Community

Woodland hosts carnival for students

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The staff of Woodland Elementary joined together with PTSA to host a fun, family-friendly dance on Feb. 11.

The dance included a variety of activities for students, parents and teachers to enjoy. In the art room, volunteers from the high school’s National Honors Society chapter painted faces and oversaw board games as well as helped sell pizza, tickets and water.

The gymnasium was decorated with festive banners and lights to create a fun dancing space where the kids could dance. There was also a DJ to help emcee the event as well as lead the dances like The Cupid Shuffle. At one point during the night, there was also a school-wide limbo contest.

Spike the Bulldog also made a special appearance during the night. While he was mostly seen over by the music room taking pictures and in the hallway giving high-fives, Spike also helped lead everyone in dancing The Cotton Eyed Joe and The Cha-Cha Slide.

“I’m really glad the PTSA and teachers helped put this event together,” said senior Courtney Herring. “I remember when I used to go to these things when I was [in elementary school], and now I realize how much [effort] it takes to put something like this together.”

The volunteers that helped with the event, both student and parent, rarely had a chance to stand still. Chaperones had to keep a close eye to make sure every event ran smoothly.

“I’ve been a part of Student Council for awhile, so planning dances and organizing committees is nothing new to me,” senior Brittany Lytton said. “Of course, when you’re working with really little kids, it adds a whole new dimension to things. I think it’s funny how [at the high school] the biggest problem is how many people are grinding. At [Woodland],  the biggest problem is people screaming in the hallway.  I was supposed to be giving away tickets for a free raffle, but most of my time was spent telling kids to use their inside voices unless they were in the gymnasium.”

Despite all of the time, energy, and effort it takes to organize the family dances, the effort always seems worth in the end.

“These dances really take it out of you, but when you see the kids get excited about pizza or games or something like that, [it is] worth it,” senior Molly Divine said.

Memories are being created as well as a  stronger community. Woodland and PTSA, as well as the other elementary schools, look forward to organizing more fun events like these in the future.

Reviews

‘Chasing Amy’ movie review

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Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are comic book writers out of New Jersey. Their very successful book ends up introducing them to a very pretty Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), who is also a comic book writer. After a night out, Holden falls for Alyssa. The next night, Holden finds out that Alyssa is gay. Holden is crushed  and will do anything to get this girl. He may even risk crushing his life-long friendship with Banky.

“Chasing Amy” is another one of Kevin Smith’s comedies in the “Clerks” universe. In the movie, there are many references to characters and places from “Clerks” and “Mallrats.”

Though this movie is mostly a romantic comedy, it is unlike any other in the genre. Smith does not forget to have his trademark ironic comedy, and throughout the movie, you forget the romantic feel.

Many of the people who watch the film are skeptical about the ending. I personally think the end is powerful. Holden is faced with an extremely tough decision at the end of the movie. He has to choose between the two most important things in his life, unless he can find a way to satisfy both people’s needs.

The end to me shows how truly crazy love can make people. This portrays the change of Holden throughout the movie. At the start of the movie, there is no way that he would have even thought of that idea.

I feel that the people who have rated “Chasing Amy” on IMDb did not look deeper into the movie to see the true meaning. If someone who watches the movie does not take time to think about the film afterwards, they will think of it is a decent romantic comedy. To truly appreciate the whole movie, the viewer must dig below the surface to see Kevin Smith’s true genius.

Entertainment

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

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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.

World Headlines

Lebanese civil war causes turmoil

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When one hears the term “civil war,” they think of that situation as a time of the past. For those in the Middle East this term is all too real.

The media in Lebanon have been using this term to describe a five-day conflict that took place in the first week of August. During this week, more than 20 Lebanese and Internal Security Forces were abducted from Arsal, Syria.

As time went on, the crisis seemed to be worsening. A video popped up throughout social media of two Lebanese soldiers being beheaded by the Islamic state.

Shocking the nation, families began to demand that the government do something to save their loved ones who had been captured by the ISF.

Many were worried that this security problem could potentially lead to more division of the state. They feared that the army could no longer protect their lives there. As the beheadings started to gain more popularity, protests began to break out in many cities in the Middle East.

According to the fairobserver.com, the Arsal crisis started on August 2. The Lebanese soldiers arrested Ahmed Jumaa, a commander of the Syrian rebel group. Many militants from ISF started to attack the town of Arsal.

Many Syrian civilians were harmed and killed with Arsal being a home to thousands of Syrian refugees.

This is the time that the two sides decided on a ceasefire but suddenly took a turn for the worse. Now is the time when militants decided to capture the 20 Lebanese soldiers and keep them captive.

They decided to release five of the abducted people but refused to let anyone else free until their members who were held captive would be set free as well.

Feeling as if they were under attack, the Lebanese people decided to fight back. They attacked Syrian refugees by burning down tent camps. The tensions between the two groups began to grow significantly.

The most recent headline involving the Abduction of Lebanese and ISF was the death of Kayla Muller. She was captured by ISIS and told everyone she would fight for as long as she can.

According to the claims of the IS, Mueller had been killed by a Jordanian air strike. She has just lived to the young age of 26.

As this crisis takes shocking turns, America watches in disbelief, not sure what to expect next.

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