Movies, music and video games make quarantine easier to navigate
Kolby Spomer ® A&E Editor |
Quarantine has been a long, hard task for many. Thankfully, entertainment options have never been better for a consumer. Movies, music, and video games have all been safe havens for many.
Movies, while clearly affected the hardest out of the three, still have been present. Music has had a hallmark year. And video games have been out of this world lately. Here are some of the highlights that will hopefully give you a reprieve (if they haven’t already).
In the world of Hollywood, films like “Palm Springs” have proven this year isn’t a total loss. The movie, which heavily relies on its “Groundhog Day”-esque plot, was smart, well written, and passionately created by The Lonely Island, a group most well known for their Saturday Night Live sketches. If you want a heartwarming romantic comedy that is actually funny, this movie is for you.
Music this year has been amazing, with artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Fiona Apple dropping long awaited albums. However, the year has given birth to a new type of album many are calling a “quarantine album”, and I’d like to focus on a few of those. Taylor Swift, for example, recorded and released an album in self-isolation and it might be her best since 2012. Charli XCX was the first major artist to release a quarantine record, with “how I’m feeling right now”. The fan dubbed queen of hyper-pop garnered huge praise for the album, with its stripped down, raw quality and heartfelt lyrics.
Video games have had options for every type of gamer this year, but the family/fun genre specifically has had some huge hits. “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was a cultural phenomenon when it released near the beginning of the lockdowns, with many finding serenities in its slowed down, wholesome gameplay loop. Lately, the battle royal game “Fall Guys” has become a similar sort of game. While it is just as wholesome (you play as a jellybean) it has a much different pace, that pace being extremely stressful. Falling off some of the obstacles or getting pushed by another player may cause many to get a little heated, but the wait for a new game isn’t very long and soon enough the player will get another chance to win.
Obviously, these aren’t the only pieces of media released this year. Tons of things have come out and tons of things have been amazing. However, these specific options are all great for your mental well-being.
Header photo: This combination of photos show cover images released by shows album art for “Notes On a Conditional Form” by The 1975, from left, single art for the song “Rain on Me,” a duet by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and EP cover art for “The Dream Chapter: Eternity” by K-pop band TOMORROW X TOGETHER. (Polydor Records/Interscope/Republic via AP)