arts-entertainment

Culture Editor Stella Powers thinks Marvel's "Thunderbolts*" is the best Marvel movie since "Avengers: Endgame."

ENTERTAINMENT

‘Thunderbolts*’ tackles mental health struggles

By Stella Powers | 23 hours ago

When people see a Marvel movie, they can typically expect fun action sequences, some comedy and almost always, a post-credit scene. “Thunderbolts*” (now being marketed as “The New Avengers), the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), delivers all of that. Additionally, it also battles a new villain: mental health.Released on May 2, Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Lewis Pullman as Robert Reynolds, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr and more.

The cast and crew of 'Anastasia' performed the show in Wilks Theater.

CULTURE

Journey to the land of ‘Anastasia’: Miami’s Stage Left puts on spring musical

By Kaitlin McDowell | 6 days ago

From April 25-27, Miami University’s on-campus theater organization, Stage Left, transported students and attendees alike to early 20th-century Russia in Wilks Theater for its performance of “Anastasia: The Musical.”The musical, which was fully student-run and produced, combines the history of the Russian Empire and the myth of the real-life Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia for a captivating telling of this story.

Summer is right around the corner, meaning it's time for summer blockbusters.

CULTURE

Movies to look out for this summer

By Stella Powers | May 1, 2025

Summer is finally approaching, which means the long-awaited summer blockbuster season is right around the corner. While it may not be “Barbenheimer” summer anymore, here are some films to look forward to once school lets out for the year.

Following the release of 'A Minecraft Movie,' audiences seem to have forgotten a key factor in a positive theater experience: movie theater etiquette.

CULTURE

Movie theater etiquette is still important

By Stella Powers | April 29, 2025

If you’ve been on social media at all recently, chances are you are familiar with the chicken jockey scene from“A Minecraft Movie.” For those of you fortunate enough to have avoided this, fans have been screaming and throwing things after Jack Black delivers the line, “chicken jockey.”When I’m home from school, I work at a movie theater. Because of this, I’m very passionate about movie theater etiquette, something that seems to have been forgotten recently. Look, I’m all for having fun at the movies. It’s part of what makes the group viewing experience so special.But throwing popcorn and making a mess on purpose? That’s just unnecessary.

Wendy Williams fans grew worried about her whereabouts after she abruptly disappeared from her talk show.

CULTURE

Where, oh where, is Wendy Williams?

By Landon Morrison | April 28, 2025

Wendy Williams, the controversial talk show and radio host, dramatically exited her talk show in 2020, and her whereabouts have begun to feel like one of her own hot topic segments.

In addition to the booths, there was also live music and various performances.

CULTURE

Amid rain, annual Sparkfest carries on

By Sydney Mulford | April 27, 2025

Miami University’s Sparkfest, the College of Creative Arts end-of-year celebration and celebration, went on with live music, booths and more despite rainy weather on April 25.At this year's event, there were over 150 students involved: 45 tables of sellers and student organizations, 12 different emerging technology in business and design (ETBD) games to demo and seven different performances. Some performances included local bands like Dust and Guitars, Oxchord, acapella music from The Cheezies and Just Duet and a performance from Dance Theater.

CULTURE

I did standby for ‘Saturday Night Live’: Here’s how it went

By Stella Powers | April 19, 2025

Seeing “Saturday Night Live” live in the studio has been a dream of mine since I was 14 years old. However, it isn’t exactly easy to do.There are a few ways to be in the studio for the taping of the show, including the lottery and the standby process. At 10 a.m., the Thursday before the show, an online form opens to request standby numbers for both dress rehearsal and the live taping that weekend. The available spots fill up within seconds, so getting through this first step successfully is difficult.If you’re lucky enough to get through the form, you’ll receive standby numbers through email at some point that day that reflect where you’ll be placed in the standby line Friday night.

Josie Zimmerman, a TMS staff writer, has recently taken on the hobby of junk journaling.

CULTURE

Junk journaling: the origins and its rise in popularity today

By Josie Zimmerman | April 6, 2025

TikTok has a way of reinventing ideas as the “new” trend, bringing longtime practices to light, and junk journaling is no exception. I discovered the concept of junk journaling two months ago when I looked up ‘journal’ on TikTok. I expected ASMR videos of writing journal entries to pop up, but I found creators sharing the content of the pictures, drawings, stickers, wrapping paper and more in ‘junk journals.’ I love scrapbooking, so what struck me about this practice?

STYLE

Behind the curtain: The making of “Incandescence”

By Sarah Frosch | May 2, 2024

See Miami University Fashion and Design executive board members prepare for their 18th annual fashion show, themed Incandescence, which features the work of 19 student designers and 88 models.

This image was created by an AI art generator on Night Cafe using the prompt, "Picture for a news article about AI art."

A&E

AI in the World of Art

By Kennedy Withers | February 24, 2023

Artificial intelligence has been making waves across the nation. With its prominence in video games, application filters and script writing, AI is now trying to replicate pieces of art.

Catherine Donohue (played by junior Tammy Sanow) and her husband Tom (played by senior Drew Grant) embrace. These Shining Lives highlights Catherine and Tom's relationship as her health deteriorates after working for Radium Dial.

ENTERTAINMENT

Miami Theater’s “These Shining Lives” truly shone

By Evan Stefanik | October 13, 2022

The historical play centers around four women in the 1930s who got radium poisoning from their factory job.

SCIENCE

Can the science be separated from the scientist?

By Sam Norton | April 29, 2022

“Can we separate the art from the artist?” This debate questions whether it is morally correct to consume an artist's work if they have been accused or found guilty of a hateful or otherwise wrong act. I am taking it in a different direction: can the science be separated from the scientist?

CULTURE

The Gathering at the Poet’s Shack

By Jake Ruffer | November 21, 2020

On the evening of Nov. 16, Bishop Woods and Upham Hall were lit with the spirit of creativity — and an impressive number of lights and projectors — for a celebration of art and collaboration across a multitude of departments at Miami.