Monica Nair
Photo and Graphics Editor
I nearly cried myself to sleep after seeing this R rated thriller. “Evil Dead” is a spinoff of the original 1981 horror film, “The Evil Dead”, in which five young friends decide to head to a remote cabin in the woods, because that’s always a safe bet. In Fede Alvarez’s remake, five young friends head to isolation to support the youngest member, Mia, and her sobriety from drugs. Yet who would have guessed they would have bigger problems to deal with than an OD?
When one of the friends “accidentally” opens a Book of Dead that says “keep off”, unwittingly summoning up demons living in the nearby woods. This causes Mia to go from hard-core drugs to hard-core killing, as she becomes possessed and killer crazy. Now if my friend was possessed, I would probably call it quits on the intervention and GTFO. Mia’s friends, however, mistake her zombie like behavior for withdrawal symptoms, classic right? The evil presence posses them until only one is left to fight for survival.
Within the first five minutes of this film, I was already set on switching my ticket for a less gory film. Nevertheless, I stuck it through the hour and thirty-one minute flick, covering my eyes for most of it. Despite the constant gushing of blood and stabbing and the repeating “you’re all going to die tonight”s, the movie sent out a few good messages. 1. Never go to an isolated cabin in the woods, ever. 2. If you’re going to break rule number 1, then you should be prepared to not go touching books of witchcraft that do not belong to you, and clearly state, written in blood “DO NOT TOUCH”.
I applaud Alvarez on his ability to recapture the original flick’s horror and gore, and rounding out his film with $48 million. If you haven’t seen this film, and raining blood and surgery scenes don’t make your stomach turn, I’d say it’s worth the watch!
Jack Ludtke
Business Manager
The word ‘hero’ is often one that is thrown around in sports. When something dramatic or record-breaking happens, spectators pretty often jump to the point of calling the play of athletes heroic, even when in the confines of regular life, these feats may not be helpful or particularly transformative. However, this is not always the case., as actions on a field can sometimes transcend the game they happen in and foresee ramifications beyond American stadiums. “42”, starring Harrison Ford and Chadwick Boseman, showcases one of these moments.
Set in the years of 1946 and 1947, “42” follows the historic breaking of professional baseball’s color barrier by Jackie Robinson (Boseman) with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Guided by Hall-of-Fame owner Branch Rickey (Ford), the movie follows Robinson’s rise from the Negro Leagues to the Major Leagues, and the galling amount of hatred and persecution he had to undergo on his road to setting the standard for the integration of all professional sports.
I enjoyed this movie at pretty much every turn. Director Brian Helgeland succeeds in making a movie that captures the spirit of Robinson’s battle against racism, while also staying true to the events of the Dodger’s 1947 season. But maybe the greatest part of the movie is how the characters are shown to be perfectly, warts and all. Seeing legendary players like Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Ralph Branca battle their own emotions and prejudices was fascinating, and serves as a really accurate portrayal of how the players actually felt. Boseman especially captures the spirit and vigor of Robinson, and illustrates a persona that is impossible not to root for. And even if the persecution that he faces from opposing manager Ben Chapman (Alan Tudyk) can make the movie uncomfortable at times, it ultimately serves to add to the audience’s understanding of what African-Americans faced at that time.
The centerpiece of this movie, as with all great sports movies, is the true journey of the central character. The fact that Robinson bravely rose based on his own determination while facing incredible odds, and the fact that Branch Rickey was brave enough to give Robinson a chance at all is one of the greatest sports stories of the 20th century. The storyline alone could really carry the movie. Some topics just work like that in movies, and this is certainly one of them.
Every once in a while, a sports movie comes along that really exemplifies the qualities we as a country look for in heroes. From ‘Miracle’ to ‘Rudy’, the character’s struggle through adversity and journey to success in presents heroism in an earnest way that in some ways, sports exemplifies above many other pursuits. ‘42’ is special because it goes beyond this usual “heroic” spectrum to show a case that truly means more to the world than base hits and home runs. At the end of the day, this makes ‘42’ fall into a whole different category than your run-of-the-mill sports movie, and causes it to take on whole new meaning. And its that meaning and importance to history that will make ’42’ appealing to all audiences, no just sports fans
