Mount Hood

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

Review: “Rings”

By: Kiley Prom
Freelancer

Continuing the route of its predecessors, this unnecessary third movie in “The Ring” franchise follows the story of the girl who’s never used a brush, as she continues her murder streak through old pirated VHS tapes.

Updated for 2017, the characters make use of current technology such as quicktime files and cellular phones, as well as keeping to the roots by starting with the original VHS tape.

Fit with a stereotypical young love between a 26-year-old who viewers are supposed to believe is a freshman and a girl who can’t attend university for a reason they never care to elaborate on, this new installment is unnecessarily packed with plenty of cheesy romantic comedy tropes.

“Rings” follows what many horror movies have done before by casting an actress with tremendously bad acting and breathing problems, and an actor whose only memorable moments are the few times he takes off his shirt.

“There’s no hiding” from this strange plot that includes a random girl on the side of the road whose presence is confusing at best until the last 20 minutes of the movie.

The film also takes our main couple on a wild goose chase, sending them back and forth between the only three buildings in the small town of Sacramento Valley, in search of the decomposed corpse of Samara.

“Big Bang Theory’s” Johnny Galecki, or Professor Gabriel as he’s referred to in the film, makes his appearance as the occult leader of students who spends his freetime showing anyone willing to watch a film from a VCR he procured at a garage sale. His character turns the already far-fetched concept of a girl coming out of the TV into a science fair project.

Vincent D’Onofrio shows up in the latter half of the movie as the saving grace of the film, playing a very convincing role as a blind man whose character becomes much more memorable as the film goes on.

The filmography was well done, all things considering. The director, F. Javier Gutiérrez, incorporated heavy use of imagery that he featured in single framed shots throughout the film. Gutiérrez also included a lot of religious symbology such as a church, crosses, as well as a painting of the Virgin Mary that contrasted with the demonic nature of the film. The director also seemed to take some pointers from popular directors before him, cashing in on the dolly zoom effect utilized in Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Vertigo,” to create a feeling of disorientation.

The movie itself has no scary moments aside from a few jump scares you can see coming from a mile away, and some uncomfortable moments for the entomophobes in the audience.

Other than a few plot holes, such as the protagonists phone never running out of battery despite using it as a flashlight for over 30 percent of the film, and a confusing timeline, “Rings” is not bad. It’s not the best horror movie of all time, nor the best in the “Ring” franchise, but it did manage to keep me engaged for 100 minutes without falling asleep. However, the movie offers no rewatch value.

Contact the author at kprom15@wou.edu

3/4
+ Great supporting cast
– Unrealistic plot holes

Editor’s picks

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

Editor’s Recommendation:

A large amount of “Star Wars” content outside of the films relies heavily on the characters and events in them. True originality is difficult to find in the “Star Wars” universe; the recent “Rogue One” struggled with that.

Luckily, the animated television show “Star Wars: Rebels” has the perfect amount of originality. The show follows a crew of rebels, long before “A New Hope,” on their many adventures.

“Rebels” doesn’t rely on the movies at all. When an event or character is referenced, it’s done for pure enjoyment rather than plot reliance.
All characters have their own struggles and arcs that viewers easily get attached to. The character relationships are so rich that reliance on the movies is not necessary.

Editor’s Disparagement:

ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” has aired alongside Marvel films since “Thor: The Dark World.” The show takes places in the cinematic universe and follows Agent Coulson from “The Avengers” and his team of agents.

The show’s concept is exciting but the execution is not great. Existing alongside Marvel films doesn’t excuse the weak plots and thin characters.
When a new film releases, the show minorly ties in. Watching the show made the beginning of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” make more sense, but it took 13 episodes of boring filler to get there.

One or two moments of payoff per season is hardly a reason to watch a show, and that’s just what “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” requires viewers to do.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

The dethroned king of gaming

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

I had the kind of grandparents who referenced everything related to video games as “a Nintendo”, which was an easy thing for individuals unfamiliar with gaming to do with how prominent the name was.

Despite large success since 1997, Nintendo was at its financial peak with 2006’s Wii, selling 101.1 million units as of 2016, more than both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.

Since then, Nintendo has been pushed to the very back of the console market, with the WiiU selling only 13 million units. Not only was the WiiU the lowest selling Nintendo product, but it sold less units than any of Sony’s or Microsoft’s consoles. The WiiU’s hardware just couldn’t compare with the Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

While the original Wii’s hardware couldn’t keep up with the modern consoles, the main selling point was fun. Both “Wii Sports” and “Mario Kart Wii” quickly became fan favorites and helped contribute to the console’s success. The WiiU lacked memorable games and couldn’t run popular games, so it was much less desirable and the sales of other modern consoles soared instead.

2017 will see the release of Nintendo’s new console, the Switch. Nintendo told The Wall Street Journal that they’re producing three million units to start out and are anticipating selling 10 million by the end of 2017, almost catching up to the WiiU.

With optimized hardware to play modern games, such as “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”, and a large list of new original games including “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” and “Super Mario Odyssey”, Nintendo is attempting to appeal to gamers on all levels.

The $300 price tag isn’t stopping fans from taking to social media with excitement. The console has already developed a large fanbase online with users on sites like Reddit collecting all the information they can.

The Nintendo Switch releases on March 3, 2017, with more games and support releasing later.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou

That’s a wrap

By: Alyssa James
Staff Writer

On January 29, the Sundance Film Festival came to a close in Park City, UT. It started on January 19, showing over 100 new, feature-length, independent films throughout the 10 day festival according to sundance.org. Within this festival, there are multiple different sections for the films which include: U.S. dramatic competition, U.S. documentary competition, world cinema dramatic competition, world cinema documentary competition, and next. As 2017 continues, we will start to see some of these titles more and more as they make a presence in the theaters.

One film shown within the U.S. dramatic competition was “Ingrid Goes West.” The film showcases the social media idolization of this age. As a young woman, Ingrid, played by Aubrey Plaza, grows an obsession with Instagram user Taylor Sloane, portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen. Because of her obsession, Ingrid decides to moves to L.A. to become friends with Taylor. According to slashfilm.com says the film is, “not just your average comedy film, but a smart commentary on our social media obsessed world.”

“Last Men in Aleppo” is a documentary that follows some of the founding members of The White Helmets, the group of men who go around in attempt to save people from the war-stricken state of their country, Syria.Kutv.com reported that, “everything about the fly-on-the-wall documentary is deeply grim. There are no interviews, just cameras showing the raw struggle to save lives.” This documentary is directed by Feras Fayyad and Steen Johannessen and has been said to be one of the documentaries that is most difficult to see this year, according to theguardian.com.

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon wrote the screenplay for the comedy-drama film, “The Big Sick,” based off their own lives and the difficulty of their interracial romance. It focuses on the culture-clash between Nanjiani’s pakistani culture and the culture of Emily, an american. Sundance.org wrote that Nanjiani mined “… his personal stories for comedy gold, he shares his experiences that are uniquely Pakistani but will resonate for everyone who has ever fallen in love.” This film was a huge hit at the Sundance Film Festival and is anticipated to have major success.

There was a vast variety of films showed at Sundance. As people are talking about the films that are receiving Oscars for this year, this festival sets up the movies that will be contenders for next year. The Sundance Film Festival desires to make available a place for artists to present the work that they poured their heart and soul into to create. All of the filmmakers have something that they want to convey to their audience and the best part is that we are able to watch and enjoy these films, and maybe even be moved by them.

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