Some Good News About ‘Some Good News’
Perhaps one of the most exhausting things about the coronavirus epidemic is the nonstop negative coverage about the coronavirus epidemic. And the news can be pretty bleak. Lives have been lost, businesses have been shut down, and many families are struggling to make ends meet. (If you or someone you know is struggling through this […]
How my life as a TV and movie critic has changed as a result of coronavirus
Because of the coronavirus, all of our lives look different these days. We’ve all been forced to make plenty of changes. But some of us have had to make fewer changes than others. In my pre- (and hopefully post-) COVID-19 days at Plugged In, a typical workday for me included grudgingly waking up (what can […]
Living in a SIMS-ulation
Twenty years ago, the world was introduced to a new kind of “living” with the introduction of The Sims. You didn’t shoot anything in this very different videogame, and there was no high score. Instead, gamers created personalized avatars that just knock around in a city or suburbia for a while. For the past two […]
Culture Clips: #DontBeASpreader
The entertainment world has come to a screeching halt as coronavirus continues to spread across the globe. Movie premieres have been delayed, concerts have been cancelled, Broadway’s stages have gone dark and theaters everywhere have closed their doors in the hopes of containing the disease. In addition to washing our hands and not touching our […]
Culture Clips: Billie Eilish Confronts Objectification … in a Surprising Way
Pop phenom Billie Eilish is well known for wearing baggy clothes. In a Calvin Klein ad last year, Eilish revealed that her generally loose-fitting garb is an intentional choice to avoid being objectified. “Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath,” she said then. This week, however, Eilish made a provocative statement […]
Everything Right and Everything Wrong With Gaming Culture
This past week, I reviewed Apple TV+’s newest show Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet for Plugged In. The show piqued my interest for a couple of reasons. Namely, because as someone who spends some free time playing video games, I want to see a broader representation of the modern-day gamer beyond the stereotypical “cute and lovable […]
Why Lizzo and Other Celebs Left Social Media for Good
Lizzo has been all over the entertainment media for several months. She won three Grammys last weekend and even nabbed a spot on Plugged In’s annual “Movers and Shakers” list. But Time Magazine’s Entertainer of the Year also made headlines earlier this month when she announced her decision to quit Twitter. Blaming the decision on […]
Culture Clips: Billie the Kid Takes Home Five Grammys
The 62nd Grammy Awards were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Jan. 26. The evening was marked with a somber moment (news of Kobe Bryant’s sudden passing had broken earlier that day) as host Alicia Keys said, “Earlier today, Los Angeles, America, and the whole world lost a hero.” The show also paid […]
Culture Clips: Silver Tongues at the Golden Globes? Not Quite.
The Golden Globes took place on Sunday marking the beginning of the end for Hollywood’s 2019 awards season. (The season will officially culminate on Feb. 9th with the 92nd Academy Awards.) But it wasn’t the accolades that stood out so much as the impassioned speeches given by the winners and its host, Ricky Gervais. Gervais […]
Culture Clips: The Existential Crisis of So Many Christmas Movies!
TV’s “25 Days of Christmas” has arrived! And while many a family may be excited to share familiar Christmas classics such as The Santa Clause, Home Alone and Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish on Freeform, there’s also an entirely new lineup of movies coming to cable and streaming platforms. If you count up all the fare […]