| OCR Text |
Show 4 . TIMPANOGOS TIMES . December 15, 2010 --a : . f , .' ' T The Casual Critic by Daryl Austin " y i ii .ii in m i was green lit for our entertain-ment. But did the gamble pay off? We've yet to tell how it fares at the box office, but I don't think the world would be worse off if this film had never been made. Nevertheless, for avid moviegoers and entertainment-seeker-s like myself, I found "The Tourist" 'to be entertain-ing enough and at times, even downright enjoyable. The story centers around a mysterious woman (Jolie) named Elise, who travels from Paris to Venice to reunite with an old flame. The problem with this man of hers though, is that he is wanted by both a notori-ously evil gangster and Scotland Yard. In order to elude his pur-suers, this unseen man instructs Elise to randomly choose a tour-ist (Depp) on a Venice-boun- d train, who can later be used as a pawn to help them escape to-gether. "The Tourist" worked for me because the story stayed light and moved fast. I was ac-tually surprised by the simplic-ity of the central plot. Jolie and Depp weren't tasked with very much, having such significant talent for such insignificant roles. Nevertheless, they both did everything they could with the roles they had, and the result is fun and entertaining. The only real problem I had with this movie was that Depp and Jolie totally lacked any kind of chem-istry together. Individually they were great, but together they were very blah. The end result is a meal made up of all the right ingredients, but lacks any real flavor. Content: Rated PG-1- 3 for two uses of the "f' word as well as mild sensuality, moderate vi-olence, and moderate language. Other Opinions: 665 "Av-erage Joes" give The Tourist a score of 6.9 out of 10 while 102 professional film critics slaugh-ter it with an average score of 20 out of 100. Should you see it? I think most people would enjoy it for the entertainment value alone, but with so many other superior movies at the theater right now, I'd wait for the DVD. For more reviews by The Casual Critic please visit www. casualcriticmovies.com. The Tourist Casual Critic Score: 7 out of 10 Release Date: December 10, 2010 Rating: PG-1- 3 Length: 103 minutes Genre: Drama, Thriller One of the most fascinating draws of motion pictures today, is that most every production is a true David-and-Golia- th story. "The Tourist" is a great exam-ple, as it was a movie that was never going to be made because no Hollywood studio was will-ing to fund the project. That is to say, until Angelina Jolie (Wanted, Salt) got her hands on the script and talked a director she respected, Florian Henckel von Donnersmark (The Lives of Others), into directing the story. Then came along a well-know- n producer who happened to be working with Johnny Depp on the newest of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and he talk-ed Depp into playing the part opposite Jolie. With a respected director, producer, and two A-li- st stars, Hollywood changed their tune quickly, and soon another film Local Business Looks for Charitable Donations for Those in Need Chiropractic USA is doing their annual Christ-mas Drive to collect for the children of the Christ-mas Box House Interna-tional. The business is trying to collect at least 1,000 diapers between now and Christmas to donate to the organization. Already Chiropractic USA has had a tremendous response, but still is look-ing for more donations. All who donate will be entered to win a Disney re-sort trip for four. SQbscribe Today to the Timpanogos Timei YW.V1 --V Iv - - j: 1 j - - v i ,. - u- -' - - H -- 11 A 1 ,r 1' j rUL-- Jw lt . 'S "w ' t it - , M I -- :, v v . , , ' ' 1 IS B; ,L , - ' ' ; Wr ; U' . !! 8l REFINANCE TODAY! Why wait any longer to take advantage of the historic rates! i i nn i!H iiu ' the future of finance. m !x Call Now! 801-427-71- 11 - J j or email john glen stevens jstevensenglending. com "I willpersonally help you with your home loan needs. " V - -- I "r. "7 7 L-- . f v. W A j' .'. - 1 v - " - if mi irwrm " M "It Smells Really Good in Here" Those representing the eighth grade group, in no particular or-der, were Rylan Jardine, Savannah Weidauer, Jennifer Sperry, and Brooklyn Bodily. ' Photo courtesy of Timpanogos Times The game was on Friday, December 10, at Pleasant Grove Junior High School for the finals of the Viking Iron Chef Competition. Those representing the eighth grade were Rylan Jar-din-e, Savannah Weidauer, Jennifer Sperry, and Brook-lyn Bodily. The ninth grade team consisted of Allan Minter, Sabrina Saini, and Tiffany Forte. Both teams competed against the ad-ministration, Principal Brian Jolley, and Assistant Princi-pals Steven Camp and Kevin Thomas. Each team had 15 min-utes to prepare a healthy snack using the secret ingre dient spinach and each ap-peared calm as they worked together to make their cre-ations. When time was called, each team had to present their food item to the judg-es. The administration was asked if they wanted to sing as part of their presentation. They declined by stating, "We want you to enjoy your meal." The eighth grade team made a sub sandwich which consisted of ham, bacon, Swiss cheese, fresh spinach and a spinach sauce made up of spinach, sour cream and pepper, served on a toasted bun. They found a recipe H 1 I r on line and then they added their own touch. The ninth grade team chose to make mini cal zones with homemade whole wheat tortillas, which was Allan's own idea. Each cal zone was filled with ham, bacon, spinach, tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepper jack, and cheddar cheese. The administration pre-sented their creation TJC (Thomas, Jolley, Camp) Healthy Holiday Spread, which was a spinach dip with bread on the side. Mr. Camp researched their reci-pe on the Internet. Principal Jolley admit-ted, "We were very nervous because we understand that students are much smarter than we are." He told of how excited they were, as an ad-ministration, to interact with the kids to let them know that they are human beings who enjoy themselves and have fun. Even the administration learned that artichoke hearts come in a can. "You learn something new every day," stated Foods Teacher Jean Manuela. The judges for the event were Rochelle Manuela, Jean's daughter, Miss Kris-tin Parson, who teaches Ge-ography, and Angela Walker with the newspaper Timpa-nogos Times. Each group was judged on taste, presen-tation, on time, creative plat-ing, and creative food. Af-ter deliberation, the eighth grade team was announced as the winners because they had the best presentation and their creativity was over the top, using the secret ingredi-ent twice. Brooklyn stated, "Bak-ing is harder than we thought it would be." Rylan thought it was hard to showcase just one food item. This was Al-lan's second time compet-ing. He knew how fast to The ninth grade Viking Iron Chef team consisted of Allan Minter, Sabrina Saini, and Tiffany Forte. (In no particular order) Photo courtesy of Timpanogos Times work and what needed to be done. Jean admitted that the competition totally drains her, but she loves it. "It gives them a chance to shine," she said of the stu-dents. Jean is proud of this year's team because they exceeded her expectations. "That is what education is," she stated. 1 ' l 4 d t i imi5)L...:J Brandon Dennison, Kyrstin Millett and McKinsey Veenker assist students adopt and angel for the Angel Tree at PGHS. Photo courtesy of Chris Hocker "Angel Tree" Tradition Continues at High School by Danica Baird The Christmas season signifies Angel Tree season at Pleasant Grove High School. Each year Pleasant Grove High's student body adopts an overwhelming 500 angels. Pleasant Grove High is the only high school in the dis-trict to host Angel Tree. It is a yearly tradition that students look forward to and love. This year over 200 angels were adopted on the first day, December I , and by December 10, approximately 475 angels had been adopted. These angels are from Pleasant Grove and the sur-rounding community and need an extra boost at Christmas in order to provide simple gifts for their family. By adopting an angel, stu-dents are able to give a child what they want for Christ-mas as well as provide for their needs. Their requests are humble and sponsoring a child is inexpensive. Adopting an angel will benefit all who are involved. The last day to turn in un-wrapped gifts is this Friday by three in the afternoon. Service Officer Lucy Daynes said, "My favorite part is the last day to turn in gifts. We typically get 400 an-gels turned in on that day. It's amazing to sort through the presents and see all that gener-osity." Delivery day is on Satur-day, December 19, from eight in the morning until noon. Student Council encourages everyone to come in and help sort and deliver the presents. For the majority of students, this is the most rewarding day of the Angel Tree program. Angel Tree gives stu-dents the opportunity to pro-vide Christmas for a child and touches the heart of both the recipient and the sponsor. |
