The first month of 2021 has come and gone. Looking back at the end of 2020, the promise of a new year seemed exciting, motivating, and an overall fresh start. Putting one of our hardest years behind us that we’ve had to face was relieving. But after these four “fresh” weeks that we’ve just experienced, it’s sad to say that nothing feels very different. Except that the days seem to be getting colder, the sun seems to shine a little less, and we’re deep into zoom university once again. The negative headlines and news stories that we see and hear are becoming

The Mummy (1999) is a great film, the other films are great as well (yes even the third one). I’m not afraid to admit that they’re some of my favourite films. I can probably do a one woman show, just reenacting all three films. I love me some Brendan Fraser; a fun fact once I saw him at Eaton Centre many years ago. I love the terrible cgi mess of Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson as the Scorpion King. I love the ridiculous, campy feel of this Indiana Jones knockoff. I have watched the entire series each year since I was

As a music lover, I constantly get song recommendations from friends that I tend to add to my playlist and forget about until days later! So, I decided to make a playlist curated by my Instagram followers song recommendations and to my surprise, the playlist was 4 minutes under 2 hours long! With all these songs, I listened to the full playlist and definitely found myself gravitating towards certain songs mainly in my fave genres of R&B, Indie-Pop/Rock and K-Pop. #1 Hope In H*** by Black Pistol Fire This first song was recommended to me by my fellow RTA friend

2020 will be known as the year we all stayed home. It was the year we learned how to stress-bake bread, fold all our cardboard boxes from our Amazon deliveries, and generally lose our collective minds inside. It was also the year where we probably watched the most TV. With theatres closed and film dates pushed back, the world turned to the TV screen (or for students, the laptop screen) to escape. So, to pay tribute, let’s review some of the best TV shows of 2020! The Best Newcomer2020 introduced a delightful spread of new shows to dig into. Whether it’s

Now that we’re half-way through the school year, some of you might be looking for ways to relax, decompress and just have a good time. Luckily, there are a whole bunch of classic TV sitcoms that are available to stream and have continued to make us laugh well into the 21st century. These shows are great to put on between classes or anytime you feel like you want to lose yourself in TV land. Here are my top TV picks for guaranteed 2nd semester laughs: 1. Golden Girls We all know the song “Thank You For Being A Friend” and

Are the rumours and conspiracy theories really true, deau? Last month I stumbled upon an article discussing the theory that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is the illegitimate son of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The article is a fascinating look into how the written word can be used to twist facts for the purposes of clickbait. I guess I’ve played my hand a bit early with that last sentence, because when you take a step back from it’s narrative of political romance, this conspiracy theory sounds more and more like, well…a conspiracy theory.  The article sets the scene by discussing the

It’s the start of a new semester and if you’re like me, that means you need to readjust your sleeping schedule to work with all your early classes – you need to become a morning person! I hate being tired during my lectures, which tends to happen when I wake up ten minutes before they start and log into zoom.  To prevent that early morning fatigue, here are 5 tips that I use, to help make getting up a little bit easier: 1. Don’t Hit Snooze I know, it’s tempting. Would an extra five minutes of sleep really hurt anyone? Technically no,

Alright, so we all are stuck with another online semester which many are not so fond of, but do not fret for I have some solutions that may (or may not) help you with this new semester. Bare in mind that these tips are what I personally used to get me through my first semester online, which I found useful. Tips: 1. Try your best to go to your classes at the assigned time whether it’s asynchronous or not. I know because we have the option of watching the recorded version of the lecture, we decide to sleep in and tell ourselves

There are two types of winter-breakers; the ones who use the time off responsibly by catching up on much needed rest, and the ones who, like me, completely ruin their sleep schedule by spending all night on Instagram, TikTok, Netflix, phone calls or whatever their release of choice is.  Oh look, 4:37am already??? Where’d the time go?  Despite what category you fall into, the brewing of a new semester means new priorities; as such, authentic rest should also be prioritized as a means of carrying out this semester with optimal focus and confidence.  I was always someone who struggled with getting enough

2020 was a year full of new challenges, many of which most of us probably never expected to be facing. COVID-19 has changed the way our day to day society functions, from masks to online schooling. The climate of the workforce has also changed alongside society, most industries have been forced to adapt to this new normal. With the film industry as no exception. Most movie and television productions were forced to shut down until it was safe to reopen. And while it may seem like the pandemic paused the film industry, it also provided many filmmakers with inspiration, fueling

Before you read on, I want to ask you: How many languages do you know?  Mukadderat. Sortable. Tu’burni. Jabali. Mellifluous. Sombremesa.  Every one of these words (phonetically spelt) come from a different language. Each one has a meaning so specific it cannot be translated accurately.  Mukadderat (Turkish): the fate/fatality of divine timing. Sortable (French): someone you can take anywhere without being embarrassed.Tu’burni (Arabic): bury me with your love. Jabali (Swahili): strong as rock. Mellifluous (English):  a sound that is pleasing to hear.Sombremesa (Spanish): the time you spend talking at the table after finishing a meal.  For the intrigue of it all, you now know approximately six

With second semester rolling in, the idea of productivity is a lot more exciting than actually being productive. Luckily for us, there is an app out there that makes getting work done a much easier feat. An Introduction to Notion For me, Notion is the holy grail of productivity apps. I’ve tried GoodNotes, I’ve tried Evernote, and I’ve tried having a million unnamed Google documents, but I found with all of them that it took too much effort to keep organized and stay committed to using it on a busy schedule.  Notion is an incredibly intuitive app with many different customizable

In 2021, I sought to bring new topics to SpiritLive. Thus, I’m happy to begin a series on Toronto filmmakers in the industry today. To begin, I was extremely lucky to chat with Evan Morgan. Mr. Morgan, a York University film graduate who has lived in Toronto his whole life, wrote and directed one of my favourite films of 2020, The Kid Detective. He also co-wrote, edited and produced The Dirties, another all-time favourite of mine. As of January, The Kid Detective is available for rent in Canada, along with The Dirties.*Minor Spoiler Warning for Below (please watch the movies)* Evan Morgan

The situation we are all in is really tough for many different reasons. We have been limited in so many ways due to the pandemic. However, consistently staying motivated, focused, and enthusiastic while remotely attending classes has taken a toll on all of us… and most of us are looking for a way out of that funk.One of the most important things to make sure to do is write down all of your due dates somewhere you will not forget to look. I personally like writing my dates on monthly calendars and using an agenda to draw my focus to

Wong Kar Wai. A director who is a pivotal figure in filmmaking and Hong Kong Cinema. He’s known for beautiful bold cinematography, mixed in with thematic atmospheric music in a non-linear narrative. He’s one of the most influential directors domestically and internationally in the golden age of New Wave cinema in Hong Kong. Now you’re probably wondering Wong Kar Wai am I talking about him? (get the pun?)As a big fan I have been waiting for him to make a new film just as I have been waiting for David Fincher to make a new film. Then my dreams came