Category Archives: Entertainment

The Great Gatsby, a romantic drama based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald, hits theaters May 10 and will be available in 3D. Directed by Baz Luhrmann in Warner Brothers Studios, The Great Gatsby follows the eccentric tale of millionaire Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new neighbor Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) during the height of the roaring twenties. “The previews look cool.,” said English teacher Mr. Jason Brookes. The film also features Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, and Jason Clarke.

The story takes place in 1922 on Long Island. The main character is Carraway who comes to live close to his cousin Daisy and accidentally becomes neighbors with Gatsby. Gatsby throws elaborate parties that Carraway eventually starts attending. Throughout the turn of events that soon follow, Carraway finds himself becoming absorbed into Gatsby’s continuous drama.

Having a $120 million budget, the new installment includes new music tracks from popular artists including Jay-Z, Beyonce, Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas, and more. The review website called Rotten Tomatoes uses both audience and critics’ opinions. While no critic opinions are available, the collective audience review of 39,000 people (as of April 11, 2013) gave it a 98%. Most reviewers were excited for one of three things: the director, the cast, or the story. The movie seems to excite many who en- joyed the novel and 1974 film as well as many others who want to see Leonardo DiCaprio’s pretty face.

Every day you see talented and unique kids roaming the halls during passing period and lunchtime. These kids speak their mind through many ways such as clothes, drawings and even creative writing, but you rarely hear it out loud. Once a month in Dr. Jennifer Rinaldi’s room, South students are finally allowed to speak their mind through poetry, songs, and even short stories. The talented kids that walk through the door are passionate and so emotionally controlled by the words in their head that it can leave people in the audience in tears.

Poetry slams are a competition in which poets read their pieces of written genius and are judged on a numerical scale by random audience members to see who is going to be on the top of the slam food chain. Slams are way for people to express their own style of words and rhymes that you didn’t even know was possible. The Hipsters, free styling rappers, Mysterious Shamans, and proto comedians constantly challenge themselves to write new and different stuff each time they perform.

Sometimes Rinaldi brings guests such as underground poets, improv specialist and slam artist that tell the students of South to believe in what they are writing and not to hold back their emotions because sometimes the deepest emotions make the best stories.

Not just kids who go to South watch these inspired poets.  “You guys have some pretty talented kids,” Connor Long from East High School said.

Sophomore Dominic Ellerbee has performed in the slam many times and he finds the performers to be very artistic. “They are shy, outgoing, nice, artistic and in depth,” he said.

Slams are a revolution coming from men and women of many nationalities, personalities, and unique styles, and they mold the world with their words. The students at South express their feelings about everything they can imagine with just a couple of stanzas to the audience of dark silhouetted students and faculty. Why do people perform in the slam you ask? South students perform to tell something that what they have been keeping inside whether it’s funny, sad, downright weird, or even just to show the world their talent.

The slams are once a month in Rinaldi’s room, and if you want a chance to show the school your slick rhymes, passionate songs or creative stories, go and talk to Rinaldi in room 204 and keep a look out for the upcoming slam

There is a storm and the floodwater rises higher and higher. Out of that storm a girl calls for help and is rescued by the gods. She grows older and is known as Ti Moune, or little orphan. By falling for a rich man, her life turns into a journey of wonder led by the Gods and love.

Once on this Island is the upcoming production of South High School’s Drama Company. It takes place in the Caribbean where the people on the island are separated into two complete different worlds. There is the world of the rich; where they party and enjoy themselves by drinking champagne and ordering their servants around. They dance for fun and live life in the comforts of mansions cut off by towering gates and walls. Then, there is the world of the peasants. The small villages and the never ceasing labor are both part of their reality. They praise and worship the Gods; Asaka –Mother of the Earth, played by senior Lena Stroud; Agwe –God of Water, played by senior Sam Bulkley; Erzulie –Goddess of Love, played by senior Allegra Stroud; and Papa Ge –Sly Demon of Death, played by sophomore Addison Guidichessi. The peasants believe that the gods choose their fates. The peasants dance, using it as a way to stay alive. Their simple hard working life changes as the Gods decide the fate of a man and a girl, testing the power of love over death.

The girl by the name of Ti Moune, played by senior Rosa Wenger falls for a young dashing man known as Daniel, played by sophomore Miller Crone, who is injured in a fatal car crash. Ti Moune’s parents, Mama Euralie; played by senior Jordan Rose-Williams, and TonTon Julian; played by sophomore Dominic Ellerbee, try to do what’s best, even though it’s a hard decision. They face the decision of leaving him to die in their land and get blamed by the rich for letting a wealthy man die, or take care of him even though he is nothing in their land. TonTon Julian goes on a journey to the land of the wealthy to tell the wealthy the news. In this tale of love and changed fate, the world is never the same when these two different worlds meet.

Wenger has been in every play since her freshman year. This is her ninth performance at South. Wenger said, “I love being on stage and being able to be someone who I’m not. This is because it is a good feeling knowing that I can be in another person’s shoes.” Wenger is going to major in theater because it is what she wants to do and loves to perform her abilities.

Once on this Island is a fun-filled stunning play that will take your breath away. “The play is sometimes stressful at times because of everyone depending on each other to know their cue,” said Wenger, “However when everything is done correctly it is like being part of some thing amazing and is a great feeling.” Through the dance and song it is as if a person has gone on vacation back in time to the Caribbean. The sound of the birds, the songs echoing through a village, the Gods singing, making fates while the people sing their praise through mystical mysterious song and dance will stun the audience and have them wishing for more. The play costs ten dollars for admission and will play March 14 through March 17 at 7:00 p.m.

        2012 was a good year that yielded many fantastic and groundbreaking movies, and 2013 promises to be equally as exciting in terms of cinematic experience. With dazzling high definition theaters and the new technology that allows for the films to have a better frame rate, this new year seems to accentuate higher quality filming and screening, spoiling movie enthusiasts. Many movies seem to touch on American classics and revamp beloved old fairy tales. These fairy tales are reintroduced with interesting twists to captivate and pique the interest of audiences, just as Hollywood did with Hansel and Gretel earlier this year. The audience can see this revitalization through the upcoming movies Jack the Giant Slayer, The Great Gatsby, and the expansion of the great tale, The Wizard of Oz, with Oz, The Great and the Powerful and the animated Dorothy of Oz.

         Continuing with the theme of nostalgia, Iron Man Three comes out May 3, continuing Robert Downey Jr.’s career as the iconic super hero. In this installment, Iron Man’s age-old nemesis, The Mandarin, appears out of comics for the first time in this modern movie series. This time Iron Man faces one of his greatest foes who is completely obsessed with taking out Iron Man and ruining Tony Stark’s life. This film is sure to please hardcore Iron Man and Downey fans alike with enough of both to bring another blockbuster to the silver screen.

          Mentioned before, the new, yet retro, movie, Oz, The Great and Powerful comes out March 8 and tells the story that was merely implied in the original Wizard of Oz. This story covers how the Wizard of Oz (James Franco) got to Oz and how he became the Great and Powerful Wizard that all the creatures of Oz look up to. After Oz releases, a new animated movie keeping up with the series will be released later in the year called Dorothy of Oz. The second film is a revamp aimed toward younger audiences to collect the Oz franchise a “new generation of fans.” Dorothy of Oz follows Dorothy after she is returned home to a devastated town that had just suffered the famous tornado, and she sets only one goal for herself, to get back to Oz. Dorothy of Oz comes out in 3D with voice actress Lea Michele as Dorothy later this year.

    Continuing sagas also seem to be a theme this year with A Good Day to Die Hard February 14, and Star Trek: Into Darkness May 17, adding to their respective franchises. These upcoming movies are sure to bring many movie lovers together for a fun and memorable night.

Feeling lost this celestial cycle? Well let the stars be your guide and see what the fates have in store for you this coming month…

1.Aries (March 21-April 20): There will not be any horoscope for you this time, your constellation’s stars have unionized and gone on strike.

2.Taurus (April 21-May 21): Your fiery passion will help you find the career you are looking for.

3.Gemini (May 22-June 21): Make a difference, take the road less traveled this month.

4.Cancer (June 22-July 22): Try to entertain others rather than trying to entertain yourself.

5.Leo (July 23-August 21): Look to the person closest to you. Now look back at the paper. You are reading a horoscope.

6.Virgo (August 22-September 23): Do what you love and you will be loved for what you do.

7.Libra (September 24-October 23): Get to the airport at least an hour early or you’ll miss your flight, and when you miss your flight, you can’t get on the plane.

8.Scorpio (October 24-November 22): Take care of the one life that you have been given. After all, you only live once. #YOLO

9.Sagittarius (November23-Dec. 22): Your open-minded existence can lead to confusion and misguided wandering. Figure out what you want to do and stick with it.

10.Capricorn (December 23- January 20): Stop being so narrow-minded. Expand your horizon and broaden your interests.

11.Aquarius (January 21- February 19): Most everybody loves you, most everybody. Be wary of maliciously thrown bananas.

12.Pisces (February 20- March 20): Don’t let the mirror get you down, the other you in the alternate dimension keeps telling you that you look good so it must be true.

The movie Cloud Atlas, directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski, is a German adventure/drama with a twist. The film is separated into six different time periods, the years 1849, 1936, 1973, 2012, 2144, 2321, the last of which is recognized not by year but as “106 winters after The Fall,” and a seventh period of time that serves as the movie’s prologue and epilogue about 25 years after the sixth plot line. With just under a span of 500 years, each period of time is somehow related to the others through the belief that there is reincarnation and that people are not physically immortal, but spiritually. The main characters of each story have an unusual birthmark in the shape of a comet. The movie’s twist is not only that it separates into six main stories, but that it does not show the entire story at one time. It instead plays it in accord to the atmosphere of the movie.

There are six main characters within the Cloud Atlas storyline. In 1849 there is a lawyer named Adam Ewing. The next character, Robert Frobisher, is a young gay musician. After Robert there is a journalist named Luisa Rey who lives in 1973. After her, there’s publisher Timothy Cavendish. Next, there’s a clone designated as “Somni-451.” The last character is known as Zachary, who lives a tribal life “106 winters after The Fall” or 2321. An interesting feature of the film is that, even though that Robert Frobisher and Luisa Rey have never met, she belives that she has heard one of Roberts’s musical pieces. They have never been acquainted and the music she’s hearing is very rare, yet she claims to have heard it before.

Cloud Atlas was indeed a great movie with many of the same actors playing multiple parts. The acting was stupendous; the characters’ portrayal was very accurate. Even though the stories weren’t played all at one time, it was not hard to follow because the way in which they were shown was connected via the atmosphere of the story. In consistency with the aspect of reincarnation, almost all of the actors played in a minimum of three story lines. However, some stories went on for far too long, leaving the other stories to skip some material. However on a 1 to 10 scale Cloud Atlas receives a 9 because of the great acting and the interconnectivity that all six stories possess.

In 2012, many great and new albums were released. Among these albums, a great majority were either remakes of classic tunes or known artists putting on “a new face.” Leonard Cohen, famous for his Hallelujah tour and single, came out with a new album, allowing his fans to see him in a new, more depressing light as he reminisces on age and how he will not change with the times. Similar albums have been released around the music industry, even by Taylor Swift, who, with her recent album, RED, turned her fans into skeptics with a reintroduction of the original style with which she had started her music career. These “artistic revamps” may be due to the realization that the world is looking for a style that can be familiar and warm and remind people of an earlier time with fewer worries, providing an escape into music. For the music industry, 2012 was a renaissance year  in which many artists began anew with refreshed vigor for their career.

Sticking with the classic comeback theme was the Rolling Stones that released its album, GRRR. By including many of the band’s greatest hits including “Ruby Tuesday” and “(I Cant Get No) Satisfaction,” this album highlights the Stones’ history as a band and its rise to almost legendary status. Along with all the classics, there are two new songs called “Doom and Gloom” and “One More Shot” that the band produced with emboldened spirits following its performance at the Summer Olympic Games in London. These two songs really show that the Rolling Stones, even in old age, still have what it takes to put fire in the soul of its ever-popular music.

Taking revamp to the extreme is Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse, with the album, Americana. This album takes country fireside classics like “Oh, Susanna” and “Clementine” to the next level. The modernization of these songs puts a lively twang in the soul of the music, causing these timeless classics, heard by most as children, to become hits for grown-ups. Some might be opposed to these modifications due to the fear of tainting childhood memories and making them less innocent. For the most part, however, many see this as a fantastic opportunity to revitalize genius folk-lore and allow people of modern times to take a closer look into the past and the humble origins of American culture.

Bruce Springsteen also released a new album, called Wrecking Ball. This album shows that Springsteen still has the musical talent that he displayed in his famous hit, “Born To Run.” This album includes his signature classic patriotic rock that is uplifting and sobering all at the same time. There will always be those people who abhor the newer songs and claim that the only true Bruce Springsteen songs are the ones from his peak. All in all, however, Springsteen stays mostly true to his self and his songs, creating a new generation of classics for a new generation of fans.

The large amount of artists trying to either get back on their feet or take a step back to find their grassroot origins is a great thing. If we all think more of our origins and take into account our past, then more people would be less privileged and more humble. This music may help the people become aware of their failings and allow goodness and innocence to shine through.

The South High Drama Company put out two plays this semester, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Steel Magnolias. Both plays had fantastic stage direction, actors, lighting, and props. On Friday November 2, A Midsummer Night’s Dream had its first performance and gave audiences a fantastic rendition of Shakespeare’s timeless play. Truly convincing, the trees gave the illusion of a real forest, and Bottom’s bunk looked as if it had been taken directly out of the Hollywood production. Of course, this illusion could not have been made possible if it weren’t for the stage crew working the inner riggings like a well-oiled machine. “We really gave it our all,” said senior Gabriel Pedraza. Perfecting the lighting took days of practice and direction from the collaboration of South teachers Dr. Jennifer Rinaldi and Mr. Richard Cole. These two worked without pause and any leniency to produce these stage artworks and should be praised for their efforts.

The company produced A Midsummer Night’s Dream with such conviction that audience members found themselves completely immersed within the world of Shakespeare. Observing such dedication promises that the upcoming production of Steel Magnolias will evoke the same feelings from the audience. Steel Magnolias has been adapted from its original configuration as a book into a play as well as a movie that premiered in 1989, and finally a 2012 revival of the film that premiered on the Lifetime network. Steel Magnolias follows the trials and tribulations of six southern friends that could not be closer emotionally. The chick flick focuses on bringing friends closer together through the trials of life. The play premieres on Thursday, December 13 and continues on until Sunday, December 15.

Rinaldi and her staff have worked from sunup to sundown on these productions and are thrilled to show their peers and fellow theater enthusiasts their hard work. In years past, the company normally produced two plays a year, one in the fall and one in the spring. This year however, Rinaldi and her staff have stepped up to the plate and are producing three plays, one of which, the spring musical, still remains shrouded in mystery. These three plays have given the aspiring thespians at this school a chance to find their dramatic flare. What Rinaldi manages to pull off in her and her students’ free time is entertaining and well worth attending.

It is October, and the month is most notorious for Halloween and its scary movies. There are plenty of different types of movies in the scary genre with zombies, mass murderers, evil ghosts, and more. If you haven’t seen many, here are on some of the more popular ones available for viewing.

#1 – Insidious (2011)
This supernatural horror involves a little boy who enters a coma as a result of his spirit leaving the boundary of his physical body. After spending some time waiting for him to wake up, the family discovers that the boys’ spiritual emptiness is the source of the coma. After the boy’s father enters “The Further” and frees him, the boy has been awakened from slumber. After seeing some creepy shots of the thing that was keeping the boy trapped and some odd occurrences of other spirits, this movie kept me on edge.

#2 – Halloween  (1978)
Halloween is about a little boy named Michael Myers who is sent to an insane asylum because he viciously stabbed his sister to death on Halloween night. 17 years later he has escaped and has begun stalking a teenage girl, and while he is stalking that teenager the caretaker / doctor of Michael is trying to find him to prevent any murders. On Halloween night, Michael plans to go on a killing spree. After some murders, the teenager Michael was stalking has numerous encounters with him. With the help of the doctor, Michael is gunned down but disappears. This mass murder film had plenty of pop-ups, loud sounds, and dead people.

#3 – Disturbia (2007)
This horror involves a teen living under house arrest. He notices that his neighbor is doing some strange things. Soon after he’s convinced that his neighbor is a serial killer. Because of this, the teen does some “investigation” of his own, which involves a friend sneaking into the suspected murderer’s house with a video camera. The video camera captured some very concrete evidence of the neighbor being the suspected killer. This movie had some creepy moments in it making it disturbing just as the name suggests.

#4 – The Fog (1980)
The Fog begins in a North Carolina fishing town that has occasional fog banks, but recently the fog banks have become larger and people have been disappearing because of them. The history of this town is that it was an old leper colony. So 100 years later, the leper colony wants revenge. After some more strange occurrences, a giant fog engulfs the town and some of the townies hold out inside a church because of it. Soon after, the priest of the place pulls an object that the lepers seem to be looking for, this seems to cause them to stop attacking the town. I was more “scared” for the cast of the movie rather than the lepers themselves.

#5 – The Mist (2007)
The Mist begins with a giant fog bank rolling in after a storm from the previous night, which scares most of the people in the surrounding area into a general store that has a “friend” in the generator room. The current inhabitants of the store do not know what this “thing” is or if there are more, then the following night the store is assaulted by the mist’s creatures. As more and more people are being killed and /or taken away by the mist, some people get the courage to leave. A party of six departs from the store and leaves via car. After some cautious driving with their lights on, they have ran out of gas, making the audience believe they are eternally doomed. Since one person has a gun with only five shots left, one person is nominated to kill them all except himself. Shortly afterwards the mist clears and the military is extracting the people who stayed in the store. Overall, this movie was more so a suspenseful horror than a scary horror; it had one of the most messed up endings I have ever seen.

#6 – The Blair Witch Project (1999)
This documentary style film involves three people that are going to get some insight on the infamous Blair Witch. After getting their gear and setting off into the woods, they notice some strange objects and sounds at night over the next few days and soon become lost. After having some arguments during the days of walking and camping, they lose their friend. Over the next few nights, they think they hear him and venture off into the dark night trying to find him. After conveniently locating a house from which their friend’s voice seems to originate, they run around and venture into the basement, and the movie ends after the cameras drop. This movie wasn’t scary at all considering it is apparently one of the scariest available.

After reading the list of scary movies, hopefully you have some ideas for a fun and scary Halloween. Have fun, and bring a bag of popcorn.

Photos courtesy of iTunes. Photos compiled by Gus Williams

Among the large amount of albums that came out in October 2012, there are many albums that showed great promise based on critic reviews. One artist announced one of these albums herself on August 13 via a webcast hosted by YouTube. Taylor Swift announced her album Red’s release, sending her fans into an excited frenzy and causing many of them to mark October 22 on their calendars. On October 1, Swift released the single for her album which was the namesake of the album, Red. The release of this song caused some great confusion among listeners who enjoy her music for both its country and pop influences. Public opinion of the song varies; for country listeners it sounds too pop, and for pop fans it sounds too country. Overall, the song is an all around disappointment.

The second most anticipated album for October was released at an earlier date. Ellie Goulding, a lesser known artist but equally prominent to those who know her, had an album titled Halycon released on October 9 in which she unveiled a new and upbeat experimental version of her music. Unlike Swift’s newest album, Goulding’s was met with great reverence and praise from her fan base, thus making a huge splash in her musical career. Goulding’s album reached and stayed at iTunes top four albums at the earlier stages of October beginning the second week, proving the success of her new style.

There is a playlist that did earn an honorable mention through iTunes. The “Curiosity” playlist is a compilation of songs that scientists in mission control of NASA play every morning to the rover that they have on Mars. These “wake up songs” have been featured and added each day to the playlist on iTunes as “Curiosity” continues its mission. These songs range from Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” to Star Trek TOS’s theme to Lady Gaga’s “Lets Dance- (Mars Version),” appealing to a wide range of music lovers both young and old and allowing them to connect to space when they would otherwise not normally be able to. The playlist (album) “Curiosity” on iTunes is definitely worth the purchase.

The album that really rose above the rest this musical month was a country album released on October 16. Night Train by Jason Aldean unexpectedly rose to the top of iTunes’ number one records with 15 songs and an album-specific audio book featuring the name of his album. Aldean’s fifth album has been met with great reviews and glowing praise. If you wish to find this album and judge the country singer for yourself, you can find it on iTunes under the “Top Albums” section.

The month of October this year was one filled with musical reprises and new styles. This diversity allowed for music fans of every taste to be satiated in their desire for fresh music from old favorites. From Goulding’s Halcyon to Swift’s Red and many more, the music industry had a very busy month in October 2012.