The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
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Arts and Entertainment Page 4 November 15, 2013 From book to movie, 'Ender's Game' astounds Grey Grotke Staff Writer The "Ender's Game" came out November 1st. Despite LGBT boycotts on the film due to the homophobic views of the author of the book the film was based off of, the film still made $27 million during its opening weekend. "Ender's Game" is a science fiction film set in a future many years after an alien species named the Formics invade earth. Having barely defeated the alien invasion by the sacrifice of commander Mazer Rackham, earth has been training pilots and military strategist ever since. Through the military's virtual game monitoring systems, the young protagonist Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is noticed, and is sent by launch shuttle to battle school. Battle School is a space station dedicated to the training of children in preparation for future wars against the Formics. The film has an excellent sound track, which fits the tone of the story quite well. It also utilizes the zero gravity to make very intriguing camera shots. The film is, overall, very well directed and acted. As a standalone, the film is excellent. I must admit, however, that as a fan of the original book, although I wasn't necessarily disappointed with the film, I still feel as if the book were better. The book did an excellent job of portraying the stress Ender feels while going through battle school. As a student, I related to this side of Ender very well, and I believed that although this clearly wasn't the main theme of Ender's Game, I believed it was a major part. The film, however, did not adequately address this. Although Ender does state that he is stressed during the film, it is quickly jumped over. This brings me to another Bluffer Staff Pick Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) Becca Blanchard Topics Editor The 1999 show Freaks and Geeks is a classic. The only bad thing about this cult classic is that it only lasted one season. The show stars just about every amazing celebrity that exists write now. Just to name a few: Linda Cardellini, John Daley, Samm Levine, Jason Segal, Seth Rogen and James Franco, not to mention the brief appearances of other future celebrities, such as Shia Labuff. The overall plot of this show revolves around Linda Cardellini who plays the character of Linda Weir and befriends a group of "freaks". The show also follows her brother Sam Weir, who struggles with being a geek. The show is set in the 80s which does in fact make the show better, possibly because the teen angst factor is amplified substantially. This show truly does not care about any implied boundaries that it should be wary of in terms of plot, language or blatant honesty about things that occurred both when it was filmed as well as when it was set. Unlike shows now a days, and even some shows filmed back then, this show did an amazing job at making its audience feel…normal. This show is so full of freaks, geeks, weirdos, stoners, nerds, jocks and people who don't fit into any group and struggle to stay afloat. For once it isn't a show where everybody has one particular talent or is at least amazingly charming. Nope, there are a few characters that are lovable despite being uncomfortable, awkward looking, non-talented and over-all awkward…and aggressive. Which is why it is such a shame that this show was canceled after one season for the shear fact that cult followings could not at the time keep shows afloat. This show is on Netflix, so I recommend that you go and spend one weekend watching it because you probably have nothing better to do. "Freaks and Geeks" is a class-A show about highschool in the 80's problem with the film, the narration. Many films based off of books tend to narrate. This is likely because of the difficulties involved in turning a book to film, but it is still not advisable. One of the more basic rules to writing is "show, don't tell" That's not to say all narration is bad, but simply that Ender's Game could have avoided some of it. Despite all my criticism, I must say, Ender's Game was still an excellent movie. Puts a new twist on alien movies Bazaart makes for artistic pleasure Ceighlee Fennel Features Editor more unique. Bazaart comes from Pintrest. The two are closely A new twist has been put on collage making! About time! We can finally add some of our own artistic flare to collages. There are a massive amount of apps out there for iPhones that are about collages, but they are all super plain. Bazaart lets you do all kinds of crazy things to a photo or collage. When you first open up the app, you will see all of these different unique collages made by a selected artist. This is called the Bazaart community. Then you can make you own collage! You can continue and change one that already exists or make one from scratch. There are multiple choices of how you can alter and edit your photos that make Bazaart even tied because Bazaart's collage galleries are on Pintrest. Also, Bazaart used to only work on the iPad, but now is also available for iPhones. When I went on my own little Bazaart adventure, I found it extremely confusing at first. But the functions are all pretty basic, so once I stuck with it for a while, I got the hang of it. It is such a cool, quirky, and fun way to express yourself with a collage. I can't wait until I get good enough at using and working with all of the different features to make a collage that totally fits me. Of course, just like everything else these days, you can share the collages to social media. Bazaart allows artwork to be shared on other media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Bazaart has the whole aspect of social media A quirky twist on collages iFunny is offensive and re-enforces stereotypes Maggie Tallan Staff Writer Internet humor is undoubtedly a driving force of comedy in today's society. From memes to cat videos, many find themselves goggling for hours a day over this socalled "funny" content. There is a popular websiteturned app which focuses greatly on internet humor called iFunny. Although this app is not a new appearance on smartphones that surround us, it's offensive and recycled content is highly annoying, and has gradually become exponentially less humorous than when it began. This app is set up as a tool that allows you to scroll through a plethora of pictures. Most of these images are classified as "memes", a highly unfavored media used to relay common jokes through a group of images, usually depicting a person belonging to a notable racial or social group. Why are memes highly unfavored? Racist and social group jokes are just plain distateful. This app glorifies the idea of stereotyping indivduals, from connecting good students to unpopularity or implying that all college kids are alcoholics that complete their "I don't see how generalizing others for one's own personal gain can be found amusing" - Maggie Tallan assignments the hour before class. Although in some cases these generalizations may be true, it is offensive to assume these characteristics upon all members of a group of people. This is why I can not positively review this app. I don't see how generalizing others for one's own personal gain can be found amusing. This app glorifies these generalizations. Another problem with this app that I find troubling is that a majority of these jokes are overtold and overused. I understand that a joke can be funny for a long period of time, based on its relevance Advertise in the Bluffer to current events. Here's an example. Let's reminisce on Kanye West's infamous interruption of Taylor Swift's VMA acceptance speech back in 2009. Of course, when it first happened, it was a silly fill in the blank opportunity to make a joke about something being superior to something else. "Yo… Imma let you finish but…" However, this joke, due to its age and overusage, just isn't funny anymore. This furthermore proves the importance of the currency of a joke to determine whether or not it's tasteful. Bottom line: this app is terrible at determining which jokes are funny, and which are downright annoying or offensive. Down with the memes. This app generalizes stereotypes Bluffer Movie Weekend Recap Ender's Game- a great visualization of a classic book Looking to appeal to the teenage demographic? The Bluffer is distributed to about 1100 students and community members every two weeks. Ads can be purchased for individual issues or on a yearly basis. Contact Kellie Rodriguez in Bluffer for more details. 529-8805 Thor: The Dark World -a fun, entertaining follow-up to the original Thor Help support The Bluffer! BOOK BARN All proceeds help support students attend journalism conferences. Bad Grandpa - a hilarious and outrageous movie to see with your friends Last Vegas - Morgan Freeman once again stars in a great film Free Birds - a great comedy that all ages will find humorous Broad Selection of Quality Used Books $3 for a slice of pizza with a drink! BUSINESS HRS: TUE-FRI 10-5:00 & SAT 10-2:00 Or only $5 for two slices with drink! Location: 619 Oak St (530) 690-2477 (530) 528-2665 734 Main St