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The Bird is the Word: Sophisticated Schoolyard Shenanigans

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Review of the Anime Fate/Stay Night [Unlimited Blade Work]

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By James Zheng, Anime/Game Expert Reviewer for thebirdonfire.org

Hey guys, today I bring you another impressive anime. Before we get into the review, I need to tell you why this title is so long. Well, this anime, Fate/Stay Night, has a previous edition, which was actually terrible. And since this anime is a product of a series, not a single work, and the official announcement says that they will remake this anime, it becomes Fate/Stay Night[Unlimited Blade Work]. This action saved this anime indeed, as it has been improved a lot in many aspects.

Fate/Stay Night, which is also known as FSN, is actually edited from a visual novel game, so it is originally designed by Type-Moon, and it is published by three companies: Aniplex, Notes, and Ufotable. In fact, Ufotable finishes most of the work such as the scripting and producing of the episodes. FSN is also directed by Takahiro Miura.

FSN generated an artistic performance from the game that gives you a sense of fantasy. The strong special effects and 3D animation are perfectly presented in this anime. When all those elements are mixed together in a fighting scene, it displays an exciting moment with realistic feeling. Also, the soundtrack plays a significant role in FSN, as it always fits in at a key moment.

The story of FSN is full of supernatural elements. In other words, this anime is designed based on fantasy. The storyline begins with a war called the Holy Grail War, where there are seven participants who are selected by the Holy Grail (The Holy Grail narrative is developed after the legend of King Arthur). Their purpose is to eliminate each other in order to obtain the Holy Grail, which can fulfill any wishes the winning participant desires. Those seven participants are called Masters, and they have to summon their own fighter to fight for the Holy Grail. Those fighters are Servants, and each of them will have different abilities. Therefore, there will be fourteen participants in total. But the fifth Holy Grail War, which is about to be held, is not going to follow the normal routine.

So finally, to make sure that anime won’t be spoiled, my review is over here. To know more details and enjoy more appealing moments, start to watch FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] right now!

*I recommend you catch FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] on 9anime.to.

 

Note: FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] is recommended for those who are fifteen or older.

                     FSN[Unlimited Blade Work] has a prequel called Fate/Zero, but it doesn’t affect anything if you just wanna watch Unlimited Blade Work. You can also watch both if you want to.

Editor: AJ Patencio

Review of The Grisaia Trilogy

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By James Zheng

Hey guys, this is a non-popular anime for you all. Well, I mean a non-popular anime that is absolutely fabulous and extraordinary. You might be wondering, how can a non-popular anime be fabulous and extraordinary? Let me tell you three things–this anime was not published nor developed by a famous company; the company did not advertise the anime; and I can tell you that there is not even a Wikipedia about this anime. After I finish this, you may have even more questions to ask, but the popularity does not really affect the quality of an anime. Just watch it first before you give comments.

The Grisaia Trilogy includes three seasons: the Labyrinth of Grisaia (Grisaia no Meikyuu), the Fruit of Grisaia (Grisaia no Kajitsu), and the Eden of Grisaia (Grisaia no Rakuen)–ordered according to the time of publishing. And the most important thing before we go into the introduction, I am not a spoiler! I only tell the attractive elements in this anime instead of telling you the plot or the details.

The Grisaia Trilogy was actually edited from a game produced by Front Wings when it was published by Geneon Entertainment. The figure of characters and making of episodes are designed by 8-bit, which also has designed a few animes such as Infinite Stratos and Rewrite.

The Grisaia Trilogy has an ideal performance of art. It does not look quite realistic but gives audiences a sense of comfort since the artistic style shows characters’ faces and actions that are not tense. In other words, the style of its art does not give any excitement but rather a sense of relaxation as you watch it. Also, each season of Grisaia gives you a different story. It makes you feel like watching three separate animes, which is not a weird thing because the stories are connected to each other. At this point, what really makes an anime too boring to watch? Since other animes are too long (over a hundred episodes), you don’t even know which episode is going to be the last. Or it is lack in creativity? You might say, “I have watched a similar one before this.” Well, those issues won’t apply to The Grisaia Trilogy because it gives you three separate stories to watch. The first season has thirteen episodes; the second season is only one episode (about forty-eight minutes), and the third season has ten episodes. Each episode is an outstanding work, and you won’t spend a long time finishing it.

Let’s go to the story part. Briefly, this anime tells a story between a boy and five girls. To be more specific, it’s how the hero helps those girls to extricate from the shadow of their dark past. Well, that is what the first season tells. The second season introduces the prequel to the first season. But, in the last season, it’s how the girls save the hero from his shadow, which is opposite from the first season. To summarize, the most attractive piece of The Grisaia Trilogy is the detailed expression of psychological emotion of characters in the first season, and the humanity is perfectly presented by several figures of character in the third season. Those are the most excellent aspects of the trilogy.

After all those deep introductions, if you are interested in this anime, watch it right after you finish reading my review! Whether you are interested or not, watch the first episode. Then, decide!

 

Note: The Grisaia is recommended for those who are 17 or older.

I recommend you watch the Grisaia Trilogy on a website called 9anime.to by searching its Japanese name.

Editor: Holden Hartle

 

Different Time, Same Humans

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By Luke Langlois

Unless you happen to be an 80’s movie star with easy access to a certain DeLorean, you most likely have not time traveled. However, you’ve definitely thought of what kind of petty things you could do with the power of time travel. You could tear the very fabric of the universe in order to procrastinate a little longer! While that would be incredible, the sun may implode before we figure that out. For now if we really want to time travel, we simply need to look to one the world’s greatest inventions, film.

When we young people tend to look back to the land before our conceivable time, it’s usually in black and white photography. While we may think we have a general idea of what’s going on, do we really? Personally, I find it difficult to actually process what I’m seeing. My brain registers a black and white picture as little more than a relic of history. In reality though, these people were once living, breathing, and struggling, just like ourselves. My eyes have recently been opened to the past due to the gears of capitalism–advertisements.

Humans seldom look back on what has changed. We seem to view the mid-20th century as a completely different time with things like the Cold War, funny hats, and video games like Pong. While of course big changes have been made globally and culturally, humans have always been humans. Last weekend, I was on YouTube, a rare occurrence in these junior days. On YouTube, as people do, I looked up “old commercials.” I clicked on a video that was titled “Commercials from the 60s.” I was expecting ridiculous advertisements for irrelevant products or some sort of American propaganda. However, I had heard of almost every product featured (look below for a link to said video). It was almost surreal, though that may be a bit dramatic. Many things have changed, but, in the grand scheme of things, there is so much that hasn’t changed at all. We humans are still just humans. While the advertisements are a bit strange by today’s standards, it’s really just a bunch of food, coffee, or medicine commercials. Yes, the Trix rabbit has been attempting to steal cereal for more than half a century.

The point is, we can’t time travel in the science-fiction sense, but we do have access to a type of time travel. I encourage you all to watch any available old film, audio, or video, to put life, and previous eras, into context. Who knows, maybe you’ll be enlightened! Along with the video of commercials I referenced, check out things such as old political or colorized footage.

Tide–because the world has always been in color.

Link to video of advertisements below. Students, you’ll have to watch it at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2AQdyB34so)

Editor: Holden Hartle

Underseen and Underrated Movies, Vol. 4

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By Leo Milmet

After having a great time polling the Blog Staff on the films they find totally underseen and underrated, I now go back to doing what I do best: recommending movies I think are underseen by my viewers. Try these on for size.

Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997): This film is one of Tarantino’s best, most restrained (and yet most inherently stylistic) films ever. An ensemble crime film about a cool-as-a-cat airplane stewardess and the federal agents and criminals she’s constantly double-crossing at every turn.

Pleasantville (Gary Ross, 1998): A beautiful, vibrant, and meaningful film about the dark side of the relationship between a perceived utopia and real life. Featuring some truly beautiful cinematography by John Lindley.

Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004): A visually unique action film featuring Tom Cruise in a rare villainous role as a hitman who hires a cabbie named Max to take him through Los Angeles in a hellish night of gritty violence, amazing dialogues about jiving jazz music, and, ultimately, moral discovery.

Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier, 2015): A bleak, brutal, grimy, nail-biting thriller about a death metal band caught in a terrible situation. Saulnier creates suspense and tension in this film, and the payoff doesn’t disappoint either.

mother! (Darren Aronofsky, 2017): A thrilling, dark fable with deep roots in mythology that often comes off like the mad ramblings of a genius. This brilliantly written, maddeningly intense nail-biter is one of last year’s best films, featuring a phenomenal, agonizingly intense performance by Jennifer Lawrence.

Do The Right Thing  (Spike Lee, 1989): A powerful, vibrant, and snappily written ensemble film exploring race relations in Brooklyn in the 1980s. The film’s slow burn towards its famously masterful, brilliantly controversial climax is absolutely incredible, and the acting, especially the performances of Danny Aiello, Spike Lee, and John Turturro, is near-perfect. This film is absolutely one of the best ever made.

One, Two, Three (Billy Wilder, 1961): Clearly one of the of the fastest-paced films ever made, this action-packed, satirical masterpiece by Billy Wilder is one of the best comedies of the ‘60s. Featuring James Cagney in a phenomenal role as the selfish, red-white-and-blue-blooded Coca-Cola executive C.R. MacNamara stationed in West Berlin during the time of the city’s separation.

Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971): A sweet little dark comedy about Harold, a young man obsessed with death, who finds meaning in life through a deep newfound love for Maude, a vibrant, life-loving, seventy-nine-year-old woman.

My Dinner With André (Louis Malle, 1981): An eloquent, philosophical conversation between two men with fascinating mindsets about things most people never even stop to think about represents the majority of this film. Featuring some of the best dialogue ever committed to celluloid, written and delivered on-screen by Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory.

Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005): A subtle, slow-paced thriller, and a disturbing one at that, this film concerns a man and his wife who are sent eerie VHS tapes of their house. It offers a fascinating look at the dark side of human relationships, and how the demons of one man’s past can affect his whole family in the future.

 

Editor: Holden Hartle

 

The Story, Production, and Genius of “Arrested Development”

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By Charles Schnell

Arrested Development is my favorite sitcom. With the release of the first half of season five on Netflix on May 29, I thought I would write a post explaining why.

To put it in the show’s own words, Arrested Development is “the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.” Enter the Bluths: a wealthy family who owns a real estate development firm named the Bluth Company. Not only are they a very wealthy family but they’re also an extremely dysfunctional family. After the CEO of the company, George Bluth Sr., runs into legal trouble, the family starts falling apart, and it’s all up to one of his four children, Michael Bluth–the “one son”–, to keep them from plunging completely off the deep end, all the while trying to keep the company afloat. So, why does keeping his family together pose a challenge for Michael? Well, once you see his family, you can understand why. His family includes a lying, lazy, selfish, indecisive twin sister whose favorite hobby is to crack open the company checkbook; an arrogant, foolish, self-centered older brother trapped within his hopeless dream of being a magician; a gullible, post-hemispherectomy younger brother who’s overly attached to his mother; and an oblivious, neurotic, ex-therapist of a brother-in-law who’s chasing his dreams of acting. These four are just a fraction of his family. And what happens when you place this dysfunctional family right in the heart of a highly satirized Newport Beach? Chaos, crime, romance, loss-of-limbs, death, and hilarity!

Arrested Development was created by Mitchell Hurwitz. The show originally began in 2003, airing on Fox. Upon the completion of its first season, the show was met with critical praise, winning six Primetime Emmys and a Golden Globe. However, due to poor marketing, the show received poor ratings. Thus, in 2005, its second season was cut from a planned twenty-two episode run to eighteen episodes, with which it was still able to garner eleven Emmy nominations and one win. A similar but more unfortunate event occurred in 2006 with its third season: twenty-two episodes became thirteen, and the show was ultimately cancelled by Fox.

Fortunately, in 2013, Netflix, who had nabbed the rights to the show, released a fourth season. Many aspects were different about this fourth season. For instance, while all the main actors were able to come back, many crew members, writers, and producers did not return. Another thing is that almost all the actors had reached new heights of fame since the original series. Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, and David Cross are all Arrested Development actors that have been in multiple movies and TV shows and have become more popular since the end of the third season. Because of this, Hurwitz and the rest of the creative team had trouble working around the actors’ schedules, especially without a film budget. Thus, the fourth season had to undergo a different writing and presentation style than the original three seasons. The original series was full of scenes of the characters being together, and what made the original so great was how cleverly the writers had the characters interact with each other. The fourth season had to go a different route, since the actors’ schedules were very limiting. Thus, while there are some scenes of the Bluths together, the majority of the fourth season was written with each episode being dedicated to one of the main characters’ individual adventures. The writers decided to turn this handicap into an advantage, as they used this to structure the plot of season four in a very complex way. Season four was not ordered chronologically upon release. Because of this, the writers ended up turning season four into an intertwining, complex, out-of-order story. This fourth season eventually unfolds into a mystery storyline. And this led to the controversy of season four. Some argue that much of the charm and wit of the original series was lost, as one of the reasons the original show was so great was because of how the characters played off of each other. Others praised season four, claiming that the complex plot of season four that gradually turns into a mystery made the show much more engaging and much more than “just a comedy.” While I would agree that the show is way more than “just a comedy” even if the fourth season never happened, I really like season four. The writing is extremely clever and well thought out. I think that about the original three seasons too, but the difference is that the first three seasons are clever in a comedic sense, while the fourth season is clever more so in its plot and storytelling, while still being funny.

After five years of little news regarding a fifth season, we recently received great news. About a month ago, Mitchell Hurwitz announced that not only was season five going to be released very soon, but that he had made the Season Four Remix: a recut of season four that not only put the fourth season back into chronological order, but cut and reordered all the scenes as well, putting the season into episodes that each contained multiple characters’ stories per episode. This recut, that turned the original fifteen thirty-minute episodes of season four into a new twenty-two-episode season with each episode being twenty-two minutes, has been positively received and generally recognized as better than the original fourth season. Some have even claimed it is just as good if not better than the original series. All the complaints of a convoluted plot and character-overdose per episode are taken care of in the recut. While I agree the recut is way funnier than the original season four, I still appreciate the original for taking its production circumstances and trying to do something bold with them. Plus, the writing in the original season four is still really organized and well-thought out. (Thankfully, both season four’s are available on Netflix. The original has been tucked away in the “Trailers and More” section).

Okay, enough with season four. I want to get to why I love this show. On May 29, the first half of season five launched on Netflix. Season five continues the mystery cliffhanger left by season four. But remember, it’s still a comedy first and foremost.

The writing is extremely clever, silly, intertwining, connected, organized, and hilarious. From funny one-liners to ridiculous physical mishaps, the script of almost every episode is non-stop laughter. Every line is delivered with the exact delivery it calls for. The actors all have great chemistry with one another and, also thanks to the brilliant scripts, can play off each other well. The pacing is very rapid and works beautifully; the only problem is sometimes your laugh from one punchline will extend over another punchline. Not only are the actors’ deliveries spotless, but their facial expressions and body language are always on point, sometimes even garnering more of a laugh than the line does. The soundtrack, while not the highlight of the show, is fitting and is subtly funny in its own way. Some of the tracks become their own on-running gags. Speaking of which, I hope you like on-running gags and inside jokes because this show is chock full of them and will never hesitate to use them time and time again, even when you least expect it. Another thing I will say about the writing is while Arrested Development is first and foremost a comedy, the storyline is not horrible. Unlike numerous sitcoms, a continuous storyline actually exists and has its own little surprises, twists, and turns. And, because of the continuous storyline, this is not a sitcom where you can jump around. In order to fully understand what’s going on in an episode and all the jokes an episode might have, you must have seen all the episodes prior to that episode respectively. The storytelling becomes much more of a focus with the Netflix seasons than the original series, which provides the story as a backdrop for all the crazy comedic scenarios that occur, as well as a relief from the otherwise non-stop one-liners and on-running gags. Finally, Ron Howard is the narrator. In the first season, he more or less acts as a normal omniscient narrator. However, as the show continues, Howard starts saying more and more witty one-liners and clever, comedic quips, and he gradually becomes one of the comedic highlights of the show.

Arrested Development is a hilarious, ridiculous, absolutely crazy comedy that also knows how to tell a compelling story. This show never fails to make me laugh, and with the release of the fifth season and the upcoming summer break, I hope you will give this show a chance. For those of you who already like this show, aren’t we glad that Netflix is keeping this show alive? And for those who do not like this show… we’ll agree to disagree.

 

Editors: Renée Vazquez and Leo Milmet

some movies that i love and you might not but i don’t care because i love them with all my heart

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By Makena Behnke

 

some movies i like suck; some rule. it’s all a matter of opinion, okay? it’s summer, so instead of going outside and getting a tan, stay inside your little cave of a room and watch movies (most of these are on Netflix by the way). so, here we go.

  • The Craft. four girls experiment in the world of witchcraft. can they handle it, or do they go power mad? plus it has Skeet Ulrich soooo, yes.
  • Almost Famous. a 15-year-old kid goes on tour with a band in the 70s. as far as i know, this is the most realistic movie about band life on tour. also, a true story. love, peace, and joy, man.
  • 10 Things I Hate About You. despite what Leo says, it’s great. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger? yes! also, a modern interpretation of a Shakespeare play? yes! also, set in the 90s? yes! overall, yes.
  • Hush. the horrorest of horror. not really, but it’s still good. It involves a deaf girl who lives in the middle of the forest and a murderer. the girl’s cat’s name is my favorite thing; i’m not allowed to mention it on the blog, but trust me, it’s good.
  • Peter Pan–the 2003 one specifically. the very story of Peter Pan just makes me so happy, but the actors and the way it’s executed makes me love it more.
  • Scream. so darn good. a classic. it has Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox–my favorite 90s actors. truly one of my favorite movies ever.
  • Bring It On and Bring It On: All or Nothing. i was obsessed with this for a long period of time. i probably still can remember most of the cheers (and probably most of the script), but don’t ask me to cheer; i won’t.
  • 13 Going on 30. a movie everyone should watch. although a little chick-flicky, it’s great. can a magical birthday present fast forward through seventeen years? 
  • Kong: Skull Island. i haven’t seen any other giant monkey movies, but this was on the plane, and i couldn’t sleep on the plane. so far, i’m a fan of giant monkey movies. my last two eight-hour plane rides were good movie days.

 

Warning: some movies are Rated R, so beware.

Editor: Claire Jenkins

LGBT+ Superheroes

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By Comic Lover and Blogger Peter Kadel

America Chavez–Marvels first LGBT latina superhero

In the past two decades, there has been a major shift in pop culture and modern entertainment. Comic books and comic book movies have gained an incredibly high popularity as comic books have become a legitimate form of art, and their film adaptations have grossed  billions.

Recently, I was talking with Mr. Griffin after a GSA meeting. The subject of comic books and comic-book movies came up after Mr. Griffin complimented me on my knowledge of Marvel comic books. As the conversation continued, we eventually got to the subject of minority representation in comic-book superhero movies. It was at this point that Mr. Griffin asked, “When is there going to be an LGBT Superhero on the big screen?” And, while I could not answer the question off the top of my head, I decided that I needed to find the answer. At first glance, it seems like there are no LGBT+ heroes and that there aren’t likely to be any in the near future. But upon a closer look, the opposite is true. In terms of current representation, many existing LGBT+ characters have hit the big screen, and there are even more LGBT+ characters that exist in the comics that have not yet been adapted to the big screen. Harley Quinn who appeared in the DC Extended Universe’s movie, Suicide Squad, is bisexual in the comics, having had romantic encounters with Poison Ivy. However, the movie adaptation, where Harley Quinn is played by Margot Robbie, did not explore that side of the character’s sexuality. On the Marvel side of comic-book movies, the character Deadpool, who received his first stand-alone movie in 2016, identifies as pansexual. And, while he has not yet had an on-screen romance with a man, many people involved with the franchise, including Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, have voiced interest in pursuing this side of the character’s sexuality. 

Representation within the DC comic-book universe–Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn

But there are even more LGBT+ characters in comic books that have not yet made their way onto the big screen. The best example is Marvel character America Chavez (aka Miss America). She is a lesbian latina superhero who was raised by lesbian parents. She is likely our best bet in terms of an LGBT+ hero with a stand-alone movie. The character is currently set to appear in an animated film titled Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors. While that is not the great big live action event that the character deserves, it’s a start. Miss America is an empowered young woman who always stands by her ideals and does not put up with bigotry and injustice. She is the perfect role model for younger generations, not only because of her ideals, but because she is more than her sexuality and relationships. This is how representation should be. People are more than their sexuality, or race, and this is shown in the way Miss America is handled as a character. America Chavez is a step towards representation that will ensure the relevance of Marvel Comics. Comic books are very popular among young people, so it only makes sense that they appropriately represent the young people of America. 

Marvel comic books especially have a long history of representing the under-represented and making us fall in love with those we thought were unlovable. Stan Lee (the major creative force behind the most popular Marvel characters) has a penchant for taking society’s outcasts and making them heroes. The core of the best marvel heroes are not their looks or social standing but the content of their character. The importance of representation in comic books is not the race or sexuality of the character, but the fact that they are shown as being worthy of being heroes.

Editor: Shelby Armor

Stories About Snakes–Fairy Tale Re-Telling

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Graphic by Harlow Berny

Retold By Harlow Berny

Storyteller Berny unearths Grimm’s tales about children and snakes. As we move from one to another, Berny reminds us, “None of these stories are related other than the fact that they contain children and snakes.” Enjoy the combination.

I.

Centuries ago, in a long forgotten kingdom, there was a little girl whose mother would give her a small bowl of milk and bread. Every day the child would eat in the yard on a small stump. When she would eat, a snake would creep out a crack in the wall, dip its head in the dish, and eat along with her. The child took joy in having a friend to eat with, and so, when the snake did not come out one day, she softly spoke,

“Snake, oh snake, quickly

come forth, you tiny critter,

you shall eat your bread crumbs,

you shall drink your milk.”

When the snake heard these words, it rushed forth to enjoy its meal. To show its gratitude to the child, the snake gave her some of its hidden treasures, such as shining gems, captivating pearls, and glistening golden jewelry. Following this event, however, the snake only drank the milk, never touching the breadcrumbs. After a few days of this, the little girl tapped the snake on its head with her spoon, saying, “Eat the bread crumbs as well, tiny critter.” The mother, who was in the kitchen, heard the child speaking, looked out the window, and was horrified to see a snake right next to her daughter. She ran out with the knife she was using to cut vegetables, and she killed the peaceful snake.

From that day forth, the little girl changed. When the snake ate with her, she grew tall, strong, and beautiful, but now she withered–her cheeks went pale, and her hair fell out. It was not long before the doves cried and the robins collected little branches for a funeral wreath as the child lay in her coffin.

 

II.

A young orphan girl was sitting under a tree when she suddenly spotted a snake slithering out of a hole in the ground. She quickly laid her blue silk handkerchief beside her, as she was always told that snakes loved blue handkerchiefs so much they’d ignore nearby humans, even resting on the handkerchief as humans walked by. This snake, however, went straight back into the hole in the ground upon seeing it, only to return with a small golden crown. The snake placed the crown on the handkerchief before rushing to the hole once more. The girl, amazed with what she was seeing, picked up the glittering crown and her handkerchief, placed the crown atop her head and the handkerchief in her pocket. She skipped her way to the orphanage to show all her friends what she had found. The snake came out again, and, upon seeing that the crown and handkerchief both were missing, bashed its head into the wall over and over again, only stopping when its body went limp and bloody, never to move again. If the girl had left the crown and waited a while longer, surely the snake would have brought more treasures out of the hole.

 

III.

A snake laughed, “Hehehe.”

A child heard the snake and went to question it, “Little snake, have you seen my little sister? She wears little stockings upon her legs.”

“No, I have not,” answered the snake. “Have you seen little red stockings? Hehe, hehe, hehe.”

The child never said the sister’s stockings were red.

 

Editor: Renée Vazquez

A Re-Telling of Grimm’s

My First Experience With American Beauty

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By Leo Milmet, The Bird on Fire Resident Film Critic

When I was ten, I began to take a serious interest in film. I saw a poster for the Cinemark Classic Series at the theater at The River. The tickets were $5 per film, so I went to see each of the listed films (Forrest Gump, West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, American Beauty, Casablanca, and The Godfather).

I fell in love with film that year. I was introduced to an entirely new world: the world of the greatest films of all time, not just something like Star Wars or Gone With The Wind. I became invested in the wonderfully written and beautifully realized characters of American Beauty and Casablanca like I never had been before. I was introduced to the sheer power of brilliant cinematography through Lawrence of Arabia’s beautiful, epic shots. The themes of West Side Story, despite my having already seen the film and enjoyed it, challenged me in a new way. The Godfather showed me a truly tragic fall from grace.

However, of all these classic Oscar winners, American Beauty (1999) was the film that made me want to become a filmmaker. I remember the night I saw that film. The film was a cheeky satire, but also a melodrama. I didn’t get behind Lester, the film’s anti-hero, and his disquieting desires, but I felt terrible for him nonetheless. As much as I loved every one of these films, and I did (I REALLY LOVED THEM ALL), I had become absolutely enamored with the quiet power of American Beauty, the character-based work of genius that I will forever remember seeing for the first time. I was drawn in by writer Alan Ball’s realistic characters. The film’s powerful themes of nostalgia, uncertainty about one’s place in the world, lust, and breaking the system are accessible to anyone. Even when I was not old enough to actually understand them, I still felt them. Somehow, someway, Sam Mendes directed the film so that each character, each scene, each theme spoke to me.

American Beauty changed my life. It made me want to make films just because I want another person to experience what I experienced that night. I owe this film so much because it truly was the film that made me love film.

Editor: Shelby Armor

Fictional Deaths I Still Haven’t Gotten Over (Spoilers Ahead: Really)

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By Peter Kadel

Let’s face it, reading/watching/enjoying works of fiction (i.e: books, movies, and videogames) is really fun and helps all sorts of people get away from the everyday and helps them escape occasional sadness. But sometimes… grief follows us into the realm of fiction as creators of fiction rob us of our favorite characters–giving us emotional scars from which we will never recover. In honor of these fallen fictional figures, here is a list of fictional deaths I still haven’t gotten over. (In no particular order).

* SPOILERS AHEAD * * SPOILERS AHEAD ** SPOILERS AHEAD *

Wash (Firefly/Serenity): The short lived sci-fi hit Firefly and its cinema followup Serenity followed a crew of misfits who were all lovable in their own way. But the character that stole hearts was the pilot Wash. The wise cracking, Hawaiian-shirt wearing, moral center of the team was brutally killed in the movie Serenity, and this loss has scarred me forever. He was the character I wanted to be in real life. Not only was the Firefly series ended too quickly, so was Wash.

Wolverine (Logan/Death of Wolverine): Everyone’s favorite X-man. The hardcore healing mutant with unbreakable bones and claws. Most of his fans thought he would never die, after all that was his main ability. So imagine my surprise when he died TWICE, once in the comic universe and once in the cinematic universe. I had to witness the death of my favorite superhero ever TWICE: first when he was encased in metal as he reflected on all he had done and was finally content after a life of sadness; and a second time when he died holding the hand of his daughter fulfilling the prophecy that he would die with his heart in his hand. I cried both times. So needless to say, I’m still upset about it.

Han Solo (Star Wars: The Force Awakens): I think it is safe to say that this one made everyone cry, to see our favorite bold and brash smuggler gutted by his bratty Sith lord son was an emotional hell that no one deserved. He deserved better. And Chewy’s reaction to watching his longtime pal Han fall into the abyss of Starkiller Base (“BBBrrrrwwwrrroooo”) was truly heart wrenching and, yes, I cried when it happened.

(The West Wing): The are too many deceased characters to list from this show. The show’s creator Aaron Sorkin seems to delight in toying with the audience’s emotions. The saddest death was that of a staple character, Leo McGarry, who was killed off in the final season because the actor passed away. Leo was everyone’s grouchy yet endearing older relative, and the way he cares about his coworkers made him even more lovable.

Chak (Guardians of the Flame: The Silver Crown): Now most of you have probably never heard of this book series, so let me explain. A group of college students are playing a tabletop RPG similar to D&D and they get transported into the game world which turns out to have a huge slave trade which the students vow to dismantle. One of the first slaves freed by the group is a man named Chak. He was a wisecracking swordsman who becomes a key member of the team until his untimely death in the third book of the series. Chak gave himself in a heroic act of self sacrifice to save his friends. Chak easily has the most entertaining characteristics, and his enduring sense of humor made him lovable. His death hit me so hard that I stopped reading the series after I finished the book.

While there are dozens of other deaths I’m still grieving, I’m pretty sure I’m not emotionally capable of listing all of them, so if there are any you think I should have included, let me know in the comments!

Editor: Claire Jenkins