Ashton Baysden A&E Editor The Super Bowl LI commercials were hits for many different reasons, but of the sixty-five brands that were advertised during America’s favorite sporting event, none started quite the social media firestorm that the Netflix original series Stranger Things did. A teaser for the second season of the supernatural drama was unveiled during Sunday’s Super Bowl and generated 307,000 tweets within a four and a half hour timeslot. Stranger Things took the world by storm the second the first season hit Netflix on July 15, 2016. Standing at an astonishingly-high approval rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the drama was one of the most critically-acclaimed shows of 2016. Set in the 1980s, the show takes place in the fictional town Hawkins, Indiana where young friends Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) reside. When Will disappears, the young friends set out to follow a trail of supernatural clues to find him. Along the way, they encounter malevolent forces, dark government agencies, a new dimension called the Upside Down, and a mysterious young girl named Eleven. Ashton Baysden A&E Editor The first six months of a new President’s term are always the most influential ones; it is the time where citizens get to see if the promises made during the campaign will be kept. It typically takes a few months for the newly-elected to leader to be comfortable enough in the office to start making executive orders; however, it only took President Donald Trump one week. On Friday, Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” This order prevents anyone from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States; additionally, it prevents any Syrian refugee from seeking asylum here. Many citizens are refusing to accept the order due to its singling out of one of America’s most oppressed minority populations. Hundreds of thousands are protesting the order, but the protests are more financial than physical. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization looking to sue the Trump administration, received $24 million in donations just over the weekend following the executive order. According to Vanity Fair, this is about “six times the amount the nonprofit usually raises in an entire year.” Many of the people donating and spreading the word are celebrities using their platform to speak out against the order. Jacob Sosdian Staff Writer This movie is probably the worst movie I have seen in 2016. Masterminds is based on a true story about October 1997 Loomis Fargo Heist that took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. This heist was the biggest heist in American History, stealing $17 million. Seems like an interesting movie right? Well this is a cheesy comedy. Masterminds stars Zach Galifianakis who plays David Ghantt who works at an armored car company. Then you have the other actors such as Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, and Owen Wilson. It was directed by Jared Hess; he also did Napoleon Dynamite, his first and most popular film. The acting in this film is pretty silly; the director changed a lot of the real story and turned it in different directions, which the he probably had to do since the people in the heist are still alive today. The comedy in this film is not very funny; I just thought that a lot of it was dumb. There was only one scene that I had a chuckle at. Another problem was that you didn’t really care about any of the characters, especially when these were real people. The real people did do one or two silly things, but the movie never acknowledged that. For example the members of the heist couldn’t open the doors so they tried everything to break the windows, but it was an armored truck. In the movie the front doors were locked, but they just opened the back door. The writers didn’t see that opportunity to have that humor and say that was true. They also added action scenes that involve a hitman who turns into a really sweet person, which I thought was pointless having a hitman in the movie if he doesn’t do anything. The ending also has a bit of an action scene at one of the member’s mansion that he bought. Jacob Sosdian Staff Writer Fences is one of the best dramas I have seen in 2016. It was originally a 1983 play by August Wilson. Fences won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for drama and the 1987 Tony Award for best play. Just very recently this film won a Golden Globe for best actress by Viola Davis. The movie, directed by and starring Denzel Washington, is about an African American who works as a garbage man. He is a father who tries to raise his family in the 1950s while coming to terms with the events of his life. Rhea Sodem Staff Writer Snapchat made fictional spy gear that is usually seen in movies come to life with its new product called Snapchat Spectacles. These glasses do not take photographs, but they take ten second videos that directly upload to your Snapchat when synced with your phone. These glasses cost $130 and come in the colors black, red, and blue. The camera in the glasses are supposed to take 115 degree videos that give the impression from the user’s point of view. On the side of the lens, there is a button that can be pressed to capture a video and clicked twice to stop recording. There is no need to worry about creepers taking videos without consent because a white light illuminates on the exterior of the lens to let others know that the user is currently taking a video. The case that holds the glasses can be charged when you’re not using the glasses, they can be placed in the case to charge. According to Snapchat, a full charge should last you a casual day of recording or approximately sixteen videos. If you want to buy it, you can try them on through the Snapchat filter from the code on their website. Unfortunately, these glasses are being sold only at pop-up vending machines and are limited in location. McKenzie Feldman Staff Writer Mariah Carey’s iconic hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has made her a holiday superstar, but the singer hit a bit of a rough patch during her performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. Moments before the East Coast New Year’s countdown, Carey performed her set in Times Square. However, no one could have predicted what was about to go down. Three awkward performances followed, closing out 2016 on a bit of a sour note. What started as a lip-syncing mishap soon transformed into a technical catastrophe that would be unforgettable for all those who tuned in. Meenakshi Sathish Features Editor It has been nice recently going to the movies and seeing women in roles that provide young girls with positive influences in their upbringing. As a girl who grew up absolutely obsessed with Disney movies, I dismiss allegations of the Disney princess franchise portraying girls as domestic and inferior. Moana is one of those Disney movies that remind me why I enjoyed them so much in the first place; the credit goes to directors John Musker and Ron Clements; co-scriptwriters Taika Waititi and Jared Bush; and music composers Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina, and Opetaia Foa'i. Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is the daughter of the chief of a Polynesian tribe. She has been chosen by the ocean to return the heart of Te Fiti, the island goddess, which was stolen by the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson). It’s a journey about Moana and Maui finding their true self and realize their worth. Rhea Sodem Staff Writer The new animation movie Sing features major Hollywood stars like Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, and Seth MacFarlane. The new movie not only includes voices of incredible actors but also of incredible singers like Jennifer Hudson and Tori Kelly. The main plot of the movie surrounds animals taking a part of a singing competition with the prize money of $100,000, but oblivious to the participants is that Buster Moon, director of the singing competition and a character played by McConaughey, is broke. If I had to describe this movie in one phrase it would be, a comedic, sentimental, and creative film all mushed into a perfect holiday musical. Jacob Sosdian Staff Writer The 74th Golden Globes nominations were announced on Monday and it is a great list with talented actors and actresses. To start off with best drama motion picture is Hacksaw Ridge with three nominations, one of which is for Andrew Garfield’s role as Desmond Doss who was a World War II medic. He served in the battle of Okinawa and refused to kill people. Desmond Doss was the first American to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. Mel Gibson was also nominated for directing this film. The other four films that were nominated are Hell or High Water, nominated for three Golden Globes; Lion, nominated for four Golden Globes; Manchester by the Sea, nominated for five Golden Globes; and Moonlight, nominated for six Golden Globes. Patrick LaLiberte Staff Writer As a Star Wars fan, I had mixed feelings when I first heard about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I thought it would be weird to have a Star Wars movie that isn’t really an episode of the Star Wars saga. However, after the first trailer came out, and more and more hype started to build around this movie, I started to get more and more excited to see the newest Star Wars movie, even if it doesn’t have Luke Skywalker or Han Solo in it. Even after walking into the theater with high expectations, I still thought the movie was fantastic, and it is now one of my favorite Star Wars movies. Rogue One was really good even though it is different from any other Star Wars movie. First off, the movie did not begin with the famous opening crawl that is used in every other Star Wars movie to date. Rogue One also has more space battle scenes than the other Star Wars movies with some great action. Rogue One probably takes a different direction that any other Star Wars movie because it is not technically an episode in the Star Wars saga, so the film makers wanted to make it feel like a different kind of movie. |
Archives
March 2017
Categories
All
|