Category Archives: Entertainment

Entertainment

Emma Watson to play Belle in Disney’s new-live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Leave a comment

Twenty-four-year-old actress Emma Watson announced in late January that she has been cast as Belle in Disney’s newest adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast” according to ABC.com. The former Harry Potter actress, is ready to leave behind her famous portrayal of Hermione Granger and transform herself into a role even more magical.

The news was initially announced to her followers through a Facebook post on Jan. 26.

“I am finally able to tell you that I will be playing Belle in Disney’s new live-action Beauty and the Beast,” Watson said.

Fans faced Watson’s announcement with great approval. Watson is just as excited about the news as her followers.

“My six year-old self is on the ceiling [with her] heart bursting,” said Watson. “Time to start some singing lessons. I can’t wait for you to see it.”

Filming has yet to commence, and there has been no set release date for the movie. Insider sources have released that this movie will share an art style close to that of Disney’s “Maleficent.”

Like the aforementioned 2014 retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” this new version of “Beauty and the Beast” will be a live-action film that will be heavily depend upon the use of CGI and other forms of computer graphics.

The success of movies like “Maleficent” and the already abounding press coverage for the new “Beauty and the Beast” appear to be heralding a new trend of Disney movies.

This is not Disney’s first attempt at rebooting Disney classics into new, edgy live-action dramas.

2010’s “Alice in Wonderland” was the first movie in recent memory to attempt to completely and seamlessly combine CGI and live-action into a single, flowing story. The movie combined the art direction of Tim Burton, the acting talents of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter, as well as the naturally outlandish nature of Lewis Carroll’s original novel. All of the elements seemed to be aligned perfectly.

Yet with a 51% rating on rottentomatoes.com and less than stellar reviews from the critics, Disney’s executives were left wondering where they went wrong. A confusing and hard-to-follow script were left to blame, and plans for a sequel were immediately scrapped.

Four years later, Disney studios took on the task of creating “Maleficent,” aware of the risk they were taking. Stunningly, “Maleficent,” contrary to its previous successor, became one of the more popular releases of 2014.

Both movies took on the challenge of reconstructing a classic story with Gothic elements, but “Maleficent” was given more positive feedback. Good scripts and flawless acting, it appears, is the best recipe for success. Now audiences are highly anticipating the newest live-action fairy tale.

The live-action adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast” has audiences pondering the possible stylistic choices of this upcoming story. Simply, many are curious if “Beauty and the Beast” will be styled after the Gothic tones of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Maleficent” or if Disney will pioneer a new style for this new live-action film.

Speculations are high, and until the studio releases more information, fans will be left to merely imagine what Emma Watson and the rest of the “Beauty and the Beast” cast will bring to theaters.

Reviews

Joshua’s fresh food serves as wonderful alternative

Leave a comment

From fresh foods to fast service, a restaurant in the school is known as a great place to eat a tasty meal. Joshua’s strives to new levels as it trains students for the Culinary Arts program.

With the objective to train all students in all areas of the demanding and competitive world of restaurant management and basic cooking techniques, Joshua’s welcomes all people on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays to come eat a great meal.

If students need a break from the basic school lunches from the cafeteria, I suggest taking a walk a little bit further down the hall to Joshua’s Restaurant. They have a dine-in option and a to-go option.

“Our seasonal menu is quite popular. It follows farm-to-table food herds and changes three times throughout the year,” Instructor Tracy Lee said.

With an addition of all year meals that are classic hits, people would definitely be satisfied. Most commonly bought items are the house made chips, fresh fries and the chicken tenders basket.

They also offer a salad bar and soups. Desserts that could melt in ones mouth might catch their eyes, too.

“A lot of people really like the Joshua’s Killer Brownie. It’s a more popular dessert,” Assistant Instructor Teresa Ursetti said.

All the foods on the menu are fresh every week and are very good.

Take a break from that basic school lunch and take a trip to Joshua’s.

Reviews

Sleeping at Last provides loud messages, quietly

Leave a comment

“Sleeping at Last” is one of those artists who has the power to soothe and relax with a voice.

The powerful albums and EPs are packed with great sounds and only the occasional “skippable” song.

“Though my hands are prone to trial and error, I’m crossing my fingers for something to hold,” Ryan O’Neal sang in his song “Outlines.” O’Neal did indeed find something to hold.

“Sleeping at Last” was created in Chicago in 1999. The band originally had three members: lead singer Ryan O’Neal, drummer Chad O’Neal and bassist Dan Purdue. Purdue and O’Neal later left the band in 2011 to pursue other careers.

Ryan O’Neal; however, never gave up on the band. He adjusted to being the only member, becoming the singer and instrumentalist.

The first album released was called “Capture” in 2000, but it does not exist on iTunes, the band’s website or any popular radio apps such as Spotify or Soundcloud.

At the beginning of their career, while the band still had Chad and Dan, they often opened for other bands, such as “Kill Hannah” and the “Plain White T’s.” They did not seal a record deal until 2002 when Interscope Records’ Billy Corgan signed them.

Their second album, “Ghosts,” was released in 2003 and is considered the band’s first major label debut.

“Say what you really want to say and the truest forms will show. Finally, you will find your soul,” O’Neal, in his song “Say”, sang.

The release of “Ghosts” introduced the sound and focus of the band. O’Neal writes about life and love, while playing calm, indie music in the background.

In 2006, “Sleeping at Last” released a third album titled “Keep No Score.” On this album, O’Neal expanded his songwriting abilities by using powerful imagery. The musical arrangements in the majority of the songs is definitely a highlight of this album.

“They say this place has changed, but strip away all of the technology and you will see that we are all hunters, hunting for something that will make us okay,” O’Neal sang in “Needle and Thread.”

“Storyboards” was released in 2009 with a beautiful water color painting of an owl as the album cover. The painting fit perfectly to the soft and elegant sound of the album.

“As the wrist of an artist pulls the foreground into frame, we must learn to focus all the same,” O’Neal wrote in the song “Timelapse.”

Never failing to impress, O’Neal proceeded to create the Yearbook series in 2011. The series consisted of two or three songs released every month for an entire year. At the end, all of the EPs were compiled into one massive collection filled with beautiful melodies and poetic lyrics.

“Concentration breaks under frivolous weight. If the right words exist, may they find our lips,” O’Neal sang in “Resolve.”

The final albums released were the Atlas series consisting of “Space,” “Land,” “Darkness” and “Light”. The songs on each of the albums hit every aspect of all things happy, intense and curious. Songs on “Space” left listeners with a universe-like feeling and clever lyrics.

“I dig until my shovel tells a secret,” O’Neal wrote in “Earth” from the “Space” album. “I swear to the Earth that I will keep it. Brush off the dirt, and let the change of heart occur,”

 Ryan O’Neal is an artist who has been through a lot, but never gave up on his dream of making music and allowing listeners to feel something more than heavy bass behind useless lyrics.

To take his career even farther, O’Neal has plans of releasing the “Atlas: Year Two” series sometimes this spring.

Entertainment

2015 Grammy’s award the year’s best musicians

Leave a comment

The 2015 Grammy award show was expected to have a vast number of viewers and was also expected to have some of the best musical performances of the new year so far.

There are a total of 83 categories in the Grammy’s ranging from “Best Opera Recording” to “Best Gospel Album.”

Nominees for record of the year were “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX, “Chandelier” by Sia, “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith, “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift and “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor. The winner of record of the year was Sam Smith with “Stay With Me.”

Sam Smith won big at his first Grammys, including awards for “Best New Artist,” “Best Pop Vocal Album,” “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year.”

One of the biggest upsets throughout the whole show was Beck beating Beyoncé for album of the year. Kanye West jokingly ran up the stage and pretended to interrupt Beck’s acceptance speech, as he did to Taylor Swift when she beat Beyoncé at the 2009 VMA’s.

It was later that night that Kanye admitted he was joking in his actions but not in his motivations. He does believe Beyoncé should have won over Beck. Beck released a statement saying he was surprised he won and still has ample respect for West.

There were also awards given out for the rap, country and rock genres.

In the country genre, Miranda Lambert won best country album for her most recent album “Platinum,” Glen Campbell won best country song with “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” best country duo/group performance went to “Gentle On My Mind” by The Band Perry and the Grammy for best country solo performance went to Carrie Underwood with “Something In The Water.”

In the rap/R&B genre, Eminem won best rap album for “The Marshall Mathers LP2,” Kendrick Lamar took home the Grammy for best rap performance and best rap song with his hit single “i.” Best rap/sung collaboration was won by Eminem ft. Rihanna with “The Monster.”

There were not only awards given out for individual artists, there were awards given out for music films and compilation soundtrack for visual media. There were also some awards for music in other languages, such as Spanish.

The late Joan Rivers was celebrated by winning the Grammy for best spoken album for her audiobook “Diary of a Mad Diva.”

Rivers is not the only artist that has received a Grammy after death. Others include Ray Charles, George Carlin, Amy Winehouse, Elvis Presley and Notorious B.I.G.

There were a total of 26 performances at the Grammys.

The first performance of the night was AC/DC as the opener. The band was ranked the 19th best performance of the night by The Hollywood Reporter. The number one performance per The Hollywood Reporter was Beyoncé, even though her self-titled album did not win for album of the year.

Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige’s performance ranked second and Sia’s performance with Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler dancing ranked third.

The 2015 Grammy awards were a big television success and pulled in an estimated 26 million viewers.