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New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

A student walks to school with a sinister plot against their teacher. The Dardenne brothers' film “Young Ahmed” was the recipient of the Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. (Staff Photo by Jake Capriotti)

Extremism Burns Slowly in the Mind of ‘Young Ahmed’

The Dardenne brothers’ “Young Ahmed” is a complex and unsettling portrait of radicalization.
Alexandra Bentzien, Staff Writer February 10, 2020

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s “Young Ahmed” is deceptively bright. The first thing that comes to mind when reflecting on the film is the quality of the light. It barely...

The Russian drama is now playing at the Film Forum on Houston St. (Staff photo by Kaylee DeFreitas)

In ‘Beanpole’ Peacetime is Anything But

Russia’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature focuses on the bond between two women as they try to seek ways to heal from the traumas of war.
Kaylee DeFreitas, Arts Editor February 3, 2020

When war is over, is there ever peace? What happens to those most affected? How do they go back to the lives they had before the war? All these are questions posed by the film...

Centered in a traditional Italian home, “Angie Aquavitae Is Aggravated and She Is Going to Tell You About It” is a one-woman show that presents a family in crisis. (Image via Wikimedia)

Angie Is Aggravated and I Understand Why

Sasha Cohen, Books & Theater Editor January 27, 2020

From Jan. 16-26, “Angie Aquavitae Is Aggravated and She Is Going to Tell You About It,” written and performed by A. Aquavitae, took the stage in Pless Hall. Produced by Gallatin...

The End of the F***ing World Season 2 premiered on Netflix in early November. (Via Facebook)

‘The End of the F***ing World’ Should Only Come Once

The second season of the much-loved show is as funny and touching as ever, but unnecessary all the same.
Ben Linder, Contributing Writer November 27, 2019

The end of the first season of “The End of the F***ing World” was not, in fact, the end. James and Alyssa are back. Maybe it was stock foolishness, but I was surprised to see...

‘An Elephant Sitting Still’ is Hu Bo’s entire legacy condensed into his first and only film. (Via KimStim)

‘An Elephant Sitting Still’ Is a Portrait of Sadness for a Hopeless Generation

Director Hu Bo’s first and only film before he tragically took his own life ruminates on a nihilistic worldview.
Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer, Contributing Writer November 19, 2019

Richie Tenenbaum put it best: “Of course it’s dark, it’s a suicide note.” Completed shortly before he took his own life in 2017, “An Elephant Sitting Still” will forever...

The American Airlines Theatre. Roundabout Theatre Company is one of the places where students can submit their own place. (Photo by Andrew McGibbon. Via Facebook)

Aspiring Playwrights, Submit Your Work Here

Have a potential Pulitzer winner tucked away in a drawer somewhere? These New York City theater companies accept play submissions, sans entry fee, from unpublished writers.
Destine Manson, Staff Writer November 17, 2019

Playwrights Horizons This acclaimed “writer’s theater” is looking for “idiosyncratic, accomplished, original theatrical voices.” They accept unsolicited full-length...

Waves is a drama film released by A24 on November 15. (Via Twitter @wavesmovie)

‘Waves’ Verges on Cinematic Sensory Overload

“Waves” is a gripping family drama that captivates with experimental sound design and visual components.
Alexandra Bentzien, Contributing Writer November 17, 2019

Don’t expect to watch “Waves” like a movie. That’s what it is, technically, but it is precisely “Waves’” technical elements that elevate it beyond all cinematic convention...

The Irishman is an epic crime film produced by Martin Scorsese, based on the 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. (Via Twitter)

‘The Irishman’ Is Martin Scorsese’s Swan Song to the Goodfellas

Scorsese’s latest offering is a farewell to an era of film from a master of his craft.
Masnsen Bouzidi, Contributing Writer November 13, 2019

“The Irishman” starts with a single-take long shot, not so different from the famous Copacabana sequence in “Goodfellas.” “In the Still of the Night” by the Five Satins...

"Marriage Story" is a coming-of-age film about adults struggling to balance a relationship between their own ambitions. (Via Twitter)

‘Marriage Story’ Is Noah Baumbach in Top Form

Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson deliver enthralling performances as a couple fallen out of love.
Alexandra Bentzien, Contributing Writer November 12, 2019

It’s a logline five words long: a couple goes through divorce. Crack all the jokes you want - “Shouldn’t it be called ‘Divorce Story?’” Plainly, no. Marriage encompasses...

Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2005 solo debut comes to America for the first time. It follows three strangers in a strange alliance to recreate homicides. The writer explains how the film failed to reach its potential both in its aesthetics and character development. (via Haos Film)

‘Kinetta’: A Cornucopia of Wasted Potential

Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2005 drama makes its American debut 14 years later, but American audiences weren’t missing much.
Nico Pedrero-Setzer, Staff Writer October 31, 2019

Unseen by American eyes up until now, Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2005 solo debut has finally arrived in the U.S. courtesy of the Museum of the Moving Image. Following a photo-store clerk,...

The second season of teen drama ‘Insatiable’ premiered on Netflix this fall. (via Facebook)

‘Insatiable’ Season 2 Is an Insufferable Nightmare

The Netflix series about a murderous beauty queen is too nonsensical to enjoy.
Nyssa Joseph, Contributing Writer October 28, 2019

It would seem that the writers of Netflix’s teen drama “Insatiable” did not learn anything from the much-needed criticism of the show’s first season, which was heavily...

Tokyo Twilight, a Japanese drama film, was originally released in 1957. (Via Wikimedia)

‘Tokyo Twilight’: Ozu’s Metaphorical Landscape of Heartbreak and Change

Master Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu illustrates a complex narrative of transformation through the breaking of a family and the evolution of Tokyo.
Alexandra Bentzien, Contributing Writer October 27, 2019

Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Twilight” (1957), restored in 4K at Film Forum on Houston Street, documents the simultaneous evolution of the Sugiyama family and the eponymous Japanese...