Into the Woods We Go

Lexi Anderson
Staff Writer

  Over this past winter break, my sister and I took our usual trip to the Regal Barn to see the highly anticipated musical-comedy, Into the Woods.
  Into the Woods, directed by Rob Marshall, is a twist on the classic fairytale characters we all know and love. It features iconic characters such as Little Red Riding-Hood, the Wolf, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and others along with the newly introduced baker and his wife.
  The Witch, played by the simply amazing Meryl Streep, sends the baker and his wife on a quest through the woods to find specific objects for her. In return ,she’ll make the baker’s wife (played by Emily Blunt) fertile.
  The other characters happen to all have their own reasons to go into the woods as well. Little Jack has to go to a different town to sell his goat, Cinderella is  going to the ball, and Little Red Riding Hood is bringing bakery goods back to her grandmother. Their storylines begin to intertwine as the story unfolds.
  As my sister and I sat down in our seats we waited excitedly for the movie the start.
  Into the Woods opens with a montage of the different fairytale characters singing the charming, but extraordinarily long, song “Into the Woods.” What starts out as a sweet tune turns into an intense, almost headache-inducing noise. Nonetheless, I still had hope as the movie began.
  The biggest fault in this movie is that there was a distinct point where it could’ve ended, and you felt like it was going to end.
  With about 45 minutes of the movie left all seems to be resolved: Cinderella is marrying her prince after being indecisive about him throughout the whole film, the baker and his wife have a child, Jack’s mom is wealthy, Rapunzel and her prince are happy and in love, Red and her Grandma are happy, and the Witch has regained her beauty. Right when you think the movie is going to close, another conflict arises that lasts another 45 minutes of the movie.
  Although the ending of the movie was heartwarming, I really just wanted it to end.
  I saw Interstellar with my sister as well, which was a whopping three hours long. Honestly, I felt like the two hour long Into the Woods lasted much longer.
  Although the movie itself wasn’t amazing, the acting and singing of the cast was quite good, with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt doing a particularly good job. The fairytale-like costume design was also great, and the film has even been nominated for an Academy Award for this category.
  Overall, I would give Into the Woods three stars out of five. It lacked depth and didn’t really wow me, but it was still an enjoyable watch. The cast was great, and the musical numbers were fun and catchy. Surely, it’s not something I’d watch again, but I don’t regret having gone to see it.

The Interview provides comic relief

Dylan Waterman
Staff Writer

Dave Skylark, played by James Franco, and Aaron Rapoport, played by Seth Rogan, run a popular celebrity talk show, “Skylark Tonight”. Dave Skylark is the host while Aaron is the show’s producer. In the beginning of the movie, Aaron starts to believe that their show is a joke, and feels that they need to do more than just talk to celebrities about their new, unusual news. They later find out that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a huge fan of the show and in an attempt to legitimize the show, and themselves as journalists, they are granted access to interview him. While preparing themselves for this big event, they experience an unheralded twist. The CIA recruits Dave and Aaron to assassinate Kim Jong-un while in the process of interviewing him. This appears to be a tough task for Dave and Aaron, as they are two of the least qualified individuals to implement this action.
  Coming from one that has seen the film, I enjoyed it a lot. After the Sony hacking scandal that reportedly involved North Korean hackers, this movie was available in only a limited number of theaters, but it was also released on Google Play, is available on OnDemand, and a few other sources. It is now most notably available on Netflix. Throughout the whole movie there is great comedic chemistry displayed between Rogen and Franco, but it does not distract the viewer from an actual plot. Dave and Aaron meet an ally while in North Korea, who helps the guys ready themselves for what they must do. Things like this make the movie very unpredictable and exciting, as there are many of them throughout the film. Overall, this is a funny and exciting story that will certainly please those who enjoy contemporary screwball comedy.

D’Angelo’s Black Messiah Addresses Race and Society

Tyler Brennan
Staff Writer

After a fifteen year hiatus from any formal music release, singer, producer, and songwriter D’Angelo bestowed unexpected music fans his latest album, Black Messiah, at the turn of the new year.
  On Dec. 12, 2014 producer Kevin Liles released a 15-second teaser for the new album on YouTube. Three days later on December 15, 2014 the album was released to traditional online outlets such as iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify.
  This is the third release from the critically acclaimed R&B artist, whose previous records, Brown Sugar and Voodoo pioneered the rhythm and blues genre. D’Angelo’s style has often been compared to Prince and Marvin Gaye for his unique and soulful singing voice. His latest album draws influence from more traditional R&B acts such as Funkadelic and Sly & The Family Stone because of its focus on live instrumentation.
  D’Angelo is accompanied with full live band called the Vanguard, whose big names include The Root’s Questlove, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip,  Pino Palladino, James Gadson and Kendra Foster. The band provides profound and chaotic instrumentation for the soulful range of D’Angelo’s infamous voice. The album often feels experimental and nuanced for utilizing a hectic sound to emphasize the soulful and spiritual element of the piece.
  Q-Tip and Kendra Foster collaborated with D’Angelo on lyrics which glide upon subjects of politics, religion, and sex. Kendra Foster’s lyrical prowess can be heard on “The Charade”, the third track into the album which reflects upon a history of social and political racism and injustice experienced by African-Americans.
 Some of the albums songs such as “1000 deaths,” “The Charade,” and “Till it’s done (Tutu),” seem to be inspired by the recent racial incidents in Ferguson and Staten Island. According to D’Angelo the album’s lyrics have been in production for the past fifteen years and they coincidentally have relevance in today’s political climate. He pushed for the albums release to be sooner than the originally scheduled 2015 date, stating: “The one way I speak out is through music. I want to speak out.”
  While the United States public still grieves and reflects on the racial violence that has been reported by the media, writers and musicians have stayed silent. D’Angelo boldly addresses the issue through music with his ambiguous comeback album. In an era of turmoil and confusion, listeners can gain a sense of calm and righteousness through the Black Messiah.

2015 Oscar Winners Predicted

Elizabeth Both

Staff Writer

 This year has been an extraordinary year for movies. Between Chris Pratt swooping in on an alien adventure in Marvel’s Guardian of the Galaxy as one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, to Richard Linklater's coming-of-age drama taken over the span of twelve years, Boyhood,this year was jam packed. The Oscars are taking place on Feb. 22, and these are the movies that I think will steal the screen scene during the ceremony. Also according to an Oscar Prediction Poll, 82 people in New Hope Solebury voted for who will win Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Picture at the star studded ceremony later this year.

Best Picture: Most Likely Winner- Selma which was a beautifully constructed film, depicting how the Selma to Montgomery Marches in 1965 came to be with raunching truth. Especially with everything that has happened in 2014, this is the type of raw nerving urgency that America as a whole needs to see. After all, it is our history.

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• The Imitation Game
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Selma
• The Theory of Everything
• American Sniper
• Whiplash

Best Actress: Most Likely Actress- Julianne Moore, a four-time nominated actress in the Academy, and as of 2014 appearing in 62 films, long deserves the walk down the podium.

• Julianne Moore-Still Alice
• Reese Witherspoon-Wild
• Rosamund Pike-Gone Girl
• Felicity Jones-Theory of Everything
• Marion Cotillard-Two Days and One Night

Best Actor: Most Likely Winner: Eddie Redmayne, portraying the young genius Stephen Hawking in the 1960’s before his illness and as his illness approaches. The performance is real and is currently being compared to Daniel Day Lewis’s performance in My Left Foot, which won Lewis a Best Actor statuette back in 1990.

• Eddie Redmayne- The Theory of Everything

• Benedict Cumberbatch- The Imitation Game
• Michael Keaton-Birdman (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Bradley Cooper-American Sniper
• Steve Carell-Foxcatcher

Best Director: Most Likely Winner: Richard Linklater for Boyhood with its cinematic dynamic move of filming over the time of twelve years, it is distinctive for showing a story of how a young boy grows up to become a young man. Linklater is super humble, and with his previous Golden Globe win for Best Director, the win is definitely locked in.

• Richard Linklater-Boyhood

• Morten Tyldum-The Imitation Game
• Wes Anderson-The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
• Bennett Miller-Foxcatcher

Best Supporting Actress: Most Likely Winner: This is a tough category since all of the performances were extremely well done but the frontrunner is going to be Patricia Arquette. Arquette has outdone herself and shown through as the average American mother dealing with nasty husbands, income struggles, and still tried her best to be the best mother possible for her two children.

• Patricia Arquette- Boyhood
• Laura Dern-Wild
• Keira Knightley- The Imitation Game
• Emma Stone-Birdman
• Meryl Streep-Into the Woods

Best Supporting Actor: Most Likely Winner: J.K Simmons was outstanding in the music overdosed hyper-thon, Whiplash. His tough guy manner is hardcore and burns to the touch. Edward Norton comes around as a close second, but J.K Simmons is going to take the win.

• J.K Simmons-Whiplash
• Edward Norton-Birdman
• Mark Ruffalo-Foxcatcher
• Ethan Hawke-Boyhood
• Robert Duvall-The Judge

Best Original Screenplay: Most Likely Winner: This is also a very tricky category this year since such good writing has been flowing through the movie industry in the past year, but going for the Oscar I think it’s going to be Wes Anderson. To put that much detail into a movie is one thing, but to put it down on paper to make it come to life is a whole other award in itself.

• Wes Anderson-The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Richard Linklater-Boyhood
• E.Max Frye and Dan Futterman-Foxcatcher
• Dan Gilroy-Nightcrawler
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman

 From an Oscar Prediction Nominations Poll  82 people in New Hope Solebury voted for who will win Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Picture at the star studded ceremony later this year, no more Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards!

The results are listed below.

Best Picture

• American Sniper with 24 votes
• Gone Girl with 17 votes
• The Imitation Game with 14 votes
• The Grand Budapest Hotel with 9 votes
• Birdman with 5 votes
• Boyhood with 5 votes
• Selma with 3 votes
• The Theory of Everything with 3 votes
• Whiplash with 2 votes

Best Actress

• Rosamund Pike with 30 votes
• Jennifer Aniston with 20 votes
• Felicity Jones with 10 votes
• Julianne Moore with 9 votes
• Reese Witherspoon with 9 votes
• Marion Cotillard with 4 votes

Best Actor

• Benedict Cumberbatch with 25 votes
• Michael Keaton with 20 votes
• Eddie Redmayne with 14 votes
• Steve Carell with 11 votes
• David Oyelowo with 6 votes
• Timothy Spall with 6 votes

J Cole Releases New Album

Kevin Lupo & Ben Muzekari

Staff Writer

 On December 9, 2014, the famous rapper J Cole released his third ever album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. With tremendous success on his previous two albums along with several mixtapes, the expectations were high, but they were met. The North Carolina raised MC surprised his fans with Christmas come early as the album included 13 lyrically enjoyable tracks. The album tells a unique story of J Cole’s start of his journey to where he is today.

 2014 Forest Hills Drive was a much different LP release than most, as it was announced only a few weeks before along with no singles. Cole really wanted this one to be for the fans and told the press sales didn’t matter. Growing up as a kid, J Cole’s inspiration and favorite rapper was Tupac Shakur. Inspired by Tupac’s “All Eyez on Me”, J Cole similarly swapped z’s with s’s in the song titles “Wet Dreamz”, “A Tale of 2 Citiez”, and “Love Yourz”.

 A song that really speaks to people is “Fire Squad” in which  Cole self-proclaims himself as the “king.” In the third verse of the song, he calls out white artists including Eminem, Justin Timberlake, Macklemore, and Iggy Azalea. Listeners have deemed the song as a “diss track”, but it’s nothing of this sort. Before pointing fingers, Cole makes historical references to black music being stolen. The song ultimately uplifts black culture and is a great listen considering its reggae style.

 Ultimately, J Cole’s third ever album was more than a success as according to hotnewhiphop.com, the audience rating is at a high 94 percent. The 13 tracks tell a unique story of J Cole’s childhood as many kids growing up can relate to the lyrics he sings. The 30 year old rap star continues to live up to his name, leaving people to expect even more for his next album.

Black Messiah Includes Social Commentary

Tyler Brennan

Staff Writer

 After a fifteen year hiatus from any formal music release, singer, producer, and songwriter D’angelo bestowed unexpecting music fans his latest album, Black Messiah, at the turn of the new year.

 On December 12, 2014 producer Kevin Liles released a 15 second teaser for the new album on Youtube. Three days later on December 15, 2014 the album was released to traditional online outlets such as iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify.  

 This is the third release from the critically acclaimed R&B artist, whose previous records, Brown Sugar and Voodoo pioneered the Rhythm and Blues Genre. D’angelo’s style has often been compared to Prince and Marvin Gaye for his unique and soulful singing voice. His latest album draws influence from more traditional R&B acts such as Funkadelic and Sly & The Family Stone because of it’s focus on live instrumentation.

 D’angelo is accompanied with full live band by the Vanguard, who’s big names include The Root’s Questlove, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip,  Pino Palladino, James Gadson and Kendra Foster. The band provides profound and chaotic instrumentation for the soulful range of D’angelo’s infamous voice. The album often feels experimental and nuanced for utilizing a hectic sound to emphasize the soulful and spiritual element of the piece.  

 Q-Tip and Kendra Foster collaborated with D’angelo on lyrics which glide upon subjects of politics, religion, and sex. Kendra Foster’s lyrical prowess can be heard on “The Charade”, the third track into the album which reflects upon a history of social and political racism and injustice in America for black people on America.

Some of the albums songs such as “1000 deaths”, “The Charade”, and “Till it’s done (Tutu)”  are seemingly inspired the recently failed police indictment in Ferguson and Long Island. According to D’angelo the album’s lyrics have been in production for the past fifteen years and they coincidentally have relevance in today’s political climate. He pushed for the albums release to be sooner than the originally scheduled 2015 date, stating, “The one way I speak out is through music. I want to speak out.”

 While the United States public still grieves and reflects on the racial issues that have plagued the media, writers and musicians have stayed silent. D’angelo boldly addresses the issue through music with his ambiguous comeback album. In an era of turmoil and confusion, listeners can gain a sense of calm and righteousness through the Black Messiah.

Boyhood is a New Kind of Movie

Arian Behpour

Staff Writer

 Sometimes we don’t realize that life is full of good and bad moments that are more important than we originally perceived. The goal Boyhood sets out to accomplish is to show us these moments and their immense impact on life. Boyhood chronicles a boy as he grows up and becomes an adult. This film doesn’t have much of a plot. Instead, it tries to simulate real life as close as possible. For a film that has been in the making for about twelve years, its amazing nothing went wrong.

 The film is very simple. The acting feels real and nothing seems staged. Patricia Arquette is the best performance from the whole film. The viewers feels for her as she does anything to help make her children’s life easier. Ethan Hawke is good, but his character isn’t given a lot to work with. Ellar Coltrane definitely had a grand breakout role with this film. He started at age six and kept acting until nineteen. The more he grows up the better is acting ability becomes. Even as a child he acted better than most child actors.

 The direction doesn’t have any glit or glammer. Its straight forward, but not for lack of attention or boredom. Richard Linklater directed this film in a way not to take away from the film or the reality the film portrays. There are many instances of beautiful imagery that reflects how life, nature, and the emotions explored in the film.

 Boyhood covers so much ground that many viewers might find a little bit of themselves in there. There are some moments that hit hard on the heart strings and that make the viewer ponder worldly themes. We all were children, and we all will grow up. This film reflects on those infinite moments experienced by billions of human beings all around the world.