Twilight: New Moon Review

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by Vanessa Paredes

It’s here. The highly anticipated, overly hyped, oh so talked about film: New Moon. The second installment of the Twilight Saga hit the big screen this November and you can bet your life savings that the lines were outrageous and theaters were sold out all over the nation. Fully equipped with a new director (Chris Weitz), New Moon definitely out staged the production of Twilight, but not by a long shot. If one thing is for certain though, it’s that Edward Cullen is about to blend into the shadows and a new obsession will arise; his name is Jacob Black.

In New Moon, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) couldn’t be more awkward with each other, and there is a reason behind it. Edward plans to leave forks and Bella behind. He does so early into the film, and the “break up” shakes up the story line, bringing forward Jacob black (Taylor Lautner) to our attention.  Once Bella really starts warming up to her new “friend” another fantastical secret is unraveled. Vampires are not the only non-humans roaming around Forks; Jacob and his “clan” take the form of wolves in order to “protect” the town from vampires, or at least the evil kind. Naturally, Jacob falls in love with Bella while Edward is absent, and this creates a chaotic love triangle that will be a major theme in the movies to come. Just when it seems like Bella is finally warming up to the idea of liking Jacob back, Edward is forcefully engrained back on to her feeble mind when he makes a phone call to the Swan residence for the first time after his disappearance.

Bella gets on a plane to Italy faster than you can say vampires are not real, in attempts to save her soul mate from killing himself. Edward had been misinformed that Bella had passed away, and finds only one solution: plead with the Volturi (Organized coven of vampires) to take his life, which is no easy task, being a vampire and all. The Volturi consisted of the best actors in the film, including big shots such as Dakota Fanning playing Jane, and Michael Sheen as Aro. How the movie ends is yours to figure out.

New Moon shouldn’t break a sweat impressing the teenage female population. Weitz incorporates all the right elements, and some of the scenes are beautifully done. Although the movie does lack decent actors, because let’s face it, Robert Pattinson can’t act to save his life, the movie-goers will still sink their teeth into this vampire fantasy flick. In addition the film was successful in staying true to the book, which will hopefully keep the Twi-hard’s complaints to a minimum.  So get those movie tickets and enjoy the era’s newest craze.

Aquapod in Action

Our crew has been hard at work on our annual Gift Guide segment.  Here’s our staff filming a segment with The Aquapod.

The Aquapod is a soda bottle launcher that works with an air pump and a 2 liter soda bottle.

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Forever the Sickest Kids Review- The Weekend: Friday

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Forever the Sickest Kids Review- The Weekend: Friday
By: Alex Rivera
Recently, pop-punk band Forever the Sickest Kids released a new 7-track CD called The Weekend: Friday. This record is part one out of a three-part series, a new album per every “day” of the weekend. On Friday, FTSK returns with their catchy dance tunes that make any fan want to grab their hairbrush and sing into it, which proves that the band is staying true to their standards of lyrics about love, group chants, and the notorious chorus that’s bound to stay stuck in your head for about two weeks.

Friday starts off with “Do Or Die,” a song that incorporates keyboardist Kent Garrison’s synth beats with guitar riffs and bass drum beats. One thing that I noticed as I was listening to Friday was the more noticeable use of Garrison’s keyboarding interwoven in the tracks, which, unlike the previous album Underdog Alma Mater, gives the vast majority of the seven songs more of an electro-pop feel that seems to be a little more Metro Station-esque… in a good way. It doesn’t extremely divert the band from their roots, but it brings something new to the table, and that’s usually a good thing.

As the CD continues, tracks such as “Tough Love” and “She Likes (Bittersweet Love)” sound vaguely familiar, almost as if they’re new-and-improved versions of a couple of records off of UAM. But, although the guitar riffs might become slightly mind-boggling and have you question which album the record belongs to, both tracks capture FTSK’s usual melodic anthems. However, if repetition is your niche, then listen to tracks 4 and 6, “Take It Slow” and “What Do You Want From Me.” The beginnings of both songs sound EXACTLY THE SAME. When I was listening to it, I had to ask myself which song was which, because I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. That posed a problem which unfolded a couple of other ones on the album.

The last time I saw Forever the Sickest Kids, they stated that they wanted to try something new. They did in fact try something new… a hip-hop track. No, two hip-hop tracks. And, needless to say (as much as it breaks my heart), they failed miserably. Track 5 on Friday, “Hip-Hop Chick” throws in way too much synth for one person to handle, making the song sound like a random fast-paced techno track you’d hear at Ultra Music Festival. And, if the beats aren’t bad enough, the lyrics make references to Jay-Z, Soulja Boy, and “swagger” (no, not “swagGA,” “swagGER”). What? I couldn’t believe that one of my favorite bands would actually sing about this kind of stuff. To make things worse, the last song on the album does not suit the CD at ALL. “Hawkbot,” another overly-synthesized song, is an all-rap track that incoherently mixes in vocals and rhymes that don’t go with the beat, making it hard to understand. Plus, listening to vocalists Caleb Turman and Jonathan Cook rap is equally as humorous—not to mention pathetic—as the song itself (Vanilla Ice sounds better than they do). “Hawkbot” is undoubtedly Friday’s biggest disappointment.

Thus, it’s safe to say that The Weekend: Friday is a pretty decent album, despite its shortcomings. Personally, I prefer UAM to this 7-track EP-like record, but hey, it’s whatever floats your boat. If you’re like me, and you prefer the alt-rock, pop-punk FTSK dance tunes such as “My Worst Nightmare” and “Hey Brittany!” off of UAM, then you’ll find some pleasure in about two-thirds of the songs off of Friday. But, if you’re into the whole white-boy hip-hop thing, then you’ll get your fix here, too. Apparently, Friday has a little something for everybody.