Mount Hood

Review: “A Cure for Wellness”

By: Kiley Prom
Freelancer

From the director who has brought us modern-day classics such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Ring,” comes a poor excuse for a horror movie set in an isolated spa in the Swiss Alps.

The story follows the young protagonist, Lockhart, an executive at a financial institution in New York City, as he travels to the Swiss Alps to retrieve his company’s CEO from his extended vacation. From the moment Lockhart reaches his destination, he can already tell that it wasn’t an ordinary day spa. After being told the history of the grounds by a sketchy cab driver, he walks into the spa with the full intention of bringing back the CEO in no-time-flat. Sadly, his retrieval mission doesn’t go as planned and he begins to learn the true secret behind the secluded wellness center.

The first 40 minutes of the movie are very well done. The aesthetics are absolutely stunning and add to the suspense and intrigue of the film. The story is just engaging enough to keep the audience interested. Once the movie hits about the middle mark, however, the quality quickly goes downhill.

With the way the first half went I expected there to be a big climax, but it never came. The beginning of the movie gives a sense of excitement, but by the third act, the excitement is gone because there are no answers.

The story seemed to be at a stand still and had me glancing at the clock wondering how there was still over an hour left. Honestly, I felt like I could have walked out of the theater halfway through and came back for the last five minutes without missing anything.

The number of plot holes and unexplained phenomena going on were almost laughable as the director, Gore Verbinski, tried to throw in as much randomness as he could just to get a reaction out of his audience. Verbinski also decided to make viewers uncomfortable by turning the film into a worse “50 Shades of Gray,” complete with awkward sex scenes and nudity, but with a repulsive incestual twist.

There was the potential for a good film, but it fell just short of what it was trying to accomplish. The cinematography was beautiful, and the score was one of the best I heard in a film as of late, but it was too long, making it hard to stay invested especially with no climax. This is the kind of film where waiting for it to come out on Netflix isn’t a bad idea. At least then there’s the possibility to fast forward through the mundane parts.

Contact the author at kprom15@wou.edu

1/4
+ Great cinematography
– Squandered ending

Review: “The Lego Batman Movie”

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

The original “Lego Movie” (2014) introduced a different kind of Batman. Batman was funny, poked fun at previous Batman adaptations and knew how to kick some butt. “The Lego Batman Movie” brings that concept back but this time on a much larger scale.

Will Arnett’s overly confident, sometimes childish and emotionally damaged Batman is hilarious from the very beginning. He’s sympathetic, struggling with loneliness and a major fear of attachment, but he’s also constantly making jokes.

Batman himself is a very well-rounded character. In “The Lego Movie”, Batman’s negative qualities are shown without much of the positive, but “Lego Batman” makes a point to highlight both.

The supporting cast is great as well. Michael Cera’s Robin is adorable and loveable and Zach Galifianakis gives a humorous performance as the Joker, albeit not the most sinister Joker. All the voice acting is top notch. Each actor brings their unique style to these characters, creating something entirely new out of a well known character.

The all-star cast doesn’t stop there; Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill reprise their roles as Superman and Green Lantern, Billy Dee Williams voices Two-Face and Conan O’Brien voices The Riddler. The incredible cast is not utilized very well though, with many of the supporting characters only having one or two lines in the whole film. Billy Dee Williams, for example, has a lot of publicity for playing Two Face, yet he only says 10 words throughout the entire film.

At its core, “The Lego Batman Movie” is about family. The story of Bruce Wayne’s parents being murdered is common knowledge among superhero fans, but this film takes it one step further by highlighting Batman’s emotional struggles with attachment. While “The Lego Movie’s” big moral is creativity, “Lego Batman” puts a huge focus on teamwork.

One of the best parts of the universe that “The Lego Movie” created was the merging of different film franchises, and “Lego Batman” does the same thing. Film’s worst villains, such as Voldemort, Sauron, King Kong and Daleks challenge Batman while reminding viewers that the film is still set in a massive universe.

The film also did a great job of parodying Batman and DC movies. Multiple jabs were thrown at “Suicide Squad” and “Batman v Superman.” There are throwbacks to multiple different “Batman” films as well, poking fun at some of the ridiculousness of them.

“The Lego Batman Movie” is not only hilarious throughout, but it has every aspect of a good Batman film. There is fantastic character development for Batman and Robin throughout. I found myself caring more about these Lego characters than I did in either the “Dark Knight” franchise or “Batman v Superman.” The team dynamic and growth is extremely rewarding.

From start to finish, “The Lego Batman Movie” is engaging, accessible for any audience and absolutely hilarious. With well written jokes and strong characters, “Lego Batman” is not only one of the funniest films so far this year, but also one of the best Batman films there has ever been.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

 

4/4

+ Team dynamic

+ Excellent voice acting

Live music hits campus

By: Kevan Maloney
Staff Writer

Western hosts an array of enticing and unique live performances throughout the year. The Edgar H. Smith Fine Arts Series provides an excellent way to see many new acts and performances. In it’s 40th season, the Smith Fine Arts program is in the process of hosting six acts.

These six acts include everything from a band that mixes many different styles and language to a large scale orchestra, to a dancing troupe. This series of musical and performance acts is exceedingly diverse and has a little something for everyone.

Half of the six acts have already been performed, but there is still a chance to see the last three acts.

Coming on Feb. 20 and 21 is Jayme Stone’s “Lomax Project.” The project is a musical act focusing on song collected by Alan Lomax over the course of his life. These songs are diverse and varied, from all walks of life.

Following that, Smith Fine Arts program is hosting Micky Dolenz with The American Metropole Orchestra on April 15. This act has Micky Dolenz giving his rendition of popular songs from the ‘60s with the help of the American Metropole Orchestra.

The last act being hosted is Danilo Perez with The Western Hemisphere Orchestra, Western’s orchestra, on June 10. Danilo Perez is a world renowned composer and pianist. His partnership with Western is huge for the school.

These performances are the next editions to 40 plus years of the Edgar H. Smith Fine Arts Series. It was created in 1976 by Dr. Edgar Smith, who was a huge advocate of the arts. The series was named after him in 1979 in honor of his death.

The board of 18 members is also carrying on his legacy as an educator. The series is built on giving Western and surrounding areas performances as well as providing educational opportunities.

Contact the author at kmaloney15@wou.edu

And The Razzie goes to …

By: Alyssa James
Staff Writer

The Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as The Razzies, is an award ceremony that recognizes the worst in the film industry. The 37th annual Razzie Awards will be covering a variety of different categories all focusing on the poor and unfavorable aspects of some of the films from 2016.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the categories that will be presented include: worst picture, worst actress, worst actor, worst director, worst supporting actor, worst screenplay, worst supporting actress, worst screen couple/ensemble and worst prequel/remake/rip-off/sequel.

I decided to look it up and consider the categories to make my own predictions of who will be awarded The Razzies throughout that infamous night of celebrating the substandard features of 2016 films. Here are my predictions of the winners for the 2016 Razzies:

Worst picture: “Dirty Grandpa”
Worst actress: Megan Fox – “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”
Worst actor: Ben Affleck – “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”
Worst director: Roland Emmerich – “Independence Day: Resurgence”
Worst supporting actor: Nicolas Cage – “Snowden”
Worst screenplay: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”
Worst supporting actress: Kate Hudson – “Mother’s Day”
Worst screen couple/ensemble: “Gods of Egypt”
Worst prequel/remake/rip-off/sequel: “Zoolander 2”

The Razzies will take place on Feb. 25 at 12 a.m. PST. Anyone can watch these awards on The Razzies’ YouTube channel, “razziechannel,” or stay updated through their Facebook page or Twitter account.

Now that the stressful midterm season has just passed, it may be a relaxing and fun way to destress by getting some friends together to make predictions of who you think deserve these awards and then on the night of The Razzies, get together to see if your predictions come to be true.

Contact the author at ajames16@wou.edu

Predict me an Oscar

By: Blayde Biacan
Staff Writer

The 89th annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, is recognizing many great people and films this year. Many of the selections this year have a great diversity of cultures depicted in the movies.
I’ve watched the films nominated and predicted the winners for some categories. The following categories and nominees are:

Animated Feature Film – “Zootopia”
Directing – “La La Land”
Cinematography – “La La Land”
Editing – “Arrival”
Music: Original Song – “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana”
Writing: Adapted Screenplay – “Arrival”
Visual Effects – “Doctor Strange”

For this particular Oscar ceremony there is a lot of controversy over the movie “La La Land.” The musical looks good and uses a lot of long takes. It also received 14 Oscar nominations, rivaling “All about Eve” and “Titanic.” Both lead actors, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, received Oscar nominations. The only backlash that this movie received is from critics on how it depicts jazz culture, which can be compared to pop culture in how it could be misrepresented and may not be true to its roots, which is why it may not win as many categories as some would expect it to win.
The films nominated offer a lot of diversity in setting, such as in “Moana.” It is based off of Polynesian culture when they used to sail the seas, especially when finding new land. In the film “Lion,” it shows the Indian culture and also how the protagonist has to get used to other cultures throughout the movie.
There are many other categories that I have not mentioned with great nominations and even many more categories that include “La La Land.” The Oscars will be premiered live on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m. PST in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Contact the author at bbiacan16@wou.edu

Comedy comes to Western

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

Western students have been hard at work on the upcoming theater production “All In The Timing.” Written by David Ives, “All In The Timing” is a set of six one-act plays that focus on wordplay. The play is directed by Western’s own, Dr. Kent Neely, and also stars six Western students.

Each one-act has its own characters and comedic style, so each actor gets to play multiple characters throughout the production.

“Each of the one acts heavily relies on the absurdity of language, specifically talking about [Universal Language] we literally speak gibberish for about half of it,” said Lindsay Spear, a junior in the Bachelor of Fine Arts acting program and cast member.

The one-acts featured in “All In The Timing” include “The Philadelphia,” “Universal Language,” “Mere Mortals,” “Sure Thing,” “Words Words Words” and “Variations on the Death of Trotsky.”

“They’re all really funny. David Ives was a smart guy and he really used that to create comedy. That’s a big part of it. It’s just a really enjoyable show,” said Nick Hulscher, a sophomore in the Bachelor of Fine Arts theater program and cast member.

Asked about working with the rest of the cast, Spear responded, “Everybody has brought their own style of comedy to it. Since we’re all playing different characters, it’s nice to see how everyone handles different characters and different one-acts.”

“There’s only six of us, so we were almost all there every night for rehearsals and since we all already knew each other and it was such a small group, we got close really quickly and that let us connect on more of a personal level in the scenes,” added Hulcher.

Recounting her favorite part of being on the cast, Spears adds, “‘Universal Language’ is probably one of the the hardest plays I’ve ever been in because I start off speaking English, but as it goes on I speak more and more of this gibberish language Unamunda and at one point we’re supposed to scat in this Unamundan language and the one day we finally got it right we both started screaming. It was so much fun.”

“It’s not a series show. You should go into it expecting to laugh. Don’t expect some serious tragedy because it’s really the opposite,” said Hulcher. He describes the set as a comedy club with a brick wall in the background.

“All in the Timing” runs in the Rice Auditorium Black Box studio Feb. 9-11 at 7:30 p.m. with an additional 2:00 performance on the 11th. Tickets are $14 or $8 for a Western student.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

Editor’s picks

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

Editor’s Recommendations

“Runescape” is a special kind of game. It’s one that has lasted the test of time, still going strong after 16 years. With over 80,000 players still actively playing, “Runescape” is still an increasingly popular game.
“Runescape” is an online fantasy game where your options are endless. You can take on almost

Photo from the episode “Wayne Dream Team”

any fantasy role imaginable, levelling up your many skills as you go. The game also features hundreds of quests to take players on journeys and adventures throughout the world.
Having played “Runescape” for over ten years on and off, I can fully recommend playing. Even in college, chopping some trees after class is a great way to wind down.
While Runescape’s playerbase has significantly decreased over the years, updates are still being made and new players are joining all the time.

Editor’s Disparagement

The new DC comics show “Powerless” on NBC has a lot of potential. Set in the DC Universe, “Powerless” follows the powerless employees of Wayne Security in Charm City.
The premiere was nothing but a tacky workplace comedy. With cheap jokes and poor performances, “Powerless” makes terrible use of its star studded cast, which includes Alan Tudyk, Vanessa Hudgens and Danny Pudi.
With every bad joke the show also threw in the name “Bruce Wayne” or “Batman.” Fully aware that the DC aspect is the only selling point, “Powerless” drowns viewers in poorly timed references.
Only the premiere has aired, but if the show doesn’t improve greatly, it’ll get cancelled in no time. For those curious about watching it, I’d say it’s a complete waste of time at this point.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

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