A&E

Flapp Review

February 5, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Melissa Alvarez Staff Writer

In 2010 it was Rovio Entertainment’s “Angry Birds”, in 2011 it was Imangi Studio’s “Temple Run”, in 2012 it was Omgpop’s “Draw Something”, in 2013 it was King’s “Candy Crush”, and in early 2014 has arrived the game from hell, Flappy Bird.

Flappy Bird if you haven’t already heard, is the #1 app in both the Apple and Android app markets, and honestly, I don’t know why. The object of the game is to keep tapping the screen of your device in order to keep Flappy Bird from falling to his/her very impractical death.

The challenging part about the game is that Flappy Bird has to fly in between, and we might as well just say it, the stolen warp pipes from Super Mario Bros. without touching them. If you come into contact with just the slightest edge of either pipe, Flappy Bird will die and you will have quit the game with newly found anger issues.

So who created this pixelated monster? Nguyen Ha Dong. He originates from Hanoi, Vietnam and has solely been running his own company, .GEARS studio for 4 years. He himself admitted in an interview that he’s not even sure why his app has suddenly spiked in the game market. He also gave credit to the kids in schools that have, and still are, downloading and sharing his game.

Flappy Bird can be considered fun if you enjoy throwing your phone at walls. It’s simple in the most difficult of ways. If you do choose to download this life consuming app, be my guest. But when you finally make it to a double digit score and are proud of this accomplishment, I think maybe it’s time to start rethinking your life choices.

I think our friend 22amysmc said it best:

Movie Review of The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

January 16, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Staff Writer Claudia Bonitatibus

Sometimes too much is simply too much. Perfectly effective modest ideas or plots become overwrought if excessively embellished. That is exactly what Peter Jackson and the producers of The Hobbit, the Desolation of Smaug have done with J. R. R. Tolkien’s wonderful fantasy novel. It is surprising how the same director could so masterfully realize Tolkien’s epic trilogy a decade earlier, yet stumble so badly with this story, the second in a planned trilogy, that is its loose prequel. What is even more astounding is that in spite of this major criticism, The Hobbit is well worth seeing at a theater near you before it goes into DVD distribution.

The book, The Hobbit, was much lighter and more fantastical story than the epic novel, The Lord of the Rings. There was a fairy tale quality in the recounting of the quest of Bilbo, the dwarfs, and the wizard Gandalf to take back the hereditary city on the lonely mountain from the dragon Smaug and Bilbo’s discovery of the Ring of Power. The main problem with this film was Peter Jackson’s attempts to expand this very appealing novel into three full-length films to make it a trilogy prequel to The Lord of the Rings. This movie and the one before it, becomes bloated and frenetic in Jackson’s efforts to expand the story to make every connection possible between the Hobbit and LOTR. By doing so, the director loses some of the most appealing aspects of the book.

The first problem is with the expanded story. One of the things that made the LOTR movies stand out is how closely he followed Tolkien’s original story. Yet with The Hobbit, it is almost like Peter Jackson has completely rewritten the original story. He felt the need to add a lot of side stories to the movie, such as the Orcs and the love triangle between Kili and Tauriel (who did not even exist in the book). These stories can both add to the story and distract us from the more relevant events occurring. Likewise, some of the links between The Hobbit and the LOTR seem a bit unnatural and unnecessary.

The other criticism with the movie is with its frenetic pace. While I like action and epic battles as much as anyone, The Hobbit overuses the tool of CGI and face paced action. With all the unnecessary chases and battles, the movie feels bloated and, at points, the message gets lost in the stretched-out action sequences. Bilbo’s engineering of the dwarfs’ escape from the elves’ castle was better as a tale of resourcefulness and suspense, that a white water rafting experience with life or death implications. It is just too much to be enjoyable.

Yet I did not leave the theater unhappy. The movie clearly was appealing to all audiences, even those who did not watch The Lord of the Rings or read the books. Peter Jackson loves Tolkien’s novels and it shows. Also, in general, the casting is highly appealing, both with the characters who play principle roles in the LOTR and with Martin Freeman who plays the younger Bilbo, Richard Armitage the dwarf king Oakenshield, and Gandalf played by Ian McKellen could not go unmentioned. And then there is the dragon Smaug voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch – a true tour de force of imagination – dominates the movie and is what renders much of my criticism unimportant.

I think that The Hobbit is definitely worth watching and forming your own opinions. Despite any criticism that I have it is very enjoyable and well made. It is clear that Peter Jackson is dedicated towards making this movie appealing to all audiences.

An Invitation to Cyberbullying?

January 13, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Zoe Schwingel-Sauer

Many teens have been a victim of cyberbullying. AskFM is a somewhat new website that indirectly encourages this form of abuse. People continuously get threats, insults, and even sexual messages.

AskFM is a social media website where people can either ask questions from their own account or anonymously ask questions to users. The users receive these questions and the point of the website is to see their reply. If you click on an account you can see all of the person’s questions, answers, and how many people like their answers.

However, there is a debate about who is at fault for the cyberbullying. Is is the person who accepts and answers the anonymous messages? Or is it the person sending these messages?

Sophomore Nashay Day says, “Both. The person who sends the message is at fault for bullying. The person who accepts the messages enables the person to ask more questions.”

On the other side of the argument is sophomore Mali Fenning. She says, “The person who asks the question. There shouldn’t be excuses for mean people. They’re open to what people say, not they’re open to bullying.”

All of the five sophomores that were interviewed did agree on the fact the website is a form of cyberbullying.

When asked if the website was good or bad, sophomore Jasmin Gilliam gave an interesting insight. She said, “Both. Depends on your social status. People who are more popular, get more everything. Good and bad.”

Currently the hype around AskFM has died down a bit, with many users disabling their account. Having said that there are still multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter asking people to use the site and send anonymous messages to users that are advertised by the users themselves.

There is no other purpose to the site other than to supposedly ask questions. Unfortunately more often than not, there are no questions, just hurtful remarks. If there are questions they are mean spirited and very intrusive.

What will you be? A victim, bully, or bystander of AskFM?

The Real Reason Black Comediennes are Not on SNL

December 12, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

DeShawn McLeod

Staff Writer

Since the departure of Maya Rudolph, on SNL, in 2007, the show hasn’t had a black female actress since. In the past 6 years, they’ve picked up 7 females (6 white and 1 Iranian-American) and 10 males (9 white and 1 black).

Many have been taken aback by Kenan Thompson’s, SNL actor, comment on black comediennes, saying, “[SNL] just never finds the ones that are ready.” Dungey and Amani Starnes decided to make a vlog confronting his idea.

Azie Mira Dungey, writer and main actress, of Ask a Slave, a comedy web series about a housemaid of George Washington, commented on black female comediennes. In particular, she pointed out that many aren’t being represented on television.

She talked about the certain stereotypes that are portrayed of black women in media. “Ghetto and angry ghetto, sassy ghetto, loud ghetto.”

In Kerry Washington’s appearance on SNL, she played Michelle Obama, Beyonce, a ghetto assistant, a “incompetent” Nigerian Princess, and a Brooklyn school teacher.

Although used as a laugh tactic, SNL admitted, “The producers at ‘Saturday Night Life’ would like to apologize to Kerry Washington for the number of black women she will be asked to play tonight. We made these requests both because Ms. Washington is an actress of considerable talent,” they continued, “and also because ‘SNL’ does not does not have a black woman in the cast… As for the latter reason, we agree that this is not an ideal situation and look forward to rectifying it in the near future… unless of course we fall in love with another white guy first.”

After a bit of dialogue, they have Al Sharpton walk out and say, “… What have we learned from this sketch? As usual: nothing,” and he continues to open the show.

I had a conversation with an SLAMedia writer, Dejah Harley, and we extrapolated the idea of the typical black woman compared to us. We’ve concluded that we are “properly” talking black girls always considered “white”, unable to efficiently speak “Black” English, and cannot dance like the black girls on the internet.

Olivia Pope, the main character is Scandal, is a total 180 in terms of how African American women are portrayed in media. She’s involved in interracial relationships, she holds some type of stronghold of power and influence, and she is in demand of clients.

Because there are so few women of color in media, Dungey and Starnes talked about their role models: Mary Tyler Moore, Lucille Ball, Dawn French, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

When SNL scouts, they go to the well known comedy schools, that are expensive to attend. Because comedy and acting have a very low rates of success, the argument could be that the few of African Americans who do go to college would not invest in something with no probable future of return, considering there isn’t a variety of characters women of color can represent.

Another side could be, it’s not an attractive field because those who are not represented as actresses or writers, do not want to be involved.

“If you say that women can’t be funny, or black women can’t be funny, clearly you haven’t done your homework. You’re not looking. And obviously people like SNL are not putting those women in front of you.” Starnes said.

Movie Review: Catching Fire

November 29, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Isabella Mezzaroba

Staff Writer

You read the books and flocked to the movie theaters in March, 2012. Everyone ate up the dystopian, action packed franchise that is the Hunger Games. The first installment in the Hollywood rendition of the award winning book, by Suzanne Collins, left fans begging for more.

After nearly two years of anticipation, the sequel, “Catching Fire”, hit theatres on November 22nd. With more than 161.1 million in the box office, it’s already a huge hit.

Some critics were worried for the success of Catching Fire due to the new writers, Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine). The franchise also hired a new director, Francis Lawrence (Water for Elephants). It’s safe to say these concerns were unfounded because the entire cast has shown up and shown out.

The writers captured the emotions portrayed in the novel to near perfection. The director experimented with different camera angles, using close ups for intimacy and wider shots to show the entirety of Panem and the movie’s fantastic effects.

Catching Fire opens up with Katniss Everdeen(Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark(Josh Hutcherson) preparing for their Victor’s Tour around the 12 districts. Katniss has become a symbol of resistance to the 12 districts. An uprising is beginning and the Capitol is doing everything they can think of to bring a stop to it before it can bring the fragile system of government crumbling down.

Once again, Lawrence gave a stunningly real performance as the struggling, strong willed protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson(Haymitch Abernathy) delivered once again. Minor characters, such as Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket) developed and showed strength in ways that weren’t portrayed in the first film.

New actors Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair) and Jena Malone (Johanna Mason) brought new emotions and perspectives into the Games. They portrayed the loss and negative affects the Capitol has on it’s citizens from all walks of life.

Catching Fire has successfully been transformed from a YA novel into a captivating movie for not only teens, but adults as well. We haven’t seen a series so artfully crafted from paper to the big screen since Harry Potter.

Catching Fire was widely received by the public and critics alike as one of the best movies of the year. Smooth directing and fine acting molded it into a more than satisfying second installment in the award winning franchise that will not doubt be highly regarded for years to come.