Category Archives: Peter Hyle

Winter Fantasia preforms despite recent cancellations

By Peter Hyle and Christian DiMartino and Sidney Reynolds

For the past eleven years, the choir, orchestra, and band departments at FC have hosted Winter Fantasia. A musical showcase that preforms Christmas carols and tunes, each department puts a lot of time and preparation into their part of the show. Although the preparations are hectic every year, the recent cancellations due to snow have made this year especially stressful.

Each department faces their own specific obstacles in planning their part of the concert.

“A main challenge is that it is very close to the end of our marching band season. We have to get all of our concert bands ready to learn the music, while things like Pep Band, Winter Guard and Winter Percussion are still going on. So it’s a very busy time for us, especially with Winter Fantasia mixed in,” said band director Harold Yankee.

Aside from the demanding schedules, there are more stressful problems that the students and teachers are faced with.

“Our biggest obstacle has been preparing the freshmen and bringing them up to the standards. The music in Winter Fantasia is always very challenging for the freshmen, but they’re fighting harder than most to learn this year’s music,” said orchestra director Doug Elmore.

After over a decade, the directors have adjusted to each other’s eventful schedules.

“We’ve got it down to a system where it works very smoothly. The first few years we had some troublesome details to figure out, but now we basically follow the same pattern each year. We typically always change the pieces of music performed, but we each know what we’re going to do and when,” said choir director Angela Hampton.

There are many songs that will be performed during Winter Fantasia, but there are certain highlights for each director.

“My favorite part in the whole concert is the last song at the very end, where everyone plays and sings together. There are so many students on stage enjoying the same song at the same time. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is just a pleasant piece of music. It’s always been one of my favorite pieces,” said Yankee.

Winter Fantasia is held on Tuesday, Dec. 10 and Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7pm. The box office is opened each night at 6:15pm. The recent snow days have made things more stressful for the students and teachers performing, but everything is still on schedule. There is a silent auction all throughout both nights of Winter Fantasia, and the directors are encouraging people to come early to participate in the final auction. This event is described as FC’s biggest music event of the year.

‘Catching Fire’ catches reviewers’ interests

By Peter Hyle and Christian DiMartino

Can Katniss Everdeen ever catch a break? Judging from her second outing, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, it does not appear so. The producers should have called the movie Katniss Everdeen’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, because bad things just do not seem to stop for her.

Katniss, the beautiful young heroine played masterfully by Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, is a character that the audience really roots for. After surviving the 74th annual “Hunger Games” in the previous film, it would seem as if her and her possible love interest, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) should live their lives in peace, right? Wrong.

The sequel, which is the second adaptation in Suzanne Collin’s wildly popular Hunger Games trilogy, finds Katniss and Peeta a year later, desperately trying to recover from the “Games”, but the viewer knows that will not happen. If that was the case, why would the movie exist? When Panem, their homeland, starts rebelling due to their victory, the diabolical President Snow (Donald Sutherland) announces the “Quarter Quell, an event that throws past winners back into games, to celebrate the 75th year. Before they know it, Katniss and Peeta are called back into action for another round of survival.

The original Hunger Games film worked very well because of its chilling premise and because of its protagonist, even if it was too long. The sequel, though still too long, is better than its predecessor.

The first hour, which focuses on the aftermath of the games and the madness in Panem, is fantastic. The final hour and a half, when the games are going on, is not as strong, but it is always suspenseful and gripping. Watching these unlucky characters fight for survival is sort of a blast.  The miracle of the final portion is that it could have been de ja vu, but it turns out to be rather inventive.

There are some additional improvements. The visual effects are much better. Also, some of the characters that did not get to do much, such as President Snow, finally get to do something.

The most notable improvement, surprisingly, is Lawrence. Lawrence, who won an Oscar for her extraordinary performance in last year’s Silver Linings Playbook, was pretty good last time. This time, it seems as if winning the Oscar has motivated her because she is even better. For an action hero, her performance is top notch. She will not win an Oscar for it, but it is still impressive.

Also, what a great cast altogether. Not only does the majority of the cast from the original, which included Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, and Stanley Tucci, return. Now there is even more added to the ensemble. Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the greatest actors alive, plays the villainous game-maker Plutarch. Jeffery Wright, Amanda Plummer (what happened to her?), and Jena Malone also star as fellow tributes.

The film does not waste much time dwelling on the past. In other words, if you have not seen the previous movie or read the books, you may get lost. Not completely lost, but pretty much.

Overall, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a remarkable visual achievement that benefits from its main actress and cast, not to mention a more interesting storyline. That said, the film is a little too long, and like the original, Gale (Hemsworth) is under-written. He really is not as big of a character as he should be. Flaws aside, it is still a very good film. It might not have worked without Lawrence, or, as Katniss is nicknamed, “the girl on fire”. The world needs Katniss Everdeen, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I cannot arrive sooner.

Students and staff anticipate ‘Catching Fire’

By Peter Hyle and Christian DiMartino

This Friday, the second installment to the Hunger Games movie trilogy, Catching Fire, will be released into theatres. Starting out as a popular and best-selling book trilogy, the anticipation for this movie is building. Students and staff members at FC have mixed attitudes towards the new release.

In the first movie, fans had to adjust to the actors and actresses playing the beloved book characters. The second installment has even more characters, drawing even more attention to the cast members chosen for each role.

“The first movie was very well casted and filmed, and I really just want to see how Catching Fire will compare,” said junior Madison Rice.

Others look past the actors and actresses themselves and focus on their talent and potential for the character they are playing.

“I re-read the book Catching Fire a second time and pictured the cast in place. I was curious to see how each actor and actress would pull off their role,” said school librarian Pamela Poe.

Some people prefer only the books, and think that the movies were an unnecessary addition.

“I’m not really excited to watch the movie. I feel like all of the hype died out after the first film,” said junior Brett Yeaton.

There are many reasons why people love the Hunger Games trilogy. Whether the plot is in book or movie format, the love for the story is different for each person.

“The story encompasses so many different genres,” said senior Brittany Harris, “There’s a bit of everything. It could be horror, comedy, or romance. They cover every aspect and tie the story together in such a beautiful way.”

Despite the wide variety of genres, some like only a few of the aspects rather than all.

“I’m mostly going to watch it because of the fast paced action throughout the books. I really want to see that intensity translated onto the big screen,” said sophomore Trevor Mason.

There are certain aspects inside each book that a lot of people believe is needed for the movie versions.

“The general idea of each book is bold and exciting. Katniss isn’t afraid to risk her life for the people she loves, and there is a lot of depth behind that. Catching Fire needs to show that,” said freshman Kat Hobaugh.

Every fan of the book has their own concerns about the new movie.

“I think that the first movie was great in comparison to the first book. I really hope that the second film won’t be one of those movies that ruin the book it’s based off of,” said Rice.

Despite all of the worries regarding the upcoming release, there will always be dedicated fans that stand by the author and her original intent for the story.

“It is a truly wonderful series,” said Poe, “No matter how the movie goes,the book will always be great.”

‘Last Vegas’ does not live up to the cast

By Peter Hyle

On Friday, the new comedy Last Vegas hit theatres with an impressive cast but a seemingly unimpressive plot. Starring Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, and Kevin Kline, all of which have won Oscars. I actually was not excited to see this movie. It seemed like an older version of The Hangover and I honestly expected one of the main characters to end up in the hospital. But I figured that since the cast was so talented, I had to give it a shot.

The story centers around four best friends coming to Las Vegas to have a bachelor party for Billy (Douglas), the last in the group (De Niro, Freeman, and Kline) to get married. Of course there’s drama and a love interest (Mary Steenburgen) added in, which helps distract from the occasional overused line or annoying scene.

I didn’t get 10 minutes into the movie without rolling my eyes. Parts of this movie are way too cliché for my taste, but thankfully they didn’t take up the entire film. It was sometimes painfully obvious that Last Vegas was made for a much older demographic.

The actors definitely saved this movie in more ways than one. They provide the film with a relaxed and good-natured feeling that made it watchable. The actors were comfortable on the big screen and made it funny, but not hilarious. The four main characters shared a comedic chemistry that made it somewhat more pleasant.

Despite the good acting, everything was predictable. Most of the jokes depended on the age of the cast rather than the creativity of the writing. It had a few minor twists that added to the overall depth of the plot, but everything still ended the way I expected it to.

Overall, this film lacked a lot of originality. It could have been much better, especially with such a talented cast. It is not necessarily a bad movie. It is entertaining and occasionally humorous, but it is yet another case where the actors are above their material. It was a warm and cliché film that can make you smile, but if you want any sort of depth or impact in the theatre then Last Vegas is not for you. 6/10.