by Kush Bansal | Jan 29, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
In the year-long class Intro to Video Production, we recently watched Forrest Gump to look at the countless special effects used in the film, headlining into our next unit. I had never seen Forrest Gump until this week, but I have to say that it is probably my top 10 favorite movies. Here’s why!
The movie is about Forrest Gump, played by Tom Hanks (Toy Story, Catch Me If You Can) marvelously. Forrest is waiting for a bus while narrating his life story to the people who sit by him. He describes his role in the Vietnam War, Watergate, being a ping pong champion, and more, all the way to his experiences with his best friend, Jenny.
You may be asking yourself as to how special effects fit in with this movie. In 1994, it was monumental for blending in stock footage and real-time footage. In layman’s terms, there could be a documentary of JFK playing but Tom Hanks would act in dead space or as an extra. Then, the subjects of the footage would be dubbed to say as to what is being conveyed in the story. This would make for entertaining scenes and would go on to win an Academy Award, along with others, for its special effects.
This movie is also amazing because of the acting. Tom Hanks’ acting is amazing as he had to be someone who isn’t the smartest (low IQ) and has to go around making choices that would otherwise be straightforward. What was so awesome about the performance was that he found a balanced performance, where he could make scenes funny with his stupidity. The story and the soundtrack are also very good and fit perfectly with the setting of the story. The movie was well-paced and constantly entertaining. Also, I don’t have experiences where I cry over movies, but I have to say that this movie’s ending had me slightly choked up, as it wonderfully concludes a fantastic plot without ever needing to set up a pointless sequel or “extended universes” (looking at you, Disney).
I am going to give Forrest Gump an A+. Thank you for reading and I’ll catch you next time with my next review.
by Kush Bansal | Jan 27, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
Recently, I saw Spiderman Into The Spiderverse. This is the first animated Spiderman movie and takes a different approach to the story, as the movie centers around Miles Morales, not Peter Parker. The movie is about the daily life of Miles Morales and his life around another Spiderman, Peter Parker. But when something happens that changes Miles’ identity, he must overcome the negative to become the new true Spiderman.
An interesting thing about this movie is that it is set across new universes, where the Spiderman we know is in another universe, and the “Mile Morales” Spiderman is actually from another universe — the universe we focus on. I’m not going any deeper into the story because I want you to experience this “amazing” movie (no pun intended 😉 ) if you haven’t seen it.
All jokes aside, this movie was very well handled. First off, the animation was spectacular. The visual effects team needed to create a new technique of animation to get the film to have a “comic-book” feel. And coming from the studio who made the Emoji Movie, I was genuinely surprised at how good this movie looked. The characters and story were also phenomenal. For mainstream audiences, Mile Morales isn’t exactly the well-known Spiderman we know, so during the first half an hour when we see Miles, we can almost connect to him on the same level we connected with Peter Parker in the earlier Spiderman movies. The side characters, like Peter Parker, were also extremely hilarious and also were pivotal to crafting the character arc Miles goes through. The music was also spectacular, as artists such as Post Malone and Vince Staples lead an amazing soundtrack.
If I had one flaw with this movie, it is that the villains could have been fleshed out more. I felt that I didn’t care for them, which isn’t all bad, as that time for the villains was perfectly used to create interesting side characters that Miles would interact with.
In the end, I’m going to give Spiderman Into The Spiderverse an A. Thank you guys for reading this review and have a fantastic rest of your day.
by Saber Slate | Jan 15, 2019 | Advice, Opinion & Reviews
Finals are tough. Sweet and simple. They just are, no matter how long you’ve been a high schooler. Think of finals as a sport. A gladiator sport like…running. Running a race. And what do you always have to do before you run a race? No, not eat a whole bag of Tostitos and cry (but you were close), you gotta stretch. So here are some ways to stretch yourself out before finals.
The first thing you have to remember to do is eat, sleep, and move around. Remember, in elementary school, before the computer tests – MAP, or whatever, the teacher would stand in front of the class and say, “Eat a good breakfast, get a good night’s sleep”? Well, that’s still true to this day. Eating in the morning is really important – it kicks off your day and helps you think way better. Even if it’s a handful of shredded cheese or a whole bowl of cereal, just eat something! Sleeping is also super important, too – I see you, staying up on Instagram until one in the morning, getting maybe 5 hours of sleep, then complaining about how tired you are all day at school. That’s on YOU, hon! Shut off the electronics an hour before bed, like right before you take a shower, and don’t get back on until at least 30 minutes after you’ve woken up the next day. Getting a solid 9 hours is important. Lastly, moving around, even if it’s as simple as walking around, helps get your blood circulating through your body and it clears up your brain so you can think about what’s really important.
Second off, you have to remember to focus on you in the midst of all of your preparation. Taking a mental health day isn’t really a good thing to do right now – missing a day of school to take a break just means more school when you come back. Ranting about your life to someone, or on social media, doesn’t help at all either: what you put out, you get back. So if you’re putting negativity out all of the time, all you’re going to get back is negativity. Instead, try practicing a tactic called mindfulness, or being aware of what’s going on and being able to accept it. A few mindfulness exercises can go as follows: lay down somewhere quiet. Think about a few things that went well or that you enjoyed today. Then, think about two things that didn’t go as well, and then think of a positive spin on them. Or, think of something you’ve wanted to do for a while. Imagine yourself doing it. Or even easier, talk o someone you can trust, face-to-face – positively venting to someone who will listen and respect your situation is a great way to blow off steam.
Another good thing you can do to help yourself along is study in chunks. Set a timer for an hour or so’s worth of work, and then a ten minute (and no more!) break. This allows you study a decent amount of time and get a good amount of work done, and but then get a time period to breathe. Designate chunks to certain periods based on workload and how well you know the topics, for example, if you know a lot about Spanish only study for an hour, but if you’re unsure about those chemistry terms then use three chunks, or until you feel like you have everything down. A few helpful things you can do to remember things are to make acronyms to remember a set of terms (like FANBOYS stands for; for, and, nor, etc.), translate documents into “student-friendly” terms so you can understand them more informally rather than formally, or describe the points and terms in a more informal matter: like if you need to say “Martin Luther told the Catholic Church ‘You suck, here’s 95 reasons why’ in 1517” to remember that Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses in 1517, then so be it. What matters is that you get the content, not that you can regurgitate it back up when you’re asked.
Last but not least, take a big break! You’ve worked really hard this week and we’re really proud of you for doing so much to collect those coins! It’ll all pay off when you’re sitting in your high rise office looking over Manhattan, a glass of champagne in your hand brought in by your intern. At the end of the day each day, take a nap, or listen to music, or eat a snack, or go somewhere with your friends. Working hard in school is important, but so are you! Nothing is more important than how you feel, and even though you should be giving you all this week, you have to remember that it’s never okay to put your grades before your emotional well being or physical well being. If you need to be reminded to step back and take a breath this week, here it is: step back and take a breath! Right now. Close your eyes for a second, take a deep breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth. You can do it. You got this! We’re cheering for you!
As finals week approaches, it’s important you know these steps as a starter. It’s important to worry about your mental health and your grades this week! Remember: stay sane, stay safe. We believe in you!
by Kush Bansal | Jan 8, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
In December of 2018, we found a number of exciting things: Christmas, end of school, the new year, and of course…the movies. Now, normally we always have a Star Wars movie but this year two other movies took the cake to be the most anticipated movie. Aquaman and Bumblebee. Here I will write about the positives and flaws of both movies, as well as my opinion on which one you should see.
Bumblebee released on December 21st, 2018. The Transformers movies have had a pretty bad run over the last decade, starting from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to last year’s Transformers: The Last Knight. While most of the Transformers movies made over a billion dollars ,last year’s entry failed to impress. This is where this year’s Bumblebee comes into play. Acting like a soft reboot, it follows a journey between Bumblebee, who was sent from a war-raged planet to seek refuge on Earth, and Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), a teenager who lost her dad recently. As they meet, they become good friends, ultimately realizing what a good friendship can mean in times of hardship. The best part of the movie was easily the setting in the 80s, opting for a more cheesy and more pop culture driven film. The movie also was 3 hours long like the previous movies and the pacing and script were very strong. My only issue was the cheesiness and forced military subplot, like in every Transformers movie. While John Cena was entertaining, he didn’t seem to offer anything to add on to this movie. Regardless, I had an incredibly fun time watching this movie and I’m going to give it an A-. I highly recommend you check this movie out as it is currently playing in theaters.
Aquaman also released on December, 21st, 2018. The DC movies have been OK up to now, and while critics are raving about this movie’s fun tone and action, I personally found it disappointing. The queen of Atlantis is on the run, has a kid with a human, and that kid is Aquaman. Fast forward around 20 years and Atlantis is in danger. Someone from Atlantis comes to Aquaman to try and convince him to save Atlantis once and for all. I did talk to a few of my friends as well as looked up reviews from other people, mostly saying this movie was good. My initial reaction was also okay in that I gave the movie a B-. My issue with the movie was not that it was too cheesy or anything, but rather that it tried to do too many things out of order. The events were poorly handled in that the protagonists do something, realize they need to do something else to win, follow that, and then get sidetracked with something else. In other words, the movie was messy. Granted, there are some positives in that Jason Momoa played Aquaman really well, the music was pretty good (except for that one Africa cover), and the CGI was extremely well done. I am going to give Aquaman a C.
At the end of the day, I would highly recommend checking out Bumblebee as it is my favorite movie for December 2018. Be sure to check out my review next month and as always have a fantastic rest of your day.
by Saber Slate | Jan 8, 2019 | Opinion & Reviews
First Reason: Updates!
Compared to the middle school, the high school has been modernized. Now, with the new construction, and the fact that it is a whole new school. I can say, however, because I am a freshie freshman that the old middle school sucked. A lot. All the walls were either white or red brick, the windows were very limited for whatever reason, and the layout was about as good as 90% of the newer horror movies. I remember almost being late every day because the hallways were pretty slim, and everyone walked slowly as if they didn’t care about anything. Sidenote: the hallways were just super small and congested with traffic. The lockers were also bad. There was an extremely long hallway lined with blue paint-peeling lockers that you could barely get your backpack into. They were also about a foot shorter, so you had less space to put your stuff in.
Second Reason: Teachers
The teachers here at the high School are more lenient in the classroom than the ones in the middle school. Here, at the high School, they are much more interactive with the students, as far as I am aware, and allow for more jokes and laughter in class, where someone could make an appropriate joke, relatively speaking, and the teacher wouldn’t yell at the student (but there are some exceptions) and they generally interact more with the student. However, the other teachers were fine. A couple of them were probably the closest that came to a high School teacher in the entirety of the school, because they were nice and got along well with their classes, for the most part. However, the rest of them were still pretty “meh.” Not that they were bad, but, for me, the high School teachers are more open and accepting than the middle school ones.
Third Reason: Policies
High school is much more relaxed on policies than the middle school because you had to bring in a clear bottle filled ONLY with water and nothing else. Another one was that if you swore, you would probably be reported. And the lunch room was weird. You had to be sitting down to leave, you couldn’t hang out by the door, no getting seconds. However, the lunch room at the high School is much better, because you can do all of the things mentioned above.
Fourth Reason: Classrooms (teachers continued, I guess)
So, as far as how the teachers acted overall, they were… okay. For the middle school. However, here, I know that they let you listen to music more than at the middle school. Or it changed. I don’t know. But the teachers here at the high School are more lenient when it comes to music, when you can listen to, where, et cetera. They also typically don’t threaten with being sent down to the office as often. Or maybe it’s the fact that middle school was just worse in behavior. I don’t know.
Overall, high school is better than middle school. Not just because there are more freedoms, but because the layout and flow was so much better. Middle school was still pretty nice, but high school is way better.
by Kush Bansal | Dec 20, 2018 | Opinion & Reviews
One debate that has been going on for decades is, is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Left and right have arguments been spat out to the general public with even the main actor joining in. In this case, however, Die Hard is probably the best action Christmas movie. The plot is as follows: John McClane, a New York Cop, visits his wife and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a Christmas party of the business his wife works for. Unfortunately, the fun is interrupted when a group of terrorists take over the building, as well as everyone in it. McClane realizes that there’s no one to save the hostages but him. This movie is riveting from the very first shot of McClane, when he is afraid of a plane, ultimately setting up his character of being just like everyone else — not a superhero but an ordinary citizen. Die Hard also goes along with the whole hippy stereotype of California. From skinny jeans to tie-dye shirts, this movie addresses it all. This movie is also famous for its action scenes, as it all takes place in one location, making it more suspenseful. This movie is so famous that it created many more copycats that unfortunately weren’t as successful as Die Hard (looking at you, Skyscraper). In the end, I’m going to give this movie an A+. This is the best Christmas-action movie we’re probably ever going to see, and I’m glad. Thank you guys for reading my Christmas reviews this month. It has been very fun writing these articles are sharing it with you guys for the holiday season. As this is the final review, I hope you guys have a wonderful holiday season and as always, have a fantastic day.
