Scene Blog

Molly Mullen – Editor in Cheif
Twists turns, ghosts, corpses. For a minute, I thought I was writing about a George Romero zombie flick. But, what can you say about Martin Scorsese? He is always ready to transform and impress.

In this most recent spell-binder, “Shutter Island,” Scorsese delivered one thing he always does – a dazzling character piece that gets to the core of an individual. Just like in “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “The Aviator,” the audience was able to see into the mind of the lead, walk in his shoes, but this time, it was a painful experience.

“Shutter Island” told the story of two federal marshals appointed to investigate a missing person on an island prison for the criminally insane. From the first minute of the film all the way to the final minute, the audience was kept guessing about how it was going to unfold.

No one could have guessed it correctly.

With an ending like this, “Shutter Island” is the kind of film that has to be seen at least twice. The first viewing keeps the heart racing, blood pumping and mind racing. The second is to go through, frame by frame to see how it all could have really turned out that way.

It goes without saying that Leonardo DiCaprio killed it. The hysteria he experiences is enough to keep a person up at night.

If fear doesn’t keep a viewer up at night, it’s the questions. “What is truly real?” “Who can we really trust?” “Who knows ourselves best?” Maybe the answers will prove more terrifying than the questions.

Emily Wynn – Scene Editor


Hopefully you all read ”Eating healthy is not an unachievable feat” in the latest issue of the Creightonian. If you didn’t, just check it out at creightonian.com . I didn’t get to fit in all the wonderful things I learned talking to Dr. Robert Heaney (John A. Creighton University Professor and Vice President for Research) and Kathleen McHale (manager of Brandeis)


Here are some of their suggestions:


McHale:

- aim for all the colors of the rainbow on your plate (carrots for orange, peas for green, beets for red, ect.)

- try to get a lean meat: adding chicken from the grill station to a salad is a good way, or a turkey burger

- always try to get whole grains in your meal – use whole wheat bread on your sandwich instead of white

- if you’re bored start at the salad bar, add some toppings, add a protein source and add a startch

- don’t eat fried food

- try to look around before you start picking food up, that way you avoid getting food you don’t want

- don’t forget about the soups: clear based soups are especially low in calories and all of them are made from scratch daily

- always try to balance your meal and get a little of bit of everything



Heaney:

- take advantage of on-line sources: just search nutrition guidelines and start from there

- make sure you aren’t just eating right, but exercising as well

- avoid high calorie sugary foods: they don’t have nutrients and do not satisfy you so you will just keep eating

- try to limit consumption of sugary beverages to half a serving a day

- don’t worry about fad diets, just concentrate on getting nutrients because in the long run that’s all that matters

- always remember to get your fruits, veggies and dairy



According to both of them, the main things to remember are to aim for variety, nutrients and balance. Everything is good in moderation; something both emphasized repeatedly. So you can have those french fries, but take a few rather than a whole heaping plate. Also, don’t forget that exercise matters. Try to do that some too, eating healthy is only have the battle in keeping your body in the best shape possible. Also, always keep a positive attitude!!

Good Luck!

Emily Wynn – Scene Editor

In the Fall of 2009 the USA Network premiered yet another crime show, ‘White Collar’. The premise is simple and similar to a lot of the shows on USA. An ex-white collar criminal joins the FBI staff as a consultant and aids the white collar crime unit in capturing his buddies. White collar crime is basically the high class criminals that take root in the upscale societies of New York and other big cities.


Matthew Bomer stars Neil Caffery, fomerly one of the most elusive con-artists the FBI has ever dealt with. Tim DeKay stars as Peter Burke, the agent who finally took him down. The two of them hold the show together with witty dialogue, humorous actions and entertaining banter. The supporting characters in the show also help the show advance and they also bring out the multiple sides of Caffery and Burke, making the show multi-dimensional and intriguing.


What really makes this show worth watching is not Bomer’s beautiful face (although that is definitely a plus), but rather the character development and the underlying story line that ties all the episodes together. The producers have chosen to focus on the characters rather than real-life accuracy, which allows for some fun situations, that are feasible, but probably wouldn’t actually happen. Luckily the writers have not gone in a ridiculous direction, but instead have produced a well-written, clever and light show. The cast is great and the writing is superb, giving it the qualities all TV shows need if they want to stick around, which hopefully ‘White Collar’ succeeds in doing.

Emily Wynn – Scene Editor
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There is always an amount of uncertainty going into a movie, especially one with multitudes of big-name actors in it. Can the silver screen handle that much talent in one movie? Apparently it can. ‘Valentine’s Day’ starred everyone from Bradley Cooper to Julia Roberts. It has one of the largest groups of big-name actors a movie has seen, for the full list go the movie’s Web site . The movie was directed by Gary Marshall, director of movies such as ‘Pretty Women’ and ‘The Princess Diaries’.
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Going into ‘Valentine’s Day’ I didn’t know what it would be about – the Web site is more concerned with letting you know how many actors are involved than letting you know what the movie is actually about. All anyone knew was that it was about different people’s experiences on Valentine’s Day. The multi-generational cast was able to pull together and show what the holiday means to almost every age group and every stage of a relationship.
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All the characters are connected through various friendships and work relationships and the multiple story lines were never hard to follow, which was an impressive feat. The plot, while it had some of the stereotypical romantic comedy involved, had some surprising moments. It kept you on your toes and kept you laughing throughout the whole movie.
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Without giving too much away, it isn’t all happy. There are plenty of tears for those who hate the holiday. It shows the nature of relationships in today’s world without making it all about happily ever after. The sentiment throughout ‘Valentine’s Day’ is that love is different to everyone and it definitely isn’t easy.
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‘Valentine’s Day’ will keep you laughing the whole time and is a guy-friendly romantic comedy because it eliminates overly-mushy parts. The twists in the plot are, for once, mostly unpredictable. There are a couple story lines that you can predict, but it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. It would be the perfect date movie that both people could enjoy. And while humorous, it still gives you that fuzzy feeling of a chick-flick, capturing all the sentiments involved in the holiday that inspired it – even the bad.

Review by Caroline Mosley, Scene Reporter

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The pain and longing of separation, the difficulty of communicating feelings, and the backdrop of the east coast seashore make Dear John, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, an endearing and slightly sappy movie of a young couple struggling to remain together after a two-week period left them deeply in love. Channing Tatum (John) and Amanda Seyfried (Savannah) depict two young teenagers from different backgrounds who haphazardly meet one summer.

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The stereotypical “love at first sight” leads to a romance with plenty of bumps and bruises , as John, an enlisted soldier, is sent oversees while Savannah goes off to college. Determined to remain together, they begin a long series of numbered letters to learn more about each other. Set around the early 2000s, the tragic event of September 11 causes John to remain oversees longer than he originally anticipated. Savannah struggles with the re-enlistment, as it means more years of separation. The letters continue and the love remains, until Savannah suddenly decides to cut off contact.

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Distraught, John thrusts himself into his military duties, and for years thereafter, attempts to forget his love. After several years, he returns to the states to discover Savannah married to a terminally-ill neighbor, and his father is ailing in his health. After many years of separation, the two ex-lovers attempt to patch things up between them. Will John and Savannah ever solve their differences and be together once again? Or is love at first sight destined to simply fade as the years wear on?

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Unfortunately, I am not a sucker for sappy movies-never have been and never will be. Nonetheless, Dear John was a bittersweet experience that needed just a little more oomph to keep me interested. Tatum’s washboard abs kept me glued to the screen but his mediocre acting skills left something to be desired. Meanwhile, Seyfried remains as gorgeous as ever and was perfectly cast as the sweet girl-next-door. Together, the two have some chemistry, but nothing compares to the original The Notebook. The plot was decent, but nothing unexpected happened between the two characters that I found particularly surprising. Despite the average plot, I know several of my friends were tearing up at multiple parts, and not just because John’s abs were glistening in the sunlight after a mid-day surfing outing. Touching moments are found throughout the movie, but are sometimes slightly overdone. Drawn out for more than a couple minutes, what is at first poignant in the movie would sometimes turn into sappy.

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A couple of tidbits with some of the supporting characters helped spice up the plot-even if it was just a little bit. Savannah reveals John’s father to be autistic, opening a small window into the hardships that the single, autistic, coin-collecting father had raising a rebellious young John. The relationship between the two remains a mere side plot, but the small kernel of familial love tugged at my heart strings.

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Overall, the movie is a nice cuddler on Valentine’s Day, or any other day in these dreary weeks of February. Prepare some tissues if you are a crier or bring some popcorn if you are a little less emotional like me. I can’t reveal the ending, but will say that it was the biggest disappointment of the entire movie. Whether love can flourish after a two-week affair remains to be seen, but one thing remains certain-love brings some of the happiest and saddest times in our lives.