All Forms of Art

  Janel Parrish is an American actress and singer best known for playing Mona Vanderwaal in Pretty Little Liars and Margot Covey in Netflix’s To All the Boys films. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, in 1988, Parrish began performing at a very young age. At six, she started piano lessons and soon began studying acting, singing, and dance. Her professional career began on stage when she played Young Cosette in Les Misérables , first in the national tour and later on Broadway. She later appeared in television series and films before landing her breakthrough film role as Jade in Bratz in 2007. Best Known For Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017) As Mona Vanderwaal, Parrish became one of the most memorable characters in Pretty Little Liars . Mona's transformation throughout the series gave Parrish the opportunity to play a character who could be vulnerable, manipulative, funny, and threatening, sometimes within the same storyline. The role earned her four Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Villain. ...

  I have a confession :  Crew Girl  probably isn't  for me. From the very beginning, it has that unmistakable Gen Z teen-show vibe. A girl is forced to move to a small town, hates it, and then, naturally, meets a boy. Add some romance, complicated parents, friendships, and a few emotional secrets, and you have a formula we've seen many times before.  It reminded me of The Summer I Turned Pretty in a way I can't quite explain. Maybe it is Teagan (Miku Martineau) herself, who has something of Belly's closed-off, slightly awkward personality. At first, I found it a little boring. I'm not Gen Z, and I suspect some of the things that make this show immediately appealing to its target audience simply don't work on me in the same way. And Teagan isn't exactly the greatest actress either. But eventually,  something about  Crew Girl   gradually won me over. It is warm, funny, and sweet, even when it is also decidedly silly. More Than Just a Teen Roman...

  I have to admit that I’m suspicious of movie sequels. Especially when I really liked the first movie. Something about a second film makes me expect disappointment. The characters are already established, the story has already had its big emotional moment, and sometimes it feels like the sequel exists simply because the first movie was successful. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by Moana 2 . It isn't perfect, and I don't think it has quite the same freshness as the first film, but I genuinely enjoyed it.  A Different Kind of Disney Heroine Modern Disney has moved away from the idea that every heroine needs a romantic story, and Moana fits into this new view. She doesn't need a boyfriend. She doesn't need a boy to rescue her, complete her, or give her story meaning. She can stand on her own, but that doesn't mean she's completely alone, either. Moana is independent, but she still needs other people. Friendship and Teamwork Independence doesn't mea...

Spoilers ahead! After four seasons, The Man in the High Castle finally ends. And since I've complained so many times about the show struggling to make its alternate realities meaningful, I was curious whether the final season could actually make it work. The answer is... mostly. Season 4 is probably the show's most chaotic season. Everything is falling apart at once: the Reich, the Japanese Empire, the resistance, the Smith family, and even the boundaries between worlds. There is a lot happening, sometimes perhaps too much, but there are also some genuinely powerful character moments. And, yes, Tagomi ( Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa ) ! :( When Everything Starts Falling Apart One thing the final season makes very clear is how fragile systems built on absolute authority really are. The Japanese departure changes the entire political balance. Suddenly, the world that seemed relatively stable — however horrifying it was — isn't stable anymore. Someone leaves, someone else immedia...

  I probably would never have watched Anne with an E if it wasn't for my daughter. I didn't think I could like it. I was wrong. Anne with an E is cute, but it is also surprisingly heavy at times. There is friendship, family, hard work, and adventure, but also loneliness, prejudice, bullying, abuse, and the very real limitations placed on children — particularly girls — at the time. It is a coming-of-age story, but it doesn't pretend growing up is always pretty. Anne's Imagination Is More Than Imagination What interested me most about Anne (Amybeth McNulty) is how she constantly escapes into fantasy. At first, this can seem like simply part of her charm. Anne is imaginative, dramatic, endlessly talkative, and can turn almost anything into a story. But once we understand what she has experienced, her imagination feels less like a quirky personality trait and more like a survival mechanism. Fantasy is where Anne has some control. When reality has been cruel and unpre...

  Something about Landman feels strangely unsettling . At first, I thought I was simply watching a show about the oil business: oil fields, workers, explosions, money, criminals, family problems, and a lot of very complicated people, but it is more than that.  It is about a world where danger has become normal. An accident happens. People die. Someone gets injured. There is an explosion. And then... the business has to continue. Because the business always has to continue. The Show Must Go On The first episode does a surprisingly good job of introducing us to the world of Landman without feeling like a lecture about the oil industry. We learn how things work by watching people do their jobs. We see the dangers, the relationships between the workers, the money involved, and the strange mixture of confidence and resignation that seems to define the whole environment. Then the explosion happens. And from that moment on, I couldn't watch anyone working without expecting some...

  Cassandra Calin is a Romanian-born Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, humorist, and graphic novelist whose work has a particular talent for making everyday awkwardness feel funny, honest, and surprisingly relatable. Originally from Romania, Calin immigrated to Canada as a child and later studied graphic design at l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Her own experiences of growing up, relationships, insecurities, curly hair, and the small frustrations of everyday life became the inspiration for her semi-autobiographical webcomic series, Cassandra Comics . From Webcomics to Graphic Novels Calin first became known for her online comics, where she turns ordinary experiences into short, humorous observations. Her work often focuses on things that can feel embarrassing or frustrating in everyday life, but become much funnier when we can step back and laugh at ourselves. That combination of humor and honesty eventually led to I Left the House Today! , a collection of her comics....

After loving  The New Girl  and watching my daughter read it at least a dozen times, I hoped  First Crush  would live up to it.  Good news: it did! Cassandra Calin 's second graphic novel about Lia is just as sweet, funny, and relatable as the first one. If anything, I enjoyed this one just as much—perhaps because Lia is now moving into another stage of growing up, and the problems she faces feel so familiar. First Crush follows Lia as she continues adjusting to life in Canada while navigating friendships, her first crush, her relationship with her parents, and all the physical and emotional changes that come with growing up. The story is officially aimed at middle-grade readers, and I think that is one of its greatest strengths. It Feels Like Real Teen Life One of the things I appreciate most about this series is how genuinely young its characters feel. Sometimes books aimed at children or young teenagers make their characters behave like much older teenag...

  I went into Sinners knowing surprisingly little. I knew it had Michael B. Jordan, I knew people were talking about it, and that was pretty much it. So when the vampires showed up, I was genuinely surprised. Sinners doesn't begin like a vampire movie. It begins with music, family, racism, violence, and the dream of freedom. Set in Mississippi in 1932, the film gives us a very clear picture of how racial separation affected everyday life. It isn't presented as some distant historical concept. It is simply part of how the community functions. And then the vampires arrive. It sounds like a ridiculous combination when you put it that way. Somehow, it works. Music as an escape The thing I liked most about Sinners is its relationship with music. Music is an escape for these characters, both physically and metaphorically. It gives them somewhere to go when the world around them offers few choices. And the movie doesn't just tell us that music is powerful. It makes us feel ...

  Alexandria Riley is a Welsh actress and writer whose career has moved comfortably between comedy, crime, drama and science fiction. While she has been working in British television for several years, her international profile grew considerably with her role as Camille Sims in Apple TV+'s Silo . Riley has played a tremendous variety of characters. She has appeared in everything from the dark comedy The End of the F **ing World* to the crime drama The Pembrokeshire Murders , Netflix's Baby Reindeer , and the dystopian world of Silo . Her career shows an actress capable of moving between very different tones without becoming associated with only one type of role. Early Career and Training Riley was born and raised in Newport, Wales. She studied Applied Drama at the University of Wales, Newport before continuing her training at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, where she completed an MA in Acting for Stage, Screen and Radio in 2022. Her early career included work ...

  Season 3 of Silo starts with a moment of supposed peace. Juliette ( Rebecca Ferguson ) is back. She is now something of an icon for the people inside the silo—the one who went out and came back. But the peace is fake, and before long, it becomes clear that Juliette’s return has changed everything. The Real Power Juliette is now Mayor, elected by the people out of love and admiration. There is a Council now, where the Heads of each department talk, share ideas, and solve problems together. It all looks very democratic. But we know better. Inside the Silo, the real power still belongs to the Head of IT—and that's Camille ( Alexandria Riley ). Camille was directly chosen by the supposed computer to be Head of IT. At first, I assumed it was because there was something special about her. The real reason was much scarier: she was ruthless. She obeys, and she isn't afraid of doing terrible things if she believes they are for the greater good. The Power of Stories Stories were al...

  Some actors become famous because of one character, but a small percentage can make it almost impossible for audiences to separate the character from their identity. For many viewers worldwide, Pedro Alonso is Berlín. The Spanish actor became internationally famous for playing Andrés de Fonollosa, better known as Berlín, in Money Heist ( La Casa de Papel ). The character was arrogant, sophisticated, unpredictable, and often deeply unpleasant — yet somehow impossible to look away from. Alonso gave him enough charm and vulnerability to become one of the most memorable characters in the series. But there is much more to Pedro Alonso than Berlín. From Vigo to the Stage Pedro González Alonso was born on June 21, 1971, in Vigo, Galicia, Spain. He developed an interest in acting at a young age and eventually moved to Madrid, where he studied at the prestigious Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático (RESAD) and graduated in 1992. He also studied at Teatro de la Danza. His professio...