Paranormal Activity 3

Paranormal Activity 3 


Directed By: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Reviewer: Mr. Lamincent, 15
Rating: Loved it!


When I found out there was a Paranormal Activity 3 a while back, I FLIPPED OUT. After all, it was my favorite original movie series of all time. So, when I finally saw it, I was rather impressed.

Going in, I had high expectations. I had seen the previous last two movies at least twice each, and grasped the story line pretty well. The series moves backwards, so PA 2 was a prequel to PA, and PA 3 a prequel to PA 2. Throughout the last two movies, hauntees Katie and Kristi always say thay what's happening to them used to happen when they were kids. What PA 3 shows you is that they weren't kidding. The film starts out with Katie and Kristi (adults at the time) going through some old tapes. Something weird goes on and discover that the tapes are gone. After some old-VCR static, the movie officially starts. Following true Paranormal Activity fashion, before the pants soiling terror, there is innocent, wholesome plot build up. The first fifteen minutes are almost misleading in this sense, having even the most die-hard Paranormal Activity fans (like yours truly) wondering “...So like, when am I supposed to get scared...?”

It all starts with an “earthquake”. The parents, Julie and Dennis, leave their camera in the room and run to go check on the girls. As dust from the quake falls, it takes the shape of what looks like a woman. After the dust has collected, it falls to the ground in a poof and you have your first paranormal encounter for the movie.

When Dennis takes notice after reviewing the tape, he decides to bring essences of his job home (he’s a wedding videographer). He sets up cameras in places he feels should be monitored most. Now the fun begins. From the camera he set up in the girls’ room, footage reveals that Kristi got up in the middle of the night and was talking to some unseen person. She calls him “Toby”. Toby, the allegedly tall, old, unseen presence ends up being the scariest and most frightening character of the whole movie.

From this point on, PA 3 builds your fear out of anticipation. This is emphasized with Dennis’ invention of putting a camera on an oscillating fan. He sets up this contraption in their dining room/living area. As it pans from side to side, the whole time, you have assured yourself you’re going to get scared by SOMETHING, which sends your heartbeat racing and hiding behind your sweater sleeves, wanting to look, but not wanting to send your popcorn flying. But before you know it, the scene has moved on and you realize, “Wow, I just sweated my socks off for nothing!” But, as soon as the movie establishes that thought within you, BAM! The feeling is refreshed.

When the family has had enough, they go to their Julie’s mom house, hoping to find a safe haven. However, they end up getting anything but. Their first night, they hear noises coming from the living room. Julie, it being her mom’s house, goes with the intention of telling their slightly creepy host to cool it down. She doesn’t come back. Dennis, camera in tow, goes to look for her. While doing so, he goes to check on Katie and Kristi; they’re gone too. As he goes to look for them, everything goes bump in the oh-so-frightening night, and HOST-less (I’ll see if you guys catch that) shadows come from everywhere. I won’t give away the ending, but let’s just say stuff goes down, and it combines the endings from the last two movies rather eloquently with a creepy twist.

This movie is not for those who get scared easily. Also, due to a very brief bite of sensuality and frequent coarse language, make sure you get the OK from your parents before watching.

Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Performance at the Royal Albert Hall

Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Performance at the Royal Albert Hall


By:
Reviewer: Mr. Lamincent, 15
Rating:

25 years ago, a musical written by one Andrew Lloyd Webber premiered in London. That musical became the world-renowned sensation The Phantom of the Opera. Now, the same play has been revived in London and can be watched on PBS or picked up where you rent or buy movies, or if you’re lucky, live at one of its many venues!

Phantom tells the story of Christine Daaé, a girl who played at an Opera as an extra and occasional understudy, but is promoted to bigger roles once she begins having singing lessons from who she thinks is the “Angel of Music”, sent by her late father. However, this “angel” is no heavenly figure, but a Phantom, known to those in the Opera as the “Opera Ghost”. Christine blindly follows the Phantom so she could become a better singer; Phantom’s duplicity driven encounters with Christine is the basis of the play.

“Phantom” features an enticing story line and riveting musical numbers with intoxicating lyrics. I personally found my favorite songs to be “Angel of Music” (“Angel of Music, guide and guardian, grant me to your glory!”), “The Music of the Night” (“You alone can make my song take flight; help me make the music of the night”), “Masquerade” (Masquerade! Paper faces on parade, masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you!”), and the titular “The Phantom of the Opera” (“My spirit and my voice in one combined! The Phantom of the Opera is there… inside my mind!”).

Aside from music, there was so much about this particular production of the musical to love. For one thing, the stage was HUGE! Not to mention, there were two big screens behind it which set the every scene perfectly and allowed the production to do many things. And how can we forget the iconic chandelier? Sadly, in this production, it did not fall, but it did pack enough fireworks to make up for it!

All in all, I absolutely loved this production of “The Phantom of the Opera”. The cast was amazing and they couldn’t have used the venue better. I hope you guys get the opportunity to watch it!

Phantom of the Opera

Phantom of the Opera


By: Gaston LeRoux
Reviewer: Mr. Lamincent, 14
Rating: Loved it!


Being a super fan of the musical, when I saw "The Phantom of the Opera" on the shelves at school, I had to read it.

Now of course, not all books are going to be as exciting as the plays derived from them, but my goodness, the beginning was the driest piece of literature I had ever read. I don't know if it was lack of figurative language or the lack of a straight forward description of what was going on, but the first 150 pages were painful to read. I literally had to force myself to continue.

However, once you get well into the book, the plot picks up and is dare say, better than its theatre counter part! You truly delve into the world that the Phantom is "haunting" and get to understand every detail of all the sides. Sometimes, books, even when written in Third Person omnipresent, don't quite give you an unbiased, undisclosed view on everything going on. The fact that the Phantom of the Opera doesn't do this is actually quite refreshing.

One thing I found interesting about the book was its occasional use of French words. Considering the book was originally in French, it makes sense that this would happen, but most times when such words are used, you don't really know what they're supposed to mean. This was rather inconvenient for me, since I'm the kind of person that likes no holes in my stories. In short, the book was pretty good! And the latter part of the book made the first dry chapters very much worth it.

First Kill

First Kill


By: Heather Brewer
Reviewer: Mr. Lamincent, 14
Rating: Loved it!


Many a time in the world of literature, we see painfully failed spin off series. Well, The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill is not that.

Based on the series The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, this epic tale follows his friend-turned enemy Joss McMillan, and tells his story on how he became a slayer. The story itself is gritty and real, and doesn't hold back whatsoever. Never have I read a book that so descriptively captures as intense a transformation as this one. You start with Joss being a child; innocent, awkward, loner. After seeing his six year old sister murdered by the hands of a vampire, his uncle, Abraham, offers a solution to his sadness and guilt. It just so happens that the McMillans are a family of Slayers, and Joss was next in line to become one. So, one summer, Abraham takes Joss to a cabin up in the woods so he can be trained by other Slayers.

I knew that I would want to read the whole series before I was even done with half the book. As previously stated, it is incredibly well written and isn't dependant on its original series. I would love it even if I hadn't read Vladimir Tod! :D Prose wise, I found it appropriate to our age group. It had the relaxed-ness of an easy read with the complexity of a classic. At times, however, the story seemed to cut to quickly, ending a chapter in the middle of a scene and beginning the next with having it be over. Of course, that didn't affect so much the story, more of the reader's anticipation.

All in all, I loved it and highly recommend it!! :D

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451  


By: Ray Bradbury
Reviewer: Mr. Lamincent, 14
Rating: Really liked it


Fahrenheit 451 was an interesting book, to say the least. Written by Ray Bradbury, the book follows Guy Montag, a fireman from the future. In most cases, adding "from the future" to the title of fireman implies new methods or tools. That is a thousand times more true than you would think. In the futuristic world that Fahrenheit 451 takes place in, firemen do not put out fires; they MAKE them. Society demands us to demand the doubt and puzzlement of firemen making fires, but in the book, its crazy to think firemen used to put them out. You see, the society Bradbury created makes books the equivalent of what illegal drugs would be today. Its illegal to have them; if you have/use them, you don't boast about it or do such things in public; if you have them in your possession, you hide them in abstract hiding places, only to be discovered by the firemen later, and all accompanying traits.

Now, imagine a policeman of today taking some of the acquired contraband and taking it home and using it. Wouldn't that be different, almost wrong, even? That's what Montag does. Not only does he take the books home, but he boasts them! What happens afterwards is too good to be revealed.

On the prose side, I must say that the book fluxuated in interest. It would jump from "Oh my goodness, I can't stop reading" to "I have no idea why this is happening" a little too quickly. It was because of this that most people assume the book is boring, taking on the "The book is only as good as its worst elements" attitude. However, I don't think it was a boring book. I think it was a captivating book with painfully dry, one-dimensional bits and pieces.

Also, a perk for Bradbury fans, in the first couple pages [mainly in this section, though some others are found throughout the book] there are easter egg cameos of ideas and occurances presented in other Bradbury stories. I found that rather invigorating :D.

Playground

Playground
 

By: 50 Cent
Reviewer: Mr. Lamincent, 14
Rating: Really liked it


What first attracted me to this book was the fact it was written by 50 Cent. Aside from loving the hip hop industry as a whole, 50 Cent is also my big brother's favorite rap artist of all time, so of course I couldn't pass this up.

In 50's debut YA Novel, you follow Butterball, an overweight 8th grader who after a violent altercation with his friend, is viewed as a bully to the whole school. As a result of slinging his friend Maurice continuously in the face with a sock filled with D batteries, Butterball is assigned two therapist appointments a week.

It's safe to say that a good, probably, half of the book is spent in Liz's, Butterball's therapist's, office. As Butterball starts to shed more and more of his defensive uneasiness with Liz, as well as his own denial, he slowly starts to reveal his skeletons in the closet to the reader.

What's interesting about this book is that you get two sides to every story that Butterball tells, from Butterball himself. The first side is usually the surface of what happened, what everyone else thought and assumed. The second side is the dissected, "this is why that happened", side. Its the availability of both sides that really gets you to love Butterball in a weird, distant way.

As the book progresses, you follow Butterball's struggle to shake the label of "Bully" he accidentally (and unintentionally) provided himself with. And when it comes down to it, watching the struggle is truly breath-taking.

There are a couple few things about the book that took away from the gripping story, though. For instance, 50 Cent, being a rap star (among other things, but that primarily), really set himself up to sound very... well... informal, and that certainly shows in the dialogue - the "sh-" word is used more times in a chapter than probably a minute of one of his songs - but the prose itself is so traditionally written that you can't help but wonder, "Did 50 have a ghost writer?" Also, the chapters were very short and choppy. While this does aid the speed in which you read it (I read it in a day, no problem), its almost like 50 Cent was afraid to give Butterball too much substance, which was disappointing since it took a while to fully develop him as a character.

As a story, however, Playground is groundbreaking, showing the other side of the bullying epidemic. And 50 Cent showcases yet another one of his many talents.

Crank

Crank  


By: Ellen Hopkins
Reviewer: Mr. Lamincent, 14
Rating: Loved it!


Before I say anything about this book, I must say that I have never before read a book that entranced me as much as Crank did. Crank not only provides the story of what drugs did to a teenage girl, but the experience. I would have my nose in this book for I-don't-even-know-how-long (although it is a reasonably fast read) and feel as Kristina -Or Bree?- did. Now on with the review. Crank by Ellen Hopkins is the story of Kristina and Bree and her struggle to fight "the monster" that is drugs. Now i know what you're thinking. "Oh crap, typo! He said 'her'", right? Well, you're sadly mistaken. Kristina Georgia Snow is Bree, but Bree isn't Kristina. When Kristina is in any way, shape, or form influenced by drugs, Bree is right over her shoulder waiting to take over. To Kristina, Bree is that other little person in our head that makes us think and want to do the most outrageous things; the kind of stuff that makes us want to say "What the heck, brain..?"

Upon first glance, a lot of people tend to think that Crank is a book that glorifies recreational drug abuse. Well, its not. In the same light, it doesn't make them evil, either. Crank is a straight forward experience of drug use and what it can do to you, and what can happen when you're careless enough to let yourself become addicted.

One remarkable thing about the book itself, when it comes down to text, is the fact that it provides so many plots while still maintaining a first person point of view. Kristina is always considered the protagonist, no questions asked. However, without ever changing any aspect of the story, there are ten (yes, TEN!) antagonists. Those antagonists would be Kristina herself, Crank, Bree, Love, Adam/Buddy [a la Kristina/Bree] (Boyfriend #1), Brendan (Boyfriend #2), Chase (Boyfriend #3), her family, and the reckless behavior Kristina -Or Bree?- takes on when high. And believe it or not, sometimes all ten are the antagonist at the same time.

All in all, Crank by Ellen Hopkins is literally a thrill ride through text and poetry. It truly showcases the candid, unbiased experience of using drugs for recreation and how much your life and way of thinking can be affected. I highly reccomend it!!