Features

Lights, Camera, Oscar Predictions!

February 2, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Will Amari

Staff Writer

People are lined up at the downtown Roxy. Popcorn is popped. Soda is served. It may be cold and rainy outside, but here in the movie theater, it’s dry and warm. When the lights go down and the screen lights up, people know that it’s time to see their favorite stars perform in a film they will never forget. Oscar season is here again!

2013 has been a great year for movies. Who wasn’t shocked by the critical acclaim of Disney’s animated, “Frozen?” Or amazed by Tom Hanks’ performance in “Captain Phillips?” And let’s not forget about Matthew McConaughey’s astonishing comeback portraying Ron Woodroof in the much celebrated, “Dallas Buyers Club.” With five best director nominees and nine best picture nominated films, it’s time to reflect on some of the many memorable films of 2013.

Read on for my Oscar predictions for the four main categories; best actress, best actor, best director, and of course, best picture. Continue reading for an analysis of the Big Winners for this year’s Academy Awards.

Best actress nominees: Amy Adams in “American Hustle”, Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”, Sandra Bullock in “Gravity”, Judi Dench in “Philomena”, Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County”, June Squibb in “Nebraska”.

And the Oscar goes to: Cate Blanchett and not Meryl Streep? That’s right! Blanchett plays the neurotic socialite, Jasmine, who divorces and moves in with her blue collar sister, played by Sally Hawkins. Hers is the absolute standout performance of the year and although Meryl comes close, the Oscar truly belongs to Blanchett. The Academy would agree.

Who might win: Sandra Bullock in “Gravity”

Who definitely won’t win: Judi Dench in “Philomena”

Who I want to win: Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”

Who the Academy overlooked: Carey Mulligan in “Inside Llewyn Davis”

Best actor nominees: Christian Bale in “American Hustle”, Bruce Dern in “Nebraska”, Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”, Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave”, Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyer Club”.

And the Oscar goes to: Matthew McConaughey who transforms into his role as the emaciated Ron Woodroof, a Texas cowboy/electrician who was diagnosed with aids in the mid-1980s. In this film we are reminded that McConaughy is a true movie star who deserves to be recognized for such a stunning performance. This of course, wouldn’t be the first time, the Oscars nominated a praised actor for playing the role of an AIDs patient. Tom Hanks won the Academy Award for best actor for his role “Philadelphia” as Andrew Beckett, a young lawyer who was fired from his job because he was found out to be HIV-positive.

Who might win: Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave”

Who definitely won’t win: Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”

Who I want to win: Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyer Club”

Who the Academy overlooked: Joaquin Phoenix in “Her”

Best director nominees: American Hustle (David O. Russell), Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón), Nebraska (Alexander Payne), 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen), The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

And the oscar goes to: Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón). Yes, it’s more than just a sci-fi film. The story’s all told through the point of view of Sandra Bullock’s character, Ryan Stone, who gets stranded in the scary world of outer space. No director has ever portrayed fear and anxiety on screen as well as Alfonso Cuarón. This movie gets an A in special effects as well as for originality.

What might win: 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)

What definitely won’t win: The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

What I want to win: Gravity

Who the Academy overlooked: Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen)

The best picture the nominees are as follows: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, and the Wolf of Wall Street.

And the Oscar goes to: 12 Years a Slave, produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas. This film accurately portrays the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man abducted and sold into slavery. It’s not a light-hearted popcorn movie, but a gruesome description of America’s most shameful period of history. If any film is more deserving of an oscar than all the rest, it’s this one. This is the year director and producer Steve McQueen will win the Big One. See why many call this masterpiece “The Schindlers List of today.”

What might win: Gravity

What definitely won’t win: Philomena

What I want to win: Her

Who the Academy overlooked: Inside Llewyn Davis

This is just one man’s opinion. The decisions of the Academy are often unpredictable. The answers won’t be revealed until Sunday, March 2. However, for now let’s just sit back and watch the movie.

App Review: App Nana

February 2, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Kennedy Coverdale Staff Writer

Want to earn free Amazon, iTunes, or other gift cards ? This could be the right app for you.

App Joy, or sometimes called App Nana, is a free app that helps you download different apps that you might enjoy. Most of the apps are almost unheard of though.

Depending on which apps you choose, you earn a certain amount of points, or ‘nanas’ as it’s called in the apps. Some apps might give you 200 nanas, while other can give up to 7,000 nanas.

All these points add up and can enable you to choose a gift card for Amazon, iTunes, or Paypal. As the price of the gift card goes up, so does the amount of nanas you must earn in order to pick such a gift card.

In order to use AppJoy, you must make account only using an email and a password. No activation required or usernames.

Wondering how you get all these nanas? Actually, it’s not that difficult. You get 10,000 nanas for signing up, and 400 nanas each time you sign in. Inviting others to join AppJoy gives 2,500 nanas per person you invite. The cheapest gift card available is a one dollar Amazon gift card that costs 30,000 nanas, so they highly encourage you to get apps.

Most of the apps that it offers are free to download. Others cost money, but they will warn you before hand. Some apps require a certain action in order to obtain nanas, like registering for a website or actually playing the game.

The downfall of this app is it’s speed. it’s a bit slow when trying to get nanas, and sometimes opens a bunch of other windows doing so. I had some problems with this and it discouraged me from downloading more apps for more nanas.

Commute to School, but Don’t Talk

January 27, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By SLA Media Staff

When you see somebody on SEPTA outside of school, what do you do?

If you’re similar to most of the students in SLA’s Journalism class, the answer is: don’t say hello and avoid eye contact.

Senior DeShawn McLeod and Sophomore Soledad Alfaro-Allah experienced this exact situation on the Saturday during EduCon.

On their commute home to Mount Airy, they noticed each other on the train.

“I had already seen that she was on the train,” DeShawn said, “but I was too tired to initiate contact.”

Soledad noticed DeShawn later, when she was getting off at her stop. “I was like: should I say hi? …I’m not going to say hi. I’m going to just let her roll.”

They admitted this lack of action to each other during class on the following Monday and had a good laugh about it.

The story led to a deeper question: why don’t we talk to each other going to and from school? And why do we feel bad about it when we don’t?

One thing influencing this situation is that SLA students and teachers are already quite social at school. They’re not necessarily avoiding each other because they don’t like each other.

For example, Soledad is in Poetry Club, and English Teacher Matthew Kay is the club mentor. Mr. Kay even worked for Soledad’s mother when he was in college. But that doesn’t lead to them talking while commuting.

On the regional rail, they see each other often, but rarely speak.

“I’ll see him, and we’re close, but I won’t say anything to him,” Soledad said. “It’s like an unspoken agreement: you’re chillin, I’m chillin, I’m just going to let you go.”

On the Broad Street Line and the Trolley, the situation is different — but it doesn’t lead to more talking.

“Everyone kind of just stands there,” Sophomore Isabella Mezzaroba said. “People even get on together, but they don’t talk.”

Even when conversations do happen on public transit, they’re over as soon as ride ends.

“Ms. Dunda gets on the trolley, and then makes conversation,” sophomore Melissa Alvarez said. “But as soon as she gets off, she’s in her own world.”

Students felt that this behavior wasn’t rude — in fact, it was a common courtesy to each other.

“You’re bringing people back into the environment that they just left, or are about to enter,” said Sophomore Jesse Shuter. “It’s inconsiderate because they’re trying to either recuperate or prepare for school.”

“I think we sometimes have trouble believing that people have lives outside of school,” said Sophomore Claudia Bonitatibus. She said she’s “surprised” when she does run into somebody.

“My school life and my social life are totally separate,” said Senior Isabela Supovitz-Aznar. “When I do run into somebody from school, it catches me off guard.”

Many teachers have similar feelings.

“When I see kids on the trolley, I feel like I don’t want disturb their existence,” said English Teacher Ms. Pahomov.

The pressure to say hello seems to be most prevalent with the freshmen — they say hi outside of school, and also in the halls.

DeShawn admitted that she was once one of these eager underclassmen. All the way back during Summer Institute, she approached Mr. Kay and tried to talk to him on the train, when she later realized that he was in what she characterized as his “chill zone.”

Eventually, she got the hang of the silent treatment outside of school.

“I stopped feeling bad,” DeShawn said. “But that took four years of high school.”

Locker Talk: How are you helping out at Educon?

January 27, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Staff Writer Isabella Mezzaroba

Sophomore Jackie Middlesworth: "I'm not volunteering this year but last year I was assigned food. I ended up doing coat check and walking around helping out." — Sophomore Jackie Middlesworth: “I’m not volunteering this year but last year I was assigned food. I ended up doing coat check and walking around helping out.”

Sophomore Naomi Fetcher Davis: "I was a stream runner I set up a bunch of computers. I also acted as janitor and took out trash during the weekend." — Sophomore Naomi Fetcher Davis: “I was a stream runner I set up a bunch of computers. I also acted as janitor and took out trash during the weekend.”

Junior Marshall Woodruff: "I'm just doing the tech stuff." — Junior Marshall Woodruff: “I’m just doing the tech stuff.”

New African American Female Comedians Added to SNL

January 24, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Staff Writer Dejah Harley

Due to the Criticism that the producers of Saturday Night Live recieved over not having enough black cast members, they decided to hire three new black comedians, LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones, as writers and Sasheer Zamata as an actress.

As seen in another article on SLAMedia written by DeShawn McLeod, there was a controversy over the fact that SNL has only ever had one comedia as a part of their performance staff. Kenan Thompson was the most recent person mainly playing the black women portrayed in SNL. Now Keanan can take a step back while those women will be portrayed by Sasheer Zamata.

Everyone has taken to these new members of SNL very well. Ever since the most recent episode starring Drake, everyone is enjoy the diversity that Sasheer Zamata brings to the table.

All three of them have been comedians in the past. Tookes and Jones were writers for that episode of SNL. It was the first time that there have been a black and female cast member in the same scene.

Since Drake was the host, a lot of the jokes revolved around his family and the fact that his mom is a white jewish woman and his dad is black. Many people thought this made the transition for Zamata a lot easier as a cast member for the show. It adds a lot of diversity of the show.

Now, they won’t be able to do this every single week but no one has questioned the direction of this show. It was a well needed change.