Homestead High School's student newspaper

The Epitaph
Homestead High School's student newspaper

The Epitaph
Homestead High School's student newspaper

The Epitaph
All content by Mark Lu
“The Lion King” is one of the greatest written, directed, scored and animated movies there has been. Photo courtesy of Disney.

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

By Mark Lu
May 10, 2017
The drama department is unlikely to put on an annual musical performance due to insufficient funds in the site budget and a lack of support from ticket sales and parental donations.

The drama department is unlikely to put on an annual musical performance due to insufficient funds in the site budget and a lack of support from ticket sales and parental donations.

Abortion is legal, but poor Americans have no healthcare coverage on abortion expenses because of the Hyde Amendment. It needs to be repealed. Photo by Ken Gigliotti of the Winnipeg Free Press.

Abortions should be covered under government health insurance

By Mark Lu
April 22, 2017
"Moonlight," written and directed by Barry Jenkins, received three Academy Awards, including "Best Picture." Photo courtesy of A24

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

By Mark Lu
April 20, 2017
“[Dylan Robinson] told me, he said, ‘you are your own number one priority.’ And that changed my life.”

[Photo] Humans of Homestead, April 20, 2017

By Elizabeth Cook
April 20, 2017
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan oversaw most of the drafting of the American Health Care Act, the Republican repeal and replacement of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, a bill that was pulled from schedule by House Republicans on Mar. 24. Photo by Jeff Malet/PBS

The American health scare of 2017

By Mark Lu
March 27, 2017
"Kong: Skull Island" stars Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston and John Goodman. Image Courtesy of Legendary Entertainment.

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

By Mark Lu
March 13, 2017
Hugh Jackman's final performance as the Wolverine has already generated 300 billion dollars at the box office worldwide. Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Fox Studios.

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

By Mark Lu
March 13, 2017
“I’m worried that people of color will be discriminated against because President Trump’s ban seemed to target a specific ethnic group. Rather than implementing vetting measures, he instead decided to just block a group of people, and it’s based on religion, so it sounds similar to, say, an aAnti-semitic ban during the 1940s.” “I also thought it was interesting how none of the countries never had terrorists. Like Saudi Arabia has definitely supplied more terrorists than the countries he put on that list. And even homegrown terrorists, like white Christians, are more likely to commit terrorist acts than Muslims in the United States, so that was also a little intriguing. If he posed a ban on white Christians, it would definitely be taken a different way. “I hope California continues to oppose these actions and the whole idea that we’re going to become a sanctuary state in opposition to this idea or these bans that Donald Trump’s put forward, that’s a pleasant thought to me, that even though we’re part of the United States, we’re going to promote diversity.”

[Photo] Humans of Homestead: February 2017

By Elizabeth Cook
March 1, 2017
The pub scene from Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" (2009) is one of the most anxious conversations in movie history. Tarantino's masterful use of dialogue and setting allows him to easily manipulate his audience and engage them into what's on-screen, and keep them glued to the tension. (Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company)

The Reel: Tension

By Mark Lu
March 6, 2017
Miramax

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

By Mark Lu
February 25, 2017
In the time of Trump and “alternative facts,” George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece “1984” becomes timelier than ever. (Graphic courtesy of Virgin Films)

Facts matter

By Mark Lu
February 14, 2017
"Silence," directed by Martin Scorses and starring Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson, is nominated for a Academy Award in the category of Best Cinematography. Photo courtesy of Sikelia Productions

The Reel: A beaut. And fin.

By Mark Lu, Columnist
February 10, 2017
On Saturday, the Homestead Equestriettes and several teams from the Bay Area performed their sets at the Forté dance festival 2017, after months of practice.

Bay Area youth dance teams showcase talent at Forté 2017

By Mark Lu
February 3, 2017
"La La Land," starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, is nominated for 14 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Soundtrack. (Photo courtesy of Lionsgate)

The Reel: 2017 Academy Awards Predictions

By Mark Lu, Columnist
January 30, 2017
‘Seven’ is a 1995 crime-suspense thriller starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey. (Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema)

The Reel: ‘Seven,’ the greatest suspense thriller there ever was

By Mark Lu, Columnist
January 24, 2017
"Moonlight" stars Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monáe, Alex R. Hibbert (above), Trevante Rhodes, and Ashton Sanders (Photo courtesy of A24)

The Reel: screenwriting – the biggest snub at the 2017 Golden Globes

By Mark Lu, Columnist
January 9, 2017
The final strip of the "Calvin & Hobbes" comic series by Bill Watterson (December 31, 1995)

Here’s to you, 2017

By Mark Lu and David Coe
December 30, 2016
"Moana" (left) and "Zootopia" (right) both received positive reactions from audiences and critics worldwide. (Photos courtesy of the Walt Disney Company)

The Reel: Disney’s bipolar mindset

By Mark Lu, Columnist
December 25, 2016
Christoph Waltz (left) and Jamie Foxx (right) in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained”, which was rated the #1 movie of 2012. (Image courtesy of the Weinstein Company)

The Reel: Quentin Tarantino- eight eras, one style

By Mark Lu, Columnist
December 18, 2016
Here, Shrek accidentally ends up kissing Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” on his honeymoon with recent wife Fiona in “Shrek 2” (2004). Fiona reacts by grabbing Ariel by the tale and throwing her back into the ocean, to the sharks. (Photo courtesy of Dreamworks Pictures)

The Reel: “Shrek” and the genius in satirical filmmaking

By Mark Lu, Columnist
December 8, 2016
Universal Studios presents: The Fast and Furious franchise- a single successful idea initiating a string of seven (now eight) movies with little to offer besides over $4 billion in box office revenue (Photo courtesy of Universal Entertainment).

The Reel: How film studios suppress creativity

By Mark Lu, Columnist
December 4, 2016

Food Review: Hottest Pepper in the World- The Carolina Reaper

By Ben Allan and Mark Lu
December 1, 2016
Hailee Steinfeld stars as pessimistic teenager Nadine in a genuine and heartfelt performance. Woody Harrelson, Haley Lu Richardson, and Blake Jennfer star as Nadine's teacher, best friend and older brother, respectively.

“The Edge of Seventeen”: the most heartfelt comedy of the decade

By Mark Lu
November 22, 2016
“What would I ask the President? Probably… when are we doing that Mars landing? When are we gonna live on Mars?”

[Photo] Humans of Homestead: October 2016

By Elizabeth Cook
October 27, 2016
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Principal Greg Giglio stands proudly in front of the Homecoming quad decorations, a culmination of student spirit and creativity.

Throughout the past few weeks, the #huhchallenge has been trending on multiple social media sites

The #huhchallenge is juvenile, yet surprisingly inventive

By Mark Lu
October 22, 2016
The Class of 2018 participates in rally cheer-off. The juniors later won second place in Homecoming 2016 overall.

Homecoming 2016 wraps with a packed Friday

By Mark Lu
October 20, 2016
This morning, the fourth and final brunch cheer-off took place in the quad.

And on the eve of Homecoming…

By Mark Lu
October 13, 2016
The Classes of 2017, 2018 and 2019 compete in the second round of the lunchtime activities in the quad.

Juniors shine in third day of Homecoming Week

By Mark Lu
October 12, 2016
Senior ASB Officer Bilal Qureshi leads the cheer-off on Monday morning.

Homecoming 2016 kicks off

By Mark Lu
October 11, 2016
Seniors win Tuesday brunch cheer-off

[Photo] Updates on second day of Homecoming

By Era Goel
October 11, 2016

[Video] Episode 1: Club ‘n’ Grub

By Ben Allan, Gabby Mrozowski, and Mark Lu
October 7, 2016
“[Will you give me any book recommendations?] Hmm, maybe. We’ll see.”

[Photo] Humans of Homestead: September 2016

By Elizabeth Cook
September 28, 2016
Hillary Clinton is not dangerous. What makes people believe so are the politically-motivated inflations of her shortcomings.

Clinton and Trump are not equally bad, period

By Mark Lu
October 3, 2016
Ward rushes the ball through the Leland High School defense, Sept. 2

Rajah Ward, HHS legend

By Mark Lu
September 28, 2016
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