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(11/07/19 9:12pm)
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/user-519363288/input2-s7-e6-heartland-festival[/embed]
Welcome to this week's episode of Input2! This week we discussed the Heartland Film Festival that took place in Indianapolis on Saturday, October 19. How did this festival hold up to our expectations? What films were shown and were there any that stood out as exceptional? Find out this and more in this week's episode of Input2!
Hosted by: Tanner Kinney and Trevor Sheffield
Edited by: Eli Sokeland
Thumbnail Graphic by: Sam Smith
(10/27/19 7:35pm)
by Trevor Sheffield
In my history of covering film, I’ve sometimes had to confront a prominent subject of my past endeavors that always seems to catch up with me: the theatre. Sure, I did my fair share of high school drama (I was even a tree!), and in a way, that experience led me down the path to where I am today. I’ve always had a sincere respect for the medium, if only by the effort required to properly do it. However, we live in a complicated age for the medium, where the internet and bootlegging make it easier to actually see these shows… and harder for said shows to actually make money on seats. Compound that with an increased presence by licensed works and acts intending to capitalize on an emerging teen market to get that sweet Hamilton/Be More Chill virality, and it could cause one to question: in 2019, what does it mean to make true theatre, let alone art?
Enter stage right, Guest Artist. Directed by Timothy Busfield and based off a true “incident,” it's an odd couple story taking place in a train station late one Christmas Eve. Joseph Harris (Jeff Daniels) is a has-been playwright, coasting off his own legacy and finding solace at the bottom of a flask. Kenneth Waters (Thomas Marcias, in his feature debut) is an overeager writer’s apprentice hoping to literally write the next great American play… and idolizes Joseph to no end. When Joseph begrudgingly decides to write a play for a no-name theatre company in the quaint town of Lima, Kenneth finally gets an opportunity to meet his hero. Getting off on the wrong foot, Kenneth now has to confront the real Joseph and convince him not to take the first train back to New York. Shenanigans and the ultimate debate as to what “art” and “theatre” ensue in the modern day.
Except, it’s none of that. While the premise I have just described to you may come off as a breeding ground for a unique back-and-forth between the old and new, filtered through a medium potentially as old as humanity itself, it simply isn’t. What Guest Artist truly amounts to is a needlessly cliche redemption story, scored entirely by public domain Christmas music and featuring two main performances that seemingly set out to create the gritty, “real” Rick and Morty episode no one wanted. Daniels’ performance is the best of the entire film, even if his character is all but entirely one note.
Meanwhile, Marcias, bless his heart, is stuck working with a script that casts him as a practically incompetent fanboy, doing a perpetual “Russel from Up” impression. He sucks up almost nothing but abuse from his counterpart’s drunken raging against how the people of today don’t understand true art. Speaking of, anybody in this film who doesn’t qualify for an AARP card is seemingly depicted as stoner-like and ignorant, either totally obsessed with their phones or being spooked at the very thought of theatre. In fact, the film’s only character of color literally remarks at how musicals “aren’t natural”, and Kenneth’s perfunctory love interest literally asks him if theatre is something she can get on her phone. I could tear further into some of the rather “ambitious” leaps in logic it takes when trying to accurately depict the current generation, but it’d take all day.
All of that said, the most reprehensible moment of the film comes at the very end, where Kennith confronts Joseph about the secret play Joseph somehow conveniently had in his luggage the entire time, and Ken reads from it to inspire Joseph to not duck and run. Now, under normal circumstances, a moment like this could be a genuine culmination of narrative tension, allowing our characters to finally reconcile their thoughts in order to finally achieve enlightenment.
However, this is Guest Artist, and therefore the climax must include the reveal that Joseph’s greatest work was a play about how we deserved 9/11. As a sadly triumphant piano rendition of “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” plinks along, Joseph cries as Kennith reads the elder’s thoughts threadbare, saying that he didn’t cry because of all the death and destruction that went down on that day but “because of how beautiful the art coming out of it would be.” So much could be said for the moral reprehensibility involved when we’re expected to sympathize with a drunken, morally questionable man who can’t get his play about how 9/11 was good for our country published because people would surely be so triggered at such a thought. Yet, this film was based on a true story, and if the end title cards are anything to go by, this godlike theatrical work was eventually published and staged regardless. So, effectively, all of this melodrama and raging against the dying of the cell phone battery was pointless.
If I haven’t made it painfully obvious enough, I wouldn’t recommend this film to anybody below the age of fifty, let alone anyone with a pulse. Guest Artist is a wholly unwelcome visitor, selling you the inane ramblings of that one uncle at Thanksgiving dressed up like an issue of The New Yorker. It thinks that it knows what it means and what it takes to be a true artist, to create true “theatre,” but it just simply doesn’t. There is nothing here of value that hasn’t been done better elsewhere, from My Dinner with André to The Dead Poets Society to even the lightly incompetent technophobia of Jerry Bruckheimer’s G-Force. You know that when the flipping guinea pig spy movie somehow manages to do an arguably better job at critiquing modern society than your prestige drama, you’ve screwed the film beyond the point of no return.
(10/27/19 6:41pm)
by Trevor Sheffield
In the ever-shifting landscape of modern indie cinema, no distributor has left a greater mark on the landscape than the infamous A24. It struck out the box office with titles ranging from mind-benders like Swiss Army Man and this past summer’s Midsommar, to deep psychological horror like It Comes at Night and the infamous Hereditary. It even goes on to Oscar contenders like The Florida Project and 2016 Best Picture Winner Moonlight, which shows the bench of hits under this no-longer-fledgling studio’s belt are insane achievements.
Now enter another one surely for the record books — Waves, directed by Trey Edward Shults, follows the Williams family: the headstrong Tyler (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), self-reliant Emily (Taylor Russel), their stepmother Catharine (Renée Elise Goldsberry), and the patriarchal Ronald (Sterling K. Brown) as they live their way through the American Dream in South Florida. Tyler is fighting desperately to live up to his father’s growing expectations for his wrestling career. Emily is still trying to cope with the death of her mother… and the antics of the family cat. However, after a catastrophic series of events throws the family’s unity into peril, they’re forced to confront their worst fears about not just the people around them, but themselves.
Coming into my screening of the movie, a common descriptor I heard from members of the House was that Waves was effectively the cinematic equivalent to This is Us. For clarification, This is Us is an NBC dramedy series known for two things: soap opera-esque melodrama, and the ability to turn people into sobbing puddles of fleshy emotions. While this comparison isn’t entirely wrong, the devil lies in the fact that Waves has a sense of sincere pathos that I feel wholly surpasses the show by the guy who unleashed the dreaded Life Itself upon humanity. You genuinely root for and sympathize with the family at the core of this narrative, even as things escalate to an extreme degree.
Harrison and Russel make for charming leads whose characters go to interesting depths (if Harrison doesn’t get any awards for his work as Tyler in this movie, it’ll be the crime of the century), and Brown gives a knock-out performance in what is, at its core, a very reactionary role. Everything in this film oozes some level of humanity, from the score to the movie’s trademark 360-degree car shots, to even the aspect ratio. Much like the film’s namesake, everything in this movie has some level of motion and some level of life running independent of everything else around it. It’s utterly trance inducing.
When it comes to any cracks in the proverbial armor, it brings us back to the This is Us comparison. While I personally didn’t mind how the film plays out (largely due to its shifting forms of presentation and the performances on display), I can very easily see how that brand of storytelling could turn off some viewers, especially near the end. However, from my perspective, Waves manages to overcome that hurdle in such a manner that, melodramatic or not, still feels true to not only the characters, but the overall narrative as a whole.
Waves is a cinematic balancing act that just as easily confronts you with the psychological terrors of the modern day as much as it proves that life is worth living again. While it isn’t hard to see how some could interpret the movie’s twists and turns as melodrama, it just as easily accounts for that with a cast firing on all cylinders and a unique visual language that stands out from all the dramas we’ve gotten this year. Without any hesitation, I’d say that this movie stands to become a shiny new jewel in A24’s crown, a surefire hit when it releases worldwide on November 30, and a total achievement for all parties involved in putting this wonderful film together. It’s an utter tsunami of palpable passion.
(10/24/19 8:10pm)
by Trevor Sheffield
Directed by first-timer Simon Fink, Where We Disappear is an intriguing character piece with more tension than a wire fence. After knifing her husband to protect her son, the soft-handed Anastasia (Georgina Haig) is shipped off to a Soviet prison camp for a grueling twelve-year term. Justifiably wanting to get out as soon as possible, she inevitably butts heads with her newfound bunkmates, who have resigned themselves to their fate: the maternal-yet-struggling Svetlana (Osa Wallander), the shy, relatively kind-hearted Prushka (Vera Cherny), the injured Lubov (Katharine Isabelle), and at the top of the totem pole, the cold and hardened Masha (Jolene Andersen). With impossible odds, everybody at each others’ throats, and suffering around every corner, Anastasia ultimately fights to find a way to survive her new turmoil without letting it break her.
While I won’t give away the film’s full narrative for the sake of spoilers, the best way I can describe this film is if Zach Snyder’s Sucker Punch put as much effort into actual characterization and story as it did CG smash-'em-ups and needless fanservice. All of the actresses are absolutely fantastic in their parts, with Andersen’s Masha stealing the show. Her performance gives what is effectively your “biggest guy in the yard” character a genuine sense of sinister depth and a cracked, rough facade hiding emotional trauma. Everything else in the film manages to work in turn, from the cinematography to the music, all accentuating the sheer discomfort of the prison camp and how Anastasia’s wounded psyche is trying to process this absolute nightmare.
When it comes to negatives regarding the film, there are really only a few minor points and nitpicks, largely with the film’s proverbial pace in the third act. As mentioned prior, I will not divulge any specifics regarding what occurs; however, the actual reveal in execution could be confusing to first-time watchers who haven’t noticed key details throughout the movie. That isn’t to say that Where We Disappear doesn’t explain what is going on at that point, but it does call into question the subtlety of certain matters of foreshadowing from earlier in the picture.
All in all, for a first-time effort from a filmmaker, Where We Disappear is a genuinely solid piece. For its weight class, it punches with the force of a much bigger feature, and largely manages to make its impact known. The cast is absolutely impeccable, the cinematography easily reinforces the rigid claustrophobia of the film’s setting, and while there are some issues with the third act’s big reveal, it still remains effective. While it may seem as if I’m going easy on this film in comparison to other first go-arounds I’ve covered prior, it is undeniable how much time and effort was put towards making this film look and feel desolate, hopeless, and yet somehow hopeful at the same time. I have a good feeling we’ll be seeing more of Mr. Fink’s work in the future.
(10/23/19 9:00pm)
by Trevor Sheffield
With the return of the annual Heartland Film Festival comes the return of its traditional shorts showcases, where attendees get to see prize-winning, pint-sized programming voted upon the summer prior to that year’s fest. For 2019, we at Byte have already covered the first bushel of stand-outs, but the second course of shorts is nothing to skip out on.
(10/22/19 5:00pm)
by Christian Dixie
The Need for Speed series is one of the most beloved racing games of all time. Electronic Arts is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the game this year, and I thought I’d share my favorite Need For Speed games that I’ve played over the years. There are so many distinctive features that have made it what it is today: the fast cars, customization, cops, open world, etc. Get ready racing fans, because we’re going to go on a nostalgic trip as I share my top five Need For Speed games.
(10/21/19 8:52pm)
by Trevor Sheffield
When it comes to getting a point across quickly in film, there’s no better medium than the short. Whether it’s to make you cry, to make you think, or to just make you feel, period, it gives storytellers, animators, and documentary filmmakers the opportunity to leave a lasting impression in the least amount of time possible. The Heartland Film Festival has come again, and audiences have the opportunity to see some of the heights of short filmmaking as voted upon this past Summer. Of the selections made for this year’s showcases, it’s undeniable that these films break the mold.
(10/21/19 4:00pm)
by Trevor Sheffield
For more than 30 years, one of the tenant genres in modern filmmaking has been the high school movie. From American Pie to Superbad, movies in this paradigm expose the glories of late-night parties, wild underaged drinking benders, and how none of the aforementioned acts have any consequences whatsoever for anybody who isn’t a square. The American cinematic landscape has more than its fair share of these debaucherous adventures, but it begs the question: How do people from other countries around the world (and in this case, from across the pond) interpret this endless cycle of super-senior soirées?
Philophobia, directed and written by Guy Davies, presents an English take on the high school shenanigans genre that, while clearly reminiscent at times of American contemporaries like Superbad or The Breakfast Club, feels wholly original. Set against a backdrop of densely-wooded greens and small-town English pleasantries, an aspiring writer named Kai (Joshua Glenister) is gearing up for his last week of high school alongside his buddies. He studies for exams, plots his future, and jots down poetry in his head. When he’s not doing that, he’s slinging back beers and blunts with old chums like Megsy (Jack Gouldbourne) on the library roof, plotting the ultimate leavers’ prank, and staring at the girl living across the curb like a deer in headlights. After a fateful encounter with one of the most beautiful girls at school throws our pedantic poet into the hot-seat of romance and intrigue, Kai struggles to keep himself and his love life in one piece.
Without a doubt, the effort put into Philophobia is utterly palpable from an audience’s perspective. The lighting in the film is absolutely impeccable, with some sequences casting an eerie, almost dreamlike ambiance over the quaint, honest world our characters live in. Speaking of these characters, their performances display a genuine sense of camaraderie among the main cast, with Glenister as Kai giving a contemplative yet still emotional take on an ultimately troubled teen. Outside of that, the music (largely comprised of proper score and licensed work) excellently sets the tone for the whole affair, and the use of abstract imagery, in conjunction with the lighting usage, leads to moments that wouldn’t feel out of place in some of the A24 catalog’s brightest gems.
That said, for all the praise I’ve given the film, there are a few snags that, while not being dealbreakers in the slightest, are still worth noting. The film is heavily entrenched in the male gaze (literally so when it comes to Kai’s occasional long-stare sessions) and doesn’t really give the core female characters of the story much to do outside of being objects of affection for Kai and his peers. It’s somewhat justified, given how closely we follow Kai throughout the story and the overall laissez-faire attitude the film has towards sex for the most part. Outside of that, Philophobia’s third act has some fairly rough pacing issues, largely due to how much the film sets up and tries to pay off in full over the course of its runtime. That isn’t to say that the movie decides to pay full homage to Return of the King and comes to a conventional ending multiple times before starting back up again, but with the amount of closure the movie is intent on providing to its plot threads, it does start to wear out some.
What else is there to say of Philophobia? The film is a unique take on your typical high school drama, blending together the likes of thrillers like Rear Window with shenanigans that echo movies like American Pie and The Dead Poets Society. However, it still manages to make the whole thing come together as a fairly cohesive and frank look at the uncertainties of growing up, both good and bad. Aside from some slight issues with pacing and characterization, it’s a movie with a spellbinding sense of sincerity in every nook and cranny. If you get the opportunity to catch this one on the big screen, seize it.
(10/17/19 3:36pm)
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/user-519363288/how-its-played-s4e6-blizzard-gets-in-hot-water[/embed]
Welcome to this week's episode of How It's Played! This week, we'll be discussing the recent controversy surrounding Blizzard's banning of one of their pro Hearthstone players. Did Blizzard ban the player because of China's influence? Was Blizzard just in applying the rules in this case? Find out all of this and more on this week's episode of How It's Played!
Hosted by: Eli Sokeland, Tanner Kinney, Shwetha Sundarrajan
Edited by: Kellyn Harrison
Graphic by: Daley Wilhelm
Thumbnail by: Katy Szpak
(10/17/19 3:00pm)
by Blake Chapman
Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers for Joker.
In a world of comic book heroes and supervillains, what defines right and wrong remains mostly unobstructed. Simply put, the hero desires to fix what is wrong with the world around them for the greater good, no matter the sacrifice, while their adversary hopes to take advantage of the system for personal gain by any means necessary. Most series illustrate our champion as flawless, and the antagonist without an inkling of humanity. There are some series that look to break this cycle of predictability, Batman being the principle among them.
What sets this now 80-year-old legend of Bruce Wayne’s protection of Gotham apart from others is a shift in character from normal comic book archetypes. Batman’s flaws define his moral code as much as his strengths, not to mention that when all is said and done, he is still physically human. This humanistic framing of character gives necessary depth to not only the champions of the Batman universe, but also its numerous villains as well. However, there is only one nemesis of the World’s Greatest Detective that holds the crown for the most tragic and complex origin: The Joker.
The evolution of the Clown Prince of Crime has extended beyond the comic strip to the silver screen with both excellent (Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight) and lackluster (Jared Leto in Suicide Squad) examples galore. Joker increases the number of successful portrayals of the most famous DC villain and depicts him with as much volatility as his setting. Through an incredible performance by Joaquin Phoenix, simplistic directing that evokes tension at every turn, and writing that keeps up with itself for the majority of the film, this new iteration fleshes out the motives and environmental factors that shaped one of the most memorable characters from the pantheon of DC Comics.
(10/10/19 9:00pm)
by Arianna Sergio
Whether it’s the videos being spread on TV and online or people making their immediate snap judgements that are fueling an irrational fear of moshing, moshing is a dance that many people are intimidated by. However, nobody at PUP’s performance on Sept. 26 at the Old National Centre was intimidated by it. Throughout PUP’s performance, each of the band members mirrored the crowd’s energy. Each one was feeding off of the crowd’s moshing and rambunctious attitude. Despite a few errors, PUP delivered an extremely high energy and entertaining show from start to finish.
(10/10/19 2:30pm)
by Christopher Hutton
In a week filled with content bans and pro-Hong Kong protests, the gaming giant Blizzard-Activision set themselves up in the cross hairs of China and its fans due to their response to the actions of a particular Chinese eSports star.
Blizzard, known for games like Overwatch and World of Warcraft, suspended Hearthstone player Chung Ng Wai AKA Blitzchung from playing in tournaments due to his expression of pro-Hong Kong support. Said ideas were expressed in an interview after a tournament when Chung told the interviewers that Liberate Hong Kong was the ‘revolution of our times.’ Chung was suspended for a year from playing in the Grandmasters, one of the highest levels of competitive play that is available to Hearthstone pros. Chung also had any winnings he had received due to said win rescinded, estimated to be over $10,000 in total.
The two broadcasters who interviewed Chung were also fired by Blizzard for unstated reasons.
These actions led to a massive uproar from fans, calling their efforts against the player unfair and corporately interested, as well as an activity that gives into the interests of China, who has been suppressing the ongoing riots and resistance efforts in Hong Kong for over 17 weeks now. Many fans are now planning to boycott the company over their pro-Chinese policies, with a select number even going as far as to remove all data and profiles from Blizzard products.
Several employees also staged a walkout, where they protested the decision by collecting around the orc statue in front of the company’s headquarters in Anaheim.
“The action Blizzard took against the player was pretty appalling, but not surprising,” a longtime Blizzard employee told The Daily Beast. “Blizzard makes a lot of money in China, but now the company is in this awkward position where we can’t abide by our values.”
“I’m disappointed,” another current Blizzard employee said. “We want people all over the world to play our games, but no action like this can be made with political neutrality.”
When the New York Times approached Blizzard for comment, they were told that “Mr. Chung had run afoul of a rule barring players from any act that ‘brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages’ the company’s image.” A spokesman told Engadget that they are considering their options about how to handle the matter, but has said nothing since.
Chung has not hosted any interviews since his suspension. However, in a Twitch stream on Tuesday, he told his followers that “Today, what I have lost in Hearthstone is four years of time... But if Hong Kong loses, it would be the matter of a lifetime.”
Activision-Blizzard has a significant presence in China and other Asian countries. China supplied 12% of the 7.5 billion dollars Activision-Blizzard made last year. In addition, Tencent, the Chinese internet giant, holds a 5% stake in the company.
Said actions come days after the NBA entered its own controversy after Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted his own solidarity for the ongoing efforts in Hong Kong. Said tweet eventually lead to several Chinese companies cutting ties with his team. A day later, the Chinese partners of the NBA cut ties with the American League after the NBA commissioner stated that they would not censor their players or employees. Despite this, Morey deleted the tweet and offered an apology.
(10/04/19 4:40pm)
by Chris Hutton
For the average Ball State University student, income is essential. While the university does provide flexible job opportunities that work with your schedule, they rarely pay more than minimum wage and are capped at 20 hours per week. It’s hardly enough to make a living wage. Some students may seek out ways to make money without signing a contract or being restricted to the work schedule of another. Often, this leads to students seeking out side gigs to make extra cash. In our technologically-advanced world, companies like Uber, Postmates, and Lyft are providing that side gig, where they deliver food or people to their preferred destinations.
This is what economists now call ‘the Gig Economy,’ where individuals are treated more as contractors who perform select tasks, rather than employees who work some hours and get benefits. If you’ve ever heard or seen an ad from Postmates, Uber Eats, Instacart, or Grubhub, then you are seeing the gig economy in action. In fact, we’ve even seen it go solely online with Amazon Mechanical Turk, a service that will pay you low rates to perform menial tasks online.
These companies often advertise that you can make thousands of dollars a month with the right amount of work and a bit of luck. A recent ad from Instacart claims that you can make 2,000+ dollars if you only do 400 "batches” of orders. That sounds reasonable, right? Not exactly. These companies are often misleading in their sales pitches, not offering anywhere near the income that you hope they will.
(10/01/19 8:58pm)
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/user-519363288/how-its-played-s4e4-mario-kart-tours-to-mobile[/embed]
Welcome to this week's episode of How It's Played! This week, we discuss the latest Nintendo game that has graced mobile phones. How does Mario Kart Tour compare to the main series? Is Nintendo becoming greedy? Find out all of this and more on this week's episode of How It's Played!
Hosted by: Eli Sokeland, Tanner Kinney, Sam Thilman
Edited by: Marcos Carranza
Graphic by: Daley Wilhelm
Thumbnail by: Katy Szpak
(09/27/19 3:42pm)
by Brandon Carson
Blink-182 have always stuck out from the great 90s pop-punk bands. Their immature wit and knack for writing great hooks sets them apart from others like Green Day and The Offspring. The band became a sensation with 1999s Enema of the State, a fun, tongue-in-cheek, and insanely catchy album that cemented the band a one of the best pop-punk bands. Over the years, the band matured with each record, eventually coming to 2003s Untitled record, still catchy yet the songs were serious, and the songwriting was tight and unique. After 2011s flop Neighborhoods, singer and lead guitarist Tom DeLong left the band after some more years of touring. The band then recruited Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba for touring, and later made the 2016 disaster that was California, a record that was trying too hard to feel nostalgic that came off generic and bland. Nine finds the band improving greatly upon California, but still falling into the same songwriting traps of generic lyrics, generic structures, and an over-produced sound.
(09/16/19 4:15pm)
by Katherine Simon
Disclaimer: While this review does not contain spoilers for Steven Universe: The Movie, it contains spoilers for the events of Steven Universe.
When one thinks of influential children’s cartoons from the 2010s, Steven Universe is one of the first that comes to mind. Since its debut in 2013, Rebecca Sugar’s brain child has been praised for its three-dimensional cast of characters, beautiful soundtrack, and wonderful handling of mature themes. Despite its inconsistent airing schedule and occasional rough moments, Steven Universe’s strengths really outshine its weaknesses and is easily one of the best children’s shows ever made. As is the case with most successful cartoons, a TV movie was pretty much inevitable, and what better place to do it than after the end of a major story arc? Being the show’s first feature-length outing, Steven Universe: The Movie is a phenomenal addition to the show’s narrative and does a wonderful job bridging the gap between the earlier seasons and the upcoming post-time skip season.
(09/06/19 4:52pm)
by Jack Gillespie
A big aspect that has made Lana Del Rey’s music her own since Born to Die has been the selling a fantasy. The character that Del Rey has created within her records of the innocent, demure girl always looking for dangerous men has always been the most alluring quality to her fans and the biggest annoyance to her detractors. Music that sounds as grounded and personal as hers coming from an artificial persona, an unashamedly feminine persona at that, was unlikely to receive unanimous acclaim from a predominantly male music media press.
However, some of the greatest early tracks (i.e. “Ride,” “Born to Die”) paint a beautiful scene of this emotionally detached yet dangerously sexy fantasy she has become known for embodying. As captivating of a persona and a writer that Del Rey is, especially in her first couple projects, a lack of development in her persona and her sound resulted in diminishing returns on records such as Honeymoon and especially Lust for Life.
(09/06/19 4:00pm)
by Kyle Crawford
Students from the Ball State University theatre programs run through a rehearsal of their upcoming show, "The Wolves," Sept. 4 at Strother Studio Theatre.
[ngg src="galleries" ids="25" display="basic_thumbnail" thumbnail_crop="0"]Editor's Note (Oct. 2, 2019): Emma Grow is identified as a freshman acting major.
"The Wolves" is a 2016 play written by Sarah DeLappe. Jennifer Blackmer, a theatre professor at Ball State University, is directing the production at Strother Studio Theatre.
The opening show of “The Wolves” will start at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 in Strother Studio Theatre. The show will continue to run through next week with more 7:30 p.m. showtimes Sept. 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. In addition, on Sept. 8 there is a 2:30 p.m. matinee show.
(08/28/19 9:17pm)
by Baylie Clevenger
(08/22/19 9:00pm)
by Daniel O’Connell
As I have stated in past reviews, August through September is usually seen as a dumping ground for movies that studios don’t know what to do with. Thus, the quality varies significantly with movies that are released during this time. However, one of these films, The Peanut Butter Falcon, has proven to be a pleasant surprise. Directed by first-time directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, the film is a sweet and funny modern retelling of Huckleberry Finn.
The film follows Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down syndrome who lives in a nursing home. Zak’s hero is a professional wrestler known as the Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), and he dreams of becoming a wrestler like him. To achieve this dream, Zak runs away to attend the Redneck’s wrestling school, while Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), an employee at Zak’s nursing home, is tasked with tracking him down. On the way, Zak runs into Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a down-on-his-luck crab trapper, who is on the run from trouble. Tyler becomes Zak’s unlikely friend and coach as the two make their way down the Carolina Outer Banks. Together, Tyler helps Zak achieve his dream as a wrestler named, “The Peanut Butter Falcon.”