Film Review: Love, Simon

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written by Ruben Hernandez

When it comes to film, many approaches on what high school looks like have been made; some more accurate than others. Love, Simon takes a classic approach to high school with aspects as parties, friends in groups of four, and even half-eating breakfast while walking out the door are all present in this film. Simon has a loving family, great friends, and is about to graduate high school. He has a fairly normal life except for a secret he’s keeping: being gay.

Simon exchanges emails with Blue, the love interest in this story who comes out anonymously through the school gossip website. Simon writes to Blue under the name “Jacques,” and though their identities are unknown to each other, they form a close bond. This bond will not only be put to the test but will also put Simon and his friends through hardships.

The journey and the emotions behind the process of coming out is one that can really put someone’s spirit and soul to the test. Love, Simon did an amazing job conveying those emotions and displaying that journey. The emotion that Nick Robinson, who plays Simon, displays and how he fulfills his character was definitely something to watch.

This nice thing about the film is that it is one of the few major LGBT films we’ve seen within the past few years, including films such as Moonlight. With the normality of being gay or likewise in today’s culture, it’s no wonder why I found this movie so relatable. It left me with a sense of simplicity, as Simon’s experience is similar to many “coming out” stories. But the complexity at the same time comes from the raw feelings and emotions that involve being gay and being comfortable expressing that to others. This movie brought the audience I was watching this with, including myself, to tears. This movie was a step in the right direction in LGBT representation and the understanding of what it means to “come out.”

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Film Review: Game Night

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written by Tracy Fuller

Game Night is a film about competitive game-loving partiers who end up taking their game night to the extreme. It is unquestionably a piercingly hilarious film that takes things to the edge. Directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and written by Mark Perez.

The main characters, Max and Annie (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams), regularly host a traditional game night at their suburban home. A wittily-edited opening montage shows that games like Pictionary, Scrabble, and charades are the framework of their relationship and drove to their marriage. The other gamers in this movie includes Ryan (Billy Magnussen), a dimwitted friend of Annie’s; Sarah (Sharon Horgan), Ryan’s much brighter date; the husband-wife duo of Kevin and Michelle (Lamorne Morris and Kylie Bunbury); and Max’s estranged brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler), who’s a excels in ways that Max can only fantasize about.

Not only does Brooks project an image of success, but he is always one to out-do his brother, Max. So naturally, he takes over game night by inviting the gang to his mansion for an extreme version of game night. A version modeled by what is becoming more common these days, a murder mystery themed party. Things begin to take things for a roller coaster, taking the audience on consequential flips and turns, leading into straight chaos.

Brooks gets kidnapped in a home attack that everybody else thinks is just part of the game and threatened with murder if the rest do not surrender a cherished Faberge egg to a scary-voiced mastermind who’s giving them commands from afar. The rest of the crew splits up into teams and tries to unravel the mystery in their way, their paths occasionally re-crossing, only to deviate again.

The screenwriter and directors tie the storyline to the psychology of the characters and structure the film as a quest for personal as well as sequential discovery. The brothers’ mutual resentment and rivalry are relevant here, as it develops the plot. Max and Annie’s failure to superfetate a child comes into play, as do the psychologies and pasts of other game night members. A subplot about Kevin’s infatuation with solving whether Michelle was ever unfaithful to him has an immense payoff.

Game Night is a nearly perfect entertainment for adults over a certain age. There’s a daring car chase, a brutal incident that leads to improvised surgery, and a house party with echoes of the masked scene in “Eyes Wide Shut,” but it is all entwined with annotation about aging, failure, doomed romanticism and sibling rivalry. The characters put it all over with flair—especially Bateman and McAdams, who complement each other’s ideas so deftly that they do seem as if they have been married forever, and Plemons, who steals every scene he is in through deft underplaying. Also, while there are a few touching times, the film never tries to set an overly emotional tone.

Even though the movie was a bit predictable at times, it was very entertaining. This movie is the perfect film for a date night or also if you are just looking to laugh. I will probably see it again when it opens up to the public.

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Show Review: Snow Tha Product Gettin’ It At Empire

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Written and photos by Tracy Fuller

I have been a fan of Snow Tha Product’s music for about five years now, but oddly enough, I have never seen her perform in concert. So naturally, when the opportunity arose to review this show after the Sound On Sound Fest cancellation, I jumped on it. Snow, originally from San Jose, California, ended up moving to Texas in 2010. It was then she started to make a name for herself by performing here in Austin at South By Southwest.Snow The Product

This performance was originally scheduled to take place at Sound On Sound Festival but was rescheduled to take place at Empire Control Room.

Within the first few minutes of her hitting the stage, I realized that this is no ordinary hip-hop show, this was a full-fledged party! You could quickly call this a family celebration, since it was the last stop on Snow’s tour that her mom would be present.

Snow is not your average hip-hop artist. She could be pitted against the best of the best, and would utterly school them with her chopper styled flow. She transitions between spitting bars, melodic singing, and jumps between English and Spanish without missing a beat. Snow also does not not hold back when it comes to expressing her political views.

Snow kept the crowd turned up as she played a bunch of songs from her Good Nights & Bad Mornings 2 mixtape.  She performed “Play,” “Lord Be With You,” “Cookie Cutter B*****s”, “Business Is,” “Hopeless,” “Waste of Time,” and even took to crowd surfing for the hype party track “Gettin’ It.”

Snow and her fans have a robust Chicano pride in common. Between songs, she takes time to connect with them personally.

I couldn’t close out this review without giving a shout out to the venue staff at Empire Control Room. The staff are always on point and accommodating. For a Sunday night and a first-time experience with Snow Tha Product, I had an absolute blast – even with a 10:30 PM curfew![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/wfISNlnN0bI”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Show Review: The Story So Far, Turnstile, & Drug Church Throw Down at The Mohawk

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written and photos by Taylor Kokas

Despite this year’s sudden cancellation of Sound On Sound Fest, many artists were able to be rescheduled at various venues around town to perform for the live music capitol audience. The festival continued on in spirit, early that Saturday afternoon. Fans lined up on both corners of The Mohawk, awaiting performances from their favorite punk bands: Drug Church, Turnstile, and headliner The Story So Far.

Thirty minutes after the doors opened, Drug Church warmed up the crowd playing songs like “Banco Popular,” “But does it work?”and their newest single “Weed Pin”. After finishing up their short, 30 minute set, the crowd continued to grow. As casual fans played it safe and settled along the railing of the upper levels of the venue, dedicated fans and avid moshers made their way down to the front of the stage. For a good 45 minutes, Turnstile performed songs like “Drop” and “Fazed Out” inciting the crowd to throw down in the pit. Crowd surfers made their way to the stage hoping to be handed the mic from lead vocalist Brendan Yates (who occasionally tossed the mic out while he dancing around on stage). After their set, fans dispersed to grab a drink, buy some merch, or re-situate themselves for the final act.

The Story So Far Knife

The Story So Far kicked off their set playing two of their most popular songs, “Things I can’t change” and “Nerve” while also performing their newest single “Out of it.” It was a wild set, as some fans surfed their way up to the front, attempting to get a hug from lead vocalist Parker Cannon. At one point during a break between songs, Cannon was handed a switchblade, causing some shock amongst the band. Parker put it away safely in front of the drum kit and continued on with the show. Throughout the remainder of the night, fans jammed out to a setlist of the band’s greatest hits from their past three albums while also squeezing in a couple covers from Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. Fans left with a fun, memorable performance to reflect on as they exited the venue to go home and recover from their ringing eardrums.  

Pick this review up in the Spring 2018 Life4U magazine on campus.

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Film Review: Mudbound

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Written by Tracy Fuller

The McAllan family is a working-family raising their children on a Mississippi farm. The Jacksons are a sharecropping family on a Mississippi farm. Both families have a son returning from the World War II to work the land. Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell) suffer from PTSD post-war.

Ronsel is a sergeant, wrestling with the terror of being a free man in Europe, but one with no rights when being back in America – the nation he defended in battle.

Jamie is an airborne captain, struggling with the horrific memories witnessed in the sky.

Both Ronsel and Jamie, come together with the bond of PTSD. Their friendship is an opposite perfect connection to status, mental health and racial division of that era.

Dee Rees and Virgil Williams did a excellent job turning Hillary Jordan’s novel into a cinematic ride. Mudbound invokes various emotions from the viewer to feel both families’ level of poverty, struggles to get ahead and what life was like for that period. This sure to be award-winning film hits Netflix on November 17th.

Pick this review up in the Spring 2018 Life4U magazine on campus.

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Show Review: YELLE

Written & photo by Wes Eng

I’m not a typical fan of electropop, but I wasn’t going to miss seeing YELLE during their re-scheduled show for Sound on Sound Fest. YELLE is an electropop band from France who has been making waves since 2005. YELLE’s distinct style of sound is a mix of disco and electropop. This mixture, paired with the french vocals creates quite a unique sound. All of the songs were in French, but that really didn’t matter. The vocals were what really made the sound so iconic. The performance from Julie Budet (lead singer) and the two dummers lead to quite a show. Everything seemed to be choreographed. The drummers had a routine where they would mirror each other’s movements to produce an amazing visual and audible display. It was more like being in the front row of a music video. If you are a connoisseur of electropop YELLE is a must!

Show Review: Gatecreeper

Written and photo by Wes Eng

Opening up the Friday night of the previously scheduled, Sound On Sound Fest at Mohawk was Gatecreeper for Cannibal Corpse. The show was a rager as they shredded the night away with dark, grungy metal. Being in the crowd was something I will always remember. As the band got into their rhythm the whole crowd began to head bang in unison. The love for the music was definitely there. As to be expected there was a lot of action in the crowd. The mosh pit was going nearly the whole time. Unfortunately it seemed to me as if the mic for the singer was too low. With all the guitars and bass tones, the lyrics were drowned out, which was unfortunate. All in all it was a great concert with some really killer songs!

 

Film Review: Murder on the Orient Express

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written by Nate Torres

Persevering mystery of Agatha Christie and her hero Hercule Poirot return to the big screen in the latest adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.  The classic mystery attracted an all-star cast including Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, Judy Dench, Daisy Ridley, Derek Jacobi and many others who portray a group of passengers all traveling aboard the luxurious Orient Express.  As the title suggests, a passenger falls victim to murder leaving 12 dynamic individuals suspect to the crime.  It is the archetypal “who done it” story as Detective Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) helps find the murderer amongst the train’s passengers before they can make their escape at the next stop – or worse, kill again.  

The setting takes place in 1934 Europe and though the main events all revolve around the train and its compartments, the production found ways to deliver some amazing scenery, beautifully captured in 65mm. Audiences who find themselves fond of traditional mystery will certainly find this film delightful. The scenes involving Poirot’s interaction with the passengers and his demeanor makes room for comic relief.  Branagh shows great respect for Christie’s original story through script and visual adaptation, while staying true to Poirot and his “magnificent moustaches.” There is, also, some magnificence in the way the cast subversively play out their characters, making them relevant to today.  Touching on issues like race, addiction, greed, guilt and death, the film explores how the human psyche can be pushed to a breaking point and drive one to murder.  Each one of the suspects holds their own quirks and eccentricities that give rise to suspicion and also make for good entertainment.  

Murder on the Orient Express is not at attempt to blow your mind as a mystery. The film contains twists and turns that push even “the greatest detective in the world” to his limits.  If not a fan of playing sleuth, however, cinephiles can still enjoy the film’s gorgeous pictures and camera work while taking their best guess on who did it.

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A Disguised Education

Written by Sam Douglas

Many students struggle with time management, motivation to attend class and the sheer will it takes to crack open a textbook. Even once the studying begins, the next momentous task is staying focused. It’s not rare to re-read a paragraph, again and again; this could be a sign of disinterest in a subject. Staying focused can be hard, but what if there was a way to make it interesting – to look at a subject in a different light. What about podcasts?

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photo courtesy: dancarlin.com

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History
Maybe history isn’t your favorite subject. Let Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History change the way you understand a history lesson by making the facts and stories a personal interaction. Carlin tells about historical figures, places and time as if he lives it. The series “Blueprint for Armageddon” gives the listener an in-depth look into the lives of soldiers and civilians on both sides of the first world war, painting a horrifying image of the carnage that took place. A great podcast for students who will be studying this period of time in a U.S. History class.

The Joe Rogan Experience
This is one of the most popular podcasts on iTunes and for good reason. Host, comedian Joe Rogan, invites guests from all walks of life; such as geologists, nutritionist, psychologist, neurosurgeons, athletes, comedians, business gurus and more. There are more than 1,000 free episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience available for download, spanning 2-3 hours each. It’d be hard to not find content relevant to your studies from the conversations with various professionals.

Radiolab Presents: More Perfect
Like everything Radiolab releases, More Perfect is a wonderfully, high-quality audio experience, focusing on Supreme Court cases that set precedent today. This can be a great tool to use when trying to remember the names of those court cases you know are going to be on the test in your government class.

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photo courtesy: startalkradio.net

StarTalk Radio
Join host (and astrophysicist) Neil deGrasse Tyson and travel the galaxy with some of the most brilliant minds in science. Learn about new theories moving through the science community and contemplate the mysteries our cosmos has to offer. StarTalk Radio may be that little bit of extra help you needed in an astronomy or physics class.

A different interpretation of a subject may spark an interest in topics previously disliked. Thus, allowing the mind to retain information in an alternate way and, hopefully, encourage better study habits. With all the increase of podcasts out there, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find one, or a few, helpful to your studies and future career.

Pick this story up in the Spring 2018 Life4U magazine on campus.

Film Review: The Florida Project

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Written by Taylor Kokas

The Florida Project, named after an early title of “Disney World,” follows six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) living week-to-week in a bubble gum colored motel called “The Magic Castle,” being raised by her young, rebellious mother Halley (Bria Vinaite). When Moonee isn’t out on the streets with her mother – selling perfume, trespassing or stealing to make rent – she goes on adventures with her motel friends Scooty and Jancey. Making the best out of their summer, the group collects ice cream money from strangers and annoys the motel’s manager Bobby (Willem Dafoe).

Moonee shows us how to make the best of what you have. However, at any moment, the reality that she experiences could be taken away from her if rent isn’t paid or Bobby doesn’t act as her protector. In the end, Moonee’s reality is threatened when child services shows up. In this scene, she runs away to tell her friend Jancey bye, the visual transition from 35mm film to iPhone footage can be extremely frustrating and jarring to the audience. This rough transition however is a visual display, mirroring the experiences of Moonee’s life. Overall the film does a good job of exposing the viewer to this overlooked world in our society and the people that experience it while taking the viewer on a ride that will be, both, heartbreaking and heartwarming.

The Florida Project, was released by A24 Films on October 13th with a limited theatrical run and home video to follow.

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