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A&E, Christian DiMartino

Heroes, Aliens, and Vampires: The Summer in Review

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By Christian DiMartino

What do most people do during their summer vacation? Some will go on vacation, some will become video game-loving hermits. But if you are like me, summer only means one thing: movie season. Highly anticipated films are always released during summer, and this summer was no exception. 

This summer brought us a wide variety of film filled with heroes, aliens, vampires, male strippers, and Tom Cruise jamming out to iconic 80s music, just to name a few. Even though I missed out on some, namely, The Amazing Spider-man. These are the top five movies that I enjoyed this summer.

5. Ted: Family Guy creator Seth McFarlene’s directorial debut has just the right of off the wall humor. Mark Wahlberg gives one of his best performances as the man-child John, and every joke, whether vulgar or crude, is done so well by its actors. It is also pretty clever and original, considering the fact that there has never been a comedy about a foul mouthed teddy bear (voiced by McFarlene himself). It may look strange, but trust me you have not seen anything yet.

4. Men In Black 3: One of the most refreshing movies of the summer, Men In Black 3 is the best one in the series. It has many funny moments, and the special effects are merely decent. Josh Brolin gives a terrific performance as 1960s Agent K (the older version played by Tommy Lee Jones) and its overall very enjoyable entertainment. It is all good fun, but it does not turn out to be remarkable until the final five minutes.

3. Brave: Pixar’s latest film Brave is the only movie that I have ever been to see without knowing the plot. I’m sure glad I did not, because it was an enjoyable surprise. This is a wonderful film filled with imagination, humor, and beautiful animation. Is it quite Ratatouille, Up, or Finding Nemo? No, but it is up there somewhere.

2. Prometheus: Ridley Scott came back to the world of Alien this summer with a prequel called Prometheus, a frightening, grotesque, nail-biting, and sort of disturbing film that does not quite reach Alien’s excellency, but it definitely returns Scott back to form. Filled with special effects and relentless horror, Prometheus is the first movie to scare me in a long time.

1. The Dark Knight Rises: I think you all saw this coming. Film-god Christopher Nolan, who just brought us 2010s spectacular brain-bender Inception and the flawless predecessor The Dark Knight before that, has brought us a spectacular final chapter to the already perfect Dark Knight trilogy. Although the film is missing the spirit of The Joker, the trilogy enters someone even more sinister, named Bane (the chilling Tom Hardy), who is the ultimate villain for Batman (the always perfect Christian Bale) to take down. Mainly due to the fact that he doesn’t feel pain. Filled with great performances, spectacular action sequences, beautiful character development, plenty of powerful moments, excellent twists and turns and relentless unpredictability, this film has my vote for next year’s Oscars.

I feel that an honorable mention is well deserved, so let me begin with Tom Cruise. Cruise had quite a summer, with the whole Katie Holmes thing and all. So it is only necessary to mention his brilliant turn as rock god Stacee Jaxx in the musical, Rock of Ages. I liked the movie, despite the fact that some of the moments did not work. But every moment with Cruise worked. Like in 2008s Tropic Thunder and 1999s Magnolia, Cruise gives the best performance involved. He is hilarious, he is outrageous, he can sing, and he gives the most enjoyable performance of the summer.
Then there is The Avengers, and when I say that I do not mean it in a bad way. I would have liked to have included it on my list, but it did not quite make it. Is it great? Not quite, but it is a good ride. But others may disagree, considering it is one of the most successful films of all time.

The summer brought some promising movies my way. And if something like The Dark Knight Rises came to us half way through the year, I can only guess what is to come in the other half. Personally, I can not wait.

Sports

Seniors make Turkey Bowl history

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By Hannah Cheatham

There were only four teams in Turkey Bowl history to win the game played as both juniors and seniors.
On Sat., July 28, 2012, history changed. The seniors took the juniors by storm and won with a final
score of 38 to 0 becoming the fifth team to win both games they played.

At the end of the first quarter the seniors led 14 to 0. The juniors kept up their competitive spirit and
continued fighting for a touchdown. By halftime the seniors remained ahead with 22 to nothing lead.

Although the game was supposed to be flag football, the rules were not always followed. From junior Shelby
Sneed being held in a choke hold to junior Rachel Denison getting popped in the mouth with an elbow, both
teams fought for the chance to be the champions.

“The hardest thing for me was keeping the game clean, but still stay competitive,” said senior Erin Baughman.

Junior coaches Julie Hutson and Summers Montgomery said their favorite part of the game was seeing
the girls come together on the field and try to beat the seniors. Juniors Lucy Cathcart and Krista Carlile
both agreed that the overall experience was fun and they cannot wait to get back out on the field next
year.

“All for one, and one for all,” said Hutson.

Blake Dykes, Softball, Sports

Softball Senior Night leaves team emotional

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By Blake Dykes

The varsity softball team takes pre-game hitting in the outfield. Photo by Justin Weber.
On May 9 softball Senior Night took place down on the field. This night recognized all of the seniors for their hard work and for continuing to excel through their high school experience.This year’s seniors include Alex Engleman, Kallie Krammes, Kate Kaiser, Sam Feather, and Hailee Fultz.

Senior Night is something many softball players look forward to all four years of their softball career, for multiple reasons.  First, all underclassmen report down to the field directly after school. They then decorate the entire baseball and softball area. These decorations include hanging up multiple posters in the dugout made specifically for each individual senior. While the freshmen are doing this, the rest of the team decorates the sidewalk starting from the parking lot, leading all the way down to the field with chalk. The sidewalk is covered with inside jokes and cheers preparing them for the game.

“One of my favorite parts was seeing all of the of the chalking everyone did,” said Engleman.

However, the teammates are not the only ones helping to prepare for this night. Moms from the team spend several hours making displays of each senior with pictures leading up to this year.

After all of this took place, the seniors arrived to the field, admiring each aspect of the decorations. They then prepared for their game against one of their biggest rivalries, Jennings County.

Once both teams were warmed up, an announcer recognized each individual senior. During this time each senior’s parent walked them onto the field, while the announcer read off speeches each senior gave, which included their best memory of softball at this school. Each senior was then handed a bouquet of flowers. This was a very emotional time for many of them.

“Walking out on the field with my parents was a great feeling of achievement,” said Fultz.

Continuing on with the night, FC then defeated Jennings County 1-0. The starting players of the game were sophomore Morgan Harper at the mound,  Feather at third, sophomore Taylor Batliner at shortstop, junior Bre Mayfield at second,  sophomore Kateline Dreher at first, sophomore Taylor McClure behind the plate, Krammes in left field, Kaiser in center field, and Fultz in right field.

Although the victory over Jennings County was exciting, the event that happened last left many of the fans laughing. Another tradition for Senior Night is that the sophomores and juniors to perform a dance to some of the team’s favorite songs combined into one.

“My favorite part is the dance because it’s tradition that the underclassmen dance for us,” said Kaiser.

Beyond all of the exciting events that go on during Senior Night, there is still some seriousness and sadness to it.

Feather shared what she will miss most about leaving.

“I’ll miss being around the team because we have become a second family and we always have so much fun together.”

Fultz agreed with Feather in that aspect.

“I’m going to miss our coach and playing softball a lot, but most of all I’m going to miss all of the funny, talented, intelligent girls that made me laugh every day.”

Features

NJROTC awards ceremony

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By Bekah Landers and Claire DeFrancisci

Photos by Bekah Landers

The JROTC participates in many important events throughout the year, giving the students many opportunities to show their dedication to the program. At the end of the school year, the students are awarded for their achievements and the new commanding officer is announced.

This year’s Commanding Officer senior Marissa Samons passed down her title to junior George Emily for next year.

“I am so excited for next year,” said Colonel Ben Gipe. “Every year keeps getting better and better and I can’t wait to see what these cadets have in store.”