The James Logan Courier

By Jasmeen Banwait, Courier Staff Writer

The movie Penelope, directed by Mark Palansky, is based on a plot which stresses pure fantasy. Generations back in Europe, a vengeful witch believes the Wilhern family is fully responsible for her daughter’s suicide. For this reason, she conjures up a horrible curse, which promises that the next daughter born into the Wilhern family will be born with a pig snout in place of a normal human nose. Decades pass, and the Wilherns give birth to baby boys until one day, they day Jessica and Franklin Wilhern bear a baby girl, Penelope. Throughout Penelope’s childhood, her mother keeps her confined, to protect her from the disapproving eyes of society.

By Cameron Lacson, Courier Staff Writer

The latest Asian-horror remake (and the third this year after “One Missed Call” and “The Eye”) is “Shutter.” Where “One Missed Call” was originally from Japan and “The Eye” was originally from China, “Shutter” is originally from Thailand, although the story takes place in Japan.

The main characters are a married couple named Ben and Jane (Joshua Jackson and Rachel Taylor) who are being haunted by a ghost that appears in photography. Jane seems to be the focus, and she believes in the ghost more than Ben does, but we get the feeling that Ben has something to hide in the matter.

By Christina La, Courier Editor-in-Chief

"Never Back Down" is a mixed-martial-arts teen drama and an updated version of "Karate Kid." The movie follows Jake Tyler (Sean Faris), an Iowa high school linebacker who channels his violence into football. But say something about his late father, and the boy sees red.

Video of his on-field meltdown-beatdown of much of an opposing team becomes all the rage on the Internet. That viral video follows him to a new school as his single mom (Leslie Hope) relocates the family in Orlando, Florida to help Jake’s younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Smith) pursue a tennis scholarship.

By Charles Yi, Courier Staff Writer

"21", directed by Robert Luketic, is a film loosely based on the 1990's Massachusetts Institute of Technology Blackjack Team.

Ben Campbell is an MIT student who needs to come up with $300,000 for tuition. His math professor, Mickey Rosa, is astounded by Ben's ease in comprehending variable change and in solving the famous Monty Hall problem. Mickey recruits Ben, along with a few other MIT math geniuses, and teaches them the art of counting cards. After countless hours of practicing card counting, the group heads to Las Vegas and uses an intricate system of statistics and signals to beat the house. Drawn by the money, Ben begins to push his limits as he needs to stay one step ahead of the casinos in order to avoid the wrath of merciless casino enforcer, Cole WIlliams.

By Howard Yang, Courier Staff Writer

Superhero Movie Not Very Funny
With all the parody movies that have been coming out in recent years, it was only a matter of time before a superhero parody was introduced. The question is: do we really need another mind numbingly dumb film that repeats the same tasteless jokes from countless other parody movies? Apparently, the producers of Superhero Movie think so.

Bitten by a genetically engineered dragonfly and granted the usual collection of “superhero” powers, Rick Riker takes on the role of the Dragonfly and goes on to take on the villains of Empire City. His arch nemesis is a supervillain named The Hourglass who drains other people’s life force for himself in order to live forever. As expected of a parody on superhero movies, memorable characters such as Professor Xavier or the Invisible Woman lend themselves to cameo roles that do nothing to amuse the audience.

By Daniel Carvajal, Courier Staff Writer

The upcoming scheduled minimum day set for April 24 has been canceled as was the last scheduled on on February 27.

These days had been set to be minimum days when the academic schedule for the year was set back in August, but with first semester final exams taking three days rather that the usual two days, the minimum days must be canceled in order to have students in classes for enough time to satisfy state requirements, school administrators say.

From wikipedia:
Robert Emmet Sherwood (4 April 1896–14 November 1955) American playwright, editor, and screenwriter.

Born in New Rochelle, New York, he was the son of the prominent American portrait artist Rosina Emmet Sherwood. He was the great-great-grandson of the former New York State Attorney General Thomas Addis Emmet and the great-great-nephew of the notable Irish nationalist Robert Emmet who was executed for high treason in an abortive rebellion attempt against the British. His aunts included the notable American portrait artists Lydia Field Emmet, Jane Emmet de Glehn and his second cousin was artist Ellen Emmet Rand.

Learn more about Robert E. Sherwood and his work, free from the Internet Movie Data Base.