The Best scary movies to watch on Halloween!
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By Tyler Lybbert
Wellness Editor Halloween has great traditions incorporated into the holiday. From fun things like pumpkin carving and drinking cider to scaring yourself at haunted houses, there are many great things to do to keep yourself entertained. One of the best ways to celebrate Halloween in my opinion is by watching scary movies. The cheesy jump scares, adrenaline rush, and (sometimes) cuddling up to a special someone are very entertaining. Afton Walker says ¨I like scary movies because it adds excitement to my life. They may not provide happiness, but they do provide adrenaline.¨ On the other hand, Emma Carver says ¨They are horrible, terrifying, awful, the worst, thrilling, and traumatizing. Shall I go on?¨Here you can find some great Halloween Movies to watch. #1 Halloween Town The classic Disney Movie for kids, or people who may struggle with being scared, is a great movie. Two kids find out their grandma is a witch- and so are they! They learn of a town full of supernatural creatures. Not only does Marnie, the main character, find out these awesome secrets, but she also learns her family is involved with saving the world from evil. #2 The Witches This adaptation of Roald Dahl's book is terrific. A child growing up being warned witches kill kids comes across a witch convention, and must find a way to put an end to it. This movie puts you on the edge of your seat, and you won't want to stop watching. #3 The Nightmare Before Christmas Although it could also be a Christmas movie, this definitely puts Halloween into perspective of those who are being celebrated on Halloween. Jack Skellington discovers the "regular world" where his scary friends are praised, or at least that is what goes in on his mind. He finds out about Santa Clause, and decides he wants to take over this new discovered role and town. #4 Monster House Keeping you on the edge of your seat, this movie is a love story gone wrong. The neighborhood kids are suspicious of what exactly is going on in the house next door. Sneaking in, they discover something they never thought possible- the house was alive. #5 Hocus Pocus My personal favorite movie. Back in the 1600´s three witch sisters were hung for their misdoings, but 300 years later they are finally resurrected when an unsuspecting teenager named Max accidentally brings them back. In order to save his sister and the other kids in the town, he must do away with them once and for all. Posted 10/28/20 |
Scene From "Monster House."
Scene From "The Witches."
The Cast of "Halloween Town."
Scene From "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
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The Boys: putting a fresh spin on the superhero genre
Promotional image for season 1 of "The Boys"
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By Spencer Croston
Entertainment Editor In an era where superhero media is copious, many have been experiencing what's been called “superhero fatigue.” With superhero content being released constantly by companies like Marvel and DC, many are over superheroes. Vaspaan Dastoor of IGN stated, “How many different superpowers can you think of before they blur together? How many backstories before nobody really cares?” A new series from Amazon titled The Boys has been considered to be a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre. The Boys, an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ comic book series of the same name, does something that no other piece of superhero media does. It satirizes the heroes and makes them the villains of the series. The series follows Billy Butcher and his team called “The Boys” as they find ways to expose and take down the world's superheroes. The heroes of this world are corporate products rather than protectors and saviors. They are made to look good in the media, but in reality they are mostly evil murderers who get away with mass destruction. The show strives to show a realistic view of superheroes in the modern world. The series’ “heroes'' are for the most part dark parodies of famous heroes. For example, instead of Superman, “The Boys” has Homelander, an egotistical, psychopathic twist on the famous Man of Steel. Journalist Sergio Periera claimed, “It’s a perfect satire to everything happening at the moment, as these superhero properties become multibillion-dollar franchises that are controlled by the biggest studios in Hollywood.” The show’s two seasons have shown to be extremely popular as the most recent season’s episodes averaged 900 million views per episode. Nellie Andreeva of Deadline stated, “In its first two weeks, Season 2 has nearly doubled the Season 1 worldwide audience (+89%), drawing millions of new viewers each week.” With this great success, The Boys was greenlit for a third season and a spinoff show set in the same universe. The immense positive response shows that the superhero genre isn’t dead. Viewers just want an original take on the superhero concept that isn’t a carbon copy of everything else out there. Posted:10/19/10 |
Jack Quaid as "Hughie" (Left) and Erin Moriarty as "Starlight" (Right)
Laz Alonso as "MM" (Left), Karl Urban as "Billy Butcher" (Center), and Tomer Kapon as "Frenchie" (Right)
Dominique McElligott as "Queen Maeve" (Left) and Antony Starr as "Homelander" (Right)
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The Theater Experience
BY JADA CLAYTON
EDITOR OF THE HOME PAGE Popcorn smelling, jam packed theaters. Grins from cheek to cheek, and people in their seats ready for the next big movie. Going to the movie theater isn’t just going to see a movie, it is enjoying loved ones’ company and spending the afternoon or evening with them. This is one thing that lots of people enjoyed, but due to Covid-19 movies are either delaying their release dates to next year or releasing when they feel ready. While other movie productions have decided to release the films to popular streaming services; Netflix, Disney+, HULU, Amazon Prime, and many other services. Although subscribers may be paying for the monthly subscription of the streaming service some productions might charge an additional fee to watch the film. For example, “Birds Of Prey” (Harley Quinn) that many were excited for theatrical release on February 7, was then released March 24 on video services on demand. Many also awaited the live action “Mulan” film, but it is now available to viewers on Disney+. Disney is charging thirty dollars to anyone who is interested in watching Mulan, this is to make up for the money they would have made if the movie was released to theaters.
These weird and troublesome Corona times seem to have opened up new possibilities for people stuck at home, they can view movies from the comfort of their homes. It has brought a whole new level of convenience. Now the question is, would you rather go out and have the movie theater experience or stay in and watch from your comfortable home? POSTED 10/14/20
grab the popcorn and hot cocoa...here's fall tv coming at ya!going to the movies in a pandemic
When Covid hit the United States almost everywhere shut down, including movie theaters. Covid also pushed back release dates for a lot of movies that had already been slated to come out. With movies being pushed back and theaters shutting down, a lot of people were wondering when anyone would be able to watch movies in the theaters again, if ever. Recently with states opening back up for schools and work, movie theaters also had to figure out how to open back up to the public again. Luckily multiple theaters around the United States have come up with ways to open back up again safely with all the dangers that covid presents.
Movie theaters have come up with multiple solutions to stopping the spread of covid while still allowing people to go and watch the movies they want to. Some movie theaters have had simple things such as making sure moviegoers were wearing masks, but others have come up with more serious measures. More movie theaters are implementing measures such as only letting a few people in theaters and making sure people are socially distancing themselves. Some are even letting people buy out an entire section just to let them watch a movie in theaters with no one else in the room with them. Ultimately movies in theaters are back to stay for now. Movie theaters seem to have figured out a way to open to the public even with all the setbacks that covid brought. With multiple places such as schools and stores coming back, movie theaters are joining them with reopening theaters. Even though covid is still spreading and dangerous, it's great that so many places have figured out ways to reopen safely to the public. POSTED 10/12/20 The New Wave
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CUTIES...JUST ANOTHER CONTROVERSY AS NETFLIX TRIES TO COMPETE WITH THE PLETHORA OF OTHER STREAMING SERVICES.Cuties: Sexual Predators’ Extremist Campaign of Normalization
Netflix has apologized for and withdrawn a poster (image shown above was the replacement) for its upcoming coming-of-age drama “Cuties.”
The artwork for the French-language film depicted four adolescent girls wearing revealing dance outfits and posting provocatively, drawing backlash on social media for “sexualizing” little girls.
The Parents Television Council implored Netflix to remove the film, rated M, from its site.
BY BEN WOODWARD
SCIENCE&TECH EDITOR Amidst recent pushes towards social reform and awareness, Maïmouna Doucouré, a French Film Director has taken advantage of the public’s increased receptiveness to debut her feature film Cuties. Despite Doucouré’s attempt of grouping this film into the likes of Pride and BLM movements, it has attracted unprecedented backlash as a result of its hypersexualization of minors. Established film sites such as IMBD and Parent Reviews have given the movie 2.6/10 and ⅕ respectively, with critics asserting that without the film’s controversy “it would have faded into indie film obscurity” due to its “exceptionally poor script” and “extremely unlikeable characters”. The now-deleted description from the January Sundance Film Festival clarifies such controversy, reading: “Amy [11], through an ignited awareness of her burgeoning femininity, propels her dance group to enthusiastically embrace an increasingly sensual dance routine, sparking the girls’ hope to twerk their way to stardom at a local dance contest”. In response to the alarming description, over 400 thousand people have signed a petition to remove cuties from Netflix & charge them with the exploitation of minors. Mitchell, a supporter of the petition argues that “There is no need for this kind of content in that age group, especially when sex trafficking and pedophilia is so rampant! There is no excuse, this is dangerous content!”. With an audience of potentially tens of millions, people fear that Doucouré’s film will proliferate the number of sexual predators online. Now more than ever, these predators have an unprecedented amount of accessibility to minors through social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
Although from a moral standpoint Cuties is certainly problematic, many suggest that it may not be entirely legal. Rated for mature audiences, the actors within the movie, many of which are between the ages of 10 and 14, would not be able to view it due to the sexual innuendos and connotations throughout the film. Questioning parents throughout the US have called Netflix out on this contradiction saying that “if a child cannot even view a film they took part in creating, they do not have any purpose or right being involved in its creation. . . The content is clearly intended for adult audiences and as such only adult actors should play the parts”. Despite the numerous complaints, Netflix has kept the film on its streaming platform, leading many to cancel their subscriptions and displeased investors to abandon their shares, leading to a 5 billion dollar loss in revenue and valuation. Although criticism has yet to relent, Netflix and its association with the film persists. With no official statement from the company, many remain in the dark on whether Netflix will continue to endorse these radical films and what agenda this association fills for them. POSTED 10/5/20 NETFLIX HORROR OPTIONSLook for classics like The Evil Dead or The Silence of the Lambs to more obscure (and disturbing) titles such as The Endless, The Invitation or newer films like The Platform. Don’t expect to find many franchise staples in the mold of Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street, but don’t sleep on The Haunting of Hill House, either. It’s not technically a movie, but it’s impossible to leave off this list. Watch out for the debut of The Haunting of Bly Manor on Oct. 9.
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By Benjamin Woodward
Science and Tech Editor As music becomes more commercialized and accessible across the world, the viability of generating income – even a career – in the music industry is greater than ever. Burgeoning artists are using various social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to promote their content to potentially tens-of-millions of users, and have experienced unprecedented success. For example, the Australian singer, Tones–and–I has established herself as a prominent music creator through her viral song “Dance Monkey,” which currently has over 1 Billion streams and has generated over 1 million dollars in revenue. While Tones-and-I is an excellent representation of artists who have thrived through social media, various less-known, yet just as successful artists have exploited less traditional methods to break through the glass ceiling of the music industry. At 13,000 hours, the channel “Chilled Cow” manages one of the longest YouTube live streams in history by the name of “lofi hip hop radio – beats to study and relax to”. For the past two years, this live stream has had over 20 thousand listeners at any given time, however, what has recently brought it into mainstream attention is not its unprecedented number of viewers, but the channels multi-million dollar yearly income. In an interview between the creator of Chilled Cows parent company, Chillhop, and Cherie Hu from Hot Pod News CEO Bas van Leeuwen, discloses that “Chillhop’s label catalog generated over 1.1 billion streams on YouTube in 2019, implying between $5 million and $8 million in annual revenue from that platform alone”. Previously thought to be a non-profit due to a lack of advertisements, the channel’s evidently successful, yet abnormal business plan has surprised many. With its unusually large audience – particularly when considering its niche genre – the livestream provides LoFi artists with an excellent method of generating exposure to their songs, albeit at a price dependent on how many plays the song receives during a 24-hour period. As technology and society continue to entangle, channels like Chilled Cow are providing artists with new methods of gaining exposure apart from traditional – and often unfair – contracts with record label companies and are experiencing enormous success in this previously untouched niche. Posted 10/7/20 |
Lofi Videos |
Hoops to hip-hop: Three basketball legends who had rap careers
Shaquille O'Neal promoting his debut album "Shaq Diesel"
It Ain't Easy by lebron James ft. Kevin DurantK.o.b.e by kobe Bryant ft. tyra banksWhat's up doc? by Shaquille o'neal ft. fu-schnikens |
By Spencer Croston
Music and Books Editor When people think of legendary basketball players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal, the last thing they picture is a rapper. What many people don’t know is that these players are just 3 of many basketball stars who have had both successful and unsuccessful rap careers. James, Bryant, and O'Neal are good examples of players who have had good success in the rap industry. James, currently considered to be the best basketball player in the NBA has released a few songs, with his most popular being "It Ain’t Easy." While his appearances as a rapper are limited, James has been having success as a producer. He most recently produced the album Rap or Go to the League for the famous rapper 2 Chainz. 2 Chainz stated that James was the “perfect” person to produce his album. While his music career is fairly new, James is becoming successful in the rap industry. Late basketball legend Kobe Bryant had a short lived rap career in the late 90s and early 2000s. While Bryant was dominating the NBA on the court, off the court he landed an album deal with Sony Records. His debut album "K.O.B.E" was met with mixed reviews, without much success. New York Times Editor Dexter Thomas wrote about Bryant’s song "K.O.B.E", stating, “It’s embarrassing. That cheap-sounding beat, the uninspired hook, the awkward chorus — this is more off-target than those three airballs he threw in 1997 against the Utah Jazz.” While his career as a rapper was short lived, Bryant continued to stay involved in music behind the scenes. The basketball player with the most successful rap career is none other than Bryant’s 7’2” teammate, Shaquille O'Neal. In the 90s, O’Neal did it all. He starred in movies, had his own video game, and rapped. His first album, "Shaq Diesel," was a hit, making it to 25 on the Billboard’s Top 200 albums list. His later albums aren't as successful, but he still had some success. Zak Willis of Cheatsheet.com stated, “O’Neal sold records, featured with some legendary performers, and sprung a career that still lasts to this day.” In his free time, O’Neal still tours around the country, keeping his 30 year-old career alive. Posted 09/29/20 |
Kanye For president:
Does he stand a chance against Trump and Biden?
Kanye West breaking down at his presidential campaign rally in North Carolina.
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Spencer Croston
Music and Books Editor “I’m not here to win. I care that there are homeless people in front of the Gucci store.” -Kanye West, 2020 When world famous rap star Kanye West announced in 2015 that he’d be running for president in 2020, most people didn't think he was being serious. However, on July 4, 2020, West proclaimed over twitter that he would be following through with the promise he made 5 years prior stating, “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States!” He announced later that he would be running with his own party entitled "The Birthday Party" and that his running mate would be Michelle Tidball, a Wyoming based pastor. Many were still uncertain if West was seriously planning on running for President, but he eliminated all doubts when he held a campaign rally in North Carolina on July 19, 2020. In this rally, West made many false and outrageous statements, claiming that Harriet Tubman “never actually freed” a slave and that he “don’t give a f--k” if he wins the presidency. Even though West has gained a lot of media coverage and support for his presidential run, many agree that he does not stand a chance of winning on election day. Neil Sroka, the Communications Director of the political action group "Democracy For America" stated, “The odds of being able to win as an Independent candidate for president are very long even under the best of circumstances, for a variety of reasons. The idea of trying to launch something in July of an election year is beyond absurd.” West’s chances of becoming president have also been significantly lowered by the lack of ballots his name will actually appear on. Since he started his campaign so late into the race, he has only qualified to be on the ballots of nine states: Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Vermont, Utah, Idaho, Minnesota, and Tennessee. Although West doesn’t have a good shot of winning the presidency, he is bound to make it a very interesting election season. Posted: 09/17/2020 |
Kanye West Meeting with Donald Trump
Kanye West hugging Donald Trump
Michelle Tidball, West's running mate
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