Tag Archives: Christian Dimartino

Christian DiMartino, Features

VIP experience offers luxury to theater patrons

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By Christian DiMartino

Typically, when a patron goes to see a play, he or she pays for the ticket, walks in, finds a seat, sits back, relaxes, and enjoys the show. The experience remains the same at FC’s theatre, but there is another option: a VIP ticket.

When a theater-goer pays for a VIP ticket, “you get treated so well, you wanna come back for more, and should, ” said FC Star Booster President Cyndy Mazer. The Star Boosters volunteer time to support the theater department and theater director Robbie Steiner in the productions. The board is comprised of parents of the theater students.

For only six additional dollars, the audience member is guaranteed a seat in the first four rows. Then, at intermission, VIP patrons are admitted into the lounge, which is decorated for the theme of whatever the current play is, where they have appetizers, refreshments, and desserts. There are around 125 spots, and according to Steiner, they typically sell out.

A lot of preparation and planning goes into the VIP experience.

“There is a team of ladies with a chairperson [Mazer] that organize the food and drinks for the VIP lounge. We try to make it special for the theatre goers by having fancy hors d’oeuvers and a more inviting atmosphere,” said Star Booster member Sharon Barreras. She has been decorating the VIP room for the past five years. “I’ve been an interior designer for 30 years, so it’s a really wonderful creative outlet to hopefully inspire those that come to the theatre productions,” said Barreras.

“They work during intermission to make sure that our guests are comfortable and having a good time,” said Mazer.

Parent volunteer time is instrumental to make the VIP room happen.

“We have a huge number of expenses, so it’s [the work of the volunteers] very helpful to help offset our expenses,” Steiner said.

Steiner and the volunteers strive to make the experience like no other high school play.

“Without all of the contributions and the many people that support the theatre department year after year, we wouldn’t be able to make it as amazing as it is. Robbie Steiner has done a tremendous job working with all of the parents in his first production. Hats off to Mr. Steiner,” Barreras said.

Patrons planning to see this weekend’s play “The Music Man” could buy a VIP ticket for one the following performances: Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

“Everybody should be a VIP at least once, because it’s a good time,” said Mazer.

Christian DiMartino, News

New attendance policy prevents truancy

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By Christian DiMartino

On a typical school day, students wake up, get ready, and make their way to school. They go from class to class, learning new things. However, some do not. Some students miss one day, and maybe another, and sometimes more than that. Whether it is for illness, personal issues,or simply just playing hooky, attendance is a problem.

What happens when a student misses a day of school? Usually a student will come in the next day, but they have to catch up on everything that he or she missed. But sometimes, a lone desk can be empty for more than a few days, and it could lead one to wonder: Where did they go?
Missing school may not seem like that big of an issue, but it is bigger than one might expect.Before the 2010-2011 school year, if students missed too many days, they would be forced to attend a class known as TEAM (Tuesday/Thursday Excessive Absence Makeup). Then by the tenth absence, a legal letter would be sent home, and any further days absent would result in expulsion.

But now, there is a new absence policy. If a student is gone for more than ten days in just one class, he or she might not even receive credit for the class.  The rest of the absence policy is as follows: On the fourth absence (excused or unexcused), a student receives their first legal letter. On the sixth, there is a parent conference. On the eighth, a student will receive another legal letter, they will pull their work permit, and then they will be placed on probation. On the twelfth, an expulsion is filed.

“When a student hits four absences, then I pick them up off of a print out that is run and two things happen: first, I see the student and the attendance policy. Second, a letter goes home to a parent,” said student liaison Becky Clifton.

Not only does missing school have an effect on students, but it also has an effect on the staff.
“I want you here so you can learn, but we also want you to learn the function of beingsomewhere on time every day. The reason we do that is so when you enter the workforce, you understand the importance of attendance,” Clifton said.

“There are quite often legitimate reasons for student missing school, however, there are far more absences than there needs to be. The grades suffer,” said counselor Jessica Newkirk.

“In math, it puts students behind and they lose that lesson. When students struggle,attendance is part of it,” said math teacher Randy Gianfagna.

“When you miss school, you miss assignments and the work that is coming, so it’s important that you come to school every day,” said assistant principal of student development Joe Voelker.

But here is one fact about the new policy; according to statistics provided by Voelker, it is working. Last year, there was 10,053 student days absent, which sounds like quite a number. But compared to 292,900 student days present, and the overall percentage for the year came to 96.68. So far this year,there has been a total of 1,669 student days missing. However, there is 299,438.50 student days present, and the percentage is 99.86.
But is the absence policy too strict?

“It’s fair… it’s set up so when you miss school because of being sick or court, as an example, you can file a waiver and it is granted, and I think the waivers are what make our policy fair. It would be nice if it were more strict, however, it would be more practical,” said Clifton. “Well, if we decreased the number of days we missed, it would be difficult for some students to survive that and this seems to be a pretty attainable policy right now. If we made it tougher, we have a small percentage of students expelled.”

“They’ve involved probation, and I think that the level of absences have dropped, because the attendance has improved,” said Newkirk.

“It’s gotten better, now with it just being eight absences; it’s gotten better,” Gianfagna said.

“I think it’s very good. I think it’s worked, I only deal with about 40 kids [in a semester] with an attendance issue, and I never have to meet with them again,” Voelker said.

Ferris Bueller, the lead in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, skipped school nine times and went out for an adventurous day with his two best friends. But in the meantime, someone was out to get him: his principal, Ed Rooney, who tracks Ferris all around Chicago so then he can catch him in the act. The movie may set a bad example.

But the question is: Are there people like Ferris Bueller? “We have one every year,” said Clifton. “But the policy that we have now doesn’t let them get to an extreme amount of absences.”

How about Ed Rooney? “It’s kind of what I do, but I hope I don’t look that bad,” said Clifton.
“There are times, but I have never actually tracked anyone down,” Voelker said.
So far this year, there has been a total of 1,669 student days missing. However, there is 299,438.50 student days present, and the percentage is 99.86.

Missing too much school can cause many problems, and it is a good thing that the rate isimproving.”There’s a benefit to coming to school. you learn more in class, socially also, you get along better because your friends see you as a dependable person,” Voelker said.

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.

A&E

The Dark Knight rises to the occasion

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By Christian Dimartino

Christopher Nolan, the co-writer and director of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Inception, wasn’t sure if he wanted to come back for The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment in his perfect series. With the success of its predecessor, The Dark Knight, he said he would only come back for round three if he felt that the screenplay lived up to TDK. So, he came back to direct TDKR. So you can assume what he felt. And what he felt, I feel also.

When the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, blew into Gotham in the previous film, chaos reigned, and not only did it reign, it left an impact on the city so large that their only symbol of hope is built on a lie. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckart,) a District Attorney who everyone called “The White Knight,” became horribly scarred, and ended up going on a killing spree. A killing spree that Batman took the fall for.

Eight years have gone by, and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale, probably giving his best performance as Batman) has become a hermit. He refuses to see anyone, besides his loving butler Alfred (Michael Caine, who is brief but brilliant here.) But he is called back to action when two new foes, Catwoman (Anne Hathaway, giving an over-the-top but still enjoyable performance) and Bane (Tom Hardy, who is so menacing he makes the Joker look like the Riddler) step into town.

Meanwhile, Batman does have some allies once again. Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman,) the genius who designs all of Batman’s brilliant gadgets. Comissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), who was also in on the Harvey Dent thing, and John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt), a rookie cop. And Bruce also has a new woman named Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a philanthropist who works at Wayne Enterprises.

There is much more to the story than I have told, but I would hate to ruin any of the constant surprises that TDKR keeps throwing at us. At times very powerful, moving, and nearly tear jerking-ly dramatic with some extraordinary action sequences, TDKR is the perfect way for this series to go out.

The acting from everyone is excellent. Bale is such a great actor, and I am glad that Christopher Nolan, that brilliant man, found him and made him who he is today (even though, sadly, he has been around for over twenty years). Caine’s performance, though small, is heart breaking. There is one moment where he brought tears to my eyes. The rest of the cast is excellent also, especially the diabolical Hardy and the sweetly subtle Levitt. Hathaway, though not the sexiest woman on the planet, is pretty sexy as Catwoman. She may be a little over-the-top, but, hello, she’s CATWOMAN!

Nolan is the best filmmaker. Ever. The man makes Albert Einstein look like Forrest Gump. With all of his films, since Memento, a film that went backwards, he’s dazzled our eyes, ears, and minds. He finally got the recognition he deserved with his previous film, Inception, in which he explained the way dreams work. The academy always seems to snub him whenever they can, and that irritates me.

With this final round, screenwriter Nolan, his brother Johnathon, and David S. Goyer have painted their bleakest canvas yet. what makes this series better than any other superhero film is that Batman is a real man, he has no powers, he could be one of us, and it’s that spirit that makes these films seem so real. TDKR feels like a drama, with action in the background, where as The Avengers is a fight fest. This is the most powerful one of the series, especially with the plot it has, (it’s a secret.)

I have been waiting four years, and it was worth the wait. TDK was my favorite movie and reigning champion for four years. But with TDKR, Nolan has reached new heights of excellency. He is reached film heaven. This is the best movie I have ever seen. It didn’t hit me until the final five minutes, but this film unfolds beautifully, probably having the best ending in film history.

Nolan’s Batman films have dove deeper into this hero than Tim Burton’s and Joel Schumacher’s films could ever do. These films have shown what a sad, mysterious, and fractured character Bruce Wayne is, and how he has done so much for this city and not gotten much in return. TDKR poses the question: Why? This film makes The Avengers looks like Kazaam, and that’s not exactly a good thing. The thing with The Avengers, while a good movie, is that it really dragged on. Apparently, TDKR was over two hours and forty minutes. Where did those minutes go? If you’re expecting just what I was expecting, you won’t be disappointed.

Blake Dykes, Features

Freshman Christian Dimartino brings back Six Degrees of Separation

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By Blake Dykes
Most students are familiar with pop culture and celebrities. However, there is one student who can connect an actor to any other movie star. The student is freshman Christian Dimartino, and the actor is Kevin Bacon, who has been in over 50 movies, from “Apollo 13” to “Footloose.”This little activity is called the Six Degrees of Separation.

“Well, the point of the game is to choose an actor, and connect he/she through movies and you have to do it in six ways. The actor/actress cannot be connected through TV shows; it is strictly through movies,” explained Dimartino.

Dimartino is able to perform this seemingly impossible task simply in his head.

“Ok, so say I was to connect, I don’t know, Jim Carrey to Kevin Bacon. Well, Jim Carrey was in ‘Bruce Almighty’ with Steve Carrell, and Steve Carrell was in ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ with Kevin Bacon. That is a simple one, for me at least. But he could be connected to even Kermit the Frog. You really have to be an expert in movies and know a lot of celebrities and what they’ve been in to play the game,” said Dimartino.

Surprisingly, other people can play Six Degrees of Separation too. Dimartino did not invent this game. It has been around since 1994, and was invented by four college students.Dimartino has known about this game for several years.“Well, a few years ago, my sister Chantelle told me about this game and I had no idea what ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ was. The truth is, I am a movie freak. Guilty as charged. And for me the game is just easy. My sister and I are sort of movie geniuses. I guess we’ve just sort of brought it back from the dead.”

Although Dimartino may have an outstanding memory, it also takes a lot of brains to put two and two together. He shares his strategy.

“My method normally, is to come up with an actor/actress who seems like a challenge to connect to, and just think of the movies that this person has been in, while at the same time thinking of what Kevin Bacon has been in.”Surely there has to be someone Dimartino cannot connect with Bacon, right? Wrong.

“Believe it or not, we have not found a single person he can’t be connected to. I was able to connect him to Marilyn Monroe,” bragged Dimartino.

However, his talent is hidden to many. “Not many people know about it, but those who do have tried to stump me, and the others that do think it’s pretty cool,” said Dimartino. It may seem Dimartino is obsessed but he reveals the truth. “Nah, Kevin Bacon is not my favorite actor. I like him, and the thing about the game is that I have realized that he’s been in more movies than I thought. When I first started playing, I could only think of a few movies he’s been in, but I picked up on it.”
Some may consider this pointless and confusing, and others think of it as an exciting challenge, like Dimartino.“Really this is just a big game of coincidence.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO-HN_Acj2Q&context=C3836f52ADOEgsToPDskJ_NbC4-0_UpJEf7y8QNrvw]