Michael Keaton Reaches New Heights

Elizabeth Both

Staff Writer

Michael Keaton is not Batman anymore but, the one and only Birdman. The Alejandro González Iñarritu film (Babel, 21 Grams-both received Oscar nominations) is revitalizing Michael Keaton’s career with a black comedy that tells the story of an actor, Riggan Thomson-famous for portraying a superhero known as Birdman - tries to direct his own Broadway play. Mostly known for being the first Batman in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Keaton went down a shoddy spiral having small roles in not-so-impactful films into the 2000’s. Besides the beloved Batman franchise directed by the one and only Tim Burton, Keaton starred in the acclaimed comedy-horror flick Beetlejuice (also directed by Burton), the old Christmas based story Jack Frost in the late 90’s, having a part in the hit-Pixar movies Cars and Toy Story 3, and a role in the Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell comedy;The Other Guys. Now its 2014, and Birdman is a chance for Keaton to finally prove to the Academy and audiences all over, that he has been here all along, waiting for the perfect chance to pounce at a fantastic role.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Keaton stated how “in terms of the parallels, I’ve never related less to a character than Riggan”, noting how since he has already played a superhero over twenty years ago, that now he can’t relate to Riggan’s sweaty, “I’m hearing voices from an old movie superhero” attitude. The actor now sixty-three, said in the Entertainment magazine that he doesn’t mind talking about Batman at all; he’s proud of it. Asked if he would do another Batman movie again he said,”If Tim Burton is directing, then in a heartbeat.” After the sequel in 1992, Warner Bros. asked for a new director, bigger and badder supervillains, and a lighter look. Keaton didn’t like the aspect that Batman wanted to be looked at in lighter way, since he believed it was a complicated, brooding character; he finally just said no. Keaton also replied with how since he was the first ever Batman, “Once you get in those suits,they really know what to do with you. It was hard then; it ain’t that hard now.”

Now who would think that Michael Keaton could be a potential Oscar contender twenty years ago? It is, after all, Michael Keaton who was Mr. Mom in 1983. Besides Keaton having revived stardom, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis, and the admired Emma Stone are all being praised for their performances in the film. Having filmed Birdman in Spring of 2013 with only thirty days to shoot, the film took on the visual challenge of meaning to appear seamless (one intentional cut in the two hour film). The director,Iñarritu, comments in Entertainment Weekly about that certain way of filming, “I wanted it to feel like reading somebody who’s writing without commas or periods.” The movie flows like water, keeping the audience engaged.  Birdman hits the Hollywood spectrum hard on with showbiz clichés and backstage antics. Oscar nominations are definitely in the works between the spot on cinematography, soundtrack and of course-acting. No need to re-watch Batman Returns again, enjoy the new Michael Keaton; as a bird.

Mask & Zany Preps for Productions

Marc Verwiel

Staff Writer

The upcoming weeks are very busy for the New Hope-Solebury Mask and Zany theater clubs as they prepare and rehearse for one play and one musical scheduled for release within a month.

The musical Little Shop of Horrors, directed by NHS senior Emily Adar, comes out October 30th to celebrate halloween. The show is based on a 1960 low-budget film that was adapted into an off-Broadway musical, which was then re-adapted into a more successful movie in 1986. When asked about the show, Mrs. Pittner said "It's a real halloween treat. Its a sci fi parody about a cannibalistic plant that’s fun for the whole family!" The spectacular show has one run on Thursday, October 30th and two shows on Saturday, November 1st and features a cast including Joshua Searle, Abby Bultemeier, Teddy Carroll, Natalie Russo, Mikey Iverson, and Fiona Male, along with many other actors and actresses from New Hope-Solebury. Tickets are currently available for pre-order from Mrs. Pittner and will also be available at the door.

Along with this fantastic musical, the Mask and Zany club is also working on a Midsummer Night's Dream scheduled for a release in late November. To those who are worried that this play will not be exciting and entertaining, Mrs. Pittner assures it will be a pumped up version of the original , making it exciting for all ages. This show will also have three performances spread over three nights. These two shows will later be accompanied by another play or musical in the spring that is yet to be announced.

Gone Girl Review

Arian Behpour

Staff Writer

 At its heart, Gone Girl is social commentary disguised as a well-crafted murder-mystery. The film starts with the mystery of a missing woman, Amy Dunne. As the film goes on, it takes a turn from the straight and narrow and slowly builds the tension as the story becomes more distorted. Gone Girl attempts to challenge the viewers perception of relationships, media, and the attitudes of the police. All the while trying to keep the tone of a quirky mix of humor and drama. Even before its release the film was reported to be in the running for an Oscar, but it was in no way overhyped.

 Ben Affleck’s character, Nick Dunne, starts off his anniversary by finding his wife missing and his living room trashed. The more the film goes on, the more Dunne becomes a suspect in Amy’s disappearance and possible murder. Gone Girl shows how the media can misrepresent a person and end up ruining their life. Also, the film touches on how the police can make predetermined judgments based on personal prejudices. As the film begins, the mystery seems straight forward, but by the halfway point the film takes a U-turn and never looks back. Some films build to one single twist that limits the ability to re-watch the film, but Gone Girl is re-watchable due to a major twist being placed in the middle of the film and it doesn't even stop there with the twists. The writing is spot on. Gillian Flynn writes a fantastic adaptation of her own book of the same name. David Fincher elevates the story and then some with his precise framing and excellent directing. Until the end, the film doesn't drag on since the story engulfs you in its mystery. The ending is fitting, but it runs too long once it becomes predictable.

 The story is successful due to its strong ensemble cast. Ben Affleck pulls off a great performance as a character stuck in a nightmare that may be partly his own making. Even Tyler Perry jumps out of his Madea films to finally show his acting chops. Neil Patrick Harris however brings a great performance. Due to Harris mostly starring in comedies, some viewers might find it hard to take him serious at first, but he soon proves his worth as the film goes on. Even with all the good performances, Rosamund Pike blows away everyone else. Her range is off the charts. She dominated every scene she was in with perfect handling of her character. If not an Oscar winner, she is definitely an Oscar nominee.

 Surprisingly, Gone Girl had a prominent amount of humor that never got in the way of the drama. This film was created under a magnifying glass just like Fincher’s other films. More than most films, everything has parallels, meanings, symbolism. This might be due to the film originally being a book, but it’s great to be able to analyze a film and get to that secret layer underneath. Gone Girl digs up hard topics and explores them to a great extent. Overall, Gone Girl passes the barriers of storytelling and becomes something else, something beautiful.

New Devices Come With Flukes

Kathryn Hunt

Staff Writer

 With the start of a new school year, comes new beginnings. This year, all of the students attending the New Hope-Solebury High School have received brand new computer-laptop hybrids. With this new upgrade, students have to be cautious about how they treat their new device. Here are the top 7 things that can go wrong with your new school device, according to the high school tech department.

#7 Scratches

 Scratches happen more often than not but they are no major threat to your device. Although they may be unappealing, there is no fix for scratches. If you have not yet scratched your computer, you may want to buy a slip to protect your computer from future damage.

#6 Slow Internet

 Slow internet is a pain but it seems to be happening more frequently. Normally, when the internet is slow its because too many people are on one site. There really isn’t any quick fix to this problem except to log off the site and try again later.  

#5 Connection Issues

 Sometimes the tablet and the keyboard won't connect properly. Either the keyboard won't sink with the tablet or the tablet will freeze and everything comes to a hault. Luckily this problem has an easy solution: detach the keyboard from the tablet then reattach it or you can just restart your computer.

#4 Mouse Pad Jams

 Some people at NHS have experience mouse pad jams or when your mouse just disappears off your screen. Just like #5, there is a simple fix. The mouse seems to only disappear when using Chrome, so simply just exit out of Chrome then open it back up and your mouse should appear again.

#3 Screen Cracks

 1% of the new NHS devices have been either received cracked or have been cracked since the beginning of the school year. This is probably the hardest and most time consuming problem you could have but the high school tech department is working on ways to have your device fixed in 5 days instead of the normal 2 weeks its been taking for most people to get their devices back. The main way to prevent your computer from getting cracked is to buy a case or a slip to protect it from damage when its in your school bag.

#2 Audio Glitches

 Audio glitches are a driver issue and are becoming a more common issue among many students at NHS. Unlike the other problems you may face, there is no simple fix that you can do yourself. The tech department can restore the sound through the driver and will be returned to you in about 30 minutes.  

#1 Sticky Keys

 Keys getting stuck is the number 1 most common problem the tech department has seen all year. 10% of the new devices tended to have “sticky keys”. Although hitting your keys hard may unjam them, most of the time you will need to turn it into the tech department for repair. On average, if you turn your keyboard in the morning, you would get it back by the end of the day.

Back To School Night Kicks Off 2014-2015 Year

Chloe Verwiel

Staff Writer

On the night of September 17, it was not students going to class: it was their parents! New Hope-Solebury High School held its annual back to school night. Parents from all four grades came to the high school and followed their child’s schedule. It was a successful night as parents met the teachers and walked the halls their children wander daily.

  The night started at 6:30 when the parents met in the theater for an assembly with Mr. Malone, who described the upcoming year. Soon after, they were released into the hallways. Each parent went to each of their child’s classes for 10 minutes. Teachers got the chance to meet the parents and talk about what they are planning to teach this year.

  It was in between classes when it got crazy. Many adults did not know where to go or how to get to their next class. Luckily, National Honor Society members were there to help guide the way.

  During the night, parents could also go to the library to learn about what kids do outside of the classroom. The Future Business Leaders of America, Key Club, Mask and Zany, and Positive Student Interaction Club had set up tables. They explained their club and encouraged parents to get their children to join. In addition, student government leaders were selling school gear to fundraise.

 Overall, it was a very successful night. Parents got to see what their children do five days a week from September to June..

Rap Albums

Garrett Lemmons and Kevin Lupo

Staff Writers

  This fall and upcoming winter the world of hip hop will be blessed with a variety of new music. The amount of artists that will drop albums is significantly higher than in recent years. Some of the biggest names in the ‘game’ like Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar are set to put on the biggest album releases of the year. The headlining names for this quarter of the year are enticing but they aren’t the only rappers that are making waves. Tyga, DJ Khaled, The Game, Wale, Rick Ross, J Cole, Logic, Chief Keef and Philly’s very own Meek Mill are also supposed to be dropping projects.

  “I’m excited to hear the new music from some of my favorite artists” said respected sophomore Nolan Curran.

  Some of these albums have been anticipated for awhile now. Tha Carter V is rumoured to be the last Carter of Lil Wayne’s career. Tha Carter series has been one of the top-selling group of hip-hop albums of all time. Nicki Minaj’s “The Pinkprint” is expected to round out the big year she’s had. Nicki has run the radio this year with hits like Pill N Potions, Anaconda, Danny Glover Remix, Bang Bang and a few features that has established her as arguably the best female rapper.  “I love Meek, his raps are fire” says an excited Spencer Tinkel.

Kanye West has finished his album and when he was in Paris played it three times for a listening party. The good news is that the album is done and West is very confident about this album, the bad news is he has not said when he will release the album. Kanye being Kanye he will probably not tell anyone and just do a surprise drop and let the people find out for themselves.

This year could be one of the greatest years ever for the rap and hip/hop music industry. In the last decade last year for the music industry hip/hop and rap can be argued 2013 was the best. Artists such as ASAP Rocky, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, J Cole, The Weekend, and many more all dropped huge albums and mixtapes. This year could be even better. Just as 2014 is coming to a close big artists are getting ready to close the year with a bang.

Toronto Film Festival Over but the Race has Just Begun

Elizabeth Both
Staff Writer

The famous Toronto International Film Festival,(TIFF) took place Sept. 4 through Sept. 14. Founded in 1976, the festival provides ten crucial days of movie debuts. This Canadian festival has become notorious for setting the screen scene for the very likely Oscar Nominations and Oscar winners for the US. Keep your eyes and ears open for these already marked hits:The Imitation Game, Foxcatcher, Wild and The Theory of Everything. These and dozens of others are all ready to hit our theaters in the next three months. All of them signed, sealed reviewed and judged.

 TIFF broadcasted over three hundred films from over sixty countries. A rather large fuss was made about Benedict Cumberbatch’s role in the impending film, The Imitation Game. This tale of the Nazi code-breaker Alan Turing took home the festival’s prominent prize the “Grolsch People’s Choice Award” this year. Other potential Oscar bait is Foxcatcher, based on a true story,”Steve Carell received kudos for not being funny at all,” says Chris Knight from The National Post, and takes a dark turn, dragging familiar stars Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo into the mix.

 Jake Gyllenhaal stars in a “neo-noir” crime fiction called Nightcrawler, reaching new levels of creepiness as a sociopath. Andrea Mandell from USA Today says: “Another burning question: whether Bill Murray, as a wonderful curmudgeon-turned-reluctant babysitter in St. Vincent, will be headed back to the Oscars at the Dolby Theater in February.”  Sweeping in on the sidelines is the story of the one and only Stephen Hawking played by Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything. Reese Witherspoon makes a landmark in the film Wild, a story of personal discovery as she tries to escape from her demons by hiking the Pacific Coast alone, one step at a time. Funny guy Jon Stewart makes his directorial and writing debut with his film, Rosewater, based on the true story of a journalist who was detained in Iran for more than a hundred days in 2009, regarding an interview during the country's’ election.

 The feast of films has not ended, this is just the beginning. The International New York Film Festival started late September to mid October and is planning to bring hundreds of more films to the Oscar bait podium, all of which leads up to one goal-who gets the Gold Man in February.