The Chronicle Entertainment Upcoming Movies By Sammy Larson Staff Reporter Pokémon: Detective Pikachu Rating: PG Coming May 10 After a young man (Justice Smith) joins forces with Detective Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) to unravel the mystery behind his father’s disappearance, the dynamic duo soon discovers a devious plot that threatens the Pokémon universe. It’s one of the hottest movies of the year and students in Karen Frye’s and Bill Davidson’s classes got to see it on opening day during a private screening. Marvel Avengers: Endgame opened in theaters nationwide on Friday, April 26. The film set a number of box office records, opening to $350 million domestic, $859 million overseas and $1.2 billion worldwide. Frye organized the field trip. “It’s relative to our classes,” Frye said. “I teach Graphic Design, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to discuss everything we have learned recently, in a fun environment.” Frye contacted Regal TheaterS in Gainesville, VA to organize the private screening. “Essentially, anyone can arrange a private screening,” Davidson said. “All that’s needed for the private screening is about 100 people.” Sixty-four Kettle Run stuAladdin Rating: PG Coming May 24 A reimagined, live-action version of Disney’s classic animated film, Aladdin embarks on a magical adventure after finding a lamp that releases a wisecracking genie (Will Smith). dents attended the field trip and were joined by approximately 60 students from Fauquier High School. April 2019 Fans Assemble to Watch Endgame TSA attends a private screening of the superhero blockbuster By Dan Stell Staff Reporter the screen,” Mergen said. “It did not feel like a three hour movie.” Senior Lance Mimna was among the students who attended. “It was cool to be able to leave school to go see the movie on the day it came out with my friends,” Mimna said. “We analyzed the film and looked for things that we’ve done in class.” Senior Gavin Zeamer also attended the field trip. Zeamer is a fan of Marvel comics and has seen all the movies. “I thought it was just okay,” Zeamer said. “They tried to make a bunch of emotional moments for characters that we didn’t have any connection photo from Google The cast of Avengers: Endgame all star in the the highly anticipated blockbuster that premieres Apr. 26. Brian Adair, ITRT, was one of the chaperones. He had mixed feelings about the film. “The movie was okay,” Adair said. “I thought the second one was much better. Although it was three hours, it moved along fairly well and kept its viewers enthralled.” Kurt Mergen also chaperoned the trip. Although he admits he’s not up to date with all the Marvel films, he said that didn’t prevent him from following the storyline. “I haven’t watched all the movies, and it was still riveting and the most epic movie I’ve ever seen; epic meaning scope- it overfills to. That being said, some of the jokes landed really well, but there were also some jokes that were off. The good was more memorable than the bad.” Students paid $16 to go on the field trip and that price included their movie ticket and transportation. Mimna said when they came back to school the following week, they had a class discussion about things they had done in class that appeared in the film. “Us” Offers Both Style and Substance New horror movie presents conventional horror with a twist By Conner Roy Viewpoint Editor After Key and Peele star Jordan Peele shook Hollywood with his politically charged horror-thriller Get Out, fans heavily anticipated the former comedian’s next foray into horror films. After Us’s announcement, Godzilla: King of Monsters Rating: PG-13 Coming May 31 This epic action-adventure pits Godzilla against some of his biggest foes ever, including Mothra Rodan and the three-headed Ghidorah. Upcoming Concerts By Grace Morrow Staff Reporter Zara Larsson Sat, May 11th @ 8 P.M. 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. Juice WRLD and Ski Mask The Slump God Fri, May 17 @ 8 P.M. The Anthem, Washington, D.C. The Avett Brothers Thurs, May 23 @ 8 P.M. Wolf Trap, Vienna 12 Entertainment the film quickly gained traction on social media, with a cryptic trailer leaving Get Out fans with one major question: what’s Peele going to say with this film? Unlike Get Out, however, Us more closely follows the trends of conventional horror, and leaves its messages in the realm of metaphors and fanmade theories. In Us, the mother of a middle-class family is haunted by the memory of seeing her doppleganger on Santa Cruz beach as a child. Years later, revisiting the beach with her husband and children, evil clones of the family, include her childhood clone attack the family with an intent to kill them and take their place in society. The film comes out the gate strong, with a suspenseful and ominous opening that starts audiences off at the edge of their seats. As a director, it’s undeniable that Peele is working at his best; the slow, looming camerawork mixed with detailed and immersive sound design the film. After the first half of the film, Peele tries to deliver his message while wrapping up the plot. Seeing as the plot operates more on metaphors than logic, the overall story doesn’t line up logically at points; at times it seems to be a little too up-to-interpretation as it tries to create a balance between the literal and the metaphorical that may leave a bit to be desired on both ends. There are multiple ways to interpret the allegory present in Us: either the family is fighting their evil subconscious, the parts of them that they repressed in order to live successful lives, or photo from Connor Roy Posing in front of the movie poster, Senior Connor Roy prepares to see the new horror movie, Us. build a looming sense of terror throughout the entire opening. After a short break for exposition, Peele continues the momentum gained by the opening with the first major horror sequence. The entire sequence was shot and directed excellently, with the aforementioned sound editing mixed with a phenomenal score, making it one of the tensest sequences I’ve seen in a film. The horror is propelled even further by the excellent acting we see from the main cast. Lupita Nyong’o shows us the heart of her two characters, Adelaide and her evil counterpart Red, and Winston Duke provides a great comic relief, without sacrificing the tension and drama present in the film. Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex provide a convincing performance as the family’s two children, and are downright haunting as their counterparts. As a more traditional horror movie, the themes of Us are relegated to metaphors and symbolism, which is where a point of contention arises in the uprising of the evil family represents a revolution of the lower class, as they’re reduced to monsters by their more successful counterparts. Either way, the film’s deeper political themes relate to class struggles American society, as opposed to Get Out’s racially-driven allegories. While its story writing sees some small struggles balancing literal and metaphorical, Us functions beautifully as both a horror film and a commentary on American society. The writing, acting, directing, and sound design all come together beautifully to create an experiencing that will haunt audiences long after they leave the theater. in
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