Many people had their doubts about “Wicked” before the film released. It was based off a Broadway musical that, while famous, wasn’t necessarily incredibly popular nowadays. The film had been in development since 2004, which is usually a sign of major issues with the production. It starred a pop star and a relatively unknown actress, who was quickly becoming notorious for strange interviews on the press tour and lashing out at a fan edit of the official poster of the film.

However, the film became a triumph and a pop culture phenomenon, grossing over $700 million worldwide and winning multiple Golden Globes and Oscars. The production design of the film pays homage to the original film while expanding the magical world of Oz. The scene where Glinda and Elphaba first visit the Emerald City is filled with magical color, and the “Dancing Through Life” song features imaginative and inventive choreography through a spinning, multilevel library. The costumes are lush and unique, providing insight into the characters and their lives.

The casting is another highlight of the film, with the leads feeling like they were born for the roles. Grande, who has stated that playing Glinda is her dream role, portrays both the vapid, self-obsessed version of the character at the beginning and the version who cares deeply for her best friend at the end of the film. Jonathan Bailey, star of Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” who gets to show off his musical theater background throughout as Glinda and Elphaba both fall for him.

With a sequel coming out at the end of November this year, it seems that the “Wicked” hype won’t be dying down anytime soon. Titled “Wicked: For Good,” the film will follow the second act of the musical.

Out of the many iconic video games that could have had great adaptations, it’s surprising that “League of Legends,” a solely multiplayer game with little lore and known for its toxic environment and highly competitive esports scene, would get a television show, let alone one that is one of the most acclaimed adaptions and animated series of all time. The series follows sisters Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell) as they are wrapped up in a conflict between their seedy city of Zaun and the utopian sister city of Piltover.

The animation and character designs are spectacular, adapting the exaggerated designs of the characters in “League of Legends” to a more realistic, but still visually distinctive, style. The animation style is one of the most innovative looks since “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” with the animation studio Fortiche portraying the emotions and actions of the characters with intensity.

The story, characters and lore are fascinating, with the relatively blank slate of the source material allowing the writers to tell their own stories. While some game adaptations, like Amazon’s “Fallout,” are given the space to weave in and out of existing lore to tell new stories in familiar settings, others, like the disaster that is “Borderlands,” water down the iconic stories for studio-friendly versions of characters and plotlines, alienating fans while not doing anything to attract general audiences.

While the series is short, with only two seasons and nine episodes in each, that means the characters have clear motivations and endings, and their arcs are wrapped up without being dragged out to fill runtime.

The show’s commercial and critical success opens the doors for more stories set in the universe, with multiple in development.

With the largest launch in franchise history, bolstered by the game launching day one on Xbox Game Pass, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” is a triumph of the first-person shooter (FPS) genre. It’s not reinventing the genre or adding any drastically new mechanics, but it’s perfecting the mechanics and feel of the game.

A key addition to the franchise is omnimovement, allowing you to sprint, slide, and jump in any direction. This adds new dimensions to the gameplay, feeling like a stylized action film that befits the campiagn’s story of rogue CIA operatives fighting against a paramilitary group around the time of Operation Desert Storm.

The campaign takes you through a huge variety of locations and situations, with one memorable mission tasking you with infiltrating a political gala and giving you three different ways to complete your objective. Another drops you in a wide-open map, giving you three missle sites to destroy and the full sandbox (literally, as the mission is set in a desert) to do it with.

Of course, an FPS will be defined by the guns you shoot with, and they feel great in game. Weighty, realistic and powerful, they are all distinct from one another, and each has their own niche they fulfill in the campaign and multiplayer. There are also other tools of destruction you can use, notably a remote controlled car that can drive straight into a group of enemies and explode, or a throwing knife that automatically locks onto targets.

The maps on multiplayer are refreshingly simple and tight, and are comparatively easy to navigate for new players and old. However, the smaller scale means you might be respawning next to a heated gunfight or right as a grenade rolls at your feet.

The campaign, multiplayer and return of round-based Zombies all combine into a package that is the best “Call of Duty” game in recent memory.

Taking on the role of Elphaba, a legendary character portrayed by many Broadway legends is a daunting task. Adapting that character to an entirely different medium, where the story is expanded and the characters are up close with the audience in a way that is impossible on a stage, is even more so. Cynthia Erivo, who before this film was relatively unknown, especially compared to her costar Ariana Grande, takes on these tasks wonderfully.

With a musical as iconic as this one, the vocal ability of the stars is a huge facet to take into consideration. Erivo’s voice is clear, soaring, and powerful, befitting the character. The film’s most iconic vocal moment comes at the very end of the climactic song, “Defying Gravity,” when Elphaba rises into the air on a broomstick and belts out the iconic final notes, Erivo putting her own spin on them by adding vibrato, firmly putting her own stamp on the character.

She continues to flesh out the character in the film, taking us through her emotions and evolution from a shy, bullied student who wishes to be normal to someone who is fighting against the unfair treatment of the animal citizens of Oz. Her physical acting and facial expressions, especially in the scene at the Ozdust Ballroom, are top-notch, providing clear insights into her emotions and thoughts.

The second half of the story gives the characters more emotional material and great songs to dig into after this film sets the stage for the story, and it will be wonderful to see Erivo’s work in theaters.

Adapted from our published review of the album:

Crafting a release that improves on her nearly-universally acclaimed first two albums was likely no easy task, but Billie Eilish’s “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” does so effortlessly. The album’s sound meshes the more uptempo art-pop of her debut “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO” and the sparse, relaxed arrangements of her previous album, “Happier Than Ever,” sometimes even during the same song.

One of the things that grabbed me upon my first listen was how short the album was. There are only 10 songs, but that’s certainly not a bad thing. In an age of music where albums are often over an hour, the 44-minute runtime means the album is concise and no song overstays its welcome. And even though there’s only ten songs, the variety of musical styles flesh out the short runtime.

The instrumental aspects of Eilish’s music have always been just as important to the song as her lyrics. Other pop albums might focus more on the singer, but the instrumentals here, written with her brother and producer FINNEAS, grab the listener with some catchy hooks and a sound that often alternates between a softer fingerpicked guitar and upbeat synth-pop.

Vocally, Eilish is the strongest she’s ever been. She’s supplanted the whispery vocals of previous albums with a strong and clear voice, making the moments when she shifts to a softer voice that much more impactful.

The album is an encapsulation of Eilish’s career so far, and those who enjoy pop that’s a little offbeat will certainly enjoy this album.

This summer, the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake captured the attention of the nation.  After Lamar claimed that he was the best rapper alive on a guest verse, a feud that had been silently brewing for years spilled into an aggressively public series of diss tracks, forever damaging the reputation of Drake. While Lamar has always been known as an amazing lyricist, even winning a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album “DAMN.,” “Not Like Us” is perhaps one of his most successful and popular songs.

The song is a scathing takedown of Drake, slinging allegations about him left and right with incredibly sharp wordplay and wit. The lyrics, the unique and infectious flow, and the excited atmosphere of the beat all create a perfect storm that clears to reveal a party atmosphere that captured people from all walks of life. The song is both a personal takedown and a rallying cry for the entire Los Angeles area, as seen in the music video. The video features cameos from a large variety of celebrities, but the most impactful moments come from a scene of over 1,000 Compton residents chanting along to the lyrics that brought a community together.

Two events cemented the song’s legendary status. The first was when, at the Grammy Awards, the song won five Grammys, including both Song of the Year and Record of the Year. When Lamar walked up to accept the award, it seemed the entire audience of celebrities sang along to perhaps the most famous lyric in recent rap history: “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.” Then Lamar performed the song at the halftime show of the Super Bowl, and the audience of 65,000 did the same.