Category Archives: Movies/TV/Theaters

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Downtown Owl’ movie review

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By: Sophia Elmstrom & Lily Sheldon

(Warning: Rated R)

As many may know, in April of 2022, the students at Highland would end their school day and see cameras and trailers outside everywhere. Out of all the schools to film a movie, why would they choose ours? Well, that’s because the movie was based out of the 80’s, and our school hasn’t changed much since the 80’s. It was exciting knowing that a film was being created in our town and our school. Getting to see the classrooms we sit in and halls we walk in every day on a big screen was something pretty special. They even used our football field for a lot of scenes. The movie came out, called ‘Downtown Owl’, and we wanted to give our thoughts on it.

First, here is a quick rundown on the movie. ‘Downtown Owl’, it was based on the novel by Chuck Klosterman. It is set in the isolated, fictional town of Owl, North Dakota in the 1980’s and there are 3 main characters that the story follows: Horace, Mitch, and Julia. Horace is an old man who spends most of his days at the local coffee shop in town, Mitch is a depressed high school back up quarterback, and Julia is the new English teacher at Owl High School, who moved to the town for a semester so she could be out of the way while her husband gets his PhD. The story follows their lives in Owl and how they all become connected and a part of each other’s lives. Julia begins to make friendships, and a possible romance, as she tries to escape her home life with her husband by going to the small town. The movie leads up to the massive whiteout blizzard (based on the one in Minnesota) that enters the town towards the end of the movie.

After watching this film, here are our thoughts: The movie had a very small town, nostalgic feel, which made you feel like you really got to know the characters. The trailers to the movie got you very captivated and interested in watching the movie. But honestly, the trailer was better than the film. The plot was very confusing and vague, it quickly became hard to understand what was going on. It seemed like the whole time you were waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. There were also some points in the movie that felt just a little bit off. For example, there was a teacher student relationship, but it didn’t seem a huge issue to the characters, it also seemed normal or like they weren’t concerned about this at all.

The film also seemed low-budget, as the bell would ring for the students to go to class, you would only ever see 2 or 3 students walking in the halls. There were also a couple scenes with the football team, and they only ever showed around 5-7 players, even when the whole “team” was gathered in the locker room during halftime of a game. It seemed like they should have had a few more extras in the movie to just make it feel like a more realistic high school experience.

Overall, we felt like this movie had a cozy small midwestern town feel to it but it had no clear plot. It felt like the movie was put together quickly with no conflict or resolution of anything. On many other people’s ratings they agree with our take on this movie; many thought there was no clear plot. Many other reviews also said that the trailer looked very captivating but when they finally got to watching the movie they were let down. This movie got a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 4.9/10 on IMDb. We agree with these ratings and it really shows how much the plot needed to be thickened. We believe that the idea of this movie was a very good idea though.

We rate this movie a 4/10 because of the fact that there is no clear plot.

Movies/TV/Theaters

Halloween movie/show recommendations

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By: Beverly Stinson

My favorite holiday of the year is coming up and I’d love to share some of my favorite horror/Halloween movies and shows to binge-watch on Halloween or during October.

I’m someone who struggles to find good horror media to watch so I find things like this useful when I need something to watch.

  1. The Scream Franchise

The Scream Franchise is one of the most popular horror series ever. I’d say most people have seen at least one of the movies before. I didn’t become a fan until early 2023 and I became obsessed very quickly.

The franchise is good to watch if you love a continuous story and if you love Horror comedies. It’s also good for people like me who love a good slasher but without a ton of gore.

But even though it’s a good series to watch in full I’d recommend specifically ‘Scream’ (the original), ‘Scream 5’ (also labeled as just ‘Scream’) and ‘Scream 6’. You don’t really need all the lore from the other 3 movies to understand the plot of ‘Scream 5’ and 6 as they focus more on new characters.

‘Scream 6’ is my favorite movie, and compared to all the other movies there are more gory scenes but not too bad. There’s also ‘Scream’ the TV series which is not the same as the movies at all and it’s also incredibly gory. So, if you like gore then the show is where you wanna go.

Where you can watch:

‘Scream’ 1-4 (R): Max

‘Scream’ 5-6 (R): Paramount+

‘Scream’ show (Mature): you can rent it on YouTube or Amazon Prime

  1. ‘The Boy’

‘The Boy’ (PG-13) is a very underrated movie but it’s one of my favorites. I do feel like it takes a certain type of person to like it. It’s a very slow-paced movie which is something that usually draws people away, but to me, the slow aspect of it makes the ending even more unsettling.

In my opinion, it’s not very scary, it’s more just suspenseful. It doesn’t have any gore or really any blood. The storyline is so interesting and to me it’s unique. And since a lot of people probably haven’t heard about it, I’ll give a short summary.

It’s about an American woman traveling to the UK to babysit a boy from a rich family, but when she gets to the house, she learns that the child she’s babysitting is actually a lifesize porcelain doll.

Again, it’s one of my favorite movies, though I knew the twist before watching it so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

Where to watch: Hulu & Paramount+

  1. ‘Totally Killer’

‘Totally Killer’ (R) is a fairly new movie to the slasher scene so most likely a lot of you haven’t seen it. When I heard about this movie I expected to like it and I really did.

It’s a horror comedy but to me it’s more just a comedy.

It’s about a girl in 2023 who goes back in time to the ’80s to stop a series of killings and save her mother. It’s such a fun movie honestly; it references other slasher movies including ‘Scream’.

There is one part of the movie that annoys me which is the main character trying to make the characters understand things that people in the ’80s don’t understand; it’s just a little pet peeve throughout the movie.

I love the plot so much, it’s literally ‘Back to the Future’ mixed with a slasher, but another thing I don’t like is the ending. I feel like it was so unnecessary.

But anyway, it has a good amount of gore for a slasher and will definitely make you laugh.

Where to watch: Prime

  1. ‘Lisa Frankenstein’

‘Lisa Frankenstein’ (R) was a movie I was looking forward to when it was announced, I already knew it would be something I like.

It’s a Horror comedy as well as a romance. It’s about a teenage girl who accidentally raises a man from the dead and they begin to collect body parts to piece the man back together all while Lisa is trying to gain the attention of a boy she likes.

It’s such a good movie all the way through, it’s so hilarious and has a good ending. It has a small amount of gore as there’s dismembered body parts shown but it’s not really bad. I really love the ‘Frankenstein’ take on a slasher movie; I’d say it’s a pretty unique movie. It also is a pretty good love story.

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

  1. ‘Supernatural’

‘Supernatural’ (TV-14) is a pretty popular show I’d say; it has 15 seasons so it’s definitely not a watch it in one day kind of show.

It’s about two brothers who are demon hunters and they go around doing just that. The first two seasons are mostly different plots for every episode but then it starts to have a main thing going on around the 3rd season.

It showcases a lot of different monsters, demons, and ghosts throughout the entire show. I’d say it’s not that gory for most of the episodes but there are some bad ones.

It’s also mainly a horror/comedy I think.

Where to watch: Netflix

  1. ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (TV-14) is another one I’d say is pretty popular or was more popular when it was streaming. It’s one of my favorite shows, especially because it’s mainly about vampires.

It’s about a girl who has been chosen to be a “Slayer” which basically means she has this supernatural strength to use to fight monsters, especially vampires. It’s another show that has a different plot every episode with different monsters but it also has a main plot pretty much every season, in which there are 7.

It’s a drama but it definitely gives a Horror/comedy feeling, which obviously I love Horror/comedy if you couldn’t tell.

And this show gives me the most Halloween feeling out of all the recommendations.

Where to watch: Hulu

Some other good things to watch would be:

  1. The X trilogy
  2. ‘The Vampire Diaries’/’The Originals’
  3. ‘The Winchesters’ (Spin-off of ‘Supernatural’)
  4. ‘My Babysitters a Vampire’
  5. ‘Beetlejuice’
  6. ‘The Craft’

Those are all my recommendations. I really love all the movies and shows in this article and I hope it gives you a sense of some things to watch during the Halloween season.

  • Beverly
Movies/TV/Theaters

Review of new ‘Coraline’ remaster

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By: Kumari Mia Wijetunge

‘Coraline’ was originally released in 2008 by Henry Selick, and is a movie that contained magical twists and turns that left the viewer with the feeling of being stuck in a dream that felt like a nightmare at some points. This enchanting movie that told the tale of self discovery and bravery has now been reawakened this summer with the release of ‘Coraline’ in remaster.

Coraline’ tells the story of a young girl who finds a parallel universe behind a small door that’s in her new home “The Pink Palace”. Once she travels to the new world that inherently seems to have everything she’s ever wanted it soon turns into a dark and twisted nightmare that’s come to life. The remaster gives a new twist to the film’s complex visuals.

The remaster of the original ‘Coraline’ brings new life into the beautifully crafted stop motion animation which is a key part of the magical storytelling that this movie immerses the viewers in. The visual appeal to this movie is off the charts characterized by its bright, yet otherworldly color palette, and incredibly detailed character designs and sets that creates a captivating dream-like feel.

The audio remastering also plays a huge role in this re-release. The film’s hauntingly beautiful sounds by Bruno Coulais and its crisp sound design are heard with newfound clarity and depth. The atmospheric and eerie sound has a way of wrapping around the viewer’s head. The sonic enhancement adds an extra layer of engagement making the film’s already eerie moments even more chilling.

While this remaster was a long awaited film for long time fans it offered a new opportunity for newer fans to experience the magic of ‘Coraline’. The visuals and audio make this film an ideal introduction for younger audiences who may have missed the film’s original release.

The remaster of ‘Coraline’ is not only a nostalgic trip but is a celebration of a classic that brought so much joy to long time fans and allowed them to relive it all again. With the visuals and audio of this movie it offered a rich experience of Selick’s beautiful work. For both old time fans and new ones ‘Coraline in Remaster’ is a chance to rediscover, or discover the movie for the first time. Overall, it is a truly exceptional piece of animated cinema I would give it a 10/10.

Unfortunately, ‘Coraline in Remaster’ is not in theaters at this time, but you can see the original version on multiple streaming services.

Clubs and Activities, Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Love/Sick’: Highland Theatre’s spring play

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By: Erin Moore

The final Highland Theatre production of the 2023-24 school year opens Friday, May 10, at 7PM. The spring play is called ‘Love/Sick’ and is written by John Cariani, the author of last year’s spring play, ‘Almost, Maine.’

Dramatists Play Service says the following about the show: “A darker cousin to ‘Almost, Maine,’ John Cariani’s ‘Love/Sick’ is a collection of ten slightly twisted and completely hilarious short plays. Set on a Friday night in an alternate suburban reality, this ninety-minute romp explores the pain and the joy that comes with being in love. Full of imperfect lovers and dreamers, ‘Love/Sick’ is an unromantic comedy for the romantic in everyone.”

Rehearsals for ‘Love/Sick’ began Wednesday, April 24th. This means that this show has been put together in the span of two and a half weeks. Everyone involved: sound, lights, running crew, stage managers, the staff, set crew, and actors have worked tirelessly to turn this into a show that’s ready for an audience.

‘Love/Sick’ performances are in the auditorium at 7PM May 10th and 2PM and 7PM May 11th. Tickets can be purchased at the door in cash, card, or check. The prices are $5 for students and seniors, $10 for adults.

This is the final performance for the senior members of the cast and crew. That is why it’s extremely important to attend the show if you are able and support the theatre and these soon-to-be graduates, Lashia Lee, Aaron Armstrong, Sophia Paske, Samantha Tweh, Elodie Cummins, Alex Roepke, Isabel Stockwell, Dmitriy Mangal, August Kruszka, Evadne Pond, Claudia Hanson, Sally Norby, and Brooke Sinykin.

As this is the final production of the year, your next opportunity to get involved, aside from attending the show, isn’t until September. In the meantime, feel free to ask those already involved if you have any questions and check out the @hptheatrearts Instagram page.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Shirley’ movie review

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By: Fletcher Pike

‘Shirley’ is a movie that was recently released on March 15th, 2024. This film shows the story of congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (Regina King), and her effort to become the first female president of the United States.

Shirley Chisholm was a real American politician who was the first ever African American woman to be elected to the United States Congress in 1968. Shirley was born in 1924, a time period where people of color faced harsh discrimination and received little opportunities for jobs or places of power. But this didn’t stop Shirley from becoming the first African American female candidate to run for president of the United States.

This movie showed Chisholm’s accomplishments and determination to win the votes of the people to become president. She ran a strong campaign to convince the people that they should vote for her. She recruited a team of people that would help her spread the word around in order to gain more votes, some of which included Robert Gottlieb (Lucas Hedges), Arthur Hardwick Jr. (Terrence Howard), Stanley Townsend (Brian Stokes Mitchell) and Barbara Lee (Christina Jackson).

Due to this unfortunate time period for people of color, Chisholm faced several setbacks that threatened her place of power and her campaign to gain votes. Many people thought that she would not be eligible enough to even be a congresswoman. Even stated by her own fellow congressman, “Why [does] she makes the same money as the rest of us”, in which Shirley quickly defended herself and stood up to him.

I thought that this movie was amazing at incorporating the story of Shirley Chisholm and I found it interesting to watch Shirley’s campaign progress throughout the film. I liked the soundtrack that was used and thought that it did a good job of showing the years of the 60’s.

Overall, I thought that this movie was really good and I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in learning more about Shirley Chisholm’s story and how she led a strong campaign in an attempt to become the first African American female president of the United States. I think that this movie deserves a 10/10. You can watch ‘Shirley’ on Netflix.

For more info on Shirley Chisholm’s story, please visit:

Clubs and Activities, Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Beauty and the Beast’: Highland Theatre’s spring musical

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By: Erin Moore

This weekend, Highland Park’s theatre department will be performing the stage adaptation of the Disney classic, ‘Beauty and the Beast’. 

These performances include tonight at 7PM, tomorrow at 2PM, and tomorrow at 7PM. Yesterday, the cast and crew opened at 7PM and had a morning performance which was attended by students from two nearby elementary schools and students who had classes during that time with either Nancy Michael or Melissa Warhol, both of whom have been heavily involved throughout the process of this show.

Tickets can be purchased at the door, and payments of cash, card, or check are accepted. The prices are $5 for students and seniors, $10 for adults, though students of Nancy Michael get in without charge.

This production has been in the works since the Winter One Acts ended in late January, and has taken up over a quarter of the school year. The musical is the biggest production of the year as it includes dancing, singing, and the music of the pit orchestra on top of the typical theatre elements in a play.

‘Beauty and the Beast’, in particular, is a difficult show due to the costumes, props, and sets necessary to make the magic of the plot come to life. While this show has taken a great deal of effort from every part of the tech crew and each member of the cast, it has become a wonderful production, and the audience is what makes the process worth it and what allows for future productions to continue, so please attend! 

Following the musical, auditions for the spring play, ‘Love/Sick’, will occur on April 22nd and 23rd, and performances will take place on May 9-11 at the typical times (7PM each night and 2PM on Saturday).

For more information on how to get involved in theatre, contact a friend who is already involved, contact Nancy Michael, find audition posters prior to a show, or look at the @hptheatrearts Instagram page!

Movies/TV/Theaters

My top 10 favorite Pokémon, with reasons

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By: Julia Yang

These will be based on the anime and not the game since I’ve never played, but you saw the title, let’s just get into it.

Number 10, Pancham

When I say Pancham, I’m talking about Serena’s Pancham from ‘Pokémon XY(Z)’.
I love his personality. He’s sassy, stubborn, bossy, and reserverved. Well, now that I’ve said it like that, he doesn’t seem like the best Pokémon— but I swear he’s an angel.

Pancham’s glasses, his moves, his charm, there’s nothing to not like about this Pokémon if you ask me.

He may be last on this list, but that’s only because I like the 9 others on this list more than him, not because he’s my least favorite of all time.

Number 9, Plusle and Minun

These Pokémon are old but gold. They’re just little Pichu’s with more color and cheer. They’re adorable cheerleaders to support you along the way. You can’t have one without having the other, isn’t that cute?

In the anime, there’s an episode where a trainer is sick and his Plusle and Minun are just on his hospital bed trying to cheer him up by doing their little cheer routine.

This is so impossibly heartbreaking, I love them.

Number 8, Popplio

Popplio is just an outstandingly skilled and talented Pokémon. They’re the destined entertainers of their world, not to mention how charming they are.

Lana’s Popplio from ‘Pokémon Sun and Moon’ is just so fun and bubbly to watch. Popplio usually have a fun, silly, and cheerful personality which makes everyone love them.

The power to create basically indestructible bubbles is also an awesome power to have, like, who thought of that?

Number 7, Grookey

Grookey is basically literally just a monkey with a stick and it’s perfect, I couldn’t ask for anything more from this Pokémon. All Grookey does is just hit things with their stick, and cause trouble. A pretty good Pokémon if I do say so myself.

Number 6, Sobble

Most people either don’t like Sobble or they hate them, but I love Sobble. Sobble are just silly little Pokémon who want to go home all the time, who want to do no harm. They cry and cry, waiting for someone to make them happy again.

The thought of an extremely overpowered move to cry and force others in the area to cry is just a funny thing since Sobble are the scaredy-cats of Pokémon; so emotional, timid, nervous, and all of that with zero confidence.

Number 5, Diance

Diance is just such a stunning Pokémon, and her abilities are incredible. Imagine being able to make diamonds. Isn’t that insane? No wonder why people were trying to track her down. Diance is such a sweetheart in the movie, she just wants to make everyone happy whilst trying to keep herself safe.

Another thing, have you seen her mega evolution form? It’s extremely ethereal.

Number 4, Mew

I’m not sure why, but I’ve always taken a liking to Mew ever since I found out Mew was a Pokémon. Mew is just an overpowered baby if you really think about it— like Jack Jack from ‘The Incredibles’ movie. If you don’t know for some reason and are reading this article, Mew’s power is to become any Pokémon of its liking. Mew has every single Pokémon DNA in its body, allowing it to become the Pokémon and do/use whatever the Pokémon does.

This counts for legendaries and mythicals too. Now you get the scale of its power, right? Insane.

All of this power given to this playful and unintentionally dangerous Pokémon— and don’t even get me started on its passive abilities. This Pokémon is such a danger, I love it.

Number 3, Chespin

I want to make this very clear. When the name ‘Chespin’ comes out of my mouth, I’m only talking about Clemont’s Chespin, I couldn’t care less about any other Chespin.

Clemont’s Chespin is like Grookey, but 10x better.

He’s effortlessly funny, he’s sarcastic, he’s relatable, he causes trouble, and he’s expressive. We have all of this information about him, but he can’t even say anything other than his name. That’s how expressive he is. I’ve loved him since day one.

The best Pokémon personality to ever exist.

Number 2, Zeraora

Zeraora’s backstory is what gets me— its purpose for wanting to live is what gets me.

Zeraora— in the movie ‘The Power of Us’— is the guardian of the surrounding forest. Swearing to protect the nature and wild Pokémon inhabiting it due to humans/trainers burning it down in the past.

As long as Zeraora had lived, that forest would never be touched by mankind.

Zeraora is a Legendary Pokémon, making it extremely rare and difficult to catch. Throughout the movie, we see Zeraora getting hurt as a result of Pokémon hunters wanting to catch the all-powerful Pokémon of the forest. They never catch Zeraora of course, but they always get close.
Anyways, Zeraora is a fantastic Pokémon with a fantastic story, I’d highly recommend watching ‘The Power of Us’.

Number 1, Hoopa

Words cannot describe how much this Pokémon means to me. I believe Hoopa was in the first Pokémon movie I had watched, so it holds a very special place in my heart.

Hoopa is an extremely playful Pokémon with a curse of having its larger and more powerful form have an evil presence in it. Hoopa shows throughout the movie, it doesn’t want to hurt trainers and Pokémon, all it wants to do is impress everyone and have fun.

Hoopa has the ability to make portals with it’s hoops, isn’t that fun? I’d enjoy having Hoopa around anytime. Hoopa could turn big after the curse is gone, and we’d have a jolly time together.

Hoopa just seems like an extremely fun and exciting Pokémon to be around, and I think we all need a Hoopa in our life.

I believe fun and troubling Pokémon are the best, but I think we both have figured that out by now.

I hope you enjoyed reading my ranking with reasons.

Movies/TV/Theaters

MOVIES COMING OUT IN APRIL

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BY: Hermekay Dehaney

As we step into April, there are a bunch of movies to look forward to. This includes a wide range of different genres that you can watch at the movie theater and at home on streaming apps. 

Start marking your calendars because in this article I will tell you all the movies to anticipate coming in April. 

  1. ‘The First Omen’ (April 5)

Horror/Mystery/Thriller – 2 hours 

‘The First Omen’ is released in theaters, and is a prequel to the classic horror film ‘The Omen’, released in 1976. It’s the sixth film in ‘The Omen’ franchise. 

The movie stars Nell Tiger Free who plays Margaret, Tawfeek Barho who plays Father Gabriel, Sônia Brags who plays Sister Silva , Ralph Ineson who plays Father Brennan, and Bill Nighy who plays Cardinal Lawrence. 

The storyline follows an American woman who is sent to Rome to work in a church who soon discovers a terrifying encounter with some sort of darkness that makes her question her faith, and leads her to uncover a sinister conspiracy aiming to unleash evil. 

Here is the trailer for ‘The First Omen’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmN1Op8ygno

  1. ‘Monkey Man‘ (April 5)

Action/Thriller – 2h 1m 

‘Monkey Man; is being released by Universal Pictures. The movie is directed by Dev Patel who also stars in the lead role along with Sharlto Copley who plays Tiger, Pitobash who plays Alphonso, Adithi Kalkunte who plays Neela, and Sobhita Dhulipala who plays Sita. 

The movie follows an anonymous young man who goes on a journey to take revenge on the corrupt leaders who are responsible for his mother, Neela’s, death. 

Latest trailer for ‘Monkey Man’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqa3YTtwvaU

  1. ‘Civil War‘ (April 12)

Action/Sci-fi – 1h 49m

‘Civil War’ is set to be released by A24. The movie stars Kirsten Dunst who plays photographer Lee, Wagner Moura who plays a reporter Joel, Cailee Spaeny who plays Jessie , Stephen McKinley Henderson who plays Sammy, and Nick Offerman who plays the President. 

The movie plot is about a group of reporters that travel around the United States trying to reach Washington D.C. before it turns into a dystopian dictatorship. 

‘Civil War’ trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA4wVhs3HC0

  1. ‘Abigail’ (April 19)

Horror/Thriller 

‘Abigail’ is based on the 1936 film ‘Dracula’s Daughter’. This movie features  Angus Clouds, and this was his final acting role before his passing last July. 

This movie focuses on a group of kidnappers who kidnap Abigail, played by Alisha Weir, who is the daughter of a very powerful underworld figure for ransom. They quickly realized that this girl is not an ordinary girl but is a vampire who starts to hunt people down. 

This movie will be released in theaters by Universal Pictures. 

Trailer for ‘Abigail’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PsP8MFH8p0

  1. ‘Challengers’ (April 26) 

Sport/Romance – 2h 11m

‘Challengers’ is a movie directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes. The movie stars Zendaya who plays Tashi Donaldson, Mike Faust who plays Art Donaldson, and Josh O’Connor who plays Patrick Zweig. 

The premise of the movie is that after Art Donaldson experiences a series of losses, his Grand Slam champion wife, Tashi, enrolls him in a challenger event where he will compete against her ex lover. 

The movie will premiere in theaters. 

Trailer for ‘Challengers’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VobTTbg-te0

I hope this article gives you a little more insight to these upcoming movies, and something to look forward to in the month of April. 

Movies/TV/Theaters

Oscars summary

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By: Daniel Kendle

The Oscars is a ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, with this year’s annual ceremony hosted on March 10, 2024. As usual, the awards were directed towards movies and the people surrounding them, making for 23 different categories. Today I’ll be looking at every win in alphabetical order, what I may have wanted instead, and some statistics about the winners overall. Let’s begin!

Also, I was originally going to list the nominees individually as well, but due to time and them making the article skyrocket in size, I had to dial it down to just listing winners. Here they are:

  • Cillian Murphy won for Best Actor in ‘Oppenheimer,’ and I think it was well-deserved. I would’ve also liked it if Colman Domingo won, but this was a pretty obvious pick that made sense.
  • Robert Downey Jr. won Best Supporting Actor, also for ‘Oppenheimer.’ This was also a deserved win, though I was also partial to Robert De Niro. Still, a good victory.
  • Arguably the most controversial win of the night was Emma Stone for Best Actress in ‘Poor Things.’ A lot of people really wanted Lily Gladstone to win for her role in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ as did I after watching the film. However, I think both actresses did well in each of their roles; Emma Stone may have been my 2nd choice for the award, but she still did a great job in her respective film. I don’t really like getting up-in-arms over this subject, as I find it weird to be so heated over real people; it’s a bit cruel.
  • Finally last for the Acting category, Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘The Holdovers.’ This was another easy pick, but again, a deserving choice.

Now that we’ve talked about the 4 actor awards, we can finally get into the bulk of the winners.

  • ‘The Boy and the Heron’ won for Best Animated Feature, which was my favorite out of the nominees. I was sure that the ‘Spiderman’ movie from June was going to win, but I’m glad it didn’t. My 2nd choice for the win was ‘Robot Dreams,’ actually.
  • ‘Oppenheimer’ won for cinematography, which was alright. I preferred ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’s’ staging, but this was alright.
  • ‘Poor Things’ got Costume Design, which is pretty cool. I don’t have a dramatic opinion on this category compared to others, so this was just a nice win.
  • Best Director went to Christopher Nolan, also for ‘Oppenheimer.’ I’m happy with this; he hasn’t won the award yet despite multiple past nominations, so this was cool to see. My runner-up was Jonathan Glazer for ‘The Zone of Interest,’ however.
  • Documentary Feature Film was given to ‘20 Days in Mariupol.’ I haven’t seen it, but I’m sure it was deserved.
  • To follow that up, ‘The Last Repair Shop’ won for Documentary Short Film. I also haven’t seen this, and my 2nd choice was ‘Nai Nai and Wai Po,’ which I watched prior to the ceremony.
  • Film Editing went to ‘Oppenheimer,’ which was alright. Similar to Cinematography, I preferred ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’s’ editing, but it’s whatever.
  • ‘The Zone of Interest’ won the award for International Feature Film. It’s a bit annoying how obvious it was; it’s the only nominee to be up for Best Picture; of course it was going to win. That’s nothing against it, but just a stray thought.
  • Makeup and Hairstyling is another category I don’t care too much about. The award went to ‘Poor Things’ which was deserved.
  • ‘Oppenheimer’ won the award for Original Score, which was a great choice. A bit of an easy pick, but if there’s one category ‘Oppenheimer’ should’ve won over any other, it’s this one.
  • ‘What Was I Made For?’ By Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell got Original Song, which was a fine choice. I liked ‘I’m Just Ken’ and ‘Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)’ more, but this was an obvious win.
  • ‘Poor Things’ won for Production Design, which was a good win. ‘Barbie’ had my vote, but this was alright.
  • I haven’t seen any films in the Animated Shorts category, so I can’t say much on that front. The winner was ‘War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko.’
  • ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ got the pick for Live Action Short Film, which was awesome. This is Wes Anderson’s first win at the Oscars, which was great. It was my pick for the award and I was so happy to see it win.
  • Another awesome win was ‘The Zone of Interest’ getting the award for Best Sound. I love ‘Oppenheimer,’ and I was so sure it was winning this category, so seeing a surprise victory for a lesser-known film was cool. My 2nd choice was ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.’
  • The last of this trio for awesome wins was ‘Godzilla Minus One’ for Visual Effects. This was the franchise’s first nomination at the Oscars, so it was nice to see them win, too.
  • For the 2 screenplay awards, ‘American Fiction’ won the award for Adapted Screenplay, and ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ for Original Screenplay. Both deserving picks, especially for the latter.

Finally, ‘Oppenheimer’ won Best Picture, cementing it the biggest winner of the night, with 7 wins. ‘Poor Things’ came next with 4 awards, and ‘The Zone of Interest’ in 3rd place with 2. Some widely-acclaimed films went home with no awards, including ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ ‘Maestro,’ ‘Past Lives,’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’

The ceremony had a lot of good picks overall, and was fun to watch.

Movies/TV/Theaters

My thoughts on the live action ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

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By: Julia Yang

I had just recently watched season 1 of the new live action ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (ATLA), and I have some things to say about it.

Some things were odd, and some things were really good. For reference, I had already watched the original ATLA a long time ago, and it’s outstanding. When I heard that it was going to get a live action, I was ecstatic; it was one of the most exciting things I was waiting for. When I watched the live action, I was a little dissatisfied with some changes they made, but at the same time, it was a fun experience. I’m here to tell you my thoughts.

One of the larger things I’m confused about is why they decided to make all of the past avatars extremely hard on Aang about having friends, especially Aang’s best childhood friend Bumi.

In the cartoon when Aang and Bumi meet up after 100 years, Bumi is dangerous, fun, and playful. In the live action, he’s just dangerous, cocky, and apathetic. I heavily disliked this change— because Bumi was a fun-loving soul and was changed to having Aang choose between killing him or himself.

Back to the past avatar reincarnations: they’re so mean and hard on Aang. I get the past avatars were working alone and that’s all they know to do, but that’s not at all what happened in the cartoon. In fact, if I remember correctly, Aang didn’t even meet all of the past avatars.

I don’t know, I just find it weird how Bumi and all of the avatars are basically saying “Abandon your friends, or allow the world to be destroyed.”

One thing I love is the fact that they casted actual children/teenagers that aligned with the cartoon characters’ ages. This is something that people tend to complain about when they’re talking about their issues with the live action ATLA, but I find it super fitting. Visually and verbally seeing that Aang’s actor was actually 12 when they were filming is a really nice touch.

Another maybe smaller thing I didn’t really like, is that the Face Stealer (Koh) doesn’t steal peoples’ faces when they show emotion.
That’s a really weird change?? That’s like Koh’s whole schtick. When he sees you make an emotion, he takes your face, otherwise he can’t (emotions is what allows him to take a face).

Alternatively, in the live action, he makes you hallucinate then takes you for later? What does he do with them? Why doesn’t he just take their faces now? Does he have a cooldown or something? Is he picky?

One of the things I loved the most about the live action was Zuko’s actor: Dallas Liu. Throughout the live action ATLA, Dallas was one of the few people that really delivered lines. He showed body language, he said lines with much emotion, and his acting overall was really good. Another reason why I like him is because of the sass he puts into his character.

Some people may deny this, but Zuko was a real baby in the first season of the original ATLA: yelling at Uncle Iroh about the avatar, constantly talking about his honor, always in a bad mood, wanting to chase the avatar no matter the circumstances— it’s pretty crazy, and Dallas delivers it flawlessly.

I’m not trying to put down any of the other actors, but you can’t deny that Dallas stands out.

I believe the live action ATLA will be one of the most grand adaptations of an animated series, but as of right now, there is progress to be made. I’m okay with the current season as they were most likely figuring out how they want to plan out the plot, so I don’t find that there’s anything truly wrong with the live action.

With my personal experience with the live action and original show, I’d rate the live action a solid 8/10. Obviously, you won’t feel the same about the live action ATLA as I do; to me, there are slight imperfections, but most can be ignored.

I highly recommend watching both versions for the full experience, and because they’re both incredible in their own ways.

You can watch both on Netflix.