Horror movie roundup

By Avalon Allen and Luka Maeda

October 9, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

Muschietti makes a riveting adaptation of Stephen King’s iconic novel   Amazing acting and incredible visuals define this popular horror film As many know, “It” was originally created by the popular horror novelist Stephen King in 1986. The plot was centered on a group of outcasted ch...

The Reel: Why “The Lion King” is the greatest animated film of all time

By Mark Lu

May 10, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

My all-time favorite movie (yes, my favorite movie ever) is the 1994 Disney animation and now-classic “The Lion King,” written by Irene Mecchi & Jonathan Roberts and directed by Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff, with an iconic score by Hans Zimmer & Elton John. “The Lion King” featu...

The Reel: Poetic storytelling should not be celebrated for being poetic

By Mark Lu

April 20, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

A while ago, I saw “Moonlight,” a film that I commended for its screenplay craftsmanship in another column. Despite being ambitious and beautifully-shot, it lacks the essential quality of entertainment: substance. Of course, it conveys principles much needed for today’s changing times, but would it have hurt at all to add a visible storyline? I loved “Moonlight.” But as I watched it with my famil...

‘Ghost in the Shell:’ a hollow adaptation

By Manfred Lau

April 11, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

I never particularly liked the original Ghost in the Shell - the 1995 anime movie directed by Mamoru Oshii. It didn’t immediately blow my mind. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by 21st century visuals. It could have been the dense political intrigue, or the (literally) drawn-out shots of random city scenery. But...

“CHiPs:” a crime of a movie

By Skylar Cunniff

April 4, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

The police comedy, action movie Chips that came out on Mar. 24 was a modern comedy based off of an older TV show. Dax Shepard wrote, directed and starred in the movie as the main character Jon Baker. Michael Pena acted as the other main character, Frank "Ponch" Poncherello. The two characters played off of...

King Kong is back, and he’s definitely worth your money

By Mark Lu

March 13, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

The first film ever about a giant gorilla batting angrily at aircraft first came out in 1933. Since then, along with the Japanese monster Godzilla, King Kong has been an icon in film history, revolutionizing, if not setting off, the long string of giant monster films that would ultimately follow it. ...

“Logan,” an overrated, misguided Western, fails to make up for a flimsy plotline

By Mark Lu

March 13, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies, The Ripple Effect

Yes, that’s right. I did not enjoy “Logan.” It’s actually not that terrible of a movie. The action sequences are well executed and Hugh Jackman did an excellent job portraying a mentally-wounded warrior with many scars, as did Patrick Stewart with Professor X. Newcomer Dafne Keen impresses a...

Teenage story reveals hidden life messages

By Hana Baig

March 13, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

The face of a worried girl fills the big screen, and everyone is silent. The people’s heartbeats quicken as the audience grows tense. We see the face of this girl wake up to the same day over and over. Everyone waits on the edge of their seats, anxious to see what the girl will do. This was the eff...

The Reel: Tension

By Mark Lu

March 6, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies, The Ripple Effect

Any sort of on-screen entertainment must invoke emotion in the viewer. Sadness, happiness, anger, pity, laughter, the invocation of emotion is pretty much the definition of entertainment. In order to maximize the extent of this emotion, movies need to employ plot development or character developme...

The Bye Bye Man disappoints

February 28, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies

R eleased on Jan. 13, 2017, The Bye Bye Man follows the story of three friends who discover the legend of a man to is capable of very malicious acts.   Elliot (Douglas Smith), John (Lucien Laviscount) and Sasha (Cressida Bonas) are all college students and have recently moved into an old house off-campus. ...

The Reel: The five least-boring Best Picture winners of the 21st century

By Mark Lu

February 25, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies, The Ripple Effect

The Academy Awards is made up of 6,687 members who vote every year on the best movie of the year, through a weird voting style called “instant-runoff voting” in which voters rank the nominations in the order in which they enjoyed each one. This is a much more complicated process that seeks to choose a ...

The Reel: A beaut. And fin.

By Mark Lu, Columnist

February 10, 2017

Filed under Entertainment, Movies, The Ripple Effect

You’ve probably seen a good film before. Did you enjoy it for its visuals or story? It probably depends, right? For example, “Fantasia” (2000) is purely based off of visual stimulation and how the narrative of the music correlates with the implications of what’s on the screen. Others like “T...