10.27.2008

DVDs Or Death!

Haven't done one in a while, so let's get at it. DVDs Or Death!


Zombie Strippers.

Brief Synopsis: Like Snakes On A Plane, I Think The Title Is Clear Enough.

Comments: Jenna Jameson + Zombies + Strippers? Doesn't that sound like a recipe for success! Well... at the very least, it'd be B-Movie fun. That is, if it hadn't just been done... by Robert Rodriguez... in Planet Terror. Or if you replace zombies with vampires, you could compare it to From Dusk Til Dawn or even Devil's Den.

Viewing Option: T.V.


Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Brief Synopsis: Again... Read The Title.

Comments: Purposefully skipped it in theater... that can only mean one thing!

Viewing Option: Skip (or T.V., possibly).


Kitt Kittridge - An American Girl.

Brief Synopsis: I Really Think We Need More Inventive Titles.

Comments: See previous movie's comments.

Viewing Option: Skip.

10.26.2008

The Student Teacher Chronicles: Week Nine.

So yeah… not much happened this week… at all. This is probably the shortest installment I’ve written thus far (and probably about as short as it’s gonna get).


Monday


Not much to say about today. I did some reviewing over what I taught Friday for first period, and then they did a timed writing for the essay. Second through fifth period just continued to work on writing their own essays. Sixth period got a bunch of papers and stuff back and just worked on poetry. Second through sixth periods all got papers to let them know what assignments they’re all missing and need to turn in. From seventh period conference and on through after school, we just did a bunch of grading. That was pretty much it. It was a relatively good day, over all. The only negative is that I really dislike teaching first period because it’s an AP class, and I feel stupid and that they’re all smarter than I am on this stuff (because I hadn’t even heard of a lot of this, so teaching it makes it very difficult). After school, I even took the quiz they had to take today, and I averaged in pretty close with what most of them got (I got a 44), though some of them did better. Yeah… didn’t help much; yet another reason why it’d be beneficial to get that eighth grade position. Anywho, otherwise, it was a good day.


Tuesday


Yet again, not much special happened today. First period finished up more timed writing. Second through fifth periods continued on their essays for their last day to work on them in class. I left toward the end of fifth period for Jury Duty (which was super easy and quick), but I knew all sixth period was doing was a Vocab test, so I didn’t really miss much. Yeah… that’s about it.


Wednesday


You guessed it… not much happened. First period I graded the Vocab tests that sixth period did the day before while I was out. Second through fifth periods were turning in essays and taking a huge Vocab quiz that mixed all three units thus far, so the whole time I was basically grading tests and getting those back to them. Sixth period we started Haikus, which were insanely simple, and they finished up other poems and such. Seventh period conference and after school… basically all I did was a bunch of grading. I got out of there about 5 PM. Like I said, not much happened.


Thursday


First period I focused most of my time on cutting/pasting and laminating for different pictures for sixth period. Second through fifth periods worked on various different tests (and/or homework or essays) depending on where they were at in their work. In sixth period, we discussed simile, metaphor, and descriptiveness in poems. We read sample poems and then I gave a new assignment wherein they randomly picked different pictures (which I had laminated for class sets) and where they would have to write a poem about that picture using descriptive wording, simile, and metaphor. After that class, there was a bunch of random/fun running around and a bit of grading.


Friday


Alright, so what happened on this day? Well, I didn’t really do anything first period. Second, third, and fifth periods I took students to the lounge to help them go over their Post-Test answers so they could understand what they did wrong. Fourth period I entered some information onto a chart that my mentor teacher asked of me. And a couple of the classes, I also helped to finish up essays. Sixth period my mentor teacher left because she had to go to an ARD meeting for her son, but that was fine. Oh, and every period, each student had to dance to get into the room, so that was really fun. A lot of people didn’t want to do it, but we made them do it anyway. The only time it really backfired was fifth period when these two guys got all moody about it and refused and just sat down in the hall, which, in turn, made my mentor teacher upset about it, so it was just a bunch of mess. Anywho, I went to the Pep Rally after that and participated in it, in which I did a Tug-O-War on the Teacher Team against the Juniors (and the Seniors faced off against the Sophomores). The Seniors and Teachers won, so we faced off against each other, and the Teachers won again (and that same crazy/funny AP that I’ve mentioned before ran in and grabbed the rope to help us out, as well). We all got prizes. However, the Principal also participated, and he broke his wrist in the process (though continued participating, I believe, which shows his dedication to the kids!). But then there was an ambulance and stuff that had to take him to the emergency room. But anyway, I did a bit more grading and then left relatively early (before 4). And that’s about it.

10.25.2008

My Current Top 50.

So Fletch over at Blog Cabins posted his Top 50 favorite films and challenged other movie blogs to do the same. So here we are. It's always difficult for me to create a Top List of my favorite films, mostly because it changes all the freakin time (either because I find a new great movie or my mood changes and I find I like one movie more than another at that current time). So anyway, I'm going to now attempt to list my CURRENT Top 50, which could probably change anytime in the near future, but here you go. I tend to call my favorite films those that I can re-watch over and over without getting tired of them, not necessarily films that are cinematic genius or classics. I might still really really like those films, but I don't watch them all the time, which is why they don't make the list (though there are a few on this list that I don't watch all the time, but I do believe are so amazing they have to be on the list... just to be contradictory).

By the way, these are not in numerical order from most favorite to least favorite. They're just the films in my Top 50 (getting a Top 50 was hard enough... I'm not gonna put them in order. In fact, they're going to be in alphabetical order instead). Anywho, here it is:

11:14

12 Angry Men (either version)

12 Monkeys

28 Days Later...

28 Weeks Later...

Aladdin

Bang Bang You're Dead

Big Fish

Billy Madison

Chasing Amy

Clerks II.

Clue

Collateral

Cube

Dog Day Afternoon
Dogma

Equilibrium

EuroTrip

Feast

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Hot Fuzz

Inside Man

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Leon
Little Shop of Horrors (1986 musical)

MirrorMask

Moulin Rouge

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

Napoleon Dynamite

Office Space

Oldboy

Pan's Labyrinth
Pitch Black

Saw

Se7en

Shaun of the Dead

Spaceballs

Stranger Than Fiction
The Big Lebowski

The Faculty
The Fifth Element

The Last Samurai

The New Guy

The Princess Bride

The Rundown

The Truman Show

Tremors
Tremors 2

V For Vendetta
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

10.24.2008

Five Days Of Saw: SAW V.

I'm getting it in with about 10 minutes to spare! But anyway, here it is. Again, if you haven't seen the previous movies, this one is spoilery.

----------------------

So you know how the plot synopsis for this movie was so bare-bones and everybody thought it was because they didn’t want to spoil anything? Well, the truth is that that’s about as basic as you can actually put the plot, as it’s freakin complicated otherwise. Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) has ‘survived’ and moved on from the end of Saw IV (the trap portion of the movie, not the autopsy portion, which is actually never even referenced in this film), and has set himself up to be the Jigsaw case’s savior and be a big hero, even though he’s the new bad guy. The only snag is that Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) has survived and is on to much more than Hoffman likes. So meanwhile, while Hoffman is chasing after Strahm, who is tracing the steps of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and his past victims, another game is going on in which five individuals (including Julie Benz and Meagan Good) have to go through a set of rooms and face a set of traps, one by one.

There’s a new director in town, and it does show a bit. There are no fancy camera tricks, transitions, or editing techniques, which is really sad (well, maybe one or so, but that's about it). In fact, there’s even a bit of CGI, which is totally out of the Saw realm. So the usual Saw feel with the cool camera and editing tricks was gone. However, it wasn’t completely bad. It still worked for what it was.

One big negative aspect, however, belongs to the plot. Everything about the movie was either predictable, obvious, or an overall ‘duh’ moment. Most of the revelations or twists in the Saw series are mind-altering experiences that tend to blow you away. Not this time. The twist isn’t anything massively important or mind blowing. It’s just kind of there. And any of the other revelations were so easy to figure out it’s like they weren’t even trying to hide it like the others did. Hell, the opening game lines for the five people practically spells it out for them (and I knew it right away), yet when they figure it out, it’s like some huge ordeal. I don’t know if it’s the movie that was predictable or that it was just the way the story was unfolded that made it too obvious. Maybe a mix of both. Oh… and the thing with Jill was just weird… but I figure that’s something that’ll be explained in the next one.

On the subject of the traps, some of them were pretty cool. Like the trap that introduces the five people was quite inventive, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Most of the others (for the few there were), were somewhat lame, though. Imaginative, sure, but lame.

Yet again, though, the continuity saves the film. This film pulled what it did with the last couple and has just totally gone back to the first, second, and third films and re-shown stuff that fit in so smoothly it was like things were filmed simultaneously. I just loved how everything was connected and how everything just worked together so that a lot of things made even more sense than they did before.

The acting was another notable positive, especially from Tobin Bell (as always). The entire scene/first flashback between him and John/Jigsaw was so amazingly well done… I don’t think there’s any way it could have been done any better. Tobin Bell really is a saving grace of this series. If it weren’t for him and what he and his character brings, these movies would be flat-out terrible.

So after a year of waiting, all I’m doing now it waiting for the final chapter of the series. This one was alright, mostly due to the flashback stuff/continuity that it holds. I was a bit upset that it never referenced the whole autopsy scene (even though that’s what the last movie ended with). But who knows, maybe that scene happens after the events of Saw V, as well (I doubt it, but it’s possible). They referenced Dr. Gordon so much and hinted so many things that I could have sworn it was coming this time around, but alas… maybe they’ll end it with him to go out on a bang. Unfortunately, in order to get there, we had to do this one. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t the best of the series, either. I bet like one of the previous movies, it’ll grow on me after numerous viewing… but until then... yeah. The tagline of the movie was “You’ll never believe how it ends.” Yeah, and I really couldn’t believe it ended like that. It could have done better.

Photobucket
I Am McLovin!


The following segments involve spoilers:

Questions Raised Thus Far:

- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon (Saw)?

- As such, now that we know he turns survivors into apprentices, will he do the same with Dr. Gordon (after all, the -surgeon- in the video at the beginning was -limping-); Also, now that we know survivors can also be re-gamed, will Dr. Gordon just be used for another game (Saw II and Saw IV)?

- What the heck happened to Danny Matthews (Saw II)?

- How is Obi connected to Jigsaw, as he helped him gather all the people into the house, and as he's seen running in a flashback near John and a woman (Saw II and Saw III)?

- What is that key to that was around Amanda's neck (Saw III)?

- What the heck was in that box given to Jill (Saw V)?


Questions Answered Thus Far:
- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?
(He turns her into his apprentice)
- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?
(Amanda kills him via suffocation).
- What's with all the pig stuff?
(John was obsessed with Chinese New Year and made his first victim during the Year of the Pig).
- What the heck happens to Detective Matthews now and/or is he still alive?
(He escaped capture, was re-captured, and kept alive to be used in one final game, wherein he died).
- Who is that woman in the flashback?
(John's ex-wife, though then-wife, Jill)
- What was in that envelope that Amanda reads?
(No specifics, but we know that Hoffman wrote it... according to the director, that's all we need to know).
- What happened to Jeff after the end if Saw III?
(He was shot by Agent Strahm immediately afterwards).
- What was with that wax-coated tape?
(John swallowed it so that it could be found during his autopsy in order to begin a new game with Hoffman).
- What happened to Jeff's daughter?
(Hoffman brings her out to safety).
- Is Agent Perez still alive?
(No).
- Was Rigg being set up as a new apprentice and/or is he still alive?
(No... because he's dead).
- What was with that box of glass in one of the flashbacks?
(It was for a 'trap' and/or safety case for Strahm)
- What happened to Agent Strahm since he was locked in the room with Jigsaw's body, though we know Jigsaw is eventually found due to the autopsy?
(He found a door, got put in a trap, saved himself, and was found by the police, along with Jigsaw's body).

10.23.2008

Five Days Of Saw: Saw IV.

Yup... you know the drill by now. If you haven't seen the previous three, consider this spoiler-town.

----------------

When I first saw this one in theater, I really didn’t know what to think about it (except quite a few negative things), mostly due to its confusing and overly complicated nature. Like the others, the movie picks up right where the previous left off with John/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) getting an autopsy. Then it flashes over to a couple other guys in a coliseum-type place, chained together, one with his eyes sewed shut and the other with just his mouth sewed shut, who are to fight to the death (because they can’t seem to work together). Then there’s the story of Detective Rigg (Lyriq Bent), the only one left on the original team who is still alive/active. He’s been recruited to play the next Jigsaw game, which is to have him think/act like Jigsaw thinks/acts in order to save the still-alive Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), as well as the captured Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor). Meanwhile, Special Agents Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Perez (Athena Karkanis) are trying to find Rigg and stop things once and for all at all costs, including questioning John’s ex-wife, Jill (Betsy Russell).


Again, like I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, the best things about this movie are the camera work/editing and the continuity (and Tobin Bell’s acting). Not only does it connect things/people back to Saw 2 and 3, but it continues to explain countless things about John’s history, from the clown doll to the pig obsession and even more on how he became the way he did. I haven’t seen any other horror/thriller series that’s put this much backstory and time into their villains in order to make them so deep and involved. You can’t say Jigsaw is a shallow villain, because every little detail about him is explained, every little psychological tick is explored.


The other characters aren’t as deep, unfortunately. Sure, Rigg has been around since the second movie, but he hasn’t ever had this much screen time before now. More of his psychology was explored, though, but nothing beyond the surface level.


And while I loved the story and character depth this film portrayed (because this one was almost entirely about story and characters over blood and traps), the part that messed everything up for me was the twist ending(s). I’ve always said a twist can either make or break a film, and this one nearly breaks it. First of all, there were two main twists, and one of them was highly predictable. The other twist wasn’t even plot related, but instead chronologically/development related, meaning that there were no clues or anything to help the audience along. And by the time you realize what’s going on, you still have no idea. I was confused for so long after I saw the film for the first time and had no idea what had just happened. That’s not a good thing.


However, the movie continues to grow on me with every viewing. I focus more and more on the character depth and story development instead, and I also understand the ending, so it isn’t as annoying as it was the first time I saw it. If I would have reviewed this last year when I first saw it, it would have had a much lower score. But now that I’ve seen it a few times now and can review it with a more opened mind, it’s gonna be relatively higher than it normally would have been. For that reason, and that reason only, it’s getting the following score.


Photobucket
I Am McLovin!


The following segments involve spoilers:

Questions Raised Thus Far:


- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon (Saw)?

- As such, now that we know he turns survivors into apprentices, will he do the same with Dr. Gordon (after all, the -surgeon- in the video at the beginning was -limping-); Also, now that we know survivors can also be re-gamed, will Dr. Gordon just be used for another game (Saw II and Saw IV)?

- What the heck happened to Danny Matthews (Saw II)?

- How is Obi connected to Jigsaw, as he helped him gather all the people into the house, and as he's seen running in a flashback near John and a woman (Saw II and Saw III)?

- What is that key to that was around Amanda's neck (Saw III)?

- What happened to Jeff's daughter (Saw III)?

- Is Agent Perez still alive (Saw IV)?

- Was Rigg being set up as a new apprentice and/or is he still alive (Saw IV)?

- What was with that box of glass in one of the flashbacks (Saw IV)?

- What happened to Agent Strahm since he was locked in the room with Jigsaw's body, though we know Jigsaw is eventually found due to the autopsy (Saw IV)?



Questions Answered Thus Far:
- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?
(He turns her into his apprentice)
- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?
(Amanda kills him via suffocation).
- What's with all the pig stuff?
(John was obsessed with Chinese New Year and made his first victim during the Year of the Pig).
- What the heck happens to Detective Matthews now and/or is he still alive?
(He escaped capture, was re-captured, and kept alive to be used in one final game, wherein he died).
- Who is that woman in the flashback?
(John's ex-wife, though then-wife, Jill)
- What was in that envelope that Amanda reads?
(No specifics, but we know that Hoffman wrote it... according to the director, that's all we need to know).
- What happened to Jeff after the end if Saw III?
(He was shot by Agent Strahm immediately afterwards).
- What was with that wax-coated tape?
(John swallowed it so that it could be found during his autopsy in order to begin a new game with Hoffman).

10.22.2008

Five Days Of Saw: Saw III.

Again, spoilers ahoy if you haven't seen the previous films.

----------------

I always felt Saw III was one of the more simplistic to explain in the series, but after seeing it yet again, this time with a review in mind, I’ve realized how complicated it actually gets. This movie picks up right where the previous left off (like… exactly), where Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is trapped in the bathroom. Then it switches over to show a few other detectives, including Detective Kerry (Dina Meyer), Detective Rigg (Lyriq Bent), and Forensic Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) are investigating a new supposed Jigsaw victim, thinking it could be the missing Detective Matthews. But then they aren’t even sure it’s Jigsaw, but instead maybe a copycat, because there would have been no way for the victim to have survived. Enter at least one more (really cool) scene with Detective Kerry, then switch over to Lynn (Bahar Soomekh), a doctor with apparent husband troubles. Well, she gets kidnapped and set up by Jigsaw/John (Tobin Bell) and Amanda (Shawnee Smith) and is told to play a game, which is to keep John alive long enough for yet another person to finish yet another game. Enter Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), an alcoholic who lost his son to, ironically, a drunk driver that didn’t get (according to Jeff) the punishment he deserved. So all of this plays all together while, simultaneously, we are entreated to flashbacks that further explain John’s history, Amanda’s history, and some other things from the first Saw movie.


First I have to talk about the continuity. Love or hate these films, they have some of the best freakin continuity of any film series ever. It’s almost as if each film were done at the same time or with everything in mind, when none of that is true (the only things they had in mind while filming any of these were dealt with things in Saw 3 and 4). But there is some seriously amazing continuity and explanations, which is one reason I completely love this series. It’s not about the traps for me, really, but about the story and the characters and how everything fits together. It’s all like a big jigsaw puzzle (pun intended), with each movie adding another piece to the overall puzzle.


Anyway, about this movie specifically, my opinion is that it’s a few notches below the first. It concentrates more on plot and characters than traps and gore, though there is some intense stuff. It’s more like a mix of the first and second, with heavier influence from the first. Unfortunately, the twists (sans one) were all incredibly easy to figure out. As for the traps themselves, only one of them has ever bugged me, which is the freezer trap. There’s no way she can get into the state she got into like that in such a short amount of time in the predicament she was in (to be vague). It just seemed way too fantastical for me.


Otherwise, the only other comments I have are with the camera and editing again. It’s some really cool stuff. There’s more quick shots like in the first one, and there’s some more one-shot transition scenes, which are really awesome (for instance, toward the beginning, there’s a crime scene area where the camera hangs out around in and goes through, then it goes down the room, through the hall, and ends up in a house and in a bathroom to show Detective Kerry in the bathtub, even though she was just at the crime scene. According to the commentary, she had to run backstage, strip her clothes, and jump into the bathtub in that whole quick bit, just in time for the camera to see her already in the water. Brilliance). So yeah, it’s not as brilliant as the first one, but it’s one of the better ones in the series thus far (in my opinion).


Photobucket
A Keanu 'Whoa'

The following segments involve spoilers:

Questions Raised Thus Far:

- What's with all the pig stuff (Saw, Saw II, and Saw III)?

- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon (Saw)?

- As such, now that we know he turns survivors into apprentices, will he do the same with Dr. Gordon (after all, the -surgeon- in the video at the beginning was -limping-) (Saw II)?

- What the heck happens to Detective Matthews now (Saw II) and/or is he still alive? (Saw II and Saw III)

- What the heck happened to Danny Matthews (Saw II)?

- How is Obi connected to Jigsaw, as he helped him gather all the people into the house, and as he's seen running in a flashback near John and a woman (Saw II and Saw III)?

- Who is that woman in the flashback (Saw III)?

- What was in that envelope that Amanda reads (Saw III)?

- What is that key to that was around Amanda's neck (Saw III)?

- What happened to Jeff after the end (Saw III)?

- What happened to Jeff's daughter (Saw III)?

- What was with that wax-coated tape (Saw III)?



Questions Answered Thus Far:
- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?
(He turns her into his apprentice)
- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?
(Amanda kills him via suffocation).

10.21.2008

Five Days Of Saw: Saw II.

Warning: This review contains some spoilers, mostly only if you haven't seen the first one yet.

----------------


What happens when you take a good premise and add a new director/writer to its sequel? In my opinion, you get one of the weakest installments in the series. Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is still on the loose, though not due to a lack of trying from Detective Kerry (Dina Meyer), Detective Rigg (Lyriq Bent), or Detective Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg). This time, however, Jigsaw’s newest victim brings Detective Matthews to the forefront, teasing clues in front of his face until he decides to come and find him. And when he finally does, Jigsaw reveals not everything is as easy as just taking him in. In fact, in another room are some security monitors that show a select group of people locked inside a dilapidated old house including previous victim/survivor Amanda (Shawnee Smith) and Detective Matthews’ son, Daniel (Erik Knudsen). The people in the house have three hours until the front doors open; unfortunately, they only have two hours to live with a deadly neuro-toxin coursing through their bodies, though the antidotes are spread throughout the house (within various traps). But if Detective Eric Matthews wants to see his son again, all Jigsaw wants him to do is sit and have a little chat. It’s too bad the detective has a bit of an anger issue and finds that a bit harder than anticipated.


As I said, I feel that Saw II is one of the weakest installments in the series thus far. And when most people think of the Saw films, their minds always seem to think more along the lines of this movie than the first. The reason for that is because this movie deals more with the traps and gore than it does with plot and character. Each character in the house, with the exception of Amanda and to an extent Daniel, is a very flat character with no real given story. Detective Matthews is at least somewhat complex, or else he would be had he not continually resorted to violence over and over again and had no real character growth (though, technically, that’s the entire point, so I can’t really fuss on that). I think the only reason the movie is still enjoyable is because Leigh Whannell stuck around as a co-writer and executive producer/advisor (I believe former director James Wan stuck around as an executive producer, as well).


And even though this movie is far more disturbing/bloody than the previous, its traps are still only few and far between. All the traps shown are really just the opening Venus flytrap, the gun, the furnace, the needle pit, and the hand trap (and in essence, the house itself and its inhabitance could also be considered traps). The only one to show any blood are the first two and the last one (and the coughing caused by the toxin, but that’s nothing), and even those are relatively mild due to zippy editing. Though there is a bit of weaponry used, too, but still…


And speaking of editing, this movie still does it very well, even with a new director. In fact, this new director makes use of even more interesting camera transitions and whatnot, where an actor can start on one set and end up on another without the camera cutting. I know he tries to do it at least a couple times in each movie, and I think that’s really cool. However, on the brief subject of music, I think the Saw theme wasn’t used to its advantage here and was used in the wrong spot of the film.


And then there are the twists. There are three of them in this movie, and I remember figuring out two of the three in theater. The one that I thought was the cleverest (because it’s the one I didn’t figure out) was the one involving Daniel, but I won’t go into specifics, just in case.


I know I’m speaking quite negatively about this one, but I don’t hate it. The acting is good, especially with Tobin Bell. He acts circles around everybody else in the entire series, and I think the whole thing would fail epically without him. I just think that the movie should have focused more on character and plot, like they did in the first film, instead of focusing on the traps and gore. Fortunately, there was a Saw III to fix this up… but until then, I was stuck with Saw II.


Photobucket
I Am McLovin!

Other reviews:
Here is a review by a fellow blogger who shares my sentiments (and more) on this film. Be cautioned, though... his review is a lot more spoilerific than mine, as it's along the lines of a comedic summary: Invasion of the B Movies: Saw II.

The following segments involve spoilers:


Questions Raised Thus Far:

- What's with all the pig stuff (Saw and Saw II)?

- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter (Saw)?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon (Saw)?

- As such, now that we know he turns survivors into apprentices, will he do the same with Dr. Gordon (after all, the -surgeon- in the video at the beginning was -limping-) (Saw II)?

- What the heck happens to Detective Matthews now (Saw II)?

- What the heck happened to Danny Matthews (Saw II)?

- How is Obi connected to Jigsaw, as he helped him gather all the people into the house (Saw II)?



Questions Answered Thus Far:
- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?
(He turns her into his apprentice)
- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?
(We know he dies, but are unsure how).

10.20.2008

Five Days Of Saw: Saw.

It was a movie that started a franchise; a film that I felt was so freakin predictable that I was blown out of my seat by it’s stunning ending. Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and Adam (Leigh Whannell) wake up in a grungy, filthy bathroom, chained by their ankles on opposite ends, and with a body in the middle of the room in a puddle of blood and a gun in his hand. They discover that they’re in a game set up by Jigsaw, a man who sets ungrateful people up in fatal traps/situations in order to get them to further appreciate life to its fullest. Along for the ride are the paranoid Detective Tapp (Danny Glover), the hospital orderly Zep (Michael Emerson), Detective Kerry (Dina Meyer), Detective Sing (Ken Leung), and a list of other victims, including survivor Amanda (Shawnee Smith). But the current situation shows Dr. Gordon and Adam that they have until a certain time to follow the rules set up, and the rules are thus: Dr. Gordon’s wife and daughter are being held captive, and if he wants to be set free and see them again, he must find a way to kill Adam before time runs out. And how can he get free if he needs to? Well, there’s a pair of hacksaws that can be used to cut off your foot and set you free…


When I first saw this movie, I thought I had it figured out before I even reached the halfway point. I thought it was going to end like every other Hollywood horror movie, wherein the twist at the end was overly simple to figure out, the good guys would get free, and everything would end just fine. Boy was I wrong. Not only did nothing end happily ever after, but the twist ending quickly joined what I feel is the top five twist endings of all time.


The movie is in no way, shape, or form torture porn, as most ignorantly label it. Hell, it’s only moderately gorier than your weekly episodes of CSI. The traps in this movie are pretty tame, especially in comparison to the later movies. And it isn’t killing for the sake of killing. Jigsaw is actually a pretty well thought-out character (again, especially as shown in the later films), and he only sets traps up for people who are wasting away their lives in order to teach them appreciation and self-respect. This movie is intelligent horror, not brainless blood and death.

The acting is usually the wobbly ground for most people. Either Cary Elwes or Leigh Whannell are the big complaints, but I personally didn’t see any major issues with either of them. And for two guys with thick foreign accents (British and Australian, respectively), they both held American accents nicely (though if you pay close attention to the opening scenes, you can hear Leigh break accent once or twice). I also think Michael Emerson can play a really intense character no matter what he’s doing (see: LOST).


And then there’s the cinematography and music. The way the camera is used in these films, along with editing techniques, is like an art form (well… it is… but you know what I mean). From the intensity of the Reverse Bear Trap scene with Amanda to the now patented “Seizure flashback” that occurs at the end of each film, the camera/editing is done masterfully. Coincidentally, as I write this, the main Saw theme started playing on my playlist, just in time for me to bring up the music! The main theme is now classic, to me. It’s even being used in other film trailers (much like another modern classic theme from another movie, Requiem for a Dream). I really adore this theme song, from it’s slow build to it’s huge crescendo, increasing and increasing further until the massive shocking end, then BAM, it ends, just like the film. Thank you Charlie Clouser for creating such a hauntingly amazing theme.


So overall, this is one of my favorite horror/suspense films. It has a great story, great cinematography, great editing, great music, and a great ending. There’s really not much else I can say about this first film. I really recommend it.


Photobucket
Royale With Cheese


The following segment involves spoilers:


Questions Raised Thus Far:

- What's with all the pig stuff?

- Who the heck was the guy in the drill-to-the-neck trap and what did he do?

- Does Jigsaw just let Amanda go live her life now that she survived?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon's wife and daughter?

- What the heck ever happened to Dr. Gordon?

- Does Adam just die of starvation, dehydration, and/or blood loss?

10.19.2008

The Five Days Of Saw.

If you haven't read my latest installment of The Student Teacher Chronicles, you can find it right below this.

-----------------------------

So I've been planning this out for nearly 10 months now, and it's finally coming to fruition. This Friday, Saw V is coming to theaters. Amazingly enough, I've not done any full reviews for the first four Saw films. Therefore, starting tomorrow (Monday), I am going to be posting one review a day for each of the films up through Thursday, and then I'll be able to see and review the newest installment on Friday.

I was originally asking for other people's reviews of the first four films so I could post them up along with mine, but I didn't really get any responses (I advertised elsewhere, which was probably one mistake). So I guess I'm just going to be posting mine and that's it.

But instead, I'll add a little something to the bottom of each review. I'll ask the questions each film leaves us with and, after the first film, take an answer off and put the answer if it has been given one. That way, by the time I've gotten through the fourth film, I'll have a nice list of questions still floating around out there that need to be answered within the next two films (because I believe I heard there are only going to be six). With that being said, there will be some spoilers in these reviews, so be wary if you haven't seen them (I'll try to mark off the spots where I'll have major spoilers).

So anyway, there we are. There will not be a DVDs or Death! or P.E.S.T. this week (I suppose you can count this as a P.E.S.T. entry). So here is the pretty basic/simplistic schedule for this week:

Monday - Saw.
Tuesday - Saw II.
Wednesday - Saw III.
Thursday - Saw IV.
Friday - Saw V.

Yeah... pretty simple. Anywho, I hope you enjoy it. And I hope this makes up a little bit for the fact I haven't been around too much lately.

The Student Teacher Chronicles - Week Eight.

It’s a week of surprises, break-ups, and… limbo? So this week, at least the beginning of the week, started out like “The Break-Up Week.” It started on Sunday when one of my students in Creative Writing, who is also on my MySpace, starts posting bulletins and whatnot being ambiguously upset about somebody, and I pretty much figured who it was, because I knew she was dating a guy that’s also in my Creative Writing class, and they started off having issues. So I had the pleasure of comforting her and cheering her up, which wasn’t too difficult, as I’ve had an insane amount of practice over the years.

But anyway, that was just the beginning… the week only started there…


Monday


Monday was a teacher work day, so there were no students, but all of us teachers were there. I get there a little before 8 AM, and I get to start the day off with a huge faculty meeting in the cafeteria. It started off with some woman talking about some organization or whatever that I don’t think anybody really paid attention to (mostly because it was early in the morning on a Monday, and she was asking teachers to give her money). Then the principal came back and talked for a bit before splitting the teachers into groups, splitting us up between the two cafeterias. Then we had to work together on giving ideas to fix up specific things (our group had parent/teacher contact, so we talked a lot about bettering Open House and stuff like that). Then we went back to the other cafeteria before being split up again into the other cafeteria and having to work on checking out whether or not different subjects’ work was using Higher Order Thinking Skills. After that, we all went to lunch, and I went with a few of the other teachers. Then we came back early (mostly because he gave us a 2-hour lunch break, which is insane), and we worked in the classroom for a while before having to go back to the cafeteria at 1 PM to wrap things up. At 1, we did a quick activity wherein we grouped up and came up with a nursery rhyme or fairy tale that we liked, and then came up with one question for each of the levels of Bloom’s. We went with “Ring around the rosies,” and came up with some very disturbing (though hilarious) questions (because it’s a very disturbing rhyme). After that, we just went back to our classrooms and worked on stuff for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the copy machine broke yet again (gasp), so we couldn’t make copies. But I was out of there by about 3:30 or a little after.


Tuesday


Tuesday started off with me having to wake up a little earlier so I could be at the school a little earlier in order to go to a Safe and Civil Schools meeting with my mentor teacher. Then during first period, I made some copies with a possessed copy machine in the upstairs teachers lounge of the building while the downstairs one got repaired. Then I gave up on that machine (spitting papers out like jettisons) and tried the downstairs one again, as it had finally been fixed. I had a little bit more luck, but only just a little. Enough to keep my sanity. Then second through fifth period, I just introduced the weekly homework assignment and then they worked on their essays for the rest of class (unless they needed to catch up on something else they were missing).

However, this is also where the break-up games continued. So I find out fourth period that this girl, who had already told me she’d been having issues, finally broke up with her boyfriend. So I had to spend a small portion of fourth period cheering her up, which—again—I did quite easily. Then fifth period, I find out that this guy who is dating a girl in my sixth period (Creative Writing) just broke up with her, and she’s that really shy sensitive girl I’ve brought up before, so I started getting worried there. So I spent the majority of sixth period (after I started them on their work) consoling her, as well, though that took a bit more effort. But I finally got her cheerful and positive by the end of class, so it was a success.

The biggest surprise of the day, however, came from (or about, rather) this guy in fifth period. Again, I bring up this guy all the time—it’s the guy we really like, though he talks quite a bit. Well, it turns out that this guy is from Puerto Rico and English is his second language, though you’d never be able to tell that. He speaks (with no accent whatsoever) and writes (sometimes poetically) very fluently. However, he informed my mentor teacher that he thinks completely in Spanish, so he’s been having a lot of issues in other classes, primarily History and Chemistry. But here’s the deal: He has to ride the bus in the morning; he has to work construction as soon as fifth period is over (he’s in a work-day program) in order to pay utilities and take care of a young son; and he can’t tell his mom that he’s struggling, because she refuses to believe or accept it. So he’s asked his other teachers if he can come into their classes during lunch for extra help, but they’ve given their grumpy answers of “No… I’m not giving up my lunch.” And because the history teacher can work with him a bit more, we went to find him some help for chemistry, which we eventually did, so that’s worked out fine thus far. But we also came across his math teacher, who is this totally disgruntled expletive deleted. She started going off about him, and I was like “No way… we can’t be talking about the same kid.” But it’s like my mentor teacher has always said… kids are always better in her classroom than with other teachers, because she knows how to treat them (in other words… she’s a great teacher and actually likes being around these kids). So yeah… that part of the day totally blew my mind. But I’m so glad we’ve gotten him help now. He’s incredibly smart and has great ambitions… he just needs that helping hand.

Anyway, the rest of the afternoon wasn’t anything special. We just worked on random stuff and were out of there by about 4:30 (or a little sooner).


Wednesday


No student teaching this day due to student teacher seminar and job fair. However, I was basically offered a job at a local middle school for an eighth grade English position to start pretty much ASAP (January, as it were).


Thursday


So I talked to my mentor teacher about the job, and she was super thrilled about it (as was every other teacher I mentioned it to), so I guess I’m going to be taking the position if offered. The only ones that freaked out when I told them were some of the students. What really threw me off was when some of the most ghetto kids around were telling me “Oh God, that school’s bad.” And then I had another guy from a different class tell me that I’d have to get all “Oh Captain, My Captain” with them, which I thought was great. I’m so going to be a movie teacher.

Anyway, more about the day. First period (English 3 AP) I actually did some teaching for once. I began teaching them Rhetorical Analysis for essays, and they seemed to get it pretty well (even if I found it slightly complicated myself). It’s a super structured/organized format/formula, and my brain just doesn’t work like that. But I have to teach it anyway, so there we are. Anyway, that actually went fairly well.

Second through fifth period were super easy. All they did was continue with their own essays at whatever stage of the writing process they were at. Though I did discover that two completely different students in two different classes had gotten robbed recently. One’s house got robbed on Tuesday, and the other got basically jumped at gunpoint sometimes recently and got about ten bucks stolen from him (the only money he’s had for weeks)… and the sad part is, he’s pretty sure he knows the guy who jumped him.

The biggest surprise of the regular classes, though, was that in fifth period, this one girl who is quite ‘learning modification’ with stuff and has difficulties grasping a lot of information was the only person ahead of the game and had a bunch of stuff done with her essay, whereas a lot of other people in the class didn’t even have a rough draft written. This is the same girl I’ve mentioned before where I gained some kind of random connection with her and I wasn’t sure where I got it from. So that was exciting. And another exciting moment was learning why she was having some difficulties. I got to read her narrative essay, and she wrote about a time when she had this ‘lightbulb moment’, wherein she finally understood something she didn’t before. Well, it was about how she was having trouble in math and couldn’t follow her teacher’s lectures or anything, but then she opened up her textbook, saw visual models of how to do things, and got it almost immediately. I discovered right then that she’s a visual learner and told her this information (because she didn’t grasp the concept fully) and told her how to use that to her advantage.

Sixth period wasn’t anything overly special. They continued with vocabulary and started on a new poem form, the Cinquain. That was about it. During seventh period conference, however, things got a little uncomfortable. Every now and then my mentor teacher slips into a bad or overly stressed mood, which makes things highly uncomfortable for me (mostly because I always feel I’ve done something wrong, because she gets very quiet and internal, which is not like her whatsoever). This happened today as soon as we hit seventh period conference, because she suddenly became overwhelmed with a load of things she had to get done. So I started working on what I had to teach first period the next day (which was stressful on me, because it was more stuff that my brain couldn’t handle because it was way too outlined and structured, while I was making full sentences using a few unconnected words and some randomly connected lines). I really feel a lot of the time that this is like a student teacher boot camp. I knew there was a teacher copy with some answers already in it; however, she was having me do everything myself (like I needed the stress) so I could get on the student level and do and know exactly what they have to do and know. It was around this time again that I felt eighth grade might not be so bad, because I wouldn’t feel as stressed about the students knowing more than I do or having to teach things I know nothing about. But anyway, it was tough because I didn’t want to ask a lot of questions to my mentor teacher, as she was in this bad mood and I always feel like she’ll be quietly getting annoyed at me and thinking I’m stupid for not knowing this information already. But she finally helped me about a bit and then let me go a little after 4:30 or so.


Friday


This day wasn’t bad at all. I taught first period again, and that went pretty well (though I didn’t really ‘do’ much). Second through fifth periods just worked on writing essays, vocab test re-takes, and homework. Sixth period just worked on vocab and poetry. I didn't get out until a little after 5 due to grading and stuff, but it flew by really fast. That’s seriously about it. The coolest thing about today is that my mentor teacher and I had (based on an idea I randomly had and she totally went with) every student limbo on their way in (and sometimes out) of the classroom. At first we were just using my arm. Then we got this fold-up-type chair and used it as the pole. A lot of the student really went at it, but some cheated and just ducked under or knocked the ‘pole’ out of the way to get through. But yeah, that was really fun, especially when they got into it. We would even keep them out in the hall after the bell had rung and wait for them to do it (if they were embarrassed or whatever). It was great. Later on in the day, some of them really got into it and kept having us make it lower and lower to see how they would do. Next Friday, we’ve decided that every student has to dance on their way in (and nobody can do a dance that’s already been done within that class). It should be fun.

10.18.2008

MAX PAYNE.

Most of the reviews I’ve read out there for this movie have been from huge fans of the video game. Well, now you have one from somebody who has never even played the game at all. Three years after Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) lost his wife and baby to robbers/murderers, he’s still on the case trying to find the third member of the people who did it. Along the way he gets help from his old partner, Alex (Donal Logue); a mysterious woman, Mona (Mila Kunis); an old friend, BB (Beau Bridges); and a detective, Jim Bravura (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges). They slowly start to discover that his family’s murder is tied to another set of gruesome murders that are linked together by some kind of Valkyrie tattoo and drug.


I’m not exactly sure what to say about this movie. It was bizarre, to say the least. As for characters, none of them show much of any development with the exception of maybe Detective Bravura, but that’s mostly because of how his character figures things out. The character of Mona seems random and unexplained. I had no idea who or what she was (Super gangster? Assassin? Government?) until I read up on the imdb summary that she was an assassin. Nothing about her character is explained, and her sister seemed to only be there as a plot device. The same thing went for Alex; he was only in the movie for plot development and nothing else. There were other characters like this, too, but I’ll leave it at that for now. And another thing that was never explained in too much detail were the Valkyries. Were they real or just hallucinations? It was as if some of the stuff could have been explained had they been fake, though some of the things would be pushing it. And if they were just hallucinations, why push their involvement so much toward the ending? Just for neat special effects?


And speaking of special effects, they really were done very well. Visually, the movie was amazing, from the special effects to the cinematography. Though I was kind of upset with the fact that the awesome ‘snow-on-the-gun’ scene as shown in the trailer wasn’t in the movie. I know exactly where the scene would have been, too, but it looks like they used a different (and less cool) cut. Oh well. But they did almost overuse slow motion/bullet time. And I don’t mean that in the way that it was all over the place, but rather when it was used, it was used for too long at a time. For instance, in one scene where Max bends backwards to shoot somebody, the whole thing is in slow motion, so a scene that normally would have taken one or two seconds takes nearly an entire minute to get through.


To take this a step further and discuss acting, I would have to say that it actually wasn’t bad. Everybody did a pretty good job, from Marky Mark to Ludacris and even Mila Kunis (though she seemed to be a bit awkward in the role of a badass). Oh, and the random appearance by Chris O’Donnell was fun. I hadn’t seen him in a movie since… hell… he played Robin. And even he did a pretty good job for his small role. And are there any Heroes fans out there? There’s a brief scene (seriously, about 10-15 seconds) that has the actress who plays Daphne in the new season. At least, I swear it was her. Anyway, that was just a random catch.


The biggest negatives that the movie has been getting have dealt with the super slow beginning and/or lack of action. The trailer shows the movie to be this non-stop, sci-fi /horror, action flick, and it isn’t. The whole first half of the movie is mystery/noir, and it builds up very slowly. However, this didn’t really bother me too much. But then again, I don’t mind some slow mystery to my action movies and don’t need non-stop mindless explosions for it to be a good film. The last half of the movie, though, is where the action really picks up, and it’s all pretty cool, though I think the climax was highly underdone and could have been a lot more fulfilling.


Overall, it was an interesting, though slightly confusing at times, movie. It could have done with more character development and a bit more explanations of things, as well. Also, that ‘almost-nudity’ toward the beginning was harsh. It reminded me a lot of Underworld 2 wherein the camera was in just the right spots to miss exactly everything. It was a rough PG-13 anyway… it should have pushed it a little further. But that’s just me. It wasn’t the greatest movie in the world, but definitely not the worst. And if you know Norse mythology (like me), or you’re just observant, the first big twist in the movie won’t really come as a shocker. And if you’re a fan of movies whatsoever, the second twist won’t come as a shock, either, because it’s the kind of thing that’s pulled all the time. Otherwise, fun action and great visuals.


Photobucket
I Am McLovin!

10.16.2008

P.E.S.T.

I really have no good excuse. I've just felt really lazy (and/or tired) recently and haven't felt like blogging too much. That's why I skipped DVDs Or Death! this week... but I figure I'll make it up with a good round of Pre-Emptive Strike Thursday!

-----------------

Title: W.

Pre-Thoughts: I'm not sure. On the one hand, it's a movie about George W. Bush. On the other hand, it's a movie about George W. Bush. The trailers don't show too much, but you can't judge a movie like that. The last time I saw a movie that had a trailer that showed absolutely nothing, it turned out great (Burn After Reading). So, again... dunno.

Pre-Score:
Photobucket
I Am McLovin!



Title: Max Payne.

Pre-Thoughts: I really want to see this movie. I've only read one review for it thus far, and it was a negative one, but it was also a review from somebody on imdb (strike one) that is a hardcore fan of the video game (strike two). I think the movie looks visually stunning and really entertaining. And as I've never played the video game, I won't have that point of reference to complain from. And as I've been saying, this looks to be like for Mark Wahlberg what The Matrix was for Keanu. And I really hope it is.

Pre-Score:
Photobucket
A Keanu 'Whoa'



Title: Sex Drive.

Pre-Thoughts: Again, mixed reviews for this thus far. It's either incredibly boring and stupid, or incredibly hilarious and awesome. I've heard it's been compared to the likes of Road Trip and EuroTrip, though not even remotely as dirty (in fact, quite clean), but I still love me some EuroTrip, so I might check it out. Plus, it has a co-starring role with the actor that plays Dale on Greek, so that'd be fun. The most I've seen from him elsewhere is magical-appearing party-goer in Superbad. We'll see.

Pre-Score:
Photobucket
I Am McLovin!



Title: The Secret Life of Bees.

Pre-Thoughts: What can I say? I've seen one preview for this, and it looked pretty good... even though Dakota Fanning looked even more anorexic and creepy than usual. But it's not coming out here, so I won't be seeing it anyway. Oh well.

Pre-Score:
Photobucket
A Keanu 'Whoa'

10.12.2008

The Student Teacher Chronicles: Week Seven.

Oh yeah, I'm freakin awesome. Here's Week Seven.

Monday


What a day, what a day. So I get to do my usual Monday ritual of loads of copies in the morning, which, as per usual, spilled over into first period. But it only did so because I keep having to stop to let other teachers get in front of me and copy stuff right quick. But then I unfortunately let two disgruntled math teachers go ahead of me (apparently the copy machine upstairs was down). The first one had what seemed to be close to 200 copies, so I had to stand there waiting while she did nothing but moan and complain and be all disgruntled or whatnot (and the sad part was that she was still a young teacher). I had to leave at one point to help my mentor teacher model peer editing for first period, but then I went back only to find another teacher from one of the portable buildings (because that copy machine was down, as well) just start to copy stuff. But she was much nicer and actually talked to me instead of ignored me completely. So after that, I finished up my copies and went back to first period.

Second period I sat back and watched my mentor teacher do her thing, which thankfully I got to see, because she went off to make even more copies during third period, so I was left to teach them everything. Then fourth period came, which is so awkward with the whole Def Con 3 thing. I hate having to enforce this ‘third grade discipline’, mostly because it’s just a major hassle for everybody involved, and all you get is blank faces staring back at you.

But the interesting part of the day started after lunch when we came back for the second half of fourth period. So I continued on with them while my mentor teacher was out of the room. But then the next thing I know, she’s coming into the room on her cell phone not looking too well, and she ends up telling me that she has to leave to go to this eye doctor appointment because something was wrong (as I found out later, she had some kind of inflammatory issue behind one of her eyes, and so she went straight home after the doctor). So for the rest of the day, I’m there completely alone. It wasn’t as scary as it sounds, but it was still an interesting experience. Some of the other teachers were really nice and told me that they were right down the hall if I needed anything, so that was good. I just had two periods left anyway, and I know I can handle sixth period.

But it was fifth period that drove me crazy. There’s just a handful of people who won’t stop acting up, and it was getting to the point today when even the rest of the class was getting on one of the guys who couldn’t stop joking around (even the other guys who have trouble shutting up got on this guy for not shutting up… that’s how bad it got). I just had a lot of management issues with them that it drove me crazy.

Sixth period was fine. We started the poetry unit. I’m all freaked out now because I don’t know too much about teaching poetry, but my mentor teacher dropped a whole bunch of stuff on me that she’d like me to do starting this week, and it totally all contradicts all the plans I’d come up with myself, so I’ll have to go back and re-plan everything, which is a pain. But anyway, as for the class, I had them do a journal entry thing that was to write a poem that described their feet, but my mentor teacher gave me the idea that they had to do it using candy bars as descriptors. They basically worked on that the entire class. I also told them to bring their favorite poems (and if they didn’t have one, I had a book of poetry they could look through) for the week for them to read dramatically. I read them one of my favorite poems, “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe. Oh, and they also turned in their final drafts of their short stories, which I now have to go through and grade (I got one done… I just had to read the short story written by the girl who thinks she’s the best writer ever known to man. Let’s just say… she’s not).

I did reading/grading stuff during the conference period. I read the one aforementioned short story and graded it, then I read an essay that another teacher let me read from one of her students that was freakin mind-blowing (from a total ghetto kid, I think… quite a few grammar errors and such, but the descriptions and similes and all that were stunning… and I don’t mean just for somebody his age, but for young writers in general). I also tried and failed to help another teacher with SBEC issues, and I sort of helped the foreign exchange student from first period after school. Then I left early when I found out my mentor teacher wasn’t coming back. That was about it.

Tuesday


Tuesday wasn’t too bad of a day. Started off by making a few copies for sixth period, and then I made more copies for second through fifth that my mentor teacher hadn’t finished making the previous day.

I didn’t really do much for first period, as they were already working on stuff by the time I settled down in the room. Oh, and I also helped create a new seating chart for fifth period. Second period I just watched my mentor teacher work on the day’s stuff with the class (which was basically going over voice and word choice for essays and showing examples of what a 1 or 2 scoring for an essay looks like). Third period I took over and worked with them with my mentor teacher out of the room. My supervisor also came during this period, which I had completely forgotten about until she walked through the door (so that made it a bit more nerve-wreaking). I kept feeling like I was forgetting something, but I wasn’t, so it’s all good. She left happily as usual, and I think I got some bonus points because one of the students told her as she was walking in that I was a really good teacher. Fourth period was much of the same, except with a bit more trouble on keeping their attention the whole classroom management thing.

Fifth period went into “Def Con 2,” which isn’t as hardcore as Def Con 3. It included keeping the lights on in the room and having new seating arrangements for most of them. The reason we didn’t go full out Def Con 3 was that it was only a select few of them that had been acting up, and we didn’t want to punish the entire class horribly for the actions of a few. But while I was doing my teaching thing, my mentor teacher called each student out into the hall one at a time and, if they were one of the disorderly kids, she gave them a talk and asked them to apologize, etc. If they weren’t a disorderly kid, I believe she told them about their awesomeness and stuff like that (which I think she did with the disorderlies, as well… because they aren’t bad kids at all, and most of them are fun, but they just get out of hand). The only downside is that the one guy who I really like in that class, though he was one of the bigger disorderly kids, was super upset about the whole scenario and acted all quiet and broody for the rest of class, which was uncomfortable. Other than that, though, it was fine.

And then sixth period was fine, as usual. Those who had their favorite poems read those. Then we discussed their big poetry portfolio project for the unit briefly. After that, we discussed Form Poems and they worked on that for the remainder of class. However, the highlight of the class dealt with Crazy Girl. So, she asked me what I thought of her short story, as I told her I had read it. So I sat down near her and looked at her seriously and said “I’m going to give you an option here. I can talk to you about your story and give you helpful criticism/critiques… or I can lie.” So she decided to think about it for a few minutes before she decided she want to hear it, even though she put her fingers in her ears (though she could still hear me). So I started telling her the truth, but not in a mean way. For reference, what is in parenthesis were her responses. The conversation went something like this: “You made 100 based on the criteria. And that’s good. As for other things, ‘such and such’ could have used a bit of work (‘It’s because of how I had to have it written’), ‘that’ was alright, but it could have been ‘this’ (‘I can write so much better than this anyway’), and this was confusing and all over the place (‘no it wasn’t… I understood it fine.’)” and so on and so forth. I gave examples and whatnot, but she had an excuse for everything, even though she had previously been going around saying how proud she was of the story and how everybody else thinks it was awesome (note: her peers that sit around her and are frightened of and/or annoyed by her). And after everything I said, she just got more and more angry, because I was defying her vision of herself (how dare somebody say she’s not perfect). But the kicker was that the girl who sits in front of her was like “I’d like for you to give me some honest critiques of my story” (because I had told her I’d read a couple pages of it already). So I talked to her briefly about her own story, and she was like “Thanks, that’s really helpful, I really appreciate it.” And I responded with something like “I appreciate the fact that you take your criticisms so well and can use them productively.” Then I peaked back at Crazy Girl right before she snapped “I can take them, too! I just need to think first…” And even after the bell rang, she sat in her seat all brooding-like, and the air was all tense and scary. She finally left and I took a deep breath. But she really needs to get her ego-bubble bursted and be shown that she’s not little miss perfect, and I tried to do that in the most professional way possible.

Other than that, the only other thing of note for the day was finding out at lunch, halfway through the day, that my mentor teacher wasn’t going to be there the next day. It was like “Oh, yeah, and I’m not gonna be here tomorrow.” It totally took me aback, and I started getting all panicky, as I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for that. But after school, we went over everything I’d need to know for the next day, so that’s fine. We also paid a visit to one of the Vice Principals and just chatted for a while and updated her on some things. Overall, it was a pretty decent day with its own ups and downs.

Wednesday


Wednesday was a great day, and my mentor teacher wasn’t even there. I started the day making a few copies for later on, and that went fine. The sub that was with me all day seemed to be well known and liked and had stories for everything.

First period, I simply went around and evaluated introductory paragraphs before I started them on the first body paragraph. It was simple, and we all had a good time. Second through fifth periods just had me reading examples of 3 and 4 scored essays (with the exception of third period, who wanted to read them aloud themselves), as well as letting them work on their brainstorming, outlining, and drafting of their essays. The big points for these classes were in fourth and fifth period. In fourth period, I re-talked with them about following these rules more and how ignoring these rules that we set up meant that they’d lose the stuff they’d regained and it could only get worse from there (detentions, etc), but if they acted better, they’d regain more stuff and things would get easier on everybody. They quieted down a lot during class, and everything worked out very well. Fifth period, I talked to the one student who I really liked and was upset with me the previous day and got everything squared out. I explained how I liked him and all that and wasn’t just hating on him, and that I understood it was equally this other guy’s fault, as well, and that I had talked to him, too. We decided to start over on a clean slate, and that worked amazingly well. He even asked for a lot of help, so I sat down with him and really got him going, and he showed me yet again how brilliant he really is if he tries.

Sixth period was just more Form Poetry, and I told them they’d have to pick their favorite Form Poem that they’d written and put it on construction paper to decorate, etc. The biggest issue with sixth period was Crazy Girl, who was still having difficulty adjusting to the fact that somebody (AKA me) didn’t find her writing utterly perfect and magnificent. She moaned that she looked over it all night and couldn’t find anything wrong with it grammatically or anything and how she’s so good at that stuff because she’s the person everybody comes to for help. So she had me act editor on her paper. I sat down and started to circle/underline grammar issues, and it took me ten-fifteen minutes just to get through the first two and a third pages due to all the issues (which really annoyed her even more). So of course none of it was her fault (it was the computer!), and she can not know stuff and make mistakes and still be perfect… who knew? So as class ended, she started getting really immature saying how she was still such a better writer than me and how much I suck at it and all that kind of thing, so I admit to sinking to her level and going all ‘yeah, whatever, no you’re not.’ ‘yes I am’ ‘no… you aren’t.’ It was a sad moment for me, but this girl is seriously in my top three most aggravating people I’ve ever met. If it weren’t for that, my day would have been amazing all around.

Seventh period conference came around and I actually had another teacher come in to get my help on grammar issues. While I was doing that, I was multi-tasking with grading other things, as well. And I thought I was going to get out early, but then my mentor teacher showed up and we talked for a while. Then she had to go to a quick meeting with one of the Vice Principals, so I just sat around in the classroom for a while until one of my fourth period students came in to retake a quiz, so I let him do that. By the time my mentor teacher came back (and I had brooded about Crazy Girl for ages), and we talked about all sorts of things I’m going to do over the next month or so until I’m done student teaching (including yet another book I have to read), it was about 5:45 when I finally left.

However, this day still went amazingly well, and it was one of those days that really made me feel like a teacher.

Thursday


Thursday wasn’t anything special. I got there and my mentor teacher was at a meeting of some sort (over some Harris Survey thing that we’d have to administer during second period). And for whatever reason, she didn’t unlock the door beforehand, so I had to wait for a while for her to get out and come back.

First period went as usual. Second period that survey the entire time. Third through fifth periods tried their hand at scoring essays themselves, and they all did really well. Sixth period just continued working on what they started the previous day. The only major thing of note during class periods was that my mentor teacher left me with subs yet again, this time starting with fourth period, due to having to work only half day and using the other half to work on Scope and Sequence stuff right across the hall in the lounge (and I had a different sub for fourth, fifth, and sixth periods). Management-wise, I had to take up a cell phone from a guy in fourth period, and I talked to another guy in fourth period about a detention because he skipped the second half of class the previous day—I took him out into the hall and asked what would be a good time for him due to his work schedule and stuff, which he told me he would get back to me the next day, and I agreed (he was very agreeable with the whole situation). After that, surprisingly enough, he started reacting to/noticing me a lot more, as he really didn’t before, so that was a big bonus.

Other than that, my supervisor came by during seventh period conference and basically told me how awesome I was. She went on about how it seems other student teachers might have certain little issues here and there that I’m not having issues with, and while I’m not perfect, I’m doing amazingly well and exceeding expectations on a lot of things (which I think she said makes it interesting to score on her reports, because she can’t give full points to me due to nobody being perfect at this, and I know I’m certainly not, but that it was surely fun to watch me or something like that). So now I have three great supervisor reports and I believe two very positive substitute reports in my file with my mentor teacher. In other words… yeah, I’m freakin awesome.

Friday


Not much to report for Friday. Didn’t really do anything during first period, as usual. Second period, I caught them up with what the other regulars did the previous day. Third through fifth periods, we split everybody up into groups and let them do make-up work if necessary. If they didn’t have anything to make up, then they worked on their essays. With the exception of fourth period, I basically helped out the groups that were working on Post Test things, going over it with them and helping them understand why they missed the answers they did and what the correct answers were and why. Sixth period, they basically continued/finished up their Form Poems. Obviously there were numerous interactions and such during the day, but that was about the gist of the class day.

The biggest thing that differed from that was during seventh period conference, we went to the Pep Rally because my mentor teacher decided to play musical chairs. She got about four rounds in before she lost, though the time she was in it was pretty funny (bumping people out of the way and/or onto the floor). Oh, and the super-hyper ADHD Vice Principal Mr. Motley ran out when it was just the last two people, grabbed the chair, and started to dash away. It was hilarious. Otherwise, the drum line was cool, the hip hop dancers were cool, and I got to see a lot of my students mixed all around in different activities (cheerleaders, dance team, hip hop, band, football, etc.) So yeah… that’s about it. This has to be the shortest entry for a single day I’ve ever written. How anti-climactic for the week, eh?