The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 10

October 13, 2020 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 6 Arts & Entertainment Day of desserts I gave Shudder a chance, so you don’t have to Being a college student, especially during these past few months, means some days are bound to be tougher than others. When those days arrive, a big bowl of ice cream is a great way to lift up the mood. Thankfully, we do not have to feel guilty about indulging in sweet treats because National Dessert Day is on Oct. 14. This day is all about indulging and enjoying all of your favorite desserts such as cake, ice cream, donuts and more. This day also allows us to enjoy new desserts that we’ve never tried. It’s a great opportunity to learn about new ways to enjoy our favorite delicacies. No one really knows who started National Dessert Day. However, we do know that the word “dessert” derives from the French word “desservir,” which means to remove what had been served from the table.According to saveur.com , a website dedicated to cooking, baking and all other food related things, “desservir” is something served after everyone eats dinner. Since the dish would be a sugar induced wine, it lead to “desservir” or “dessert” always being something sweet and sugary. There are a few things that you could do to celebrate National Dessert Day. You could gather your loved ones and simply just go to the grocery store and buy a tub of ice cream or a delicious pre-made cake. One of my favorite activities to enhance the spooky month of October is to watch some horror movies. As a self- proclaimed horror movie aficionado, I gave the streaming service Shudder a try. Released in 2016, Shudder is a fairly new streaming platform that specializes in movies of the horror genre. Within the past couple of months, I have been seeing more and more ads for the service. So, I figured I would determine if Shudder scratches that good old horror movie itch. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. At a monthly subscription rate of You could also have a bake-off with your friends and family and try everyone’s dessert to see which is the best. If you’d rather celebrate your dessert day solo, you could make some treats on your own, too. Some sweet treat ideas You could wash some strawberries, melt some chocolate and make some chocolate covered strawberries as a great way to be creative. Another way to be creative with dessert is to make cake-in-a-jar. First, you bake the desired cake flavor, then use a round cookie cutter to cut out circles of cake and put the round pieces into a mason jar and add your favorite frosting and toppings. Another easy way to enjoy a sweet treat is to buy some brownie mix, follow the directions on the box and pop them in the oven for a treat that will be ready in less than an hour. Something that’s a bit more time consuming and difficult, but delicious, nonetheless, is making Creme brulee. Creme brulee, also known as burned cream, is a French dessert made with mainly cream, sugar and eggs and is known for its custard base and layer of hardened caramelized sugar. A few more popular desserts that are always fun to eat are the banana split, apple pie, s’mores and carrot cake. $5.99 a month, Shudder does not even come close to providing what it needs to make that price worth it. For comparison, Hulu’s basic plan starts at the same price, and while Netflix’s basic plan starts at $8.99 a month, I can safely say that the entirety of Netflix’s horror section alone provides the same selection as all of Shudder. When first opening up Shudder, I was hoping I would be able to watch some classic or popular horror movies that I might not have had access to before. After all, this is a horror focused platform; but man, I was disappointed. On National Dessert Day, go ahead and order your favorite treat and indulge heavily on whatever sweet dishes you want. Enjoy Besides some rare, popular titles appearing, such as “Halloween,” “Elvira” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” the platform is filled with unheard-of C-list horror movies and Shudder originals. How can a platform that prioritizes horror movies have “Ring 0” and “Ring 2,” but not the original? Where are the essentials? No “Saw,” no “Friday the 13th,” not even “Scream.” Tobe fair inmy reviewof the streaming service, I thought I would give some of the Shudder originals a try. Unsurprisingly, I was disappointed. I decided to start off on yourself on this day meant for celebrating our favorite desserts. a strong note and watch an original under the zombie sub-genre titled “Last Ones Out” that compared itself in its description to “28 Days Later,” which is a personal favorite of mine. I could tell the movie had a significant sum of money poured into it, but the acting and plot were so bad it made the movie pretty unbearable. I finished the movie reluctantly, but I will never get that hour and a half back from my life. The other originals, generally, provided the same experience. In addition to Shudder’s particular movie variety and lackluster content, it was struggling to stream on my phone. I had no problems with streaming on the web version, but when it came to the app, all the content was coming through with low quality. It is worth noting that I have never experienced this issue with any other streaming platforms, making this just another downfall of Shudder. I will admit that the overall aesthetic of Shudder works very well and does a good job of making the platform feel like the epitome of horror. The live television option is a nice addition that’s not very common in the streaming industry and the shivering buttons and helpful collections feature are great touches to what would seem like the perfect horror streaming service. Yet, Shudder as a whole falls short. A streaming platform is only as good as the content it provides, and Shudder simply does not provide enough. I can securely say that most horror fans would be disappointed by Shudder’s streaming service. If you were thinking of giving Shudder a try this Halloween season, don’t. It’s scary how much you will be woefully let down. PHOTO PRINTED PERMISSION BY F. MIRELES Make some spooky cupcakes this National Dessert Day and celebrate. PHOTO PRINTED PERMISSION BY R. ESNER The Shudder platform By: Jaden Wilson Contributing Writer By: Rick Esner News Editor