Over the break, students spent lots of their time on media. With 2023 being an excellent year for music and cinema, on top of the high-grossing BookTok community on social media, I was curious to know what the students were consuming over the break. I asked some students on campus about what they read, watched, or listened to over the break. Here are their responses:
Lilly Hogan is a senior here at Santi, a cinema fan, and part of Shark TV!
Laufey bewitched Lily’s top album she listened to over the break. Laufey took 2023 by storm with hits like From the Start and Falling Behind, bringing jazz back to a younger audience. “I listened to a few of the popular songs off it, and I enjoy Laufey as an artist, so I decided to listen in full,” Lilly added. “The lyrics are wonderful and heartbreaking, the actual sound of the music behind them is calming, and the album as a whole flows together really well.”
“I also really enjoyed watching movies over break, my favorite being rewatching Pulp Fiction a few times. I hadn’t seen it (which my friends got on me about), so I decided to give it a watch, and it easily landed a place for one of my favorite movies ever.” Pulp Fiction is regarded as one of the most influential films of the 90s, as it has terrific performances by John Travolta, Mia Wallace, and Samuel L Jackson.” The plot is so interesting. The characters mesh together well, and it, of course, has a fantastic soundtrack. Quintin Tarintino’s work is always impressive, and Mia Wallace is an icon!”
Neve Pedersen is an outgoing sophomore who loves to hang out with friends and is part of Santiago Theater. She shared what she was up to during winter break.
“Over break, I saw many different films and read many different books, but the two that stood out to me had been the Throne Of Glass series by Sarah j Maas and Saltburn, a film by Emerald Fennell. Both had such captivating stories that pull the viewer from the first scene.” Emerald Fennel’s Saltburn shocked fans in theaters towards the end of 2023 and has been nominated for many accolades.
The Throne of Glass series is a collection of fantasy novels nominated for Best Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction and was widely recommended by YouTuber Britanny Broski.
“Throughout my break, I thought about these media constantly; they both have unexpected plot twists that make you question what you just saw. I’d recommend them to anyone looking for something daunting but completely fulfilling!”
“Hi, I’m Reese Loughner, and I’m a senior!” Reese is a driven and model student who plans to pursue Psychology.
Reese watched many movies over break, but her favorites were Love Actually and It’s a Wonderful Life. Love Actually is a new film about nine stories that examine one emotion that connects everyone, such as love. It’s a Wonderful Life is a Christmastime classic about a man saved by a guardian angel to prove to him the importance of being alive on Christmas.
“I enjoyed spending time with my mom while watching them and experiencing the joy she felt for these films,” Reese explained. “I like to think that my taste in film is rather diverse as I delve into several different genres and various decades of film.” Besides widening her taste in film, she also spent the break watching her comfort movies. “I also watched my favorite movie of all time, The Princess Bride, for the millionth time! This movie is a generational classic in my family. It has the perfect mix of humor, adventure, romance, and pacing, providing a perfect viewing experience every time!”
