one of the times horror literature is most relevant, in my opinion, is not Halloween but actually Christmas Eve. Consider Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ or, to go further back, ‘The Castle of Otranto’ by Horace Walpole — considered by many to be the first Gothic novel, the latter was published on Christmas Eve, to further reinforce this connection. The juxtaposition between a holiday associated with religion and family, and the terror of the supernatural and the Gothic has always been at the heart of horror literature.

Ella Finch

You rocked my world Rocky Horror! Before Friday 4th October I was a Rocky Horror Show virgin. I knew it was a cult classic and was infamous for providing a thrilling performance. I had my tickets booked as soon as I saw that tickets were available to a sing-a-long screening in Norwich’s Theatre Royal. Upon arrival, we were presented with a goody bag full of a newspaper, a rubber glove and a party popper. Then there was a costume contest – a man dressed in a satin corset and a curly black wig won the contest. Magical. I was nervous that I hadn’t seen the film before, I wondered if I had built up too many expectations in my head, but really, being a newbie was nothing to worry about. I quickly caught onto the dance routines, explicit shout outs and the lyrics to the hilarious songs. Over the next few hours, I became well acquainted with Brad and his fiancée Janet Weiss. Damn it, Janet. I marvelled at Frank Furter and growled at Riff Raff (Murderer!). The only downside of the night was I couldn’t hear all of the lines due to the audience participation. I probably need to watch the film again so that I can learn why exactly it was that people shout, “How long?”. Apart from that, the whole night was thoroughly enjoyable, and I can’t wait to go to another screening. All I have left to say is I can’t wait to buy a pair of fishnet tights and a sparkly gold jacket.

Jess Barrett

Iwmage: Flickr

An interview with Emma Harrowing Jarrold is a Norfolk institution, with the brand approaching their 250 year anniversary and its flagship store serving as a Norwich landmark. Behind the scenes of the department store is Emma Harrowing, a key member of the Norwich fashion scene; co-founding Norwich Fashion Week and writing as a style columnist on top of her role at Jarrolds. Read on for our discussion about her career and where the Norwich fashion scene is headed. One of your many jobs is marketing manager for Jarrolds, what exactly does this job entail? My job entails creating marketing campaigns and making sure that these are consistent across all customer touch-points, writing press releases and magazine columns, writing for print and web, managing the social media and developing a social media strategy, writing content for email campaigns and reporting on the success of campaigns in terms of brand awareness, ROI, and conversions. How does such an iconic department store like Jarrold adapt with the times whilst retaining its historic image? We have adapted with the times by making sure we give our customers want they want. Over the past few years we have transformed our Deli, introduced a pizza restaurant and recently seafood bar The Bay, revamped our home

floor, and we are constantly bringing in fresh new brands across the store, some of which are exclusive to us in Norfolk. Actually, we are getting ready to launch our own brand food and drink (launching in November) which has seen us collaborate with local and independent food and drink producers to offer a selection of luxury food and drink you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get anywhere else. We want to make Jarrold a destination for experiences, not just for shopping, and with six places

you juggle all these different roles? Ha. Many of these roles fall under my role at Jarrold. These days employers are looking for people who have multiple skills, so my job involves me being a creative director one minute and then a copywriter the next. In my spare time I also like to collaborate on photo and film shoots, and I do a lot of writing, most recently for Norfolk Online which is a website for people living and working in Norfolk - I am the fashion and style columnist for this. You were the director for Norwich Fashion Week while it was running, how did you find overseeing this operation, and would you ever want to start NFW up again?

to eat and drink, expert advice on all departments and a programme of events throughout the year, we think we are delivering this. We celebrate our 250th anniversary next year so this ethos will continue. The term â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;slash careersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has become increasingly popular, wherein one person has multiple jobs. You describe yourself as a creative director, editor, writer and collaborator in your Instagram bio, how do

It was a great venture to do and a popular event on the Norfolk calendar. It was challenging at times, but very rewarding and it was great to grow the NFW brand from the small show it was to a week long event with five catwalk shows and a design and enterprise day which consisted of workshops, talks and seminars. I worked at Archant as the editor of Norwich Resident magazine and fashion editor for the EDP at the time, so juggling two full time jobs was tricky. However NFW gave rise to many up and coming models, stylists, hair and beauty artists, photographers and other creatives, so seeing NFW

continued... being used as a platform for these people to gain experience and find work in the fashion and creative industries was reward in itself. It would be great if Norwich did have a key annual fashion event, not as a replacement of NFW but something altogether more different and in keeping with what society wants and needs. Fashion weeks are becoming outdated now, especially with the rise of conscience over issues such as sustainability.

What advice do you have for any students interested in pursuing a career in the fashion industry? Get as much experience as you can - apply for an internship, volunteer at fashion events or for fashion charities (the Norwich Costume and Textile Association is a good one), make sure you get a good grounding in the skills you need for the industry by doing a degree such as Fashion Communications and Promotions at the Norwich

University of the Arts (NUA), or if you want to get into fashion design the Fashion degree at NUA is great - both also give you great industry contacts. Most importantly, keep making contacts in the field and keep learning; the industry is constantly changing so regularly updating your skills and contacts will be part of your career even when you do make it into the job you want.

Maya Coomarasamy

Do you want to write for us? Are you a budding journalist or looking for something cool to put on your CV? Look us up on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @ConcreteUEA. There you can find all the information needed to access our content calls and pitch your own ideas to our editors. Image: Emma Harrowing

What your Halloween costume says about you (and other stupid assumptions) Marvel, Disney’s first female superhero franchise. But we’re all adults here, which is a polite way of saying, at least for people our age, that we look towards more ‘mature’ costumes. Enter possibly my favourite trend; the sexy insert human-supernatural-beinginanimate-object here.

As the trees shed their leaves and the days grow shorter, there’s a quiet anticipation for the spookiest day of the year. Yes, people, it’s the most wonderful time of the year: Halloween. It means we’ll be witnessing this year’s additions to the pop-culture pantheon. From Princess Leia to your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman, Britney Spears’ sexy schoolgirl to the current President of the United States, Halloween is the summation of every major cultural moment of the past fifty years, so what can we expect from 2019? With the culmination of Marvel’s third phase in ‘Avengers: Endgame’, there’s an array of heroes whose costumes you can don. No supermarket Halloween isle is complete without an illfitting Spandex bodysuit with a detachable Iron Man mask, or more recently, Captain

Images: Unsplash

Of course, these sorts of costumes don’t come without their criticisms, especially concentrated on women; ‘Halloween is just a desperate atempt for attention’ and ‘Halloween is an excuse for girls to dress in skimpy outfits’, we’ve heard it all before. The other day I overheard two young men discussing potential costumes for their planned festivities, which quickly spiralled into an opportunity to slate women who dressed as Harley Quinn. That’s right, DC Comics; Harley Quinn.

Because God forbid anyone would want to dress as one of the most infamous comic book villains of all time, especially one whose most recent iteration was played by Academy Award Nominee and general goddess, Margot Robbie. Obviously, these men later missed the irony of deciding who gets to be the Joker. So to my fellow Halloween purists (and the general wet blanket population), I know that this can be a hard pill to swallow but believe me, there are enough scary costumes to go round, so why not embrace the sexy ones. When you realise Halloween is the only night of the year you can let loose whilst looking like a naughty nurse (or other medical professionals of your choosing), it’s time to grab that opportunity with your bare hands and have a little fun.

Imogen Ince

it's okay to reach out uea.su/buddy

it was your footsteps on the stairs that did it. The sun rises, early morning light in the attic— that’s not what wakes me— it was your footsteps on the stairs that did it. It was the steady hum of conversation— it was nosy intrigue — the desire to listen in. I was awake, and pretending I was asleep. I was naive to think that I would win. I was mad to think of this as a game to begin with.

back then, in the midst of everything. To be gone without ever really leaving. You didn’t tell me where you were going. You didn’t tell me you were going at all. But I knew. I knew it all from the beginning.

The sun rises, early morning light in the attic— you’re talking your language— and I’m pretending I don’t know what that means. I’m pretending. I’m pretending a lot. But we’re young and naive, so we keep secrets here like currency, And I swore to myself that I’d never, ever, run out. Not even now. Not even now. We were damned to begin with.

us memory folk are confined, to the attic, the record player, the sofa bed,

The sun rises, fog rolls over the city— paints you grey like an old photograph, or a ghost doctored into a picture frame. A ghost trying to stitch fact and memory back together again. A ghost, on a tape recording— long note, hazardous explanation— things I shouldn’t hear— things I shouldn’t understand. But I understand perfectly. I knew where this was going from the beginning. The sun rises, fog rolls over the city— you get lost here, like you don’t live here anymore, like you never really did. I think you would have liked it like that—

The sun rises, bright enough to shine through all things translucent—

curled up uncomfortably in the corner, loud conversation that only echoes around my head. Now, it’s silent all around us. It’s okay, I know what song you’re playing without ever actually needing to hear it. I know it because you inked the notes into your skin. You, too, knew where this was going. The sun rises, bright enough to shine through all things translucent— us memory folk are getting tired and thinking about going back to bed, going back to our own heads, but nothing mundane like that can

Images: Unsplash, NeONBRAND Digital Marketing

excite us anymore. We want to find something here, in this attic, a truth yet unwritten, a memory not yet stolen— but a flickering series of hazy stillimage picture frames is doing us little service. Clever. You, knew who I was going to be. The sun rises, and the fresh November air drifts in through the attic window— I am awake, pretending to be asleep, and you are just the same as me— half-way down the stairs, having a conversation, making an escape route— none of which, I am supposed to hear. That’s not the secret I have stolen— that’s not what did it— it’s what comes after— it’s the ghouls we all grow up into— When we decide that people aren’t what we want to be. We saw it then, coming. But could do nothing to stop it. Even if we wanted to. The sun rises, and the fresh November air drifts in through the attic window— I am awake, and so are you. Standing in your half-formed ghoul body, peering up the stairs, looking beautiful. I want to stop you— I want to stop you going, running wherever you’re running to— but I couldn’t have stopped any of this, even if I was really trying to. The sun rises, early morning light in the attic— that’s not what wakes me— it was your footsteps on the stairs that did it.

Lucy Cundill

how did we meet? well, it all began with a cursed amulet

Classic story – the house was too cheap to be true, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a riverfront view, and fitted with copious Victorian demise and, of course, the occasional ‘novel that flies.’ it started with spoons – my favourite set were hurled to the walls of my kitchenette while my back was turned, causing one to embed in the plaster where moments ago was my head.

the books, of course, tumbled off of their sill (in a way, he was merely parading his skill). the knives, for the most part, remained on the rack, while he mainly pulled furniture forward and back.

not much of a menace was my ghoulish tenant. i was calm – until i discovered the pendant. diffracting through crystal was a substance like smoke; the soul of the spectre, now fully uncloaked. i thought about calling the church, but froze when i saw on my table a single red rose – in blood on my mirror i carefully read: ‘i’ve liked you for ages – i should’ve said.’ though strange, it appeared to me clear as day that my ghost did his courting the Victorian way. i knew in this moment he’d do me no harm – i splayed out my hand, felt his breath on my palm.

Dylan Davies

SeminarrThick silence. Broken by the heavy blur of spluttered coughs from wheezing lips, the sticky sound of shuddered breath through crusted noses slicing the quiet from all directions. A room cut by a plagued knife. Sunken eyes reach out from faded white faces, black and blue bags hanging loosely beneath swollen bloodshot pupils. Hair, a tangled mess of gnarled tree branches, lies strewn across the expressionless void of face, noses nestled like sleeping crows behind the barbed wire. Mouths hang half open, some revealing the faint trickle of drool, others stained with the bloody remains of Colgate around the corners. Shaking hands support heavy skulls, the flash of device screens illuminating zombified features in the morning darkness. Cracked chalky lips, wrinkled clothes plastered to the body and the paranormal presence of a shadowy figure, reaching its claws into the fragile minds of the creatures huddled in this dank dungeon. Although it could not be seen to the naked eye, the unaffected man standing solemnly at the front of this grave yard could sense the shadowy figures grip on those affected. The han-ghoul-ver was feasting on the tortured souls of those in the dungeon, harvesting headaches and nurturing nausea. Those whom were so full of life the previous evening now broken empty husks, rotting where they sat.possessed. With a swift flick of a switch, the dark dungeon was cast in artificial light, causing the han-ghoul-ver to slink silently into the shadowed corner, its twisted fingers retracting slightly from the minds of the creatures, whose gaunt faces raised from the safety of the desks revealing less animalistic and more human features, staring emptily into the mans soul…hungry for sleep. He realised he would have to fight for his life. Toby Skinner The Monday morning seminar had begun. Image: Public Domain Pictures

Wretched Creatures

You must understand, I had lived a life of unspeakable shame. Nothing I tell you will make sense unless you understand this. Otherwise how could you believe, for instance, that my own reflection could climb out of a pool of glacial meltwater and greet me? I say she greeted me, but all she really did was smile weakly and tilt her head to one side expectantly. I stood motionless, eyes wide, pebbles digging into my feet. “Hello,” I said finally, voice cracking. “Hello.” She was wearing nothing but a grey nightgown and an ornate white shawl. They looked old—Victorian perhaps?—but somehow felt much, much older. It was as though she was wearing a piece of the valley around her shoulders. “Why are you here?” “I’ve always been here,” she replied effortlessly. “Why are you here?” “I work—or, um, research here. I’m here for research, I mean.” “Re-search,” she repeated, swirling the word around her mouth like whisky. “How... impersonal. To be honest, I had hoped that you’d come to join me.” “Join you where?” “Under the glacier, of course.” I glanced over her shoulder at the greyish-white cliff of ice looming at the top of the valley. Without hesitation, she turned and began walking towards it, her long slender legs and bare feet moving with an arachnoid sort of grace. I followed obediently. “Under the glacier?” “Don’t worry, there’s room.” “There’s a cave? Or—?” She laughed, lightly yet abrasively, like a wave breaking on a shingle beach. “You can dig yourself a little cave if you like, I suppose, but that would rather be missing the point, wouldn’t it? It’s so much nicer and neater to be completely encased. There’s something so... intimate about it; I really think it would do you a lot of good. All you need to do is lie down in a comfortable spot in front of the glacier, wait, and let it pass over you.” “But I would be crushed. Or suffocate, or starve, or—you know. I would die.” “Well, I’ve been down there for years, and I’m not dead, am I?” “You look like a ghost.” “I look like you, sweetheart.” She did. Everything about her was a perfect reflection of me, from her wispy hair, to the mole under her eye, to the crescent shaped scar just above her left wrist. But—did I really look that pale? “I can’t just drop everything to lie under a glacier. I have to work, and people would worry about me.” “My, my. Isn’t this what they call ‘bad faith’? Pretending that you have fewer options than you truly do, I mean. You do not have to work; you can just lie under a glacier.” “I can’t!” She stopped on a rocky outcropping and looked down at me with an expression of what seemed like genuine pity on her face—or perhaps just sadness? I don’t know, the sun was in my eyes. Maybe she didn’t have any expression at all. The breath caught in my throat, and I had a visceral feeling that whatever word she was about to say would split me open like a pomegranate. But her lips remained closed. She just stared at me for another few seconds, then continued towards the glacier. It wasn’t until we were about a hundred metres from it that she spoke again... If you’ve enjoyed reading Thompson’s piece, the full story is available online at www. concrete-online.co.uk Ariadne Thompson

Image: Public Domain Pictures

Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2 With ‘ENSWBL: Part 2’, Foals have pushed through to a place of greater artistic expression. It is similar to Part 1 in its dreamy indie rock aesthetic but is more energetic and aggressive. This entry and its precursor definitely feel very thematically complete compared to Foals’ earlier albums. With Part 1 embodying life with its light rock beats and use of symphonics, whilst Part 2 represents death with its hard-hitting, heavily-distorted instruments and use of piano. And that artwork, well it’s quite something to look at, and shows two sides of the themes explored in the two-part piece.  The intro song ‘Red Desert’ explodes into symphony and

leaves little room for build-up, giving a glimpse of what this album entails and having an amazing transition into ‘The Runner’, which is an explosive, fast-tempo song with harmonious backing vocals and a catchy chorus.   The tempo slows down for ‘Wash Off ’, but the hook is simple and builds up to a multi-instrumental chorus with a second use of harmonious backing vocals to create that dreamy aesthetic. This continues with ‘Black Bull’ as we see another interesting bass riff set alongside distorted vocals to give the song a hard-rock feel. ‘Like Lightning’ is equally as bass-

driven and forceful, with a punchy chorus and large arena-rock-style presence.  From this point, the album develops into a loweraggression state, with ‘Dreaming Of ’ sounding more like the typical indie Foals sound. ‘Into the Surf ’ and ‘Neptune’ are high-points in the album however, and work really well to end the album off with their oppressive, haunting tones and use of piano and percussive instruments. Their lyrics are also exceptional, which is not untrue of the album overall.  As a complete package, this two-part album is definitely Foals’ most well-realised work.   James Ward

How “Video Games” started our love affair with the past ‘Jump back in!’ Spotify exclaims, directing me to the playlists I frequently gravitate towards. There’s an obvious trend: ‘This is Lana del Rey’, ‘Born to Die: The Paradise Edition’ and ‘Lana del Rey radio’ - I’m evidently a creature of habit. Ever since ‘Video Games’ was released in 2011, I have cited del Rey as one of my favourite artists. The song, when it was first released, was addictive: so haunting, melancholy, catching you in its web of eeriness. As it poured out of the radio in my dad’s beat-up van, it felt almost otherworldly in its effortless blending of tones: happy and sad, strange and catchy, a dissonant yet coalescent conglomeration of sound. As a teenager, it wasn’t just the song that had me so entwined in the web of del Rey; I was so drawn to her cultivated world of Americana. Each song, though different, is an aspect of the same conjured up realm

where Cherry Coke, red dresses and heart-shaped sunglasses reigned. And del Rey presented herself in this same vein, styling her hair to mimic that of 50s screen sirens; crooning on stage in Jackie O-esque suits, and producing music videos suffused with a retro feel. They channelled a time-goneby, and yet were themselves a new artistic vision: a musician curating a highly individualised mythos, her discography existing not alone, but as part of an entire narrative vision, with album art, lyrics, visual output, all part of one deliciously complete reverie in which inspiration from the past, nostalgia, and modern literature blended into one. The church bells tolling in the opening bars to ‘Video Games’ will always send shivers down my spine. They signal an entrance into the expertly executed world of Lana del Rey. Being awarded song of the decade at the Q awards for 2011’s ‘Video Games’ signifies the end of a long journey.

It is less an award recognising the song itself, but more a recognition of cultural impact. ‘Video Games’ was the start of the Lana del Rey story, and as she continues to author that story as we come to the end of the decade, ‘Video Games’ deserves a little recognition as the beginning of a cultural moment.

Imogen de Jong

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Hot Chip at the LCR - A Gig Full of Ecstasy It may be cold outside, but in the Nick Raynes LCR Hot Chip were serving up a warm sound bath of summery dance music vibes. When the vibrations flowed up from beneath the floorboards through my feet, I could not help but smile (and, of course, dance like a maniac), as I was transported by the music to long summer days of sunshine and ice-cream. Formed in London in the year 2000, you would be forgiven for thinking that Hot Chip were older, as their music is a loving homage to house and disco, with a modern-day alternative synthpop twist. With their second album, ‘The Warnin’g (2006) being nominated for a Mercury Prize, and their single “Ready for the Floor” nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording (2008), Hot Chip are no strangers to success, though they seem unaffected by life in the limelight and were nothing but relaxed and cordial to their fans in Norwich. The high energy performance at Thursday’s gig from creators Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard (plus fedora-clad company) was a delightful mix of choreographed dance, nostalgically eighties techno tracks and rousing the

14 Image: Chloe Crowther

crowd to clap along and join in the fun. In fact, fun was the main order of the day, oozing out of every detail, from the inviting pastel stage lighting to the UV painted drumsticks. The band’s eclectic wardrobe of boiler suits and wide-brimmed fedora hats was a visual cue, before they even picked up their instruments, that this was going to be an evening of quirky, high velocity entertainment. Hot Chip, introduced by a wonderfully hyperbolic robotic voice, came on stage to a classic countdown calculated to stir up an excited audience, who were appropriately ready for the (dance)floor. Keeping up the tension, Hot Chip alternated between high energy fast-paced dance choruses before slowing down, mid-song, dragging out each decibel in time to the flash of each light, before gradually increasing the tempo back up to a faster, speed on tracks such as “Over and Over” and “One Life Stand”. The slow-mo rave lighting on “Night and Day” early in the main set created a Saturday night club atmosphere on a Thursday evening, and the distinctive metronome in “Flutes” led to tapping toes across the audience. The funky psychedelic baseline of “Spell”, coupled with

violet stage lighting, brought the lyrics to life as Hot Chip performed their magic for the ecstatic spectators. Overall, Hot Chip presented a painter’s palette of technicolour and an equally rich sound. They played hits such as “Melody of Love and “Hungry Child”, from their new album ‘Bath Full of Ecstasy’, released over the summer, as well as old favourites, such as “Ready for the Floor”, and even included a surprise rendition of “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys, a departure from their classic oeuvre but deftly pulled off nonetheless. Their skilful mastery of music enables them to throw sounds out to the crowd like a boomerang reverberating around the room; their funky baseline, coupled with robotic synth and beautiful harmonies on “Boy from School” blended into a rich bath of music, making me think that the new album is aptly titled. Hot Chip released ‘Bath Full of Ecstasy’ on the 21st of June 2019, and are currently touring the UK with dates across South America, Europe and Australia confirmed for 2019-2020. It is (in this reviewer’s opinion), an unmissable good time.

Chloe Crowther

Halloween Songs: Saints or Scoundrels? Halloween songs may be alright at a party when you are three vodkas down. But Who realistically listens to music like “Monster Mash” except from when you feel you have to at a certain time of the year? The songs aren’t deep, thoughtful or quirky. Halloween songs are simply decorations, exactly the same as pumpkins in windows. They stick around for a week or two and then are thrown away and forgotten about until the next year. For songs to have a place in music, they need to make a difference, and they need to challenge or change people and make them feel something they haven’t felt before. Halloween songs are nothing new; they are simply placeholders until November where the magic of music returns, and artists have to work to do something great to be loved by all.

Leia Butler

Why would any song ever be denied a place in music? There are some very extreme examples that probably should be, but I hope those don’t need to be acknowledged. By denying Halloween songs a place in music you’d be doing one of two things: either denying all music linked to any holiday or time of the year or denying Halloween’s authenticity as a holiday and therefore disregarding everything connected to it. As for Halloween songs in particular, I’d argue that whilst some can certainly come across as tacky or cash-grabbing, the absolute best examples- songs like Thriller- give Halloween music a place, even if it is a small one.

Jack Oxford

Heavy Lungs at Wild Paths Festival

“Good evening Nottingham!” These were the unforgettable opening words of four-piece Bristol band Heavy Lungs. Loud enough to provide earplugs before the gig even begins, the peaceful fairy lights of Voodoo Daddy’s showroom, contained within a wooden birdcage, seemed almost absurd in their peacefulness. As soon as the set began, the crowd was swamped in the frenetic energy of each song, the collisions of each instrument sending the front row of fans into a whirligig of dancing and headbanging. Intersected by the upturning of microphones, the lead singer, Danny Nedalko found every position possible to sing in: lying across the stage, duetting with the drummer, and serenading the crowd,

before making the venue his stage, shouting choruses from every corner of the room his microphone could reach. As the set progressed, the lead singer became more reminiscent of a young Alex Turner.

Musically, my highlights included a shirtless rendition of ‘(A Bit of a) Birthday’, and the closing jam session, a ten-minute sea of guitar tones bound to the thrash of the drummer, which spotlighted the connection between every member, culminating in nothing short of a roaring melodic bludgeoning that I would love to see a second time. Thankfully, in the wake of the release of their newest EP ‘Measure’, there is more Heavy Lungs music to enjoy than ever.

Oliver Shrouder

Images (top right) Wikimedi Commons (bottom right) Oliver Shrouder

be part of a team uea.su/buddy

Spooky Games In honour of this spooky time, we’ve put together a list of our favourite games to play near Halloween. To kick it off, I’m going to nominate ‘The Last of Us’ which, in my mind, is one of the greatest games, period. Playing as Joel, a man haunted by his past, you must keep sassy teenager Ellie alive as you search for the cure to the zombie outbreak. Whilst Clickers and Runners are undoubtedly some of the scariest monsters ever to grace our screens, it is the humans you come across who make this game scary, I gave myself an anxious stomach thanks to one scene! This is a great game if you want a strong narrative, in-depth characters, and to get way too choked-up about giraffes, whilst also scared out of your wits. Martha Griffiths

One game that is full of all things evil and deadly is ‘Cluedo’. With a group of friends, you play detective, working out who the murderer is, which deadly weapon was used, and where the victim met their end. ‘Cluedo’ is a game full of logic and mystery and also is perfect for all the family. So dim the lights and gather round the table, it’s about to get spooky. Jess Barrett

‘Corpse Party’ is one of the most disturbing and tense games I’ve ever played. Although the graphical style is barely realistic, being an RPG Maker game, the game doesn’t shy away from showing gore. The biggest highlight of this game for me is the audio: the music fits every situation perfectly, the voice-acting is incredible, and some of the games most horrific moments come from the sound design. In one scene, a main character is hypnotised into cannibalizing his love interest, only returning to consciousness briefly to scream before the sounds of his devouring fill the player’s ears. Jack Oxford

One game me and my friends always keep being drawn back to is ‘Dead by Daylight’. It is a multiplayer survival horror game, in which four survivors are trapped in an enclosed area and must fix five generators in order to escape. A fifth player plays as the killer, who attempts to wound and sacrifice the players before they escape. It gives you a real adrenaline rush as you attempt to outsmart the killer, or alternatively ruthlessly hunt down survivors, and if you can forgive the ridiculous loading time then I guarantee you will enjoy this great game as well.

One spooky game for Halloween is ‘The Sims’, a game where you can create people and control their lives. You can build their house ,and coincidently trap them in it and kill them. You can release your inner pyromaniac and set fire to the house, killing entire families. If you did not get a Damn Good ticket, play puppet master and wreak havoc instead. Paige Allen

Titles like ‘Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs’ make perfect supplements to a late Halloween night: the game itself even asks that you play in a dark room to help retain the immersive mood. While ‘A Machine for Pigs’ has its fair share of scares and tense games of hide-and-seek, it also delivers an incredibly strong plot. What begins with an amnesiac trying to find his missing children rapidly transforms into a grand and shocking series of events as the player puts the pieces together through scrambled diary entries and flashbacks. With every detail you learn, the next room becomes just a little bit scarier. Mallory Spencer Images: Free SVG, Pixabay,

Politics in Gaming With its first episode taking place two weeks after the 2016 presidential elections, its Trump references, and graphic representation of police brutality toward Latinos, ‘Life is Strange 2’ is one of the latest games to spark contentious debate about the role of politics in gaming. Surely, it will not be the last. With the release of every game, more socio-political issues are being explored; ‘Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’ portrayed a world of cybernetic enhancements, ‘Far Cry 5’ posits a rural, anti-government American cult, and ‘Detroit: Become Human’ hints on

issues of domestic abuse and social justice. Over the years, there has been a divisive reaction from gaming audiences about the mention of politics in games. Some find it interesting, while others feel it part of intentional propaganda that they did not sign up for. Meanwhile, gaming companies such as Ubisoft heavily iterate that none of their imagery is based on any real-world inference. Historically, games have always been political. When developers or publishers say that their games are not political, they are ignoring the fact

Image: Instacodez, Flickr

that gaming themes are drawn from real-world contexts. Video games are just a small part of a long history of gaming. From board games made by the suffragettes to ‘The Division 2’ that discussed the 2017 US government shutdown, nearly every game is a product of its society and politics of its time. Many gamers would rather avoid the politics that come with it, remembering that their attachment to gaming comes from the need to escape reality. This camp of individuals argues that when someone labels something as “just a game” they are choosing to ignore the history behind what-

could-be the game’s political themes. Nevertheless, it is because games are so intertwined with politics today that it creates a general social awareness, consciously or unconsciously, among their audience, growing it into a billion-dollar industry that even politicians have taken an interest in. Politics is a multifaceted word that applies to any construct that aids people to live with one another, and games, like politics, irrespective of whether they involve the US-Mexico border wall or the French Revolution, are built on the premise that we want to live together. It is because we are more informed now than in the past, that games are

becoming more political. With this knowledge comes the ability to form an opinion on political discourse and recognize when games allude to current affairs. Irrespective of the idea that gaming companies try to sell, it is worth mentioning that not talking about something and being neutral is having a position. Thus, I appreciate some political content in video games such as that in ‘Life is Strange 2’. This is because it allows me to interact with material that I am not particularly used to and think about situations that I have

not thought about prior. The game has motivated me to research ideas and portrayals represented within by talking to people outside my comfort zone and playtesting the game with other players to ensure that I do not hurt or misrepresent anyone. Politics and gaming will continue to be part of an ongoing discussion, as the state of our lives are always changing. If games continue to reflect real-world locations, social constructs, and political statements, then discussions within the gaming community will thereof be the fruit of those changes.

Monique Santoso

The Long Dark: A Solitary Adventure Let’s admit it, we have all bought games during the Steam sales which we leave to collect dust in our libraries for years. ‘The Long Dark’ was exactly that for me, bought during the winter reductions, and ignored for the best part of 2019. Recently I decided to take a brief break from multiplayer games and decided to take ‘The Long Dark’ out of limbo. ‘The Long Dark’ came out in early access during a time when the popularity of survival-sandbox genre for PC games was at its peak, with the release of games such as The Forest and Rust. TLD took a different route, however, focusing on long term development, with the latest episode being released October 22nd.

The premise is simple: The main character (Will Mackenzie) is hired by his ex-wife (Astrid Greenwood) to drive a plane to a remote location in postapocalyptic Canada. The plane crashes after a mysterious electromagnetic phenomenon, resulting in Will suffering injuries and being separated from Astrid. The game has great longevity, with the single-player campaign lasting an average of 12-15 hours across the 3 episodes in the campaign, as well as a sandbox mode possibly giving you an

Marco Rizzo

extra 10-15 hours. The first episode holds your hand all the way through, while Will learns the basics of survival: both crafting and hunting. You will also get to know -and avoid- the local wildlife, and become acquainted with some of the other characters as you search for your ex-wife. The following chapters focus more on the story and gameplay and eventually allow you to play in someone else’s shoes. Graphically, ‘The Long Dark’ does an outstanding job with the Unity Engine, presenting clean, appealing textures and relatively smooth animations. The art style is perfectly used to convey the atmosphere of the vast, cold emptiness of northern Canada, and it does not require unreasonable amounts of resources to run, as my mid-range pc was able to keep a stable 100 FPS.

‘The Long Dark’ is a complete and entertaining title which (thanks to its continuous development), brought a breath of fresh air to the oversaturated market of the survival-sandbox. And while certain tasks, such as gathering resources and crafting, can feel repetitive at times, it is a characteristic of the genre and does not feel monotonous or dull.

Image: Ximonic, Wikimedia Commons

New Gamer Martha opens the laptop. I sit, frozen. She beckons me. “Don’t be scared,’’ she says. “It’s going to be OK”. My area of gaming expertise can be traced to having both begun and ended during the winter of 2007, when me and my brother spent pyjama days by the light of the Xmas tree playing ‘Simpsons Hit and Run’ on PS2. Knowing this, Martha chose a game more tailored to my interests and narrow, narrow abilities. I was immediately sold on ‘Life Is Strange’ – the first game I have come across to be driven by narrative and atmosphere. The world – set in the America’s rainy Pacific Northwest – and characters – an edgy 18-year-old protagonist called Max – were familiar and intriguing to me (having been a Nirvana fan since the age of 15). The visuals were striking and did a good job of pulling me in. After an initial shock to the system, I found myself easing into the game and the motions. I enjoyed the fact that, like any story, you soon find yourself getting attached to the characters. I wanted to do right by Max. The decisionmaking element of the game reminded me of choice-based fiction books, choosing dialogue and actions, and navigating the consequences. Stressful. My experience can be deemed a success as I’d happily dip into the game again.

Monica Guarnieri

In Defence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The MCU (Marvel cinematic Universe) has been under scrutiny in the media lately, as Martin Scorsese has come out to say that: “Marvel films are not cinema”, and Francis Ford Coppola has jumped into this saying that the genre is “despicable”. Scorsese’s remarks have angered MCU fans as he compares the films to theme parks, while some of the actors from your favourite MCU films have spoken out on the matter. Robert Downey Jr spoke out: “I appreciate his opinion because I think it’s like anything. We need all of the different perspectives so we can come to the centre and move on”. The MCU have produced some of the most influential and record-breaking movies of all time. Like ‘Endgame’, which is officially the highest grossing movie of all time. This film was the finale to the end of phase 3 which some audiences are also saying was

‘finale of a generation-spanning saga’. Many audiences felt an emotional connection during this film, having watched the Marvel films grow since the first film in the phase, Iron Man. So, when came the death of Iron Man in ‘Endgame’ this gave the audience the realisation that there will never be another Iron Man. However, with the release of ‘Spiderman: Far From Home’ are we expecting Tom Holland to rise to the occasion. But is that now impossible to say, considering the incident with Sony and Disney? This all goes to show how Scorsese’s point that the Marvel films don’t offer an emotional connection for the audience isn’t completely true. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has also responded to the comments made. “I don’t get what they’re criticizing us for when we’re making films that people are obviously going to, because

they’re doing so by the millions”. The films made are what the audience can connect with, especially ‘Black Panther’ for its representation of the Kenyan, Namibian, and South African cultures (which is where the inspiration came from), but also shows the representation of their culture. Furthermore, Scorsese points out that as the audience we don’t learn anything from these films. The Marvel films have become something influential for the younger generation. Especially young boys look at the superheroes as role models to them but also something they aspire to be like. So, would taking away these films mean that the younger generation won’t have something to fantasise about?

Caitlin Telford

The Return of Bojack Horseman

Coming into this season, ‘Bojack Horseman’ was my favourite show. Gorgeous and hilarious, all while being an intricately constructed picture of depression that resonated with me so personally, it was instrumental in my understanding of my mental health. With that said, the news that series 6 would be the last, was news I welcomed. Because I felt the show had reached a point where it could end satisfyingly without repeating negative cycles, like it’s main character is so prone to doing. Do I still feel the same way after watching the first half of its end game? Absolutely. It’s not just the higher episode count (16 vs 12), or the season being split in half (bring on 31/1) that’s new this time round. Bojack entered rehab at the end of season 5, after doing the latest in a long list of horribly irredeemable things, and most shockingly of all he’s actually apparently improving. Bojack’s commitment to sobriety (at

least for now) is emblematic of the shows ability to reinvent itself and of how much he’s developed. From the start, this show has been refreshingly honest about how it handles the consequences of its character’s actions, without the lazy status quo resets that are so common in sitcoms. But that also comes with a commitment to letting its character’s grow and learn from their mistakes. That’s what makes the improvement so compelling, it builds on foundations that have been comprehensively laid down over five years. This growth is on full display across these eight episodes which fully commit to an ensemble approach, giving each character a chance to showcase just how far they’ve come. Princess Carolyn and her newly adopted baby are a highlight, with her own episode being visually and verbally playful, all the while portraying the stress of someone who is overworked to the point of mental

exhaustion in a powerful way. Not that the show has abandoned its comical side either, where the juxtaposition of a tense argument with one of the most creatively staged farces I’ve ever seen, manages to feel like exactly what would happen under the circumstances. The closest to a criticism for this set is that by its nature as only the first half of a series, it’s more set up than pay off, though it ends with a hell of a hook and the final episode in general is top notch. So it lacks the sense of finality and action that come out of previous season conclusions. However what we get in exchange is a thrilling trip through the shows past full of references and call backs that looks to be setting up an incredible conclusion.

Avouleance Aaq

James Wan - Master of Modern Horror

Malaysian-born, Australian film director James Wan is most known for reviving the horror genre, since debuting his short film ‘Saw’ in 2003. After the 1990’s slasher craze wore off, it was ‘Saw’ that encouraged horror enthusiasts to give the genre another try. Its simplistic plot, featuring moralistic ethos of righteous living, and a madman’s intricate yet ghastly plan to control two individuals’ life choices, allowed ‘Saw’ to earn the slogan: “If it’s Halloween, it must be Saw.” The blood-soaked movie released instalments on the weekend before Halloween for 3 consecutive years – a feat no horror franchise had envisioned to be successful.

Wan’s next project sees him returning to revolutionize horror films through ‘Insidious’, a movie that elevates mainstream horror in the viewer’s eyes. Long thought to be an infantile genre for adrenaline-filled teenagers, ‘Insidious’ made sure to cater to a wider audience demographic by boasting a tight family dynamic and maturity within its characters. The Success of ‘Insidious’ does not

stop there. Through its haunted house set, Wan turned away from his background in slashers and gore-centric horror, to create a psychological element of horror. The film tapped into our primal human fear that someplace we thought safe and sacred can be violated by supernatural, uncontrollable forces.

‘Insidious’ reinvigorated haunted house films by addressing the most common critique of the subtype: “If a house was so haunted, then why would people stay there?” and thus, what initially starts as a haunted house film, turns to be about the fight for a child’s life from satanic forces. The film’s influence can be seen today in Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (2018), Ted Geoghan’s ‘We Are Still Here’ (2015) and Jennifer Kent’s ‘The Badabook’ (2014).

The movie’s purposeful sound design and slow suspenseful build-up was lauded by critics, and attracted cinema audiences in their droves, making it the most profitable movie of 2011.

However, if the cinematography of ‘Insidious’ was a 101 for directing horror, then Wan’s 2013 movie ‘The Conjuring’ was a masterclass. The film was filled with jump scares that could only be produced through the exquisite practice of camera movement – each establishing shot had zooms and pans that displayed unsettling information to the audience’s psyche. Every single frame in the movie was intentional, and usually filling the audience with fear of the unknown to come. ‘The Conjuring’ is Wan’s most successful release, making £85.5m in the box office, and inspiring a worldrenowned franchise. Although there is a tendency to cast horror films as of ‘lower’ culture than other genres, through Wan’s camera movements, editing techniques, sound design, and excellent casting choices, he makes clear that any director should be proud to work in horror, as it provides them with challenges like none other.

Monique Santoso

My Favourite Horror: ‘The Haunted Place’ (1963)

It is near impossible to declare a favourite in a genre so heterogenous. Does one choose an example of body horror, or celebrate the nostalgia of slasher films? Should we recognise a cult classic, or applaud the slew of modern horror reclaiming some seriousness? I feel inclined to give the vied-for-top-spot to 1963’s ‘The Haunted Palace’, a film that could hardly be called serious or intelligent, but is nevertheless a prime example of thrilling storytelling. The film is an 87 minute long melodramatic romp complete with all the tropes of black and white horror films: the cobwebbed castle, the remote location and an event hundreds of

years ago that continues to haunt the community. The plot plays out as follows: a warlock’s experiments are not received well by the surrounding town, and he meets his untimely end: burned at the stake by an incensed mob of villagers. Hundreds of years later, the ancestors of these villagers continue to whisper of the terrible events, the memory looming over them in the shape of the now abandoned palace at the top of the town’s hilly outskirts, where the warlock resided. When an heir to the palace comes to claim it back, the memories of the past and his murdered ancestor come back to haunt him too. Borrowing inspiration from an Edgar

Allan Poe poem of the same name, and based on the plot of H.P Lovecraft’s ‘The Case of Charles Dexter Ward’, the film is a homage to the literary history of horror. Vincent Price in a starring role struts about in his typically suave manner, caught off guard every so often by a painting above the fireplace of his ancestor that seems to taunt him with its remarkable likeness to his own visage. The film is about history, but more than this, as a film, it makes history, bringing together strands of horror culture from over the centuries, and weaving its own new narrative.

Imogen Carter de Jong

I Am Jack’s Anniversary: Fight Club at Twenty The century turns from soap making, to underground ultraviolence, to anarchist terrorism Tyler Durden makes his mark. Capitalism restarts as three bombs count down to take away all recorded debt. Those who have caused this to happen repeat the same mantra. His name is Robert Paulson. This is what makes David Fincher’s Fight Club the go-to cult classic of the radical. Each scene still presents absurdness seriously. Edward Norton’s character (a nameless insomniac) is somehow acting rationally by catfishing support groups, befriending a man who sells soap made of lipoosuction fat and beating himself senseless in front of his boss. It all fits together, and even now it works excellently.

The writing by Chuck Palahniuk still holds this gritty disturbing realism to it today. Time has not minimised the reaction to watching Ed Norton

“destroy something beautiful” or Marla Singer’s infamous line about grade school. It feels like the real world melodrama of work, home, entertainment, and personal wellbeing was put to a blender and drank down by a generation of punk youths. It’s never-ending quotable lines that remark some semi-political, semi-philosophical rant which berates its watchers as much as its protagonist. A twist which brings back sense. An ending full of ambiguity and milliseconds of pornography. Age is so sparse in this movie I could consider it a 2010’s Cannes contender.

rewatching the same scenes on Netflix. The message of the controlled life we see is more relatable than ever. The resolutions are just as appealing to watch. Ed Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter are now respected actors, and we can go back to their early days- the turn from 1999 to 2000 where it was all meant the blow apart- and still enjoy dramatic mastery of young talents.

The other praise is the production. The Fincher touch of closed spaces and uncomfortable concentrations on the mundane, roll the idea that life is boring. Why are you here? Why are you relying on consumers? These messages are as relatable to us now. When then, ultra-consumerism was Ikea montages and empty Starbucks cups, now it has only grown to

It’s warming to see so much of that attention directed towards a film that deserves the title ‘masterpiece’; but has it effected the message? Twenty years on, is Operation Mayhem its own brand? All I have to say for it is, his name is still Robert Paulson.

And now we have the age where every line is commercialised. Everyone knows what it is and that we aren’t meant to talk about it. Tyler Durden branded soap sells for $7.50 on Ebay.

Fin Little

My Favourite Horror: ‘IT’ (2017) Now, prior to 2015 the scariest thing I saw was the final Hunger Games film (very embarrassing, I know). I am very much a scaredy cat. Over the past 4 years I have been delving into horror with my hands over my eyes. It wasn’t until 2017 that I found perhaps my favorite horror to date. ‘IT’ is based on the 1986 novel of the same name. It tells the story of the losers club as they battle the absolutely horrific Pennywise ‘the dancing clown.’ What I love about it is its sense of humour. Through jokes, you fall in love with the losers and it really demonstrates the connection these friends have. The most obvious reason as to why I love the humour in this film is it gives scaredy cats like me a chance to recover. You are not stuck in a horror and gore fest for two hours, you are given a chance to witness friends with a genuine connection joke around as they try to solve the mystery of Pennywise. However, do not be fooled, the horror in this film (for me) is terrifying and has to be watched with a cover over my eyes. Each fright is personalised to each character, giving you a slight peek into their psyche and freaks you out in the process. It is a fantastic film. Perfect for horror fans and scaredy cats alike, and a perfect Halloween film.

Image: Pixabay, Sky_Mane

Niamh Brook

HEAD TO UK.MOVEMBER.COM/REGISTER SIGN UP TO START FUNDRAISING

#UEAMO

ATTENDANCE BREXIT DEBT EXAMS

FLU GRADUATION LOANS READING

SHOTS SUMMATIVE TAX WORK