‘Halloween Ends” By Crashing To The Ground
By Samuel M Acosta
This review contains spoilers for “Halloween Ends.”
I was absolutely hyped to see this movie. Along with most people, I really enjoyed the first installment of the “Halloween” franchise reboot and despite popular opinion, I love the second installment. So when it came to the final part of the trilogy, I was ready to dive in and love whatever was there, despite its flaws. Well, dive in I did… and I hit my head on the concrete because this movie had less depth ...
‘Ada and the Engine’ Blows The Audience Away
By Samuel M Acosta
On October 15, Teghan Reed and Farrah Rawlings, senior theater majors here at Cedarville, held their capstone project, producing a performance of “Ada and the Engine” by Lauren Gunderson in Alford Auditorium.
With Rawlings playing the leading role of Ada and Reed directing and designing the show, this ended up being one of the best shows that I had ever seen. It not only made me respond emotionally, but the true artistic nature of the show was astounding. It left ...
‘Oddballs’ is a YouTuber’s Dive into Netflix Animation
By Katlynn Rossignol
Summary
The town of Dirt, Arizona, is the home of lab experiments turned loose, including James the bubble-boy, his talking crocodile friend Max, and a girl from the future named Echo. With so many unexplained things in life, the three of them cause chaos as they question the wacky world around them.
Background
One of the fascinating things about “Oddballs” is its connection to “TheOdd1sOut” YouTube channel, a storytime animation channel created by ...
Gail Lilite: Piano Accompanist for The Music Department
By Zoe Ekeh
Abigail “Gail” Lilite grew up surrounded by music. Her parents were both music majors with her mom working as a private piano teacher and her dad being a vocal professor. Both of them play piano, and Gail began learning at the age of 5.
After discovering a Cedarville University professor’s YouTube channel, Gail decided to apply to Cedarville because of its amazing music department. She is from Oklahoma so prior to coming here she did not have any ...
The Sanderson Sisters are back from the 90’s in ‘Hocus Pocus 2’
by Anna Harman
Disney came out with “Hocus Pocus” back in 1993. 29 years later, they released a sequel to this Halloween classic. The Sanderson sisters, played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker, made their comeback in “Hocus Pocus 2.” They performed several musical numbers in this sequel, all while they are faced with strange, modern technology. Viewers also got to see the return of Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones). The film was a combination of nostalgia for the ...
‘Amsterdam’ Is A Confusing Piece Of Art
By Samuel M Acosta
When I saw the trailer for “Amsterdam”, I was incredibly excited to see this star-studded film. After watching it, I am in awe of the boldness and the artisan nature of the film, yet I am also unable to forget how thoroughly confused I felt during it. While I loved certain scenes and elements of the film, the pacing and plot felt sporadic and disjointed. There were multiple times when I couldn’t help but whisper to myself, “What is going on?” While this didn’t ...
‘Catherine Called Birdy’ Reflects a Disappointing Trend towards Poorly-Written, Not-So-Historical, Feminist Dramas
By Kathryn McDonald
It is safe to say that we have entered an era in which film has begun attempting to adapt stories to be relatable and raw like never before. For teens, this means gone are the days of movies and television which do not address the daily concerns of adolescent life. The trend seems to be, however, that stories are told at the expense of any kind of historical accuracy. Modern concerns become the focal point of historical dramas, and while an honest look at daily life ...
‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ Episode 8 Finally Nails It
By Samuel M Acosta
I knew before I watched this episode that Daredevil would be making an appearance, but I did not expect it to be as explosive and well-put-together as it was. This episode felt sharp and crisp, as if the writing team had full confidence in what they were doing, unlike past episodes where it felt as if they were unsure of their decisions. Not only was this the best episode of “She-Hulk” to date but it is one of the best episodes of any Marvel show to date.
This ...
“Rings of Power” Raises the Stakes before the Season Finale
By Janie Walenda
After the intense highs of last week’s episode, “Rings of Power” episode seven settled down while still moving the plot forward. This was how I would like most episodes of “Rings of Power” to be – I didn’t need 45 minutes of action, but I did like seeing the plot moving forward.
The aftermath of Mordor's creation was shot in a beautifully haunting way. I loved how “Rings of Power” didn’t hold back in its portrayal of war ...
‘Smile’ Feels Like a Fever Dream
By Ben Konuch
“It’s… it’s like it wears people’s faces as masks.”
(“Smile” contains themes and depictions of trauma and suicide. Viewer and reader discretion is advised.)
At a first glance, it would be very easy to pass by “Smile” without much thought. From all of its marketing, the film comes off as one of those “gimmick horror” movies. Movies like ‘Wish Upon’ or ‘Truth or Dare’ capitalize off a concept or object that typically isn't scary, like a ...
