As HBO adds more and more ongoing projects to their catalog, many gems are beginning to be hidden amongst a towering library of shows, and one of these is a show that aired in late 2018 titled Barry. This show was written by Bill Haider and Alec Berg, starring Bill Haider as the titular character “Barry Berkman,” alongside many other notable actors like Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Root, and Anthony Carrigan. 

H.P. Lovecraft has become a household name for his contribution to the literary horror landscape. Much like Kafka and the “Kafkaesque,” Lovecraft’s blend of gothic imagery with morally torn protagonists and, of course, cosmic entities, spawned “Lovecraftian” horror, a genre that continues to prevail almost a century after the author’s death. From Stephen King to Stranger Things, the cosmic wake of Lovecraft’s work is felt all the time.

“Consuming” by Sparrow Potter

Since the release of her second album, No Dogs Allowed in 2017, I have been obsessed with Sidney Gish; her weird lyricism and sweet, yet intentional melodies were enough to capture the heart of a closetedly-alternative 16-year-old, and Gish has kept me and so many others on a short leash in the four years following her last release of new music. On Wednesday, Feb. 8, however, this all changed with the release of Gish’s new singles, “Filming School” and “MFSOTSOTR.”

After over two years away from theaters, the polarizing director M. Night Shyamalan returns to the big screen with his newest mystery-thriller film, Knock at the Cabin. This film is based off of the book titled Cabin at the End of the World written by Paul Tremblay, which was released in the summer of two thousand and eighteen. Right now, Shyamalan’s film sits at a 68% critic score and a similar 65% percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Cars, known primarily for their music released in the late seventies and early eighties, were a new wave, pop-rock, and proto-punk band formed in Boston in 1976. Consisting of Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, and David Robinson, the group is one of the most influential experimental bands of their time, mixing familiar rock sounds with 50s rhythms and being one of the first bands to popularize what would evolve into the punk genre. With five original albums and one revival album, there’s quite a large catalog to cover, but here is The Lamron’s list of the top 10 The Cars songs.

With the release of HBOs latest smash hit, The Last of Us, picking up heavy traction online, its creator, Craig Mazin, has also grown in notoriety. For many, you may ask yourself—who is this Craig Mazin? Well, this is the creator and screenwriter, plus part-time director, for two of HBOs biggest hits within the last half a decade: Chernobyl (2019) and The Last of Us (2023). These two shows are highly acclaimed works, not just for their expert stories but for their masterful use of atmosphere, tone, and cinematography culminating in unforgettable experiences.

“Mine”

“Second chance romance” is a somewhat recently coined term for an anything but recently invented trope. The trope entails that two lovers whose previous relationship ended in heartbreak will find reunion and happiness over the course of the plot. Despite being fairly common in the storytelling world today, many attribute the trope’s popular beginning all the way back to 1817 with the publication of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, a novel centered around Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth whose “second chance” comes about as Elliot transitions into city life in Bath. Having been persuaded by friends and family to leave Wentworth eight years before the novel’s beginning, the man returns with money and fame from his time in the navy. It is here where he and Anne must now decide whether there is still room for love in each other’s lives.

2022 has been a successful year for animation. From Guillermo Del Toro’s retelling of Pinocchio on Netflix to studios like Illumination and DreamWorks releasing material that exceeded Pixar’s output, this year has been bright. One of the year’s shiniest gems was DreamWorks’ Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. 

The works of JRR Tolkien that fall outside the realm of Middle-Earth often go unnoticed compared to the likes of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but that doesn’t mean that Tolkien had any less skill when it came to other forms like the novella. “Smith of Wootton Major,” originally published on Nov. 9, 1967, is just that: a brilliant novella that tells the story of Smith Smithson and his Faery power, all falling outside the scope of Middle-Earth. The story also, and perhaps more importantly, was the last known and published piece of Tolkien’s work while he was alive, and the themes and ideas that are contained in the novella act as a sad goodbye to the world of fiction.

Lana Del Rey has become something of a mythical figure; over the course of her decade in major-label production, she has generated a cult following punctuated with controversy and adoration alike. On her most recent track, “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd,” the lead single for her upcoming ninth album of the same name, Del Rey is keenly aware of her own dichotomous image, and ruminates about its inevitable downfall. 

*Spoilers Ahead* 

The finale of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is upon us, bringing two unique and engaging stories with it and providing excellent characterization, designs; this is the culmination of everything the anthology has been leading to. Although these episodes are nowhere near similar in plot, they deliver on every front—a worthy send-off to this anthology’s first season! 

For the first time since the release of her hit 2017 album Ctrl, contemporary R&B artist SZA has finally given the people what we have wanted and needed for so long—a new album. While this album takes great strides in SZA’s genre experimentation, there are moments aplenty where long-time SZA fans can catch her quintessential vulnerable lyricism, her effortlessly smooth rhythms, and her addictive sound.

Parasite Eve is a unique entity in the larger gaming landscape. Released on Mar. 28, 1998 in Japan and Sep. 9, 1998 in North America by developer Square Soft, the game is part action role-playing game and part horror, centering around an apocalyptic event emerging in New York City. One plays as New York Police Department rookie Aya Brea as she chases down the all-powerful Eve who plans to destroy all humans via spontaneous combustion—bizarre premise for a Christmas game, right? Despite that, Parasite Eve is an intriguing and fast-paced adventure through an incredibly interesting premise, leaving the modern player wondering why its name goes so unheard in gaming history.

Episodes five and six of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities demonstrate some of the best uses of settings and atmosphere in the entire series, offering two gothic tales that are bound to encapsulate any viewer’s attention by design alone. 

Continued from the 11/11 edition of The Lamron!

One of the most popular bands of the 70s and 80s hit something of a resurgence within the last several years, attributable to a number of reasons. A popular TikTok circulated with a man riding a skateboard, drinking cranberry juice, and listening to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac; Harry Styles performed live with the band as well as covered their hit song “The Chain.” Stevie Nicks continues to perform live with popular artists like Taylor Swift, Gorillaz, and more. Throughout this resurgence, one band member, responsible for a large portion of the band’s catalog, remained on the sidelines, out of the spotlight, and thus not credited nearly as much as deserved for making the band as successful as they were.

Ethan is a history major with an American Studies minor. His inspiration comes from many different 19th and 20th century novelists such as Joseph Conrad, Kurt Vonnegut, and Jane Austen, but the writer who has had the most profound effect on him is Ernest Hemingway.

The new comedy horror show Wednesday debuted on Nov. 23, 2022. It rose to Netflix’s top ten list and is now number one on the United States charts. The story follows the famous character of Wednesday Addams, a nightmarish girl whose family decides to send her to Nevermore Academy for teens with strange powers, who finds herself in a mysterious situation involving her parents and an unsolved murder from twenty-five years prior. The show constantly unfolds new plot-twists in every episode, making the binge-watching so worthwhile. So far, the show has received excellent reviews, with a score of eight point five out of ten on IMDB and a sixty-nine percent rotten tomatoes rating. I started watching it a couple of days after it came out and finished it two days later.