‘Wicked: Part 1’ defies expectations
By Sophia Monastra
As I researched this movie, two thoughts ran through my mind: “This movie is how long?” and “What do you mean this is part 1?”
Full disclosure, I’ve never seen the musical “Wicked” due to limited finances, (or “Wizard of Oz” due to generational trauma from flying monkeys but that’s another matter), but research shows that the musical is around three hours long.
The movie is two and a half hours for Part 1. Surely the filmmakers had to be adding ...
‘Moana 2’ missed the mark
By Danielle Cherry
Eight years after the original motion picture was released, fans are welcomed back into Moana’s world, following new and old characters on a new adventure to reunite the community of the oceanic world by finding the Island of Tautai Vasa.
Beginning the film, I was excited to see where Moana’s story would go, how she would develop as a person and where this plot would be headed. Yet I was let down as the story had a very similar flow to the first film.
From ...
‘Skeleton Crew’ is unexpectedly charming
By Janie Walenda
Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) wants to be a hero. More specifically, he wants to be a Jedi. He spends most of his time listening to stories of the Jedi and the Sith, so when he finds a mysterious structure in the forest, he’s convinced it’s a Jedi Temple. One regretful button push later, and Wim and three other kids are blasted into space on an abandoned pirate spaceship.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, they discover that not only is their home planet, At Attin, not on ...
Arts in Action: The Testimony of Art Exhibitions
By Katlynn Rossignol
The 220 Gallery sits outside the DeVries theater and displays a rotating variety of visiting and student works. Yet it’s a rare occurrence when the displays are announced beyond the theater’s entrance. The 220 Gallery is an unadvertised space online, being only briefly passed through on facility video tours and is completely excluded from the Art and Design Facility listings.
So why do artists display their work in the gallery space, and do art exhibitions ...
Why Should the Moviegoer Care about the Weaponization of Nostalgia?
By Ben Konuch
Imagine that once upon a time, you wanted to go to the movie theater and see a new release. That year, a new film about a deadly tornado sweeping across the country was one of the biggest releases of the summer. The previous summer, a new “Indiana Jones” came to theaters with mixed acclaim and two years before it, Tom Cruise dazzled in “Top Gun.”
But this year that you’re imagining isn’t in the ‘80s or '90s, it's just 2024. In this year, like most ...
Against the Odds: The Road from Cedarville to the Minor Leagues
By Emily Tuttle
As a 5-foot, 6 inch high schooler in Georgia, Payton Eeles worried he would not have any offers to play collegiate baseball. Like any kid, he dreamed of playing in the MLB, but his undersized stature hindered him.
Hundreds of miles away in New York, Tanner Gillis was cut from his high school baseball team as a freshman and then again as a junior. Defeated, Gillis wondered if he should even continue playing baseball. Like Eeles, he aspired to be in the major leagues, ...
Cedarville students’ mixed feelings on the election
By Ashleigh Clark
It does not take a degree to realize that politics are divisive. Social media ads get hijacked by political slogans and news media broadcast every sound bite. Tension rises between friends and family as well. Elections bring the messiness of American politics to the forefront.
With the 2024 presidential election nearing, the opinions of young people are even more important. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, ...
King’s Kids seeks to serve and support refugee children in the Dayton area
By Julia Swain
Four days. That is how long a group of young girls had been in the U.S. before crossing paths with King’s Kids–a ministry dedicated to serving refugee children in the Dayton area since its founding in 2012.
With the girls not speaking any English, the students volunteering that night were not sure how they would get through to the girls.
Then, something beautiful happened. The girls’ sisters and friends, who spoke both Swahili and English, began to ...
What makes a favorite movie?
Serine
Serine Warner’s favorite films are those that embrace themes of chosen family. She loves “Kung Fu Panda 2” for its emphasis on family not being defined by blood and “Cheaper by the Dozen” for its representation of families that aren’t picture perfect but have each other’s backs no matter what.
“Chaos is part of the family,” Warner said. “Chaos does not mean dysfunctional, it just means a bunch of different personalities who are choosing to love each personali...
Emma Neff’s road to Cedarville; from Malaysia to Ohio
By Maggie Fipps
Sports are obnoxiously loud. Shoes squeaking on the hardwood, referees blowing their whistles and fans screaming at said referees.
For Emma Neff, a junior guard for Cedarville’s women’s basketball team, all those sounds were muted, like watching the basketball game with the volume turned down.
“I don’t think I knew I couldn’t hear that well, I just didn't hear the things, if that makes sense,” Neff said. “So like the birds, I just didn't hear ...
