By Abbey Kinzel, ’23

Staff Writer

The Captain America films are a collection of three installments with another on the way in 2024. They are stand-alone movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that focus on introducing a character or concept and serve as a prelude to Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Captain America himself is a symbol of heroism and patriotism, but he also shows that having power doesn’t mean it can change you into someone else. 

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): For me and my family, this movie was a big hit. We are fanatics about war movies, but this is one that will never get old for me. It is also likely the first movie I saw in theaters. This was the second Marvel-released film directly from the source, before the purchase by Disney. Iron Man , the first movie, was a solid 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and would make a lasting impression on moviegoers. Captain America: The First Avenger wasn’t as good as Iron Man, with a rating of just 79 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. It wasn’t bad, just not mind-blowingly amazing. It’s cool to watch at different ages and catch some of the concepts and details we missed when we were younger. There are a lot of references to World War II and what was considered “normal.” It explores concepts like propaganda versus reality, the propaganda the government was selling to promote the war compared with the undeniable reality the soldiers were facing on the battlefield. It looks at death coming unexpectedly in places away from the battlefield, as well as the concept of a good thing having an unexpected end and the idea of sacrifice. It also features the first onscreen appearance of an Infinity Stone known as the Tesseract.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014): This, too, was a movie I was too young to understand the concepts of when it first premiered. This movie did significantly better than the first Captain America as Marvel brought in characters from the original as well as the Avengers series. It explores concepts like corrupt officials in government positions or organizations and the idea that one person’s conspiracy about the people they are working for changes everything. It also dives into, uh, brainwashing . . . just straight up brainwashing. This movie has a 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and marks the midway point of the MCU’s Phase 2 of their movie lineup.

Captain America: Civil War (2016): Captain America: Civil War picks up almost where we left off in the Avengers film and marks the beginning of Phase 3. I couldn’t find anything about themes in this movie without giving spoilers. So if you were sick of me rambling about themes and concepts, then thank this movie. This one is a mix of excitement and heartbreak and it’s hard to feel serious, excited, and sad all at once. This movie has a 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, a tie with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With a lot of conflicting emotions in this movie, the plot  of it defined the other movies in the MCU moving forward.

Captain America: New World Order (2024): This is an upcoming movie with Captain America as the star, of course. The release date is May 3, 2024 and there’s little info yet about the plot. The director is Julius Onah, a Nigerian-filmmaker and occasional actor who directed The Cloverfield Paradox.

Featured image: https://www.marvel.com/characters/captain-america-steve-rogers

By Leah Dillon, ’24

Staff Writer

Perhaps you’ve heard of her. Maybe you haven’t. Breaking records in her native country of Iceland, and eventually carving a niche for herself in the worldwide cultural zeitgeist, there’s nobody in the music industry quite like Björk. From her unique merging of new musical styles, the deeply intimate themes embedded throughout her whole discography, to her vivacious and strange personality,  Björk presents the music industry with one of the most artistic performers in recent history.  

Björk Guðmundsdóttir first began her music career at the age of 11 by releasing a collection of traditional Icelandic folk songs. Soon after, she rose to prominence within Iceland as the lead singer of alternative rock band, The Sugarcubes, among other punk and post-punk bands that she performed in. During her time in The Sugarcubes, however, Björk became dissatisfied with the limits posed by the guitar, and began seeking out other instruments and other styles of music through which she could actualize her artistic vision. From classical piano to electronic trip-hop, the burgeoning artist immersed herself in as many genres and instruments as she could find. While The Sugarcubes continued to top charts in Iceland, Björk herself remained relatively unknown in Europe and the Americas for the duration of her early career. All the while, her thirst for new music to immerse herself in led to internal tensions within The Sugarcubes, which culminated in her decision to leave the group in pursuit of a solo career. Entering the ’90’s, Björk embarked on the beginning of a long and fruitful artistic journey, now uninhibited by the conventions of a single genre and able to express ideas that were wholly hers.

Her debut album, named simply Debut, yielded a few hit songs, notably, “Venus as a Boy” and “Human Behavior,” which prevail as some of the most popular songs in her discography. Only two years later, Post was released, truly launching Björk into the wider musical world. Her style, which combined the emergent genre of electronic music and the then-waning genre of classical orchestra, was distinct and easily recognizable. “Hyperballad,” a song hailing from the album Post, exhibited this unique blend of genres, layering her three-octave voice over an electronic beat and a wide array of orchestral instruments, from the trumpet to the violin to the bass and drums. Her music also ruminated on themes that were seldom discussed in the industry at large; “Hyperballad,” for example, frames itself as the story of a woman who lives on a mountain and spends her morning throwing small objects over the edge of a cliff, exploring ideas of suicidal ideation in a tender and sympathetic manner. “I imagine what my body would sound like, slamming against those rocks,” she sings, “and when it lands, will my eyes be closed or open?” The song ends with her returning to the arms of her lover, remarking that going through this ritual of throwing small objects allows her to be “safe again.” “Hyperballad” exhibits a level of vulnerability and raw, unfiltered emotion that is absent from most of the music industry, which favors more easily palatable songs for its top charts and radio stations. “Hyperballad” is far from the only vulnerable song Björk has created; her whole discography is laced with a sense of intimacy that reads like a diary entry, or as a conversation between friends. Through and through, Björk’s discography shines with her unique artistic voice and deep sensibilities. 

While her records sold, and her music gained popularity, much of her work was dismissed by critics as strange, with Björk herself being largely written off as some batty Icelandic lady. In a sense, that assessment wasn’t wrong. Every piece of her work blurs the lines between genres and breaks well-established musical conventions. Her lyrics can be viewed as strange, and many of her beats are discordant. Her music videos are equally unusual, with one of her videos, “Pagan Poetry,” being an explicit tape of her own body (albeit heavily distorted, and hard to recognize upon first viewing). Her manner of speaking is notably off kilter, a fact which many interviewers chose to hone in on, as opposed to the actual content of her music. Many of these interviews and videographers seem to have skewed their depictions of her in order to favor the popular perception that she was strange; one such report narrates a video of Björk attacking a reporter, choosing to gloss over the fact that this reporter had been harassing her and her son for four days, further cementing the impression of her being erratic and unpredictable. Other interviewers have asked her invasive and condescending questions about her personal life, seeming to regard her as a spectacle or some exotic animal. “Isn’t she cute?” one interviewer asks the audience after having asked Björk whether or not she was going to get angry (in reference to the video of her attacking the interviewer). Many reviews go so far as to describe Björk as some sort of an alien. But once you peel back the flashy layers of clothes and makeup and discordant instrumentals, the discerning listener knows that she’s quite the opposite; of all music that has been released, hers is some of the most authentically human. 

Björk’s unrivaled creativity prevails to this day: just this year, at the age of 57, she released a new album, Fossora. In it, Björk appeals to the increasingly disconnected nature of our society, using fungi and mushrooms as a metaphor for the unseen connections between people, and urging us, the listener, to “find a resonance where we do connect” in spite of our differences. In today’s especially polarizing society, her message rings as urgent, but optimistic. “Hope is a mussel that allows us to connect,” she sings. Hope is a theme that extends through all of her music, even in her darker songs (such as “Hyperballad” or “Victimhood”). Even her older music yields messages and themes that are cutting edge today; her earliest music still prevails as the music of the future.

Björk is not only a rare musician, having blended several genres into her own eclectic style and possessing stunning vocals, but a rare person; somebody who sees through the veil of accepted conventions, and who dares to break them. While much of what she presents to the world is likely a persona meant to further her artistic vision, her art still challenges everyday conventions with a fierce individuality, and encourages the listener to do the same. Every song she writes is embedded with her unique artistic voice, one which dares the listener to break convention too, to live a life uninhibited by restrictive conventions and the thoughts of others. Björk dares the listener to examine every part of themself, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unorthodox, and to live it wholly and unabashedly. She urges us to have hope, to connect. Above all, Björk asks us to be human. An artist isn’t just somebody who makes music; this is what makes an artist.

Featured image: https://www.vulture.com/2022/10/bjork-fossora-album-guide.html

By Norah Kelley, ’24

Staff Writer

* Spoilers Ahead*

Everyone’s favorite outcast. Around since 1938, in her own creepy way, she has held the hearts of millions of people. The Addams Family, despite their strangeness, is seen as comforting and showcases the love in a family. The whole family is shown as doing typical things, but in a weird and creepy way. As a little girl, Wednesday Addams had some different habits from other girls her age. One of her favorite activities was pranking her brother in a not-so-normal way, doing things like putting him in an electric chair. Their relationship looks much different than the typical brother-sister relationship. 

The comics, TV shows, and movies all portray the same spooky family, but in the Netflix show, Wednesday, the audience focuses on the daughter of the family. She does not change her mysterious ways as she makes her way through the show. But instead of being the villain that the people in her school have made her out to be, she is the hero who saves Nevermore.  

Wednesday Addams is sent to Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts with different powers, but she is still treated like an outsider. Along with the original characters that people have become familiar with, including Thing (the hand with a mind of its own), there is the introduction of new characters to form a connection with: Enid, a werewolf; Xavier, a psychic; Bianca, a siren; and Tyler, a normie, or so we think. 

Wednesday develops different relationships with all these characters, some good, some bad, and some deceiving. Many people who watched this show were shocked when the love interest, Tyler, turned out to be the monster (called a hyde) who was killing outcasts and normies around the town. Plot twist.  

From the first episode I watched, I was hooked. The way that Tim Burton directed this show, I felt as if I could connect with all the characters. This murder mystery story allowed the audience to figure out who was the killer (I figured it out before the reveal, while still getting invested in the friendships and relationships that Wednesday was developing). For someone who is not a huge fan of horror or creepy shows, I found this Netflix original had the right amount of spookiness that many audiences will find enjoyable. 

By Abbey Kinzel, ’23

Staff Writer

The opening of Showcase Cinema de Lux at Hanover Crossing was something my friends and I have been looking forward to since the closure of Patriot Cinemas in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Waiting two years, thinking that we’d never have another movie theater in Hanover again, was tough. But the November opening of this new “deluxe” theater got me hyped. I was recently able to try it out with a viewing of Avatar: The Way of Water. I recommend going soon if you haven’t already.

When I entered the theater, it was smaller than I expected. It has eight auditoriums including one with a huge screen and reclining chairs. Concessions were good, you can’t quite mess up popcorn and candy. The soda fountain was cool; I was able to choose a vanilla Coke with different flavors. My dad got an Old Fashioned from the bar in the lobby, which he enjoyed.

Sitting down for 3 hours and 12 minutes for Avatar, with some snacks smuggled in from Market Basket, the experience was very good. Seats were comfy. I was relaxed and felt I could sit and watch another two-hour movie.

featured image: https://www.showcasecinemas.com/theater-info/showcase-cinema-de-lux-hanover-crossing

By Abbey Kinzel, ’23

Staff Writer

I’m sorry to say this but, James Cameron just can’t stop making money from his movies. First it was Titanic, and now it’s the Avatar series. It is beyond my comprehension how this man can make so many successful movies. If a ton of people watch one of his movies in theaters and don’t think it’s that good, the money is already in his pocket. But it’s hard not to watch his new movies; they either have a great story, great visuals or both.

Avatar (2009): So this was a thing that actually happened literally 30 minutes before watching the new Avatar. My dad asked if I had seen the first film in theaters. I don’t think it occurred to him that I would’ve been four years old. But anyway, this is a modern classic, with CGI that was absolutely spectacular for 2009. When I watched this when I was younger, it felt like something out of the future. I thought it was magical; if I had only seen a little of it, I might’ve mistaken it for a dream. When I watch it now, that feeling is still there. It’s hard not to say that it’s absolutely beautiful. The story is questionable yet compelling, since it projects Americans as always wanting to destroy something beautiful for their own benefit. The love story between the two main characters is intriguing and fun, and I somehow always find myself smiling when they are together since it feels very genuine. It sometimes feels like you are with the natives of the planet Pandora. It’s hard not to feel for the native people and connect with their culture. But there is one thing that doesn’t sit well with me. One of the main conflicts in the middle of the movie is when the main character Jake Sully has the task of safely relocating the native people before the military began to destroy their land. But Jake basically forgets to convince them to leave their big tree. It feels like they set him up to be revealed as a liar, t but it just doesn’t make a lot of sense. I mean, I can get that maybe Jake was hesitant about what he was going to say to the native people and how much their mega tree home means to them as a culture, but this twist makes him look bad. But since I don’t think anyone wants more spoilers, lets get to the score. This movie earned 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. After watching this again, I feel it is definitely better than the second movie. And it’s the highest grossing film of all time with $2.9 billion in profits.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022): So my friend and I were supposed to go to the new Hanover movie theater to review it and watch the new Avatar movie. But my friend came down with COVID so my dad went with me instead. We were really rushed when we finally got to the theater to watch, and all I felt was tired, and my eyes hurt from probably not blinking because I didn’t want to miss a thing. But I can definitively say that it wasn’t as good as the first one – like most sequels. Since it is a fairly recent release and I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, I won’t say too much. This movie has a 79 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is almost as high as the original. A lot of people who watched the movie thought the CGI was fine but not as mind-blowing as the first movie. The box office did rake in over $2 billion regardless. Meh, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was still better.

Avatar: Literally any Upcoming Avatar Movie: Not a lot has been said about the upcoming movies except for the release date for each and a lot of rumors. There is a two-year gap between each movie, so it’ll take about six years for all of the movies to be released. Rumors include that they have already filmed scenes for the next movies before the child actors age too much, and that the fifth movie will be Jake Sully and his family going to Earth.

Featured image: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/22/entertainment/avatar-way-of-water-2-billion/index.html