As we rev up for another semester on campus, I’m reminiscing the recently departed rest and relaxation us students indulged in over Winter Break. The holidays present the perfect opportunity for McGill’s Arts students to sink their teeth into their favourite forms of media – whether that be literature, podcasts, movies, music, or more. I wanted to take some time to review some notable pieces of art & media consumed this break by McGill’s student body.
Personally, I spent my Holidays watching cheesy Christmas romantic comedies – at this point, it’s a tradition. I unfortunately made the mistake of first watching Paul Feig’s Last Christmas. A half-baked homage to George Michael’s song bearing the same name, Last Christmas executes every cheesy holiday trope with the finesse of a toddler-decorated gingerbread house – not to mention the cheap, one-dimensional portrayal of socioeconomic issues like immigrant alienation following Brexit.
Still, not all hope was lost! I found everything I could wish for in a holiday rom com in Something from Tiffany’s (dir. Daryl Wein). Based on Melissa Hill’s novel, this movie takes place in New York, and is the epitome of a cheesy holiday movie without feeling tiresome and overexaggerated. From the impeccable costume design to the fateful mix-ups that bring the two leads together (played by Zoey Deutch and Kendrick Sampson), Something from Tiffany’s is the perfect lighthearted, charming film to watch while drinking hot chocolate by the fireplace.
Moving on from my own whirlwind of a rom com search, many Arts students consumed some pretty intriguing media, including Maria Gheorghiu (U3 Urban Studies) and her love for chemistry, drama, and elevator music:
“Over the break, I found myself enamoured by Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt and Réjean Ducharme’s L’hiver de force. Both being stories of passion, infatuation, and heartbreak, they bring the reader along for the ride as one set of lovers drive through the vastness of the United States, while another tries to find their way in life through the streets of Montreal.
A perfect complement to Highsmith’s heart-stopper is Todd Hayne’s Carol, which brings the characters to the screen through Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, two phenomenal actresses who embodied the story better than anyone could have. What’s more, as the film’s beginning is set a few days before Christmas, it’s the perfect holiday movie.
This break was all about 1960s-70s Italian film lounge music for me. Pieces like Armando Trovajoli’s “L’amore dice Ciao” from The Libertine and Bruno Nicolai’s “In automobile” from La dama rossa uccide sette volte, which I can only describe as elevated elevator music, set the tone for the weird, liminal period of time between Christmas and the New Year.”
Many Arts students took their well-deserved time off to catch up on some of the hottest new film releases, most notably Aarthy Thiruthanikan (U3 English Literature & Finance) who watched Avatar, and Jane Carli (U2 Cultural Studies) who had an interesting take on the recent Golden Globe Award Winner, Tár.
Aarthy had no complaints about Avatar. She shares, “ahead of the second movie’s release, I rewatched the first Avatar movie during the break. Being able to experience the beauty of Pandora and its interconnectedness was illuminating. Bottom line: the depth of the film allows viewers to uncover more with each rewatch.”
Jane, on the other hand, raises some thought-provoking critiques relating to the relationship between portrayals of queer female characters in media and how they can reinforce larger structures of misogyny:
“Does Tar provide a cunning commentary or overplayed critique on cancel culture? Blanchett’s stellar performance might make one question whether the story is actually fiction; however, anyone who has proximity to the music world will find that the over-the-top dialogue filled with unnecessary and unrealistic music vocabulary references gives the narrative away.
Given the utter lack of female representation in classical music, Tar holds promise as it centres not only a female conductor/composer, but one who identifies as Gay. Instead of playing with these characteristics to portray some version of a positive storyline, Todd Field turns Blanchett’s, character into a wholly egotistical, misogynistic villain without any redeemable qualities. Although I very much wanted to like the movie, I couldn’t get passed the highly far-fetched and impractical nature of Blanchett’s character as an openly gay maestra in an incredibly selective and disciplined field who uses her identity to justify and get-away with her behaviours.”
Shifting gears to more literary pursuits, Solmaz Salehi (U3 English Literature) discusses her pleasantly surprising experience with a Sci-Fi short story collection:
“A short story collection I read during the break that heavily impacted me is titled Tenth of December by George Saunders. I dislike science fiction with a burning passion but Saunders mixes small doses of sci-fi with major problems in American society (problems such as immigration, poverty, class differences, etc.) to create the perfect balance. His narratives shift so smoothly and each story has a captivating voice and tone. Usually with short story collections, one or two stories are weaker than the others, but not with this one. If I become a high school teacher one day this book is what I will force my students to read.”
Last but certainly not least, Sarah Gaudio (U3 Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies) tackled a lengthy list of all forms of media:
“Over the holidays I watched Wednesday and Single's Inferno. I read Before The Coffee Gets Cold (I recommend it, it's great) and started Parable of the Talents. In terms of music, I specifically listened to “Bound 2” by Kanye and SZA’s SOS album – and of course some Christmas movies!”
Hopefully these reviews from your fellow Arts students provides some good recommendations the next time you’re scrolling through Spotify or wandering a bookstore looking for something intriguing. We’ve provided a list of where to watch, listen to, or read, everything mentioned in this article below – though maybe save the movie marathons for Spring Break!
Movies & TV:
- Last Christmas (directed by Paul Feig) available on Prime Video
- Something from Tiffany’s (directed by Daryl Wein) available on Prime Video
- Carol (directed by Todd Haynes) available on Prime Video
- Avatar: The Way of Water (directed by James Cameron) still in theatres; soon to be available on Disney Plus
- Tár (directed by Todd Field) available on Prime Video
- Wednesday (directed by Tim Burton) available on Netflix
- Single’s Inferno available on Netflix
Books*:
- The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith available at Indigo
- L’hiver de force by Rejean Ducharme available at Indigo
- Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders available at Indigo
- Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi available at Indigo
- Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler available at Indigo
* You can likely also find these books at your local bookstores – check out places like The Word Bookstore, De Stiil, Saint Henri Books, and more!
Music: