Go Wildcats!

As everyone knows High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released last Friday; and as inticipated it is a box office hit.



Although I haven't had time to spend $15 to watch America's favorite high school heart-throbs trump around belting out songs of love sickness at basketball games, I still have an opinion. I will be the first to admit: I LOVE TROY! I am, and always will be a HSM fan. I know almost all the words to every song and even took the time to learn some of the dances from the previous movies. I downloaded the current movie's soundtrack only a few days ago and find myself looping the songs through my brain as if my iPod is permanently stuck in my ears and on repeat. Enough about my obsession with the music...

The films themselves: from a teenagers perspective: AMAZING! If only EHS stood for Edina High School.. but from a teenager posing as a film critic: they're fun, entertaining, but a bit cheesy. It's very easy for these films to appeal to so many people: every girl between the ages of 10 and who knows wants to be Gabriella, Sharpey is the girl you love to hate, and the boys all offer their own unique personality. The songs are catchy, the dances are flashy, but it's all fake. Last time I checked no one pours their hearts out to the school while standing on a table in the lunch room (HSM 1) (unless maybe you go to a performing arts school?), no one gets to work with ALL of their friends at a country club in the summer (HSM 2), and no one stops in the middle of a basketball game to belt out a few longing lyrics to a loved one in the stands (HSM 3). All of this is cute and exciting on screen, but when taking a step back it's just too fake. HSM takes stereotypes of different high school groups and attempts to put them into one cohesive unit, who just happen to become bffs over night. I wish that were the case in a typical high school environment but it's just not so. Although the plot, characters, songs, and dances go way over the top, I just can't help but love it. Does HSM have the potential to be this generations "Grease?" I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but in the meantime: GO WILDCATS!

Citizen Kane

What's the big deal with Citizen Kane? Maybe I missed the mark or am just not educated enough in the art of film, but I don't understand why Citizen Kane is "one of the greatest films to date" according to critics. I understand that "Rosebud" ends up being a big twist and Kane's life is explained (arguably) becaues of that one word, but a sled? Seriously Welles? My opinion on "Rosebud" is that it makes the movie very cheesy. It could've been "tulip" or "tiger lily," which would've made it even worse, but I feel like the ending was just a cop-out. Although the storyline is fairly two-dimensional, with flashbacks and montages and other unique ways of telling it, the ending just seems so flat. There is no big excitement or climax leading up to it. Kane gets abruptly taken away from his childhood, goes power-crazy, has an affair, blows his political career, forces his wife to flaunt her crappy operatic talents, his second wife leaves, and he dies saying "Rosebud." Is it really that exciting or original? I'm not saying the film completely sucked but it just seems so stupid. What person in their right mind would want to watch a movie that ends with a childhood sled as the thing that ties everything together? I need some excitement, maybe a bit of violence even. I'm in no way completely bashing the work Welles pulled off but could someone please explain to me why Citizen Kane is so amazing? Unfortunately "rosebud" wilted in my opinion.