Halftime Leisure

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

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

Halftime Leisure

Under (the) Siege: Halle Bailey’s color-blind Ariel and the role of race in fairy tales

The upcoming live-action adaptation of yet another Disney Renaissance-era classic, The Little Mermaid (1989),  has sparked discussion about diversity and casting equity on the big screen. In light of the... Read more

By October 26, 2022

Halftime Leisure

This time, it really is just a bunch of Hocus Pocus: Hocus Pocus 2 Movie Review

Well, it’s that time of year again: Hocus Pocus season. As Halloween approaches, Hocus Pocus (1993) related toil and trouble of all manner floods the internet and this year has... Read more

By October 24, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Interracial casting in Hollywood isn’t as progressive as we think it is

Still making waves from its June release to Amazon Prime Video, The Summer I Turned Pretty checked off all the boxes for a quintessential summer drama: first love and subsequent... Read more

By October 24, 2022

Halftime Leisure

The definitive Arctic Monkeys guide in preparation for The Car

On Oct. 21, Arctic Monkeys are releasing The Car, their seventh studio album, making this fall the perfect time to get into the staple alternative rock band. Here’s everything you... Read more

By October 23, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Warping the mirror: Five haunting literary monsters

For as long as humans have told stories, we have told of monsters. The Bible spawned the Devil and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first true English-language epic,... Read more

By October 23, 2022

Halftime Leisure

“Unholy” is a hot and heavy single with a lukewarm reception

After teasing the world on TikTok for weeks with snippets of their latest single “Unholy”, Sam Smith released the full version on September 22, 2022, and it has left many... Read more

By October 14, 2022

Halftime Leisure

There isn’t much to love about Love In The Villa

Romeo and Juliet is undeniably one of the world’s greatest love stories. But as any middle school English student will tell you, it is also one of the most devastating.... Read more

By and October 8, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Noah Kahan’s “Northern Attitude” prepares us for earlier sunsets

Just in time for the change in the weather, Noah Kahan thaws hardened hearts with his song “Northern Attitude.” With this new single, the singer-songwriter follows up the release of... Read more

By October 5, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Why changing the structure of The Bachelorette during it’s 19th season was a power move

Any fan of Bachelor Nation is likely very familiar with the setup of each season: one eligible bachelor or bachelorette, and about 30 contestants swooning over them from day one.... Read more

By September 24, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Halftime Leisure’s favorite summer reads

Fight Night by Miriam Toews (2021) Miriam Toews’ books all cover very similar thematic ground, but each novel finds a new emotional angle to explore her cultural history. Toews was... Read more

By , , , , , , and September 11, 2022

Halftime Leisure

A League of Their Own (2022) celebrates stories of Black and queer folks in baseball

The year is 1943. With most men off at war, one question remains on every American’s mind: Who will play baseball? Enter the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), recruiting... Read more

By September 10, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Twelve Glee songs that are better than the original (and counting)

Glee, for all its many flaws, boasts one of the most extensive musical catalogs in television history. Since its debut in 2009, Glee quickly built a reputation for doing it... Read more

By , , , and August 26, 2022

Halftime Leisure

A pop star in her element, Rina Sawayama dazzles at the Howard Theater

Rina Sawayama is an artist who belongs in stadiums. While the pandemic put a damper on her rise to stardom, Sawayama’s return to the stage comes at an exciting time... Read more

By and May 27, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Goodbye Hyper Scape. You were bad but I loved you.

My favorite battle royale is dead. It died, officially, on January 27th 2022, at 5:00 EST, when Ubisoft announced that it would be shut down on April 28th. It was... Read more

By May 18, 2022

Halftime Leisure

10 songs to take you back 10 years, because music peaked in 2012

You read the headline. You kept reading. You’re looking for some 2012 bops. Let’s get on with the list.

By April 29, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Olivia Rodrigo masters the art of storytelling in Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u

Rodrigo gives fans a much-anticipated glimpse into the creative process of making SOUR, the now Grammy-winning album.

By April 28, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Conan Gray renounces a fractured relationship in his new single “Memories”

From the moment “Memories” begins, Gray makes it abundantly clear that he understands how best to tell a story rooted in disillusioned nostalgia.

By April 27, 2022

Halftime Leisure

Pabllo Vittar and Rina Sawayama’s “Follow Me” is an exercise in excess

In her collaboration with Rina Sawayama, Vittar crafts a club banger with plenty of heart.

By April 20, 2022