By: Bailey Barker The sequel to “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” (a Netflix Original) did not disappoint. It is a great film to watch if you’re into chick flicks. Being a fan of chick flicks and romantic films, I really enjoyed this movie. I frequently found myself smiling at the cute little moments between characters.
In the first movie, Lara Jean (played by Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (played by Noah Centineo) have a really well-played, on-screen connection that had fans questioning if they have an off-screen connection as well. In the beginning of the second film, their relationship looks picture perfect. As the movie progresses, one of Lara Jean’s letter recipients from the first movie is officially introduced and his background story goes more in depth. There is some competition for Lara Jean’s attention between Peter and John Ambrose (played by Jordan Fisher), whom Lara Jean had sent letters to in the first film. John Ambrose, in my opinion deserved better, he was countlessly majorly friendzoned and the movie really didn’t go into depth with what his ending was. I like that it showed some character development for those characters that we really didn’t expect a change in. For example Gen (played by Emilija Baranac) is Peter’s previous girlfriend and Lara Jean’s frenemy and throughout the first and second film she is what some would call a “mean girl” to Lara Jean for obvious reasons. However, towards the end of the second film they show a side of her that is sort of vulnerable and shows that she cares for Lara Jean even if they weren’t as close anymore. Overall, the movie is a great coming-of-age film. In some ways, it can be relatable for confused teen minds. It’s almost reassuring to know that it’s normal to be confused and think certain ways about silly situations. This is what I enjoyed most about the movie. I would recommend watching it if you enjoy chick flicks and upbeat-type films!
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By: Kaitlyn Cutler “Jojo Rabbit,” set in Germany during Word War II, is a very interesting movie and it continuously surprised me with multiple plot twists. I’m not sure what I originally expected, but the movie turned out better than I thought. This movie has a lot of love from the audience with a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 80% which is well deserved. The plot of “Jojo Rabbit” revolves around a lot of imagination from many of the characters creating both a hilarious and hopeful setting. When the characters show their creative imaginations, the audience is allowed to gain a deeper appreciation for how much hope the characters have, despite the atrocities of war, and why they have certain beliefs. This movie has a lot of humor which helps lighten the load from the heavy topic of World War II. The consistent jokes and Jojo’s imagination help make it seem like they are farther away from the war than they actually are. However, the movie still shows the hardships from the war and it still acknowledges the bad and melancholy parts of that time period. While there are many tragic things that happened in the war, there were people that still had hope and funny moments. This movie helps remind its viewers that the war, although sad, also had moments of happiness and hope. *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS**SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*I will say that the hardest part for me was when Jojo finds his mother hung in the town square for treason. We are only shown her legs and her distinct shoes as she dangles. This was so hard for me because his mother was such an important force in his life. Throughout the movie, his mother was always tying his shoes and, as she hangs there, Jojo tries to tie her shoes. I will admit that I cried and I believe that it can give the audience a chance to imagine the deep despair of losing your only parent.
In the end, I was impressed by this movie and I definitely recommend seeing it. My only suggestion is to be prepared for the dark humor that is in this movie. This movie can be pretty amusing, but some of the humor can make some people uncomfortable or feel guilty for finding it somewhat funny. By: Josh Johnson Schools punish students for tardies to push the importance of coming to class on time and being prepared. Teachers and administrators want students to be prepared for college and other major life events. At our school, the punishment for five tardies is lunch detention and after six tardies a ‘U’ is administered. The ‘U’ can be worked off by attending citizenship class after school. Absences, though, have hardly any punishment at all. This system doesn’t actually incentivize students to go to class. In this system, being absent is actually less harmful. When students realize they are going to be late, they end up not going to school which is more harmful (to their actual education) than just being late.
Tardies were implemented in schools in the early days of public school. Schools around the world believe in getting their students on time and to class prepared for the day. Students in this school know that being tardy is a bad thing, but it can be hard to get to class on time. Carson Anderson, a senior, explains, “I just like to sleep.” Anderson has 25 tardies in his first hour because of his habit of sleeping in. He works after school often and has many other responsibilities that affect his sleep. Anderson said, “I work very often, and don’t sleep a lot.” Many other kids in this school realize that being late is an issue, but they find it difficult to do anything about it. Tardies should still be punished to improve punctuality, but I believe there is a better system to achieve this. I think that being more lenient with the tardies and more realistic with absences will satisfy the students and may decrease the amount of tardies students get. I think that a warning should be implemented and the punishment should be made a little less intense afterwards. The students here at Bear River need leniency and understanding when it comes to tardies. By: Conner Palmer "The Turning" was a completely bland movie, where virtually nothing happens and nothing matters. It came out January 24, 2020, and sits at the abysmal score of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. That score reflects how I felt about it: I left the theater feeling completely disappointed with everything I saw.
I immediately noticed the acting and I felt like every line was shakily delivered. The lead actress, Mackensie Davis, was really strange in her role. Every line lacked a sort of conviction. She would try to be disciplined but it would come off as uncharacteristically shaky and weak. Her character reminded me of corn bread, boring and in need of something interesting to accompany it. Brooklynn Prince, the actress who played Flora, a little child, was also bad. Her acting is a little more forgivable because she is a child; however, if you are going to have her play an important character, you should probably get someone who can deliver a line like a normal person. A huge problem in this movie is pacing; I had no idea where I was in this movie. It was so hard to gauge because nothing important happened until the very end, and it doesn’t even end up changing anything anyway. This movie does that horrendous thing where a whole sequence of events were actually a dream. Problem is, the dream was the most interesting thing that happened in the whole movie, and when the main character came out of the vision, the movie just ended a few minutes later. ‘The Turning’ had a lot of potential, and it at least made a profit, but I just can’t, in the right mind, call it good. I knew it wouldn’t be though; I saw the ratings before I went to see it. I tried to stay optimistic, seeing as the concept of a ‘Turning of the Screw’ book adaptation could’ve been interesting, but sadly it just didn’t do it for me. If you are easily scared you might enjoy "The Turning," but otherwise, I don’t recommend it to anyone. By: London Hillis At the start of the 2019-2020 school year the bathrooms near the cafeteria exit were remodeled. These were previously known to be very run down and beaten up due to the years of use, and just high schoolers not treating them well, but the question is: do people treat better looking things nicer? Brooke Petersen was interviewed about the topic and she said, “I feel like I now make a more conscious effort to keep things looking nice and clean.” Before the remodel of those bathrooms, having them treated nicely was a rarity, if it happened at all.
Darrell Christensen, the custodian who cleans those bathrooms, has a unique perspective on the topic: “I keep it clean so people will respect it, because people respect what is clean.” When asked if the bathrooms seemed easier to clean since the remodel, he confirmed that it was, which goes to show that quality affects respect. Many people have also said that they have noticed less drug affiliated smells coming from those bathrooms since the remodel, which could make a lot of people feel more comfortable when using the restroom. Based on psychological studies, a person's unconscious brain takes in objective data such as cleanliness, color, and general atmosphere. These observations greatly affect the way a person will unconsciously treat something. People end up treating things poorly because our brains automatically create assumptions about how other people treat it, and rationalize our own mistreatment. Along with the remodeling of bathrooms, BRHS also closed down the two bathrooms near the auditorium for an unknown reason. Christensen thinks that bathrooms near the auditorium should be remodeled because “they’re due for a remodel: they’ve been there for a long time.” Christensen noted that the bathrooms along with the older parts of the school are over 50 years old. The vandalism that was previously prevalent in these bathrooms has been diminished by the quality of the new bathrooms. Christensen hasn’t noticed nearly as much vandalism as before. As well as people respecting nicer things in life, it's important to realize that every item deserves respect and preservation. Not all of BRHS is brand new and remodeled, but it's important to remember that not only new things deserve respect despite our tendencies otherwise. By: Josh Johnson The Donald Trump impeachment movement was a fluke from the beginning. Many of the facts that were brought up in the Democratic discussions have been disputed and countered. The Democrats don’t like Trump because he is not scared to say what he thinks. The “crime” that Donald Trump was accused of was “an act against the public trust,” which in fact is not a crime at all, and definitely isn’t an act of injustice.
Another act Donald Trump was accused of was pressuring Ukrainian politicians to investigate a political rival. What this accusation means is he pressured Ukraine into getting information on the Bidens, rivals to him and his industries. The only proof the Democrats claim having is what they call a whistleblower who came out and revealed that Trump was doing this. Gavyn Byington, a student here at Bear River High, believes Trump to be guilty. He says that the acts of the president are enough for him to be removed from office. Byington explained, “When a president does something without the consent of most of the nation that can negatively affect the people's lives, it should be punished.” I very much agree with the fact that a president should be punished if they did something that negatively affected their country’s people, but there is not enough evidence of this to prove Trump is guilty of this. Trump has done nothing against the law as America’s president. Byington had some other thoughts on the subject: “The accusations are not for the law but for the fairness of the people.” To this, I counter that many times throughout history, our presidents have done something that was ‘wrong’ in the eyes of the American people that ended up saving them. In my opinion, the impeachment charges against Donald Trump have been a waste of political time. Many months have been wasted talking about something that ended up not passing in court. The people running this country should be doing their jobs and listening to the people, not wasting time with charges that simply can’t be proven. On Wednesday, February 5, 2020 Donald Trump was indeed acquitted and pronounced not guilty although the polls were pretty close. Mitt Romney, the senator of Utah, voted for impeachment and was the only one in history to vote against their party’s president during an impeachment trial. This brought backlash onto Romney and created discordance within the republican party. I believe that Romney did what he thought was right, but, either way, Trump is definitely not guilty for abuse of power. By: Bailey Barker Valentine’s day: the holiday that you either love or hate. The main purpose of this holiday is to appreciate your loved ones and to celebrate adoration. However, this day of celebrating love is also hated because people feel extra lonely around this time if they do not have a significant other. I’m here to tell you that it is still possible to enjoy this holiday even if you do not have a special someone to celebrate with.
If you are willing to try to enjoy some truly amazing movies, then I recommend watching the following movies: 50 First Dates, The Notebook, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Fault in Our Stars, and Dirty Dancing (all are my personal favorites). All of the films previously mentioned are rated PG-13, and are bound to make you laugh and cry at the same time. So if you find yourself bored on Valentines Day, kick back and watch a film that you can enjoy even if you’re alone, with buddies, or if you do have a significant other. Along with watching romantic films, baking is a good strategy to forget about your problems with this holiday. You could bake treats for yourself, or you can bake for the people that you appreciate. Like Ian Somerhalder once said, “the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.” Even if it’s not for romantic reasons, it just shows that you care. If baking or cooking isn’t your calling, you could write notes to your loved ones. These notes can be short and sweet, or long and meaningful. Either way, it is guaranteed to make that person’s day. Learning to find the best in this holiday is not that hard. Look around and you’ll find someone that could be appreciated. If you have some lonely buddies that hate this holiday as well, go do some activities and hate it together. Tell your parents that you love them, and that you are grateful for what they do for you. Write a note telling your sibling that you love them, even though they might drive you crazy. Let the people you care about know that you care for them; it will make both them and you feel good on this Valentine’s Day. By: Conner Palmer Horror, in my opinion, is one of the most innovative movie genres around. It has raised the bar for so many years, with movies being profoundly symbolic and powerful, while also scaring the masses. Recently though, horror has been a joke: a dimly lit cluster of random jump scares to surprise people into thinking the movie was good. Movies like “The Curse of La Llorona,” and “The Nun,” rely on this so heavily to distract from a completely boring narrative with overall underwhelming characters.
Another problem with the current horror genre is how many people attempt it. Some people seem to think it would be easy to make a good horror movie since some filmmakers have been able to create remarkable films with a small budget, such as “Halloween.” Companies like Blumhouse Productions put out movies with relatively small budgets and make millions more than they even spent. However, there is no passion present. Blumhouse alone can put out two movies in one month. They’re cash grabs: they rely on tropes and stereotypes. A lot of low budget horror movies rely on the most cliche of character archetypes, and don’t differentiate from them to try and raise the bar. Recently, movies have not let the imagery speak for itself. Directors have to hammer down the film’s themes and plot points. They don’t even try to make a character that’s at least smart, banking the entire plot of the movie on someone doing something stupid. Movies like “The Bye Bye Man” and “Truth or Dare,”portray some of the dumbest characters that I’ve ever seen, but they still pulled in money. Overall, I will never truly hate the genre of horror. These past few years have actually given me some of my favorite movies and even some new directors to look forward to seeing. This makes me hopeful for the future of these kinds of movies, although recently, I have been let down in a lot of ways, but I remain excited to see what the horror releases of 2020 will be. By: Bailey Barker Dolittle, being one of the first movies of the year, was mediocre. Rotten Tomatoes rates it 17%, IMDb ranks it 5.6/10. These sites imply that it wasn’t that great of a movie, but in my opinion it is just intended for a certain type of audience. As a teen watching it, it was amusing, but not as amusing as it would be for a younger demographic. While watching the movie, you could catch some of your favorite celebrities’ voices including Tom Holland as Jip the dog, Selena Gomez as Betsy the quirky giraffe, Emma Thompson as Poly the demanding parrot, and Rami Malek as Chee Chee the fearful gorilla.
Robert Downey Jr. being in the film, is what drew my interest in watching it. His role in the movie is not like his usual roles that we have seen him in, but his character is very distant and not as expressive as I thought he would be. Downey’s other roles have been much more energetic and confident. His accent wasn’t great which was disappointing considering how well his accent was in the movie ‘Sherlock Holmes’. The animals may have been able to understand him, but I sure couldn’t. The storyline of the film was not confusing, it was easy to follow all the way up until the end, when there was a dragon that was guarding a forbidden fruit. The dragon threw me off because the dragon was not mentioned until they got to the island where the antidote was. Going back to the beginning of the movie, Dr. Dolittle is summoned by Lady Rose (Carmel Laniado) to save Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) that was poisoned by one of her trusted doctors: Dr. Blair Mudfly (Micheal Sheen). The fruit that was guarded by the dragon (played by Frances de la Tour) was the only antidote for the Queen’s illness and finding the fruit is the reason why Dr. Dolittle and his furry companions went on their adventure. Their quest had some action, conflict, bromance, and evolved relationships between characters. The movie shows a father-son relationship blossom between Dr. Dolittle and his future apprentice, Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett). The relationship between the two was heartwarming. The movie overall is great to watch with a younger audience, but if you’re a child at heart, this is also the perfect film for you. The humor is more targeted for children's amusement, but the quality of the movie is very well presented. |
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March 2023
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