On March 16, the Orange County (OC) Register announced Oxford seniors Cameron Oates, Xabrina Kroll, and Aditri Harish and junior Nathan Nguyen as four of the 923 nominees for the 12th annual Artist of the Year competition. Funded this year by the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the program presents categories...

In his Best Picture acceptance speech at the 97th Academy Awards, Anora director Sean Baker made a bold — yet timely — plea to the 19.7 million viewers watching entertainment’s most coveted award show: don’t abandon the big screen.   “During the pandemic, we lost 1,000 screens in...

Since its 2011 debut, Minecraft has joined communities online and in real life — and its screen adaptation is no exception. While A Minecraft Movie frankly lacks substance, it earnestly attempts to emulate the imaginative verve that captivated fans of the original sandbox game, serving itself best...

When Lady Gaga returned to the stage at Coachella 2025 — her first headlining appearance since 2017 — the performance sparked immediate cultural controversy. Though many celebrated her signature blend of dramatic visuals, powerful vocals, and high-concept tagging, critics denounced the set as “demonic”,...

Early aughts’ pop, with its dirty, club-ready aesthetics and glossy, synth-driven production, can never truly be replicated. In her junior album released on Feb. 21, Canadian popstar Tate McRae verges on mastering the era’s sparkly grandeur but ultimately misses the mark with several formulaic and...

On Sunday, Feb. 9, Kendrick Lamar headlined the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. The 11-track  performance featured stunning visuals and music, along with rich political commentary and symbolism. Breaking Michael Jackson’s record for the most watched Super Bowl halftime show in history, Lamar’s performance...

  While classic literature is defined by timeless works like Moby Dick and Jane Eyre that speak to the universal experience, today’s lewd, trope-filled internet hits such as the hockey lust romance “Icebreaker” can hardly provoke the same literary pride for the modern era. TikTok’s book-lover...

At the 2025 Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, pop singer-songwriter Chappell Roan delivered scathing criticism of record labels and their failure to offer artists healthcare access, as she accepted “Best New Artist.” Roan’s speech highlighted the urgency for labels to take accountability and ensure their...

With the Golden Globes Awards presented earlier on Jan. 5 and the 97th Academy Awards set for March 2, the debate over “rigged” award shows and nominations arise. On closer examination, there are several factors that equally contribute to biased award shows that don’t portray the actual skill and...

  Internet celebrity Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, shook up reality TV on Dec. 10, 2024, with the debut of Beast Games, a series meant to push the boundaries of reality TV. Though the program attempts to assert MrBeast’s versatility as a content creator, its reliance on exploitation...

In a pinnacle of trashy teen romance, XO, Kitty returned to Netflix for its second season on Jan. 16, promising an even wilder boarding school love story than its predecessor.  Season two follows Kitty Song-Covey as she juggles soap opera-esque relationships and searching into her half-Korean identity....

After eight years of development, Wicked: Part One, an adaptation of the Broadway hit’s first act, released across the United States on Nov. 22. The first installment of the two-part movie musical stars theatre veterans, pop icons, and television stars alike, paying homage to the powerful call-to-action...