Category: Movie Reviews
In hindsight, there were a myriad of signs pointing to “Iron Man 3” being a complete trainwreck. Ben Kingsley, while a fine actor, has gained a reputation for appearing in awful big budget blockbusters. Jon Favreau has hung up his director’s cap and is replaced by Shane Black, who has only directed one other film, [...]
There is a scene in “The Evil Dead” where its protagonist Ashley (Bruce Campbell) wanders down into a basement to look for shotgun shells. The spiderweb criss-cross of pipes that before dripped water, now drip blood. Electronics begin turning on, with an old record player providing a jovial, old-timey soundtrack for the bizarre tableau. Electrical [...]
When a director’s previous credits include only a short film and two critically-panned TV series’ (one of which is “Fred”), you can safely bet that his theatrical debut will be less than exceptional. Michael Tiddes proves this rule with his crime against humanity in cinematic form, “A Haunted House.” Perhaps it is unfair to lay [...]
What if you took a drug that let you slip throughout time, space, and reality? What if these effects lasted only hours? What if the side effect of this drug is seeing otherworldly monstrosities wandering around the waking world? What if you were stuck seeing these things for the rest of your life? While “John [...]
Quentin Tarantino has done it again. “Django Unchained” tells the story of former slave, Django, and his bounty-hunting companion, Schultz, as they work together to save Django’s wife Broomhilda from the clutches of the diabolical plantation owner, Candi. Perhaps saying Tarantino has “done it again” is not quite accurate. Tarantino’s work has many similarities from [...]
This was the gem of All Freakin’ Night. Every year there is one film so absurd, so bizarre, and so ridiculously bad, that it will be talked about for years to come. This is that film. “Night Train” is a trainwreck. It features three short films loosely connected by God and the Devil sitting on [...]
“Sante Sangre” is a surreal take on Hitchcock’s “Psycho” set in Mexico. It tells the story of a young boy who grows up in a Mexican “gringo circus.” He ambles through a number of surreal and nightmarish scenes. These include watching his father, the resident knife thrower, begin an affair with the circus’ illustrated woman; [...]
THE SHINING (1980) It’s Stanley Kubrick making an adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Two masters of their respective crafts coming together to make what many consider to be the greatest horror film of all time. Every single aspect of this film; pacing, cinematography, acting, sound design, themes, lighting, editing, all are amazingly executed and [...]
On the surface, “Dredd 3D” seems doomed to be a trainwreck of a film. Its plot lacks substance, it’s a remake of a failed 90s film, and its two leads seem destined to develop romantic tension. Luckily, “Dredd” manages to rise above its mediocre trappings and ends up as a genuinely entertaining action/thriller. Set in [...]
“House at the End of the Street” is dull, poorly executed, and horribly uninspired. “House” tells the story of a single mother (Elisabeth Shue) and her daughter (Jennifer Lawrence) as they seek to start a new life in a new neighborhood. As it happens, this particular neighborhood holds a blood-splattered past, centered on a grisly [...]
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Student Spotlight: Hongna Svay
Hongna Svay, 29, is currently studying computer programming at South Puget Sound Community College. He came to Olympia from his native country Cambodia to attend college and to be near his friends and relatives in the Olympia area. Svay first came to America in Aug. 2010. He started attending SPSCC right away, enrolling in English [...]
Student Spotlight: Hal Schrieve
After two years of frustration, new Running Start student, Hal Schrieve begins school in the hope that SPSCC will provide a more realistic transition into adulthood. “I felt as if I deserved more autonomy within my own education,” said Schrieve. Schrieve’s decision to participate in Running Start spawned, in part, from previous conflict with his [...]
After experiencing challenges at SPSCC, student Rebekah Hutson turns things around
Rebekah Hutson faced and overcame many challenges while at SPSCC. Graduating with an associate of arts this quarter, she said she started at the college unenthusiastically, feeling isolated as a black student on a mostly-white campus. Hutson said since then, she gained a passion for making the school more diverse and became very involved [...]
Mainstream media: biased and skewed
Recently, there was an ExxonMobil oil spill in Arkansas, according to NPR. However, there was very little media coverage on it. ExxonMobil threatened to arrest journalists who enter the area of the oil spill, because they didn’t want media coverage of the damage the oil spill has done. From Exxon’s point of view, it makes [...]
In 1997, the United Kingdom enacted strict legislation effectively banning almost all firearms across the country. This was in the wake of the Dunblane school massacre, which sent the entire nation into a panic over gun control. So, how did this ban affect gun crime in the United Kingdom? It rose, dramatically. The number of [...]
People are more likely to use a gun for harm if it is available to them. The easy accessibility of firearms, rather than people themselves, causes rising gun violence. Think of corruption in government. Politicians are more likely to abuse power because of their position. Their actions are not necessarily malicious. They are presented with [...]