Movies I’ve Seen 11/11 November 11, 2009

The movies I’ve seen out of the list are, The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, The Grapes of Wrath, E.T., To Kill A Mockingbird, Snow White and the 7 Dwarves, The Sound of Music, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, West Side Story, Jaws, The Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump, All the President’s Men, Titanic, 12 Angry Men, The Sixth Sense, and Toy Story.

The movie I will write in depth about is The Silence of the Lambs. Although this movie is pretty disturbing, grotesque, and scary, it definitely belongs in the 100 Years 100 Movies list. It’s classified in the top 100 because of the uniqueness behind the whole plot. Jodie Foster plays her character well and Anthony Hopkins plays his character well, also. Anthony Hopkins successfully plays a twisted psychiatrist who ends up in solitary confinement for the rest of his life due to his cannibalism. From beginning to end, the movie is unpredictable, suspenseful, and truly impresses you. The thoughts and tactics that both Jodie’s character and Hopkins’ character use  on eachotherthroughout the movie are very creative and impressive. The Silence of the Lambs is a truly unique movie that definitely deserves to be a part of the greatest classics of all time.

My Favorite Films November 9, 2009

One of the “great” films of all times that I believe has gotten good reviews from critics is the Jurrasic Park series. The Jurassic Park movies truly portrayed a believeable scene of what could happen if dinosaurs really still existed and took over an island. It didn’t look fake at all, and the plot was well planned. The movie that I really like that I don’t think has gotten very good reviews is an older move, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. This movie was definitely made in the 90′s and isn’t a huge film. But I love watching that movie because it’s so cliche’ of high school and the timeline of high school to growing up and how people changed really pulled me in.

Review on Jurassic Park:

  Jurassic ParkA Film Review by James Berardinelli

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United States, 1993
U.S. Release Date: 6/11/93
Running Length: 2:06
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violence)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1Cast: Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Laura Dern, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards
Director: Stephen Spielberg
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy and Gerald R. Molen
Screenplay: Michael Crichton and David Koepp based on the book by Michael Crichton
Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Music: John Williams
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures

On a small island off the coast of Costa Rica exists a most unusual animal preserve by the name of Jurassic Park. Operated by dinosaur lover John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), Jurassic Park is the first of its kind. Its population of creatures includes brachiosaurs, dilophosaurs, tricerotops, velociraptors, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, each of which has been cloned using the latest technology that takes DNA from dinosaur-biting prehistoric insects preserved in amber, and uses that DNA for the re-creation. When the consortium funding Jurassic Park become concerned that all is not as it should be, Hammond is forced to call in three experts: paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), his partner, paleo-botanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and the brilliant-but-cynical mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). When the trio arrives at Jurassic Park, they are astonished by what it represents. It doesn’t take long, however, for astonishment to turn to horror.

First of all, for anyone who’s wondering, given the current state of technology, the situation postulated in Jurassic Park cannot happen. Not only do the necessary cloning techniques not exist, but the likelihood of retrieving dinosaur DNA from an amber-encased prehistoric mosquito is extremely small. While insect specimens have been unearthed, for there to be dinosaur DNA, circumstances demand that the mosquito had bitten a dinosaur shortly before its fatal imprisonment, and the chance of that is slim, at best.

Berardinelli, James. “Jurassic Park.” Rev. of Jurassic Park, by Stephen Spielberg. 1993.

http://www.reelviews.net/movies/j/jurassic.html

Review of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion:

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion

Starring: Mira Sorvino

Directed by: David Mirkin

RS: Not Rated Average User Rating:0of 4 Stars

Lisa Kudrow — the one with the wit: As Phoebe on Friends and Pheebs’ twin, Ursula, on Mad About You, Kudrow is the Val gal incarnate. But this Vassar grad who quit science for comedy has always been smart about playing dumb. Maybe her training with the Groundlings, the noted Los Angeles improvisation group, helped Kudrow, 33, find the depth in daffy. In a small role in Mother — she’s a date from hell for Albert Brooks’ highbrow author — Kudrow slyly punctured his intellectual pretensions. The problem? Kudrow is still playing the dumb blonde. Is that all she can do? The affably airheaded Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion won’t silence her detractors, though Kudrow’s Michele is a deadpan delight as she joins fellow misfit Romy (a deliciously funny Mira Sorvino) at their 10-year high school reunion. The trailer alone is wittier than the entirety of McHale’s Navy and Jungle 2 Jungle, two ’97 comedies driven by TV stars.

Travers, Peter. “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.” Rev. of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, by David Mirkin. Rolling Stone. Apr 11 2001.

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5948423/review/5948424/romy_and_micheles_high_school_reunion

 

Response to “The Hype is Right” November 4, 2009

The idea of the “iTablet” is standard to the growth America has seen in the past few years. Apple has released so many high-tech products lately, that the “iTablet” seems to just be the next big thing Apple will have in store for us. There are pros and cons with such high techonological advancements. Better technoolgy results in better, faster, more satisfactory retrieval of information, entertainment and other media. Cons include the fact that the typical print news and television would slowly dissappear, leaving many without jobs. From an educational standpoint, the “iTablet” would allow students to learn about all subjects and learn from different forms of media such as online articles, tv, photos, videos, and more all in one place. Students would also be able to probably write up responses to those things in the same place. Teachers can also conduct research from the “iTablet”.

More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation Response October 1, 2009

I don’t agree with Obama’s belief in extending the school day and minimizing the amount of days off we have in the summer. Especially for children who are in elementary school and middle school, their attention spans and energy are only going to last them a certain time. The 7 hour school day that we have now is just the right amount of time to learn, then go home and have time to rest and do homework. For high school students, especially those who take AP classes, the summer time is a sacred time of rejuvenation and fun. AP classes and more demanding high school courses are stressful and give students alot of homework to do at home after school too, on top of extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs. The summertime is a time for family bonding, vacations, and getting ready for a new school year where the student can feel relaxed and ready to learn. Too much schooling whether it be in the addition of days or hours in the school day can prompt more drop-outs, burn outs, and overall exhaustion and no time for extracurricular activites and relaxation. Stress is bad for the body, and I think the only thing more school would bring is just that-stress. There are a lot of after school programs for students who want to stay in school or learn more about a certain subject. That is also what teachers are for. But not everyone should have to stay in school for such a long time. Summer programs could also be offered in the summer for kids who want to participate in them, but are optional and offer more pay for teachers who participate, also. But no, please, no more hours or days in the school year! The summer break is a cherished time, and shouldn’t be taken away from us hard workers!

What I’ve Done for the Week of 9/14 September 18, 2009

This week, I accomplished all of the goals I blogged about. I e-mailed Mrs. Calvert’s, Mrs. Scisco’s, and Mr. Carpenter’s information to Taylor. Mrs. Conder has yet to e-mail me back, so I’ll have to hunt her down and get her to e-mail me what I need. Joe and I have completed all of the events that needed to go in the calendar, so the calendar is 100% updated. Everything is finished and proof-read! If you want to view the calendar you can look at it here: http://www.danvilleschools.net/dhs/icalsw/calendar.asp?cal=em

Goals for this Week September 14, 2009

For this week, I hope to have done the following by:

• Turn in the three teachers’ information that I recieved from them via e-mail to Taylor and Rachel.
• Check my e-mail and send the fourth teacher’s information to Taylor and Rachel if the teacher has sent that information to me. If not, I’ll check with her to make sure she sends me the website information.
• Have the completed volleyball schedule posted on the High School website’s calendar.
• Check with Joe and finalize the calendar so we can pass it along to the Athletics or Organizations editors so they can add to those pages if needed.

Response to Justice Cunningham September 14, 2009

In response to the article, I do believe that schools focus mainly on college prep. But in our school’s case, there are classes offered for students who are interested in welding, auto mechanics, and woodworking. There is also a hospitality class which includes cooking for those who want to become chefs. I believe our school offers classes which students can focus more on college prep, and classes where students can focus more on vocational studies. The only suggestion I could make to heighten the vocational studies side of high school is by adding a home-ec class that teaches students how to wash clothes, clean a home effectively, and other “homely” things that aren’t taught in a common college prep class. Not everyone is cut out for the high-profile, statistical side of life. Some can make a great living doing what they love and not have to go through years of school to do it.

What I’ve done for the week of 9/7 September 10, 2009

This week, Joe and I discussed which schedules we would post on the school’s calendar. He posted/revised the Boys’ soccer schedule, football schedule, golf schedule, and I believe he is currently working on the forensics schedule. I posted/revised the Girls’ soccer schedule, the schedule for Gravely Hall, and I’m currently working on the Girl’s Volleyball schedule. I also sent an e-mail to Dustin when he requested sports schedules for all boys’ sports that were available at this time. I’ll send him the rest of the schedules when those sports have the schedules ready to go. I also sent all four e-mails to the teachers that I was assigned to. I need to compile the infomation together for each teacher that replied to me and send that to Taylor and Rachel. I’ll probably do this tomorrow or one day next week after I finish the volleyball schedule.

I don’t think my workload is necessarily heavy, but it’s just the right amount to keep me busy throughout the whole class period and still have plenty to do for the next however many days.

Response to SALON.COM August 20, 2009

The article, titled “What’s the matter with kids today?” really made me think about how much the internet has taken over teenagers’ lives. All I hear about now-a-days are adults talking about how much teenagers have changed since before computers, internet, and other mass media sources. Often adults say, “Kids these days don’t care about a quality education”, or they have long explanations about how badly behaved kids are because of all of the perks we have today. While this can be true, I believe the internet has helped teenagers and the world more than it’s hurt. The internet has brought out the expressive side in all of us. With the ability to blog, make individual profiles, and communicate to one another through the internet, teenagers can “write” and express themselves through technology. The internet has so many sources for learning about anything and everything there is to learn about in the world, thus triggering interests in us teenagers and giving us the unlimited amount of resources to learn about an unlimited amount of subjects this world has to offer.

Two Websites to Consider August 20, 2009

http://www.thsrock.net/ A High School website that I found with a good quality to it was the Trinity High School website from Louisville, KY. The Trinity website has a donation page, virtual tour, admissions page, a campus store, a list of the 2009 graduates and the scholarships they recieved, and a whole page with different links about college and AP classes, etc. What I also like about the website is the calendar. The calendar has everything on it, including all of the sports events: who the team plays, where, and at what time. This way, there can be more involvement in the sports events. Trinity has a wide array of links and pages to click on in order to learn about the school and more such as college. This is what Danville High School needs, too.

http://www.chattcougar.com/ Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta, Georiga has a very good and attractive website. On the home page, there are alot of quick facts about the high school which is appealing to the visitors. The  home page also has a slideshow of alot of interesting pictures about the school. There are different websites for alot of, if not all of the sports teams to go to. To me, the website overall is just very appealing and there’s so many things to choose from. Whatever you need to know is on this website, plus alot of cool accomplishments made by the school. There is also a parents section, which is good for parents. The DHS website needs that kind of link, as well as alot more pictures like the Chattahoochee webpage.