Halftime Leisure

The Voice’s takes on all things media and culture.

Halftime Leisure

The Last of Us: A terrifying exhibition of a brutal apocalypse

A disheveled child stumbles through a New England forest. Clad in tattered clothes and dirty green sneakers, the boy comes to a ledge and peers out at his destination: Boston.... Read more

By 9:00 AM

Halftime Leisure

You’ll never be the same after After

One cursed weekend last February, my friends and I made a life-altering decision: to marathon the After movies. What we witnessed was a plot disaster propped up by toxic masculinity... Read more

By February 5, 2023

Halftime Leisure

The Voice predicts the 2023 GRAMMYs

  Album of the Year by Maanasi Chintamani Prediction: RENAISSANCE, Beyoncé Should Win: RENAISSANCE, Beyoncé This year’s Album of the Year nominations leave much to be desired, from puzzling omissions—like... Read more

By , , and February 5, 2023

Halftime Leisure

Kaleidoscope tries a little bit of everything and struggles with it all

Content warning: This article references racist and xenophobic rhetoric.  Author’s note: I watched the show in this order: “Yellow,” “Orange,” “Red,” “Pink,” “Green,” “Violet,” “Blue,” and “White.” Netflix’s newest heist... Read more

By February 5, 2023

Halftime Leisure

The Sex Lives of College Girls season two is a wild ride

Essex College represents an exaggerated college stereotype, and that’s ok.

By January 17, 2023

Halftime Leisure

Best (and worst) of 2022: Albums

BEST:  MUNA – MUNA  MUNA’s third studio album earns its self-titled status by presenting a sublime collection of songs embodying the group’s hallmark style: emotionally rich lyrics with an energetic... Read more

By , , , , , and December 9, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Wednesday: A fun but half-assed addition

On Nov. 23, Netflix released the highly anticipated new series Wednesday. The show is the latest addition to the Addams Family universe, creating a storyline for the infamous daughter, Wednesday... Read more

By December 5, 2022

Halftime Leisure

The two-episode premiere of The Santa Clauses puts the series on thin ice

The show picks up almost thirty years into Calvin’s tenure, as he begins to periodically lose his Christmas magic.

By December 5, 2022

Halftime Leisure

American Horror Story: NYC is a dreadful stain on the franchise

With the release of every new season of the horror anthology classic American Horror Story (AHS), viewers are always hopeful for a season reminiscent of the early golden era of... Read more

By December 3, 2022

Halftime Leisure

House of the Dragon soars beyond its stuttering start

Content warning: This article includes references to sexual violence. In a dark, imposing war room, a bleach blonde dragon-rider musters forces to war against male claimants to her throne. You... Read more

By and November 19, 2022

Halftime Leisure

“Lift Me Up” is a soothing, triumphant tribute from Rihanna

A minute left before the Oct. 28 midnight official release of Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up,” time slowed to an agonizing crawl as a million questions surged to the forefront of... Read more

By November 18, 2022

Halftime Leisure

9 songs about being in a car if you miss driving, or if you don’t

I know some people find driving relaxing, but I am not one of those people — unfortunately, I actually hate driving. However, I do like the feeling of pretending I’m... Read more

By November 18, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Curtis Waters’ “RIOT” and its funky fresh sound will make you want to, well, start a riot

Waters prefers to carve out a space for himself in the music industry, making music by his own definitions.

By November 17, 2022

Halftime Leisure

She-Hulk brings a whole new meaning to ‘breaking the fourth wall’

Honestly, I'm confused. She-Hulk, Marvel's latest superhero TV series, left me in complete emotional turmoil.

By November 16, 2022

Halftime Leisure

“I’m not a monster, I’m a mother”: Making villains of superhero women

Sam Raimi did Wanda Maximoff dirty. His early summer entrance into the MCU with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) ignored a season’s worth of character development written... Read more

By November 14, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Tell Me Lies: Your next binge watch

If you’re looking for a drama-filled show that will keep you faithfully tuned in to every episode, look no further. Tell Me Lies (2022), a television series based on Carola... Read more

By November 12, 2022

Halftime Leisure

A disappointing but nostalgic prequel: Rings of Power (2022) misses big

Warning: spoilers Full Disclosure: If you’re looking for a detailed analysis on how J.R.R. Tolkien’s world works or how his world-building is incorporated into the show, this is absolutely not... Read more

By November 10, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Hellraiser (2022) is a twisted lesson in remaking a horror classic

  After a wait of more than 30 years, our favorite “explorers in the further regions of experience” have made their sinister return to the screen, just in time for... Read more

By November 3, 2022

Halftime Leisure

“Out Of My System” is distinctly Louis Tomlinson and that’s why it works

Louis Tomlinson’s “Out Of My System” sounds like it belongs to an old One Direction album. Tomlinson’s latest single borrows from pop, rock, and punk sounds to collectively create one... Read more

By November 3, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Protest through song: an ode to resistance in Hozier’s “Swan Upon Leda”

Content warning: this article discusses sexual assault. Reverence and rage do not often accompany each other, but to Hozier the two are notes on the same staff. Hozier is perhaps... Read more

By October 31, 2022