The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/479941
Page 5 March 13, 2015 Arts and Entertainment Has an interesting story, but pre- dictable twist. A well constructed film with a solid cast! Britney Miranda Staff Writer Shania Estrada Staff Writer A thrilling book with a fantastic story line! Brittany Lawley Staff Writer Nicole Valdez Staff Writer It's one for the slumber parties! Perhaps the next 'Mean Girl'! The movie "Focus," a four star movie that came out in 2015; Directed by, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa is in a category of many different genre's as the following of drama, comedy, romance, and crime. It introduces famous actors like, Will Smith who plays Nicky, a veteran con artist who takes unexperienced con artist named Jess played by Margot Robbie under his wing. While Nicky teaches Jess the tricks of the trade, the two become romantically attached to each other something that they couldn't deny after a short amount of on screen time. But good things can't last forever in that business, especially when your trade involves layers of deceit and manipulation. When Jess gets uncomfortably close and attached, Nicky ends their relationship. Three years later, Nicky is in Buenos Aires working a very dangerous scheme when Jess, now an accomplished femme fatale unexpectedly shows up in the middle of the high stakes over do things. Smith is fantastic as the lead and Robbie does an outstanding job as well. The story is genius, but the elements and the characters of Nicky and Jess have powerful chemistry. Focus works, both with comedy and romance. While it is disappointing to see yet another Boys Only Club-centric movie, one where the men play and the women are more used as a distraction than anything else, at least Robbie works wonders with the material she's got. She takes the character of Jess, somebody who could be played off as a rather ditsy person, and turns herself into a really sincere, fun and smart lady who of course will, "never lose focus." However, Focus is enough thrilling and edge of your seat madness to keep you along for the ride. race car circuit. In the midst of Nicky's latest, very dangerous scheme, she throws his plans out of place…at a time when he cannot afford to be off his game. This movie was very sophisticated, I laughed, I almost cried a few times, I said to myself "no please don't do that" so many times as well. Will Smith and Margot Robbie are the best couple on screen! If you like movies that make you think and put you on the edge of your seat Focus is the one for you. I would definitely recommend this movie for mature teens or adults. Focus is an enjoyable caper, that entertains and gives us a whole new look at Smith and his acting. The writing and dialogue is slick and catchy, that doesn't Cast of 'Focus' creates new set of acting standards How would you feel if your whole student body thought of you as a joke--or in other words, the duff ? For those of you that don't know, DUFF is an acronym that stands for; designated ugly fat friend. Mae Whitman plays the main role in 'The DUFF' as Bianca Piper. In this film Bianca's senior year is shattered when she is told from her neighbor and former friend , Wesley, also known as Wes, that she is known as her popular friend's personal duff. At first all Bianca wanted to do was get rid of her friends, who she thought were fake, and mopes around all day by herself. This is just another one of Hollywood's teen drama classics about the guy that gets the girl, or is it the other way around? I'll leave that to you to find out. Many reviews of 'The DUFF' explain that it's the next 'Mean Girls' and I agree. Another main role, Madison, played by Bella Thorne, takes the role of the popular mean girl who does not even bother to fake- befriend Bianca. 'The Duff' expresses the reality of high school "mean girls" and what cyber bullying can do to a person. It can destroy you or it can make you take a stand. Bianca decides to step up and become her own person instead of the third wheel of Jess and Casey, her "best friends". I highly admire this because she doesn't let a viral video of her ruin her chances with the boy she likes, which is Toby, played by Nick Eversman. Eventually she ended up changing her style and parts of her personality for Toby, which I thought was cliche. She should not of changed herself to make one boy like her. The last person she would even think to ask for help is the first person she goes to, Wesley. He teaches her to be herself and face her fears of talking and f lirting with boys. In return, Bianca helps him pass Chemistry so he can stay on the football team. As Wes continues to help Bianca he tells her some encouraging advice, "You need to realize that you're only as awesome as you think you are." In other terms, if you believe that you're nothing you start performing as if you can not do anything. This film could very well be a chick f lick , as well as slumber party worthy. Even though the plot of the movie seemed somewhat predictable and expected at first, it was definitely worth a watch and I personally adored it and thought of it as a hit. 'Duff' becomes generational classic and not because miles is six feet tall, who seems to workout often because of his muscular structure. The Colonel introduces him to Alaska, the girl who sells him cigarettes, and later to Takumi, their foreign friend. Miles hangs out with the Colonel so he won't be a social outcast and later the four become great friends while helping Miles discover what life is like without a set of parents breathing down your neck the whole time. The four get into all kinds of trouble from drinking and smoking to pulling off the best pranks I've ever heard of. This book does have some of its 'Fifty Shades of Grey' moments but it's something you would expect of a high school level book and there's very few of them. The story line was absolutely fantastic and the way he described each character was fascinating. He kept some kind of secretive, but because it was apart of how the book was supposed to go. I love this book because the whole time the writer would throw in a twist here and there and especially toward the final chapters as the tension got higher and higher and finally sheared just unraveling everything.. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and the way he explained things in such detail but yet kept it discreet at the same time was pure genius. This is a riveting book with the best plot twists I've read in a long time and I really enjoyed 'Looking for Alaska'. Enclave by Anne Aguirre is a thrilling post apocalyptic book that follows the young girl Deuce in her quest towards freedom and safety. Deuce had been born into an underground Enclave called the College Enclave where she had trained her whole life to become a Huntress. A Hunter's job is to provide food for the brats, the children, and to protect the Enclave. The first day on the job Deuce gets partnered up with Fade, a teenage Hunter who says he was born and lived Topside when he was a young boy. After disobeying an order on one of their missions Deuce and Fade are told to go check on the nearest Enclave. When they arrive they realize that the other Enclave had been overrun by Freaks. The Freaks are human like beasts that smell disgusting and eat carrion. In other words Freaks are zombies. The problem with the Freaks they found was that they were smarter than they should be. When they get back to their Enclave the elders don't believe Deuce and Fade and tell them not to say anything. A few weeks later both Deuce and Fade get exiled from the Enclave and have to go the one place they can to survive, the Topside. Once Topside Deuce and Fade need to survive many gangs and have to use Fade's limited memory to get somewhere safe. Enclave was a good read, but lacked a good plot to keep me hooked. Enclave had a very good beginning that kept me wondering what was going to happen next, but the further I got into the book the more the book bored me. Once Topside the story begins to go downhill. I saw the twists coming and the on- again-off-again relationship between Deuce and Fade frustrated me more than it intrigued me. Towards the end of the book there was an obvious love triangle that is typical in young adult novels. While I enjoy some love triangles this one just made me shake my head and struggle to get through it. Despite its many faults the book did still have an interesting story behind it and the society structure kept me intrigued. The mystery of the Freaks also kept me going as I was very interested to know how they came about. I loved fights which were where Deuce truly seemed to be herself. It was during the fights that I enjoyed the narrative most, but the description was also done nicely. I liked the overall structure of Enclave, but the plot and some small details just fell a bit short. Win up to $300! ROTARY 4-WAY TEST SPEECH CONTEST March 18 th, 5:30 PM Tehama County Department of Education Library 1135 Lincoln Street, Red Bluff Informational Meeting Monday, March 16 During Lunch Mrs. Svedja's Room, A-4 Or call/text Hillary at 736-6603 Photo credit: http://www.gannett-cdn.com 'Enclave' intrigues readers and keeps them 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green is a thrilling book that consists of a light and happy friendship yet heartbreaking tragedy. It starts off as Miles Halter decides to go to boarding school as a junior and finds himself moving from sunny Florida to muggy Alabama to attend Culver Creek Boarding School. He finds himself rooming with Chip Martin, aka The Colonel who is a shorter guy, Photo credit: http://intl.rakuten-static.com Photo credit: http://media.tumblr.com The secretive novel 'Looking for Alaska' conceivably describable as pure genius interested despite largely predictable story line Will Smith (Nicky) and Margot Robbie (Jess) staring in the new romantic, thriller, 'focus', as two stunning con-artists trying to make a living.