Category: Movie Review

A&E, Movie Review

Doctor Strange: Undergraduate of the Mystic Arts

BY DYLYN PETERSON
Staff Writer, UAS Whalesong
Photo courtesy of the same

Despite what my outfit may suggest, I was very worried that Doctor Strange was going to turn out pretty “meh.” The director, Scott Derrickson, has mostly worked in not-quite-B horror movies, such as Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which don’t exactly scream “classic magical superhero movie” to me. In fact, my favorite director, Guillermo del Toro, tried to do a Doctor Strange movie back in 2007 (with my favorite author, Neil Gaiman, writing, which, and not too devolve too much into geekery too soon, sounds amazing, considering how well he wrote the Sorcerer Supreme in Marvel 1602), and that film’s nonexistence haunts me every day. The trailers, too, seemed pretty colorless and dramatic, which is as far from “quintessential Doctor Strange” as one can easily imagine. Continue reading “Doctor Strange: Undergraduate of the Mystic Arts”

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Movie Review, Opinion

The Perfectly Acceptable Seven

dylyn-petersonBY DYLYN PETERSON
Staff Writer, UAS Whalesong

Perhaps the greatest of all the plot tropes (from the website TV Tropes) is The Magnificent Seven Samurai, having turned out some of the best episodes of shows like Samurai Jack and Firefly, and, of course, owing its name to two cinematic classics: Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (which I’ve seen [it’s great]), and The Magnificent Seven (1960) (which I haven’t seen). It’s a simple, but classic plot: a small village, unable to defend itself against an appropriately large group of invaders, pools its resources to hire a dream team of old-fashioned badasses (although sometimes this might just be one really great dude, as in Samurai Jack). These guys train them to fight in a short period of time, about half of the team dies, and the village is ultimately saved. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Continue reading “The Perfectly Acceptable Seven”

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Features, Movie Review

Allegiant: Gadzooks

Alexa CherryBY ALEXA CHERRY
For the UAS Whalesong

WARNING:
The following review contains spoilers! Read at your own risk.

When I first came to UAS in 2012, I had little to no interest in the movie franchises following popular young adult-genre books. I had not read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, or Divergent by Veronica Roth, and I didn’t want to. But then I fell in with Rachelle, the head of the UAS Baptist Campus Ministries (BCM) club, and it ended up being our “thing” to go and see the movies of each series as they came out. We’ve finished watching the entire Hunger Games series, and recently went to go catch the most recent installment in the Divergent film quartet. We thought it was going to be the final movie in the series, but apparently they decided to split the series into 4 movies so that they could make more money and wouldn’t veer too far away from the YA film norm of “final book divided into two movies.” Which, if you think about it, is kind of amusing – after all, Divergent is a series literally dedicated to being unique. Even so, I’d have to say that the 3rd movie is my favorite so far. Continue reading “Allegiant: Gadzooks”

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Movie Review

Deadpool: Four or Five Moments

Alexa CherryBY ALEXA CHERRY
For the UAS Whalesong

Deadpool was a Fun Movie. Personally, I don’t think there are enough of those these days; movies try so hard to be Gritty, to make us Care About the Conflict, to make us Feel Our Mortality and to be Emotionally Gripping. Deadpool takes this trend, throws it out the window, and then also shoots it and sets it on fire, because: why not? This is not to say that Deadpool isn’t any of the things I just mentioned. After all, Wade Wilson (who becomes the titular character) is dying of cancer. This does not a fun time make. And the film does not make light of that; usually a flippant jackass, Wade has some serious scenes where he and his fiancée deal with the fact that he does not have much longer to live. It’s also worth pointing out that this very issue is what drives him to do the things that turn him into Deadpool. And if you know Wade Wilson and Deadpool at all, you know that he is rude and crude and, from an objective standpoint, entirely unlikable. Continue reading “Deadpool: Four or Five Moments”

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Movie Review, Play Review

Pirates of Penzance

Alexa CherryBY ALEXA CHERRY
For the UAS Whalesong

I don’t remember when the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out, but I do remember that my “pirate phase” was well underway by my 12th birthday. That’s probably why my parents decided to bestow the soundtrack to Gilbert & Sullivan’s musical The Pirates of Penzance upon me. Having never heard of Gilbert & Sullivan before, I was still immediately enraptured with this gift because it had “pirate” in the title – so I listened to it as soon as possible, and proceeded to listen to it on repeat for the next year. Continue reading “Pirates of Penzance”

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Movie Review

The Saga Begins (For Me)

Kaylyn HaslundBY KAYLYN HASLUND
For the UAS Whalesong

Star Wars is the American space opera franchise created by George Lucas, the first three films being released from 1977 to 1983, the prequels from 1999-2005, and the most recent in 2015. The film series has made over 30.7 billion dollars. It changed the face of film and special effects for generations, as well as how people would react to future stories. Continue reading “The Saga Begins (For Me)”

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Movie Review, Opinion, Play Review, TV Review

On Representation in Media

Kaylyn HaslundBY KAYLYN HASLUND
For the UAS Whalesong

Television, movies, and all other forms of mass media hold a tremendous amount of inspiration for people, as well as a template for some to see themselves in. This template is typically only for a specific type of person. It’s not often that all people of all backgrounds are given equal opportunity within these realms. While complaints are loud and clear, often they are shouted down by media producers. To see people of color and those of LGBTQ+ backgrounds is a scarcity that we should be making strides to fill out.

Sometimes, when minorities are cast, it is as stereotypical role, or never fully addressed until long after the show or book has stopped being produced. This is a sad reality that is slowly being amended by people taking media into their own hands. Slowly but surely, with certain projects, people are taking stories and making accurate representations for those who struggle. Continue reading “On Representation in Media”

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Movie Review, Opinion

The Force Needs Five More Minutes, Mom

Alexa CherryBY ALEXA CHERRY
For the UAS Whalesong

When I was growing up, my friends referred to me as a “walking, talking Star Wars dictionary.” I’m sure I was not alone in this – though in my isolated cul-de-sac in my small corner of the American Southwest, I was the dominant Star Wars authority. I know because I defeated all who challenged my title, though admittedly, not with knowledge. Why try to outsmart someone when you can just hit him or her with your plastic lightsaber until they go away? This is a philosophy that I have maintained late into life. Star Wars was a huge part of my life from basically birth until I was roughly 13 years old. So, fast-forward roughly a decade, give or take a few years. I was upset when they announced Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars, and still more upset when I found out that another actual movie was being made. You are talking to someone who, in her teen years, came close to fisticuffs over being recommended the animated Clone Wars show by a friend. “Watch it,” they said, in response to which I would go off into a harangue about the original sextuplet of films being the One and Only Canon and any other televised attempt at telling the saga was Wrong and Bad and so were they for partaking in this malarkey.

Long story short, I wasn’t planning on going to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens at all. I ignored all trailers, avoided all hype, refused to discuss it in public or private – and then, upon   coming home for Christmas break 2k15, I realized that if I didn’t watch it I was going to get it spoiled for me by social media and that was the worst  possible thing. Undergoing a drastic 180 in attitude overnight, I convinced my dad to go see it with me, and so off to The Valley Cinema we went. Continue reading “The Force Needs Five More Minutes, Mom”

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Movie Review

Film Series: Hope for Language Revitalization

BY KAYLYN HASLUND
For the UAS Whalesong
With the Sustaining Indigenous Languages film series coming to a close as of Oct. 1, the importance of language revitalization has become a paramount topic. Alice Taff put together an amazing series of films to show on the UAS campus. The film series acts as a reminder that language extinction has been happening all over the world and that if the right steps are taken, then we can bring down the amount of languages going extinct. Continue reading “Film Series: Hope for Language Revitalization”

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Movie Review

Scorching Hot

BY ALEXA CHERRY
For the UAS Whalesong
I recognize that there are problems with young adult literature. Most of these problems can be summed up by one of the Twitter accounts I follow, Brooding YA Hero (with the fairly straightforward handle of @broodingYAhero, if you’re   interested in his work). And yet, I still get a kick out of watching the movies based on these problematic books. Being up-to-date with the Hunger Games and Divergent films, I was very excited to continue the saga of Attractive Boys with a Mysterious and Constant Source of Hair Product Running Places and Panicking – also known as the Maze Runner series. Continue reading “Scorching Hot”

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