Wednesday, December 14, 2016

How 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' performs at the box office

Riley Brennan
Features and A&E Editor
Since Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them came out this past November, millions of people have  headed to the theaters to see it. But the amount of revenue opening weekend did not live up to expectations in North America. The movie only earned $75 million, which is a small amount, considering the movie cost $180 million to make. Abroad, the movie did wonderfully, soaring to the top of the foreign box office. Internationally it has earned $132 million causing the movie to take in $473.7 million globally. Possible causes as to why the movie did not do as well as expected can be blamed upon the fact that there is no Harry Potter.
 The movie itself has gotten good reviews. At a total of two hours and thirteen minutes, the plot is rich and well developed. There was thoughtful, intricate detail when it came to describing the American wizarding world and the generation it took place in. There are the twists and turns that Potter fans should be accustomed to, and surprisingly dark moments for a movie whose plot revolves around finding lost magical creatures, or “beasts”. The movie ends with many questions left unanswered, but thankfully there will be more Fantastic Beast movies to come. According to Rowling, "We always knew that it was going to be more than one movie — we knew that from the start — so we set a trilogy as a sort of placeholder, because we knew there would be more than one movie. But we’ve now, I’ve now done the plotting properly, so we’re pretty sure it’s going to be five movies."

Get ready for the 2016 Academy Awards

Elizabeth Both
A&E Editor
It may be holiday time, filled with tacky sweaters and cookies up the wazoo, but it's also that dreadful yet exciting time for Oscar movies. The buzz always starts up at the Sundance film festival and extends to the Tribeca festival, the Toronto Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival. “The Birth of a Nation” was an extremely early frontrunner when it first was shown at Sundance earlier this year. Considering it premiered near the time 2016’s Oscar nomination were announced (all of them being white for the second consecutive year), it was praised highly at the film festival. That’s only one film, and there's plenty of others to watch out for.
 First premiering at the Cannes film festival back in the spring, then making its trek to the fall fest circuit, “Loving” directed by Jeff Nichols opens up America’s issue with race.
 “La La Land” has to be the one getting the most buzz. Directed by Damien Chazelle--director of 2014’s sleeper hit “Whiplash”-”La La Land” stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling bursting out into song. If that doesn’t sell you on the film, I truly don’t know what will.
 Natalie Portman stars as Jacqueline Kennedy in (you guessed it) “Jackie” which portrays her husband’s assassination from her point of view. “Passengers” (starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence) could sneak into the race but it might be a tad too mainstream for the Academy voters. Another Sundance hit that is expected to make waves in the awards season is “Manchester by the Sea,” one of the most popular and reviewed movies of the year.
 The Academy Awards, which will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel will air on February 26, 2017. Here’s a little heads up on what to watch out for that night when you hear: “I never heard of that movie!” or “What are they talking about?”. Sadly, no movie of Leonardo DiCaprio eating a bison liver will be premiering this holiday season.


What to expect from Melania Trump in the way of Fashion

Riley Brennan
Features and A&E Editor

The aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory has been anything but peaceful. Many Americans have made their shock and anger present, whether it be taking to the internet, going to rallies, calling for the end of the electoral college, etc. While the country does not seem to have cooled down completely, speeches about unity and moving forward, from the current president, Barack Obama, and the democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, have helped many people around the country reach a point of acceptance with the results of the election. With the idea of moving forward in mind, a new conversation has been started, focusing on Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, and what can be expected from her fashion wise, as a First Lady.
 Melania has been in the process of undergoing a subtle style change over the course of this election, becoming more professional and conservative as the election continued.
 While some elements of her style have remained, such as pastel colored clothing, she has added new elements to her style, such as shoulder robing(draping a traditionally long coat in Melania’s case, over one's shoulders). She has also taken to wearing tops with  higher necklines, knee length skirts, shift dresses, and jump suits.
 Many clothing items she has also been sporting while accompanying her husband on the campaign trail are from brands such as Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Net-A-Porter, and Chanel. One of the many differences between Melania and current first lady, Michelle Obama, would be their choice of brands. Melania sticks to shopping high end brands. In contrast, Michelle is known for mixing lower end brands into her wardrobe, such as J.Crew, H&M, and Target.

 While it does not seem likely that Trump will trade in her high-end brands, she would be smart to follow Obama’s thoughtful dressing, who is known for strategically wearing brands based in the country she is currently in(like sporting Italian brands in Italy), and sticking to mostly American brands.This would not be hard for Melania, who is already a strategic dresser, trading in her usual pastel palette for patriotic colors when attending Trump rallies, and of course the subtle change and “cleaning up” of her style over the past few months.