The Catamount Times 2015-2016 Issues | страница 23

Catamount Times
February, 2016

Movie Review: Thumbs Up or Down for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’?
The weeks of hype and excitement
that led me to the movie theater were
quite satisfied when I saw ―Star Wars:
The Force Awakens.‖
The beginni ng was the scrolling of
yellow letters, explaining the story with
that iconic music in the background.
The introduction of Rey, the main female lead, was nicely presented. Toward the middle of the movie, it became apparent that she was the main
character – a close runner-up was
Finn, FN2187, the trooper that fled his
life. Their personalities and friendship
made the film interesting, along with
the cute spherical droid, BB-8.
Also introduced was Kylo Ren,
Luke Skywalker‘s former pupil, now
turned to the dark side of the force. I
think how he was displayed went perfectly with who he is. He had temper
tantrums, an immature attitude and a
young-looking face. He aspired to be
as powerful as Darth
Vader, but his childish
attributes held him back.
I thought the introduction of new characters

Yearbook Request
Dear community,
The St. Johnsbury School yearbook celebrates our students and
some of the wonderful school events
that occur throughout the year. More
importantly, the yearbook captures
moments in our students‘ lives.
The yearbook also offers advertising opportunities to local businesses.
The advertising and donations to our
yearbook program ensure that all
graduating 8th graders will receive a
free
yearbook.
This year, we are encouraging all
parents and guardians to submit baby
pictures of their graduating student
along with a graduation wish or congratulatory comment.
This can be done via email. We
invite you to visit Google forms at
https://goo.gl/QTjPDJ to submit this
information. This address will also be
posted at the bottom of the school
website. The deadline for submission
is February 28.
Thank you for your support.
Jon Morris
Yearbook Advisor

―The Force Awakens‖ was great!
And terrible. I always aspire to the
Sith: they look awesome, and Kylo
Ren kept the line running. He served
some new dark enemy, as always.
The character plot was great: a storm
trooper named Finn went rogue, realizing that killing is bad. The setup was
brilliant.
But I‘m here to point out the mistakes. Kylo Ren had one of the most
awkward scenes in the world. He cap-

was great. It‘s not like the whole previous cast was wiped out. Han Solo,
Leia, R2-D2, etc., were all there. Finn
and Rey made great characters. Not
everything has to be the same as it
was before.
All in all, I thought it was very good.
By Sidney G.
Catamount Staff Reporter

tured a girl named Rey and said, ―I‘ve
been looking for someone who understands me,‖ then pulled off his helmet.
It was super cheesy, and to make it
worse, he wasn‘t the handsome evil
villain I expected. He wasn‘t even
thoroughly disgusting, like a shattered
face—he was just plain ugly with
greasy hair. The casting for that character was a mistake. They could have
at least made him keep his awesome
helmet on!
Also, why did they replace the old
R2-D2 with the annoying circle BB-8?
They should have just left the old as
the old – everyone likes it that way! All
of the CGI scenes happened very
conveniently. A rock would fall on
someone here, a tree would fall there
– it was nothing like the old movies
where they actually had to struggle!
I wish Disney had never bought
―Star Wars.‖ It was hardly even the
same movie series. It was very Disney
-like.
I loved the movie, but
the mistakes were more
apparent and it was a disappointment compared to
the previous movies.
By Tristan M.
Catamount Staff Reporter

Book Review: Shiloh

Book Review: A Series of Unfortunate Events

The book ―Shiloh,‖ by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, starts with a boy named
Marty Preston, who comes across a
young beagle in the hills behind his
home. It‘s love at first sight – and also
big trouble.
It turns out that the dog, which
Marty names Shiloh, belongs to Judd
Travers, who drinks too much, has a
gun and abuses his dogs. He kicks
them and does not feed them enough,
so you can see their ribs.
When Shiloh runs away from Judd,
Marty has to hide him and protect him
from Judd. But Marty‘s secret is too
big for him to keep to himself, and it
exposes his entire family to Judd‘s
anger.
How far will Marty have to go to
make Shiloh his? You‘ll have to read
the book to find out!
By Kaydence D.
Catamount Staff Reporter

Imagine yourself as a child, with
your two siblings. Your parent‘s private banker, Mr. Arthur Poe, walks up
to you on your day at the beach.
―Children, I‘m afraid I must inform you
of an extremely unfortunate event. I‘m
very, very sorry to tell you this, but
your parents have perished in a fire
that destroyed your entire home.‖
Can you feel the shock? The regret
that you dashed out the front door
without even saying goodbye? ―Have
fun at the beach! Love you.‖ Did mom
say that? ―Watch your baby sister!
Love ya.‖ Was that dad? You can‘t
remember.
You climb into the back of the
banker‘s car and he drives you to an
enormous pile of rubble that was once
your home. The wind is still brushing
the smoke out of the sky, but the fire‘s
gone. So is everything and everyone
inside it. This is just the first shudder
in the earthquake of a series of unfortunate events.
6

Back into the car with Mr. Poe. He
takes you to your new guardian, the
infamous Count Olaf. He treats the
three of you terribly, forcing you to do
countless chores of anything he can
think of. He leaves you in the car on
the train tracks one day, but you escape your planned death and the torture of being in his care.
Mr. Poe takes you to your new
guardian, your dear Aunt Josephine, a
shaky elderly woman with a long list of
irrational fears. She lives on a cliff
above Lake Lachrymose, with Hurricane Herman fast approaching. Olaf
convinces her to write a suicide note,
willing you to him. There is a secret
message in the note, which you decipher. Josephine is not dead. She is
hiding.
What happens next? You‘ll have to
read ―A Series of Unfortunate Events‖
by Lemony Snicket to find out!
By Delaney P.
Catamount Staff Reporter