Deadpool 2: Hey everyone, he dies in this one!

Justin Horak and Devon Beacham
Staff Writers

No, really, our title is not a spoiler!

Bringing together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from a brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Deadpool 2 makes an appearance in all theaters for comedy and action lovers to enjoy.
     With the first Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds, crossing $500 million at the global box office in less than two weeks, 20th Century Fox was “sitting pretty” considering the movie cost a mere $58 million to make. The second Deadpool was released on May 10 with the budget of $110 million was Cher-album-from-the-80’s  successful, raking in over $600 million worldwide in its first three weeks.
     With excellent reviews from multiple critics, Deadpool 2 is on everyone’s “movie to see” radar. The Washington Post wrote, “The script for Deadpool 2 is loaded with winky, fourth-wall-piercing eruptions of meta, the kind of humor that can make even the slow-witted and literal-minded feel devilishly clever.” 94% of Google users liked this movie and it earned 83% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
     With it's witty script and meticulously chosen cast, Deadpool 2 is an awesome film--unlike most sequels. The movie stays true to its roots and does an excellent job of colliding action and comedy all into one. It ends with a true plot twist and is everything but expected.
     Overall, the film is very enjoyable for those who enjoy action, comedy, and superheroes. If you appreciate hilarious comedies and action packed scenes, Deadpool 2 is the recommended movie for you!

Kurt Cobain’s wife sued for murder plot

Caroline Donado

Co-editor in chief

Courtney Love is a controversial figure in the view of many Nirvana fans; there are numerous conspiracy theories that accuse her of the murder of her husband, Kurt Cobain. Now, she is being sued for being part of a plan to kill her daughter’s ex-husband in order to gain possession of the acoustic guitar Kurt played in his  famous MTV Unplugged performance.

     After their daughter Frances Bean Cobain divorced from Isaiah Silva, it was settled that Silva would keep the 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, which he  claimed was a gift he received from  Kurt Cobain as a wedding present to welcome him into the family. Silva, however, stated that Frances and Courtney wished to get the guitar back and sent three men to his house to forcibly take it from him. The three he names are Sam Lufti, Courtney’s manager; Ross Butler, an actor and Yan Yukhtman, a chauffeur.

     Love has said to TMZ that "It's not [Silva's] to take,” and that the guitar is a “treasured heirloom of the family.” The guitar also happens to be worth millions of dollars.

     Silva claims that the men illegally entered his house in the middle of the night, claiming they were the police. They proceeded to threaten and assault him to learn the location of the guitar. Afterwards, they attempted to force Silva into the back of a car; however, one of Silva’s bandmates called the police before he could be kidnapped.

     Court records state: “It is believed, based upon facts and evidence, that Silva would have been taken to a secondary crime scene and murdered on June 3, 2016.” The three supposedly hacked into Silva’s iMessage to "[make] it appear Silva was despondent and on a mental precipice contemplating suicide."     Lufti has also frequently harassed and threatened Silva, his family and friends, driving Silva to file a temporary restraining order against him in 2016. The suit states that Lufti told Silva that Love and Courtney agreed to compensate him with $120,000 if he could get Silva to sign an agreement to surrender the guitar, which may be his primary motive for pursuing Silva so aggressively. When the police arrived on the scene, Silva claims that the men forced him into agreeing with their story that they were playing a prank on him. Various emails and texts show that Lufti threatened Silva: “This agreement is your one and only choice, consider it your lifeline.” The matters have yet to play out in court, but a source close to Love and Cobain says, “Frances and the family are prepared to fight with a fury of unprecedented legal force and they will prevail.” As of now, Silva still remains in possession of the guitar.

Shawn Mendes is moving to a promising future with his third release

Caroline Donado
Co-editor in chief
Shawn Mendes’s self-titled third album was released on May 25, marking his third #1 album on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. Now 19, this young musician has guaranteed himself a promising future in the industry.
    The album marks a clear change of his musical direction, but traces of his previous two albums are still evident, making it a smooth transition. Mendes’ album consists of 14 original songs, two of which are collaborations with other artists such as Khalid and Julia Michaels. In an interview with British GQ magazine, Mendes stated that “I really just let myself create music that I thought was good and I didn’t think about genre,” which proved to be the absolute truth as the album contains a lovely mix of pop, rock, and R&B. Every song is different from the last and are an exciting experience to listen to as Mendes’s always seems to have a trick up his sleeve.
    The songs are well-written while being heartfelt and meaningful. “In My Blood” tackles issues of mental health and struggles with anxiety while “Youth” serves as an anthem to teenagers dealing with the effects of current events like school shootings. Mendes keeps a good balance between melancholy and up-beat songs--each one powerfully conveying their message and producing a profound emotional impact; an effect not many artists can have on their audience.
    However, Mendes’ writing collaborations with artists like Ed Sheeran, Julia Michaels, and Ryan Tedder, seem to morph the songs so that they lack Mendes’ signature style, and, as the New York Times puts it, “like tofu, he adopts the flavor of the songwriters he’s collaborating with,” and that the songs “systematically obscure Mr. Mendes’s talents.”
    Additionally, many of the songs, while catchy and well-performed, seem utterly unoriginal. “Particular Taste” containing hints of Robin Thicke and Prince while “Because I Had You” evokes Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself,” and “Nervous” resembles Selena Gomez’s “Bad Liar,” which also happened to be written by Julia Michaels.
    Even so, Shawn does not hesitate to make the album his own and make creative and daring choices throughout the album, incorporating falsetto singing and clever word plays like his juxtaposition of insecure lyrics and a confident tone in his song, “Nervous.” There are some winners on the album; all of the pre-released singles were great, but notably his songs “Why,” “Mutual” and “Queen.”
    Overall, the album was a highly enjoyable listen that was refreshing and unique compared to other pop artists. Even though his writing collaborations masked his signature style in many of the songs, Mendes made a truthful and high-quality album. Shawn Mendes’ incredible writing and vocal talents should not be underestimated--this album is definitely worth a listen.

Solo flies too low

Kayla Paul-Koch
Staff Writer

The standalone Star Wars film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, was released on May 25, 2018 and unfortunately compared to other films in the franchise, did not do so well in the box office. Solo cost nearly $250 million to make, yet “only” pulled in an international total of $65 million its opening weekend which means it’s going to take a while to recover costs. And though it is entirely false to say $65 million isn’t a lot of money, for comparison, Rogue One (a Star Wars standalone film released in Dec. 2016) pulled in $155 in its first weekend and earned $1 billion overall.  So why did Solo do so badly in the box office?
   It’s possible that the movie didn’t perform well since Deadpool 2 was released just a week prior and Avengers: Infinity War a month earlier.  These major releases may have dampened the hype surrounding Solo, but it also may have to do with the fact that The Last Jedi hit theaters  only five months ago making fans less inclined to sit through another two hour film of loud “pew pews” and space action. The movies have been jam packed the past couple of years  with Marvel and Star Wars films so it’s possible that people are just getting sick of it.
   But the issue may not rest with any of these and may just be with the actual movie. Solo revolved around the backstory of smuggler and pilot Han Solo who is a beloved character in the Star Wars universe. Seeing anyone other than Harrison Ford play this iconic character could have easily off put fans from seeing the movie, but Alden Ehrenreich actually did a fantastic job of creating a young Han Solo that fans haven't ever seen before.
   Though it was odd to see a new person as Han Solo, Ehrenreich performed fantastically in creating Han as a naive kid who wanted to be a pilot so badly, that he would do anything. This version of Han is very reminiscent of a young Luke Skywalker. Both are naive, don’t listen to authority, and will do whatever it takes for justice. Watching Han evolve throughout the movie into the coy trickster fans know him as was fun and answered a lot of questions about why Han Solo is the way he is in the later films.
   Although not the best Star Wars movie, Solo was an action packed epic film full of fun references to previous films, a peak at the beginnings of some major characters, and overall just a really cool movie. It may be unlike other films Star Wars  fans are used to, but it’s worth the watch so be sure to check it out and keep an open mind before going!