• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

SLA Media

SLAMedia is a publication of the news for the Science Leadership Academy community. Writers come from the student body in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. We work in unison to create a functioning paper with biweekly postings on a variety of events.

  • News
  • Features
  • Sports
  • A&E
  • Op/Ed
  • Multimedia
  • About

A&E

Movie Review: Creed 3

March 28, 2023 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Braylon Dunlap Staff Writer

Creed III Poster (Photo from IMDB)

Creed lll is the third installment to the Creed franchise and the eighth installment in the seemingly never-ending Rocky franchise. Usually when a series reaches its third movie, the franchise starts to value quantity over quality, and critical reception tends to decline. So as I went to go see Creed III, I wondered: would it be as just good as its predecessors?As a boxing movie, the film runs the risk of being very formulaic but luckily, this one does bring something new to the table. After retiring in the second movie, Adonis Creed (played by Micheal B. Jordan, who also directed the film) spends his time running a boxing gym until he comes across an old friend, Damian Anderson (played by Jonathan Majors) who was forced to retire from boxing due to his imprisonment years ago. This created a very uncomfortable dynamic between him and Creed as we know there might be a little bit of jealousy hiding behind Dame’s jokes and smiles. Even though this movie is formatted the exact same way as the previous movies– (Creed gets into drama with his family and rival before finally duking it out in the final battle –e), the appearance of Damian’s character really elevated the tension in the story. Jonathan Majors stole the show in this movie, as he felt genuinely intimidating and was an actual threat to Creed. Whenever Majors got into the ring, I actually felt scared for the other fighters, especially in the third act of the movie. It wasn’t just the acting that made Creed stand out though, the editing and choreography of the fight scenes were also directed to make you feel every hit a character took. The spontaneous cuts, on top of the claustrophobic close ups and slow-mo’s inflicted that sense of adrenaline that the boxers were all feeling in the fights. Because of this, it can be hard to exactly tell what is going on in the fight scenes, but I really respect the stylistic choice. Even though boxing movies are at their core about fighting, what really makes them great are emotions and the tension created by their hour long build-ups. That being said, some of the tension created by the movie though didn’t feel entirely natural. Aside from the villain, the movie also has Creed confront other personal struggles in his life that felt a little forced. You can tell that the plot was trying to have Creed’s problems all pile up and overwhelm him by the final fight, but none of his problems or relationship struggles really appear naturally.Even with the forced conflict, the story still feels very high stakes and will definitely get your heart pumping for the final battle. Despite having a third installment, the Creed series has not overstayed its welcome! The film made the formula of boxing movies refreshing and exciting due to its character arcs and thrilling action. While I’m not sure what the next installment will look like, it would be inspiring to see a deaf female lead for Creed 4!

Filed Under: A&E, Movies, Movies

Movie Review: Bones and All, A Romance Both Bloody and Beautiful

December 20, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lara Rosenbach

Staff Writer

Courtesy of Yahoo!

Bones and All

I hadn’t heard anything about this film until I went to see it with a friend—my first time at the new-ish AMC Fashion District theater in Center City. This might’ve been because it didn’t sound like any movie I’d seen before. 

Bones and All is directed by Luca Guadagnino, who also directed the movies Call Me By Your Name and The Protagonists. Set in the mid-1980s and based on the book by Camille DeAngelis, the movie centers around Maren, a young girl living with her father in a trailer park. She—along with many others—is what’s called an Eater, aka, a cannibal. Eaters are perceived as outcasts, but only because they choose to live that way. To the average person, an Eater is just a normal person.

If you think this movie involves watching people eat one another, you’re right. The whole movie is focused on the reality of the world, and how cutthroat it can be (he took this literally). The film is scattered with scenes of Maren and others eating other humans, and Guadagnino asks the audience to slowly desensitize themselves to the stigma that comes with cannibalism. I thought this was an incredibly interesting approach to a coming-of-age film. As the film went on, I didn’t know who to ally myself with, or if there is anyone I should be invested in at all. Every character’s backstory, especially Maren’s boyfriend, Lee, who we meet much later in the film. His life is rich with trauma. It is hard to find a reason to wish good things for Maren.

The choice to set this film in the midwest was great, because no one really thinks of traveling through endless farmland and corn fields, when there are much more interesting sights you could have characters see. But I feel that the land was a reflection of the feel of the movie; abandoned, left bare, a land that fades into the background, that we don’t want to see on screen, when the Pacific Coast is much more beautiful to look at. 

Maren and Lee are much the same, character-wise: Maren is a timid girl who’s on her own, which no one really pays any mind to, while Lee is closed-off and trusts no one. They never really open up to each other, which is the cause of all of their quarrels, and the reason that Maren goes off on her own for a while. Their characters truly leave you wishing for the kind of normality that you would see in any other romantic film. However, this isn’t your average romance.

However, I don’t quite get the purpose of Sully’s character in the movie. He is the first other Eater that Maren encounters. First first introduced as an eccentric but compassionate old man, and acts almost as a mentor figure for Maren. He later takes the form of a myriad of other figures to help advance the plot—such as a desperate stalker yearning for some kind of companionship. Apart from a way to show Maren the dangers of trusting strangers and to make Lee the martyr Guadagnino pictures, I don’t see much point to him as a character.

The movie was truly a disturbing watch. However, I found myself unable to look away from any of it. The way Bones and All delivered the haunting warning of the (literal) dog-eat-dog world was the most disturbing, yet heartwarming way I’d seen yet. I would recommend this movie to anyone who’ll enjoy a dark, twisted story, both a teenage romance and a bloodbath.

Filed Under: A&E

Movie Review: The Fablemans, Spielberg’s Story

December 13, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lara Rosenbach

Staff Writer

Review: The Fabelmans (2022) - Arts Commented

Courtesy of Arts Commented

The Fabelmans

I wasn’t sure what to expect when saw The Fabelmans in Washington with my mom and grandmom. All I knew was that it was the semi-autobiographical story of Steven Spielberg’s life, a famed director whom made many movies I’d enjoyed, such as Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Jaws, and E.T. 

I’m happy to report that the movie did not disappoint. 

The film centers on the life of Sam Fabelman. After seeing the movie The Greatest Show on Earth as a kid, which contains a climactic train crash, he becomes obsessed with recreating the scene, begging his parents for a train set for Hannukah, to use as a prop. His mother, Mitzi, lets Sam use the camera to record the crash in secret. 

 Speilberg focuses on different ways movies can be used. They can be fantastical, like when Sam roped his Boy Scout friends into acting in a Western and a war movie. Filmmakers can explore the more technical side of moviemaking, like when Sam buries wooden planks so that when actors step on them, it appears as though they are being hit by bullets, or when he pokes holes in the actual film itself with a pin, creating little bursts of light that look like muzzle flashes. Film can also reveal reality; When Sam discovers a secret that could tear apart his family, he makes two films, one showcasing his family’s happiness, and the other the bitter truth. I felt incredibly connected to Sam because of how I could relate to him, being Jewish and having a love for movies and moviemaking myself. 

Spielberg’s cinematography is gorgeous. One of the most amazing parts of the movie is two intercut scenes; in one, Sam cuts together the camping footage to show what his mother has been hiding, while at the same time, in another room, Mitzi passionately plays the piano while Sam’s dad Burt watches from afar. The camera spins around, illustrating the emotion that Sam is feeling: the image of what he thought were his parents falling apart and the realization of what he saw in one. 

Sam’s character is an unflattering portrayal of Spielberg himself; Sam’s uncle Boris comes home and tells Sam he’s an artist—however much he loves his family, he’ll love making movies more. This same idea repeats later; when Mitzi and Burt are getting a divorce his sister comes to his room, wanting to be comforted, and instead, Sam brushes her off and asks her opinion on his film. And in creating a movie of his senior class’s beach trip, Sam gave every person in the class an opportunity to shine. Even though Sam despises his bully, he still films him in an extremely flattering way. He asks Sam why he filmed him like that when he treated him so horribly, and Sam says he doesn’t know. I believe Sam put the movie above his feelings toward his tormentor, because he is an artist first.

This movie was a beautifully acted piece of cinema, and Spielberg’s harshness towards his own character only added to the realism of the film. I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch a kid figure out he’s an artist and pursue his dreams, above anything else.

Filed Under: A&E

Movie Review: “Do Revenge”? Do Better

November 15, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lara Rosenbach

Staff Writer

Courtesy of “The Red Ledger”

On September 16th, Do Revenge was released. After seeing countless videos mocking and praising it, I decided to form my own opinion. Before viewing, I put together a checklist in my head of what makes a good movie: great character design, a cohesive plot, and originality. Would Do Revenge pass the test?

In the first act of the film, we are given the plot: Drea (Camila Mendes), high school queen bee, with a seemingly perfect life and future, gets betrayed by her boyfriend. She becomes unlikely friends with transferring senior Eleanor (Maya Hawke), who is haunted by her past. Throughout the film, the two of them work together, pulling increasingly elaborate stunts to take down their enemies.

The film mainly takes place at Rosehill High. This truly beautiful campus—actually Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Georgia—is one of the few things I liked about the movie. A second were the outfits. I thought the costume design was superb. Drea wears form-fitting, flattering dresses, while Eleanor hides in baggy t-shirts, highlighting the two protagonists’ differences in personality. 

Unfortunately, this is where my praise for the film ends. This movie is essentially a tweaked version of Mean Girls—which I love—, and the characters in this film are downgrades of those archetypes; Drea is cut out of the same mold as Regina George—the manipulative ruler of her school—and Eleanor is a cloned Cady Heron—the new girl who befriends the queen bee by pure luck. For both of them, there are two shallow romances that follow the same arc: love, fight, ignore, make up. Their characters do change, but the fact that it happens so late in the movie, and that those differences often get forgotten in the script, shows that the characters are just shells, not real people

The most fleshed-out character in the whole movie is Max (Austin Abrams), Drea’s boyfriend. He is the only character with dreams and pain; although he rules over the whole school, he wants none of it—his dream is to become a photographer, and travel the world. This is illustrated via the many photos he’s taken that decorate his room. Personally, I was happiest with his character, although his thoughts and feelings often did not reflect his personality. I did feel as though the writers didn’t utilize his desire to break free from Rosehill’s status quo, and craft a different ending. His motives as an antagonist seemed unfounded, to say the least.

The plot is easy enough to follow and the pacing, though uneven, still delivered the plot in a clear way. However, I really wanted to see something original from this movie in terms of plot design. I stayed for Max’s redemption, but the twist is predictable for anyone who’s seen a lot of high school movies. The acting is good; however, the dialogue is often overly dramatic for how low-stakes the situation actually is. The movie is hand-fed to you on a silver platter, which is something I’m just not here for. 
If you are someone who likes high school dramedies, you might like this movie. Or at least, the scenery. But if you only have time for one movie, watch Mean Girls instead.

Filed Under: A&E

Movie Review: Us

May 23, 2019 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lily Bromley

Staff Writer

The motif of the evil twin is a common one in horror films. What is more terrifying than an exact copy of you, that walks like you, talks like you… and knows all of your weaknesses? Jordan Peele’s “Us” brings a new take to the evil twin and poses the question, “What if we all had an evil version of ourselves, plotting our demise?”

His follow-up to the politically-minded blockbuster “Get Out,” Us follows Adelaide Wilson played by Lupita Nyong’o as she takes her children and husband to her childhood beach house, the same place where she faced extreme trauma as a child. The film is filled with flashbacks from Adelaide’s childhood, as the beach house brings back memories, and eventually some very real terrors. Like “Get Out”, “Us” is definitely a commentary on American society, which was my favorite way to experience and analyze the plot.

The movie starts with a flashback to Adelaide as a child, around 6 or 7, she is at the boardwalk playing games with her mother and father, when she strays away from them onto the beach. While on the beach, she wanders into the “Shaman Vision Quest Forest”, a twisted mirror funhouse, with a stereotypical Native American character painted on the front. This funhouse is the first political comment of the movie, as when Adelaide returns to the funhouse as an adult, the Native American has been lazily painted over, and the fun house is now named “Merlin’s Enchanted Forest”. The Funhouse plays as a metaphor for the way that many issues are handled in our current society. When a complaint is made, it is only resolved when it is profitable for the owners and is often done as lazily as possible.

Their first night at the house, Adelaide and her family notice a group of people outside of their house. The group of people breaks into Adelaide’s house and we find out that they are all carbon copies called “tethers” of Adelaide’s family, with a few small differences. Jason, (Adelaide’s son) has a tether named “Pluto” who looks exactly like him, except that he wears a mask to cover severe burns he has on his face. The tether of Adelaide’s husband, Gabe, is named Abraham and unlike Gabe, does not wear glasses. When Abraham and Gabe meet for the first time, Abraham takes Gabe’s glasses and puts them on. Abraham is exactly like Gabe, so it makes sense that like Gabe, he would also need glasses. However, as a tether, Abraham was not given the same resources as Gabe, meaning that he must have spent his entire life with impaired vision.

This is another example of political commentary in the movie. By showing the differences in the resources that the tethers and the normal people get, Peele is making a commentary on the opportunities that we give people in our society. If everyone was given the same education, the same medical care, the same housing, who knows how they could succeed in life?

Going into the movie, I was expecting that it would be more focused on racial commentary, similar to “Get Out.” and, while the idea of racial oppression was a theme could be taken from the movie, it definitely isn’t the only point the movie is trying to make. The movie focuses on the broader theme of “Us vs Them” and the way that that narrative has affected the minds of American people. We are constantly being told to fear the other, but what if the thing we should be afraid of is ourselves?

The strength of the commentary in “Us” is that you get to decide how involved you want to be in it. If you are into the conspiracy theories, you can watch the movie through a critical lens. But if you just like to be scared and are looking for a genuinely good horror movie, you can get that too.

Filed Under: A&E

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 46
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

FacebookInstagramTwitter Snapchat

Features

New Teacher Profile: Alexis Clancy

Braylon Dunlap Staff Writer As many people know, there are a few new additions to SLA’s staff this year with a brand new member being History Teacher Alexis Clancy. If you’re in her advisory or African American history class you may have already met her but there are some other interesting things about Ms. Clancy […]

New Teacher Profile: Mercedes Broughton-Garcia

By Maya Smelser Staff Writer SLA recently welcomed Spanish teacher Mercedes Broughton-Garcia, or Ms. Garcia to her students. After spending 7 years as a science teacher next door at Ben Franklin High School, she is transitioning to life at SLA. Background & Family Life “That’s a loaded question,” Ms. Garcia replied when asked where she […]

Wardrobe of SLA

By Harper Leary Staff Writer Philadelphia is a diverse city, and the student population of Science Leadership Academy reflects that fact— not just with their identities, but also with their fashion choices. If you walk down the hallways of SLA, your head will turn every which way to get a glimpse of all the different […]

How the Pandemic has Changed Live Events

By Maya Smelser & Anouk Ghosh-Poulshock Staff Writers Everyone remembers their first concert. But when the pandemic hit, many tours were canceled or rescheduled. There was a hiatus from live music as people adjusted to their new lives– so many teens missed out on their early concert experiences..  In the past few months, however, concerts […]

How Are SLA Students Are Dealing With Their Last Quarter?

Leticia Desouza Staff Writer After a long yet quick year at SLA, students from different grades have experienced many new things they weren’t able to experience during the 2020-2021 online academic year. After almost 10 months of being back in school, students have encountered difficulties and new experiences that further molded how the rest of […]

Categories

  • A&E
  • Cartoons
  • Covid
  • Faces of 440
  • Features
  • Movies
  • Movies
  • Multimedia
  • News
  • Op/Ed
  • Photos
  • Sports
  • The Rocket Record
  • Uncategorized

Recent Comments

  • martin on Song Review: “Origo”
  • Mekhi Granby on Album Review: Restoration of An American Idol
  • Meymey Seng on Album Review: Culture by Migos
  • Kelsey Brown on Album Review: Restoration of An American Idol
  • Angela Rice on SLA’s New Building Engineer, Ikea

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in