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Woman in Black must-see for scary movie lovers

webeic — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:50:44 +0000

Are you comfortable with nightmares?
Yes?
Go see The Woman In Black.
The mind-bending storyline and deliciously evil ghost will scare viewers out of their minds when the film premieres on Feb. 3.
That means you, Mr. and Mrs. Horror-Movie-Buff.
The Woman In Black is based off of a 1983 novel of the same name by Susan Hill. It follows the story of a depressed London lawyer named Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) traveling to the countryside to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman. However, he does not know about the dark past surrounding her home and haunting the villagers in the area.
The Woman in Black makes it onto the good horror movie list because it’s not an in-your-face movie. It’s subtle, it’s intense and it’s terrifying, but there aren’t a lot of cheesy, over-the-top scenes.
Surprising, I know.
Instead of screaming, snapping, and loud background music, the film is its scariest when it’s silent. Instead of throwing scary images at viewers to scare them, the film uses fog and shadows to make each scene ripe with scary potential.
Instead of being afraid of people who ‘connect the cuts,’ viewers end up afraid of everything, because everything in the movie has the potential to, at the very least, be very creepy.
It’s honestly quite refreshing.
Daniel Radcliffe shines in his role –– I don’t forsee a rocky transition from child star to adult star in his future. Although I caught a few glimpses of the good ole’ everybody’s-dying-because-of-me stare from Harry Potter, Radcliffe still made me forget I was watching my childhood icon.
Considering the fact that he acted solo for most of the movie, he did better than I would have expected as the dejected Arthur Kipps. However, it’d be nice for him to pick a happy character to play for once –– I need to see a smile on that now-manly face.
Even though I felt like most of the other cast members only had to slam doors and be afraid, Janet McTeer was wonderful in the role of Mrs. Daily, a slightly deranged woman who lost her son. She’s lovable when lucid, but terrifying when overcome by visions of her son. And what’s better than a crazy old lady? McTeer even managed to add warmth and depth to Ciarán Hinds’s acceptable, if stone-faced, Mr. Daily.
And not to give too much away, but I promise the ending will be completely out of left field.

School-wide power outage leads to early dismissal, cancellation of after-school activities

webeic — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:51:43 +0000

BVHS administrators released students from classes a few minutes after 2 p.m. today due to a school-wide power outage.
At about 1:15, a majority of the school’s classrooms lost power, with a few exceptions. At 1:34, all power in the entire building went out, and the entire school went black.
Administrators and other faculty members positioned themselves in the hallways, advising students to remain in their classrooms. However, some teachers moved their students into hallways with strong natural light to continue teaching.
With finals around the corner, several students were frazzled when power suddenly went off. Sophomore Rachel Hunt said her Emerging Technologies class was working on their final projects when the power went out.
“I was on the computer doing my project, and I hadn’t saved it yet,” she said. “I was almost done, but now it’s probably all gone. It’s definitely going to make it harder to get our projects done since everything wasn’t saved.”
As the school was dark, administrators worked to assess the situation.
“We had to decide what was best for the students,” Campus Police Officer Dennis Randall said. “Is it better to leave them in their classrooms, go to the commons or stagger release to send them home? In the end, it was really [Principal Scott] Bacon and the administration’s decision.”
Administrators determined that the power outage was a result of two blown transformers across 159th Street.
“Two of the three transformers that fuel our school went out,” administrator Mark Dalton said. “We called Kansas City Power and Light, but by the time they got here, students would already be out of school. This has happened more than one. It’s also the same transformer that blew multiple times.”
So after 45 minutes of waiting, students were released by hallway to avoid excessive traffic.
All evening activities that were to take place at BVHS Monday night have been cancelled.

Blue Valley’s Tiger TV December Show

dbrand — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:54:21 +0000

The December broadcast of Tiger TV, where anchors talk about recent school construction, quiz students on their knowledge of holiday song lyrics, feature a teacher’s engagement and more.

Della Lamb toy drive deadline tomorrow

webeic — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:40:42 +0000

Those who wish to donate toys to the Della Lamb toy drive must have their donations in the library by Thursday, Dec. 8. A student can bring up to five toys for five hours of community service.
The toys must be new, non-violent and not battery-operated. Students should spend approximately $5-10 per toy.
BV currently has collected around 500 toys. To meet the goal set at the beginning of the toy drive, coach Eric Driskell hopes to raise at least 1,000 more toys.
The Community Service Organization (CSO) will be in the library before and after school to collect donations and give community service forms.
All the toys go to Della Lamb, where they will be given to children who wouldn’t otherwise receive toys for the holidays.
“Everyone needs a little Christmas spirit,” Co-Vice President of CSO Gracie Gallagher said. “It’d be a nice thing to do, and it will make you feel good if you bring one in.”

Tigers fall to Hutchinson Salt Hawks 33-21 in State Championship Game

webeic — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 03:15:05 +0000

Editor’s Note: This is the brief about the championship loss that appeared in the December issue of the Tiger Print.
The football team fought against the Hutchinson Salt Hawks on Nov. 26, but fell short in the end, with a score of 21-33.
The Tigers remained scoreless in the first quarter, while the Salt Hawks scored 20 points.
However, in the second quarter, senior Justin Fulks ran 75 yards for a touchdown, putting the Tigers on the board. At the end of the first half, the Tigers trailed 27-7.
Near the end of the third quarter, Fulks again scored a touchdown, advancing the Tigers to a score of 27-14.
BV headed into the fourth quarter knowing they would need two touchdowns to make a comeback.
With 3:41 left, Fulks ran the ball in for another touchdown, leaving the Tigers down by only six points.
At the very end of the game the Salt Hawks scored a touchdown, and the Tigers fell short of the victory.
“We were just really sad we couldn’t come up with the win because we worked so hard all season, and we just came up one game short,” quarterback senior Kyle Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman said the team had great chemistry and was able to come together and build relationships over the course of the season.
“It was tough after the game,” he said. “Everyone was upset that we couldn’t finish the season with the goal we set at the beginning. It hurt, but there’s nothing we can do about it. I think everyone realized we had a great season.”Editor’s Note: This is the brief that appeared after the championship loss.
The wind whipped brutally as the cheerleaders fought to raise the run-through banner before the game.
It read, “THE END WE HAD IN MIND,” referring to late coach Greg House’s memorable quote. However, the team didn’t exactly finish with the end they had in mind — winning back to back state titles. The Tigers fought against the Hutchinson Salt Hawks, but fell short in the end, with a score of 33-21.
The Tigers spent a few minutes with the ball on their first possession, but couldn’t make much progress up the field because of the wind, and they were forced to punt the ball.
With the next possession, the Salt Hawks put up seven points on the board with a 20-yard touchdown run with 6:21 left in the first quarter.
Less than two minutes later, Hutchinson got the ball back and made another touchdown run from the 40-yard line. They missed the extra point, but extended their lead to 13-0.
With only 17 seconds left in the first quarter, the Salt Hawks had the ball only inches from the goal line, and the Tiger defense made a solid stop. However, on the next play, the Hutchinson running back lept over the pile of linemen for another Salt Hawk touchdown, making the score 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Senior Justin Fulks put the Tigers on the board with a 75-yard touchdown run 20 seconds into the second quarter.
For several minutes, BV and Hutchinson went back and forth switching possessions.
With 7:45 left in the first half, senior Cole Foster recovered a fumble by Hutchinson at the Tigers’ 19-yard-line. However, a quick holding call on the next play pushed the Tigers back to their own 3-yard-line. On fourth down, they attempted a punt from inside the end zone, but it was blocked by Hutchinson and recovered for another touchdown for the Salt Hawks. The scoreboard read 27-7.
With 4:55 left in the half, senior Kyle Zimmerman attempted a long throw down the field for a touchdown, but the ball was intercepted by Hutchinson at the 3-yard-line. The final score of the first half was 27-7.
Four minutes into the second half, the Tigers had a strong series, moving down the field with several passes down the field. They were at the 25-yard-line at fourth down with one yard to go, and they went for it. They got the ball to the 14-yard-line, then threw another pass to senior Sean Skaggs at the 3-yard-line.
On the next play, Zimmerman ran the ball ran the ball into the end zone but fumbled, so the points did not count and the Salt Hawks gained possession at the 20-yard-line. This call got the players and fans extremely fired up.
The Tigers thought they were going to get the ball back with three minutes left in the third quarter when they recovered a fumble at the 40-yard-line, but the officials ruled that the player was already down and gave the ball back to Hutchinson.
With one minute left in the quarter, BV forced the Salt Hawks to punt the ball from the 40-yard-line. The Hutchinson kicker bobbled the ball, and he was tackled at the 40, giving the ball to the Tigers.
On the very next play, Fulks ran the ball in 40 yards for a Tiger touchdown, making the score 27-14.
BV went into the fourth quarter knowing they would need to pull out two touchdowns to be able to make a comeback.
Most of the fourth quarter was tough defense, with neither able to put up any points.
With only four minutes left in the game, Zimmerman threw a pass up the middle to Skaggs, who was taken out by two Hutchinson defenders and pass interference was called.
The Tigers moved up to the 20-yard-line, and Zimmerman then ran the ball in to the 3-yard-line.
With 3:41 left, Fulks ran the ball in for a BV touchdown, advancing the score to 27-21.
They kicked the ball to the Salt Hawks, and they kept the ball, moving it slowly up the field. Minutes and seconds ticked off the clock, and the Tigers needed the ball back to have any chance of scoring one more touchdown.
Less than a thirty seconds remained, and Hutchinson was stuck at fourth down. They went for it, and instead of just gaining the few yards they needed to keep the ball, they ran the ball in for a touchdown, putting up the score of 33-21. They tried for a two point conversion to run the clock out, but didn’t get the ball in.
The game ended with a score of Hutchinson 33, BV 21, and the Tigers were awarded the 5A State Runner-Up trophy.

Holiday Movies

webeic — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:59:29 +0000

Scroll down the page and check out the Prezi for the movies our entertainment editor deemed must-sees this holiday season. Give us your opinion in the comment section here or on our wall on Facebook. What movies do you think are the best to watch? What did you think about new movies we featured?

Christmas Movies to Enjoy over Thanksgiving on Prezi

Review: fall play, The Foreigner

webeic — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:22:31 +0000

A painfully shy young man on vacation with his friend.
An aging woman who may have to lose the house she’s lived in all her life.
A rich debutante, engaged to a pastor who may not be as nice as he seems.
A young inheritor who may be barred from his money due to his seemingly low intellect.
The stellar cast makes this play what it is.
The main character, Charlie, (senior Alex Petersen) couldn’t be more sweet and loveable if he tried. Once you add in faking an accent, language, strange customs, you have an extremely enjoyable character played by a well-chosen actor. Petersen is genuine in everything he does as Charlie, and that sincerity leaps out at the audience from the opening scene to the final curtain.
Senior Jake Miller and sophomore Maia Schoenberg successfully play two complex characters who happen to be engaged for all the wrong reasons. Wonderful emotion from Schoenberg and good depth of character from Miller bring the characters to life. Both actors add layers to the show by making it much more personal. They work well as individuals and as a pair.
Sadly, I can’t outline each and every wonderful performance in this show – that would take away from the time that could be spent watching it. Other characters to watch for are Betty (junior Brianna Woods), Ellard (junior Grayson Yockey), and Owen (sophomore Alec Newport).
“The Foreigner” is a funny, engaging show that offers something for everyone: drama, intrigue, comedy, wry humor and a touch of romance that mixes together to create a perfect, well-balanced bundle of twists and turns. Right when things get tense, a gesture or smart comment pulls a laugh out of a situation that becomes unexpectedly hilarious.

Opening night for “The Foreigner” is tonight, Nov. 10. The show will also be performed on Friday, Nov. 11 and Saturday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. on all three days. Tickets are $7 at the door.

Breast cancer awareness month prompts businesses to raise funds for survivors

webeic — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:59:26 +0000

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is every October.
A local organization, Back in the Swing, partners with businesses to bring in money for breast cancer and to show support for the cause.
Founder Bob Unell said Back in the Swing fo- cuses on the survivors rather than the disease itself. “This makes a huge difference,” he said. “The medical care after your cancer treatments should also be standard of care along with during the treat- ment. We have far too long ignored the health of the cancer survivors.”
Town Center Plaza has five stores involved with Back in the Swing: Brighton Collectibles, Dean & Deluca, GNC, Lucy Activewear and Pottery Barn.
Brighton Collectibles assistant manager Antinette Manzo said they love helping out with the cause.
“Every year in October, Brighton comes up with a bracelet and it’s a collectible bracelet so there are many women that collect them over the years,” Manzo said.
Each bracelet costs $50 and $10 of it goes to Back in the Swing.
“Worldwide, the bracelets will provide about $500,000 to breast cancer charities,” she said.
This year’s limited edition bracelet features a dangling heart-shaped charm with pink crystals on one side and the breast cancer ribbon on the other.
She said that it has been so successful that people call weeks in advance to get their hands on one of these bracelets.
“People start calling early and asking ‘When is your breast cancer bracelet coming out?’” Manzo said. “It [is] standing room only in the store when we come out with them.”
Back in the Swing does various fundraisers along with many shopping events.
“We have raised about $2.5 million in eight years through these shopping events,” Unell said. “We think it’s amazing how everyone has come out and supported this and allowed us to raise those kinds of funds which we have used to provide the feed money to start several of those cancer survivorship programs.”
Unell said the organization has also done different kinds of events in the past like Jazzercise and yoga.
“The actual experience that someone participates in while we’re raising funds is something that is good for survivorship, like exercise,” he said.
More businesses are getting involved with Back in the Swing every year.
“Retailers like it,” he said. “They want to be involved. We are so lucky to have such a giving com- munity who wants to help out.”
Unell said the businesses play a huge part in the success of the organization.
“We couldn’t do the work we do by just inviting shoppers to be involved,” he said. “We also go to the business community, and we ask them to become the underwire of fundraising.”
He said high school students can help out the cause.
“If high school students could share the informa- tion that Back in the Swing is there to help breast cancer survivors after treatment, and if they direct them to our website, people can get a lot of informa- tion that perhaps they have never gotten before,” Unell said. “They can also participate in helping us with what we’re calling ‘celebrating and educating.’ Get involved. There is something for everybody.”
Chili’s Bar and Grill also partners with Back in the Swing.
“Every Tuesday in October we are doing a give- back-night,” Chili’s manager Annie Glunz said. “Any customer that comes in with an email that says Back in the Swing, we will give 10 percent of their order
to the cause.” Glunz said the founders of Back in the Swing
came to them and asked them to help out. “We chose to do this specific disease because it’s
such a big cause,” she said. “It just affects so many women. All around our area, companies are doing it, and for me, it hit home.”
She said Back in the Swing plays a bigger role in the fight against cancer than most people might think.
“You hear about how the month of October is Back in the Swing so I’m assuming it is going to bring lots and lots of business,” she said. “Back in the Swing has just been so amazing to us.”
Manzo also said working with Back in the Swing has been a great experience for the store.
“They do a lot of the leg work,” Manzo said. “They get all the information out. Not only on Brighton, but just to make women all over know that it is breast cancer month.”
She said seeing costumers come in with amazing stories has made her understand how it can change your life.
“You get a special connection [with the costum- ers],” she said. “There are a lot of tears but also a lot of joy because you can survive cancer.”

City debates construction of amphitheater on park property

webeic — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:36:02 +0000

The plan for the new amphitheater includes a 200-space paved parking lot, a 50-space grass overflow lot, a truck road, concessions, bathrooms, offices, VIP seating and a balcony.
The building will have dressing rooms, bathrooms, a trap door, a basement and storage.
Where would it be located? Ironwoods Park. A group of neighbors in Leawood formed the Save Ironwoods
Park group to keep the park as natural as possible. “We are trying to protect the natural setting of the park,” member Darren Woods said. “I think having green space and places for families and children to go and enjoy the park is important. We are trying to make sure the City of Leawood carefully considers any plans to develop the park.”
In 1998, the Leawood City Council passed a bond issue, including plans for an amphitheater in Ironwoods Park.
However, the bond gave no description of the amphitheater’s size and layout.
Carrie Rezac, City Council member for Ward 3, said the mayor of Leawood formed a steering committee to determine, based on the Leawood Stage Company’s desires, how to move forward with the project.
“The plan for the amphitheater in the park has been there from the beginning,” steering committee chair Bill Ellwood said. “It is just that we didn’t really have the funding at that time to build a building. All we had the funding for was to put in the power and built what you see there today. Now we are, in essence, just trying to get approval to finish the project that we really wanted in the first place. That was part of the original design for the park.”
Kerry Phillips, coordinator of the Save Ironwoods Park group, said the differing opinions between her group and the steering committee lie in the interpretation of the 1998 bond.
“That is the contention point,” Phillips said. “They will say that the 1998 bond allowed them to do this, and we don’t agree with that. We say the building is a lot bigger, it is more involved, it takes up a lot larger space.”
Following passage of the bond, the steering committee created a master plan for the amphitheater. However, an application for this master plan has yet to be submitted to the city council for approval.
The new amphitheater building will face the Steeplechase and Camden Woods neighborhoods, with a 5-foot berm and a line of evergreens for a sound barrier.
“We were really concerned about the impact on the families that live next door and on the park itself because it really does take up a very large piece of property,” Phillips said.
Ellwood said if the amphitheater building existed prior to residents moving into the neighborhoods surrounding the park, this project would not have been an issue.
“I am sure they like it the way that it is right now — very tranquil, very quiet,” he said. “So I feel bad. We really did try and do some things to make it less intrusive for them with additional shrubs and plantings. We really did try and do things to mitigate the impact on the neighborhood, but I really think their prefer- ence would be to not have an amphitheater there at all.”
In February 2011, the Planning Commission approved an application for a restroom facility — Phase I of the amphitheater project.
“[The application] came before City Council, and at the time we were in negotiations to purchase adjacent park land to Iron- woods,” Rezac said. “So, we continued that case. We continued it two or three times, waiting to see when the purchase of the land was finalized, because if that land was finalized we had talked about re-evaluating the master plan of the park, which would have impacted everything.”
The adjacent land was purchased. The restroom facility application was presented to the council again, and it, again, was continued.
“The thought was among some of the council that they wanted to continue it until we got through the revaluation of the master plan,” Rezac said. “If the proposed amphitheater plan remains, if it gets moved, if it gets completely relocated off the land, obviously that would affect the bathrooms.”
The Save Ironwoods Park group wants to preserve Ironwoods as park space and not as an entertainment venue.
“Particularly in Leawood we have very limited park area,” member Chris White said. “Leawood is a closed city, in other words, it is bounded by other cities all around. If we overdevelop this one into commercial property, there really is no other space for Leawood to develop into park.”
Phillips said the Leawood Stage Company deserves a proper place to perform, but should build the theater on private, commercially-zoned land.
“We don’t like it,” she said. “I mean, it’s hard to balance that, be- cause you love the arts. We support the Stage Company. We think what they are doing is really great. We love the fact that there are people who want to volunteer to participate in that, but there are also people who want our park to be natural: walking trails, camp- ing, outdoor activity that doesn’t involve something that is this much pavement.”
Phillips said the nine houses adjacent to the building would lose at least a 15 percent in home value, according to an appraiser. “It’s given us a really clear picture of just how much this building could impact our neighborhood financially,” Phillips said. Rezac said she tries to keep the Save Ironwoods Park group and several other organizations aware when the issue is on the city council’s agenda.
“I think they had some valid concerns,” she said. “I think it is very beneficial that they are bringing those to everyone at the city’s attention. I understand their concerns because I know that it will directly impact many of the people that are involved in that group.”
Ellwood said the steering committee hopes the Amphitheater could serve for graduation ceremonies, private weddings, private parties, bar mitzvahs or for anything that someone would enjoy using an outside venue.
“I feel like we, the citizens of Leawood, would benefit from this additional facility, and that this would be better for the rest of the citizens of Leawood,” Ellwood said. “In general, I think these people would just rather not have anybody in their back yard. I understand that. But I think I wouldn’t have bought next to a park if I didn’t want to have people in my backyard, because I think the city park should have people in it.”
Phillips said those near the park won’t be the only ones affected by this decision.
“If we develop it, it is gone for good,” Phillips said. “There is no going back from that. So, do we really want to do that? Do we really want to take away such a large piece of park? I just think we need to be really careful before we do this kind of thing in a park.”
Rezac said, from the Leawood Stage Company’s perspective, the expanded amphitheater would allow them the space they want for performances.
“There are not many stage companies in many surrounding cities, and so Leawood Stage Company, I think, would like to be able to become one of the premier,” Rezac said. “They would like to offer their talents and productions to not only Leawood residents but to surrounding areas. I think they see the amphitheater as a great amenity to Leawood itself.”
Rezac said concerns may be addressed at City Council Meet- ings within the limitations of the protocol.
“Obviously, if we ever receive any email correspondence or phone calls, we discuss whatever questions or concerns they have over the phone or through email,” she said. “We try and give information, as much information as we can, when they have questions on the process. I try and let them know that those things will be coming up.”

‘Gleek’ finds season three premier disappointing

webeic — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:25:52 +0000

According to Entertainment Weekly, 8.9 million viewers tuned into the season three premiere of Glee on Sept. 20. Although this is such a large number, it was actually 32 percent less people watching compared to Glee’s season two premiere.

To put it simply, I am definitely a Gleek.
Over the summer, I watched The Glee Project every Sunday night and I went to see Glee: The 3D Concert Movie in theaters, so I was more than excited for the new season to begin.
Unfortunately, after I watched the first episode, my high expectations for the show were not met and I was left feeling disappointed.
One of my favorite things about Glee is the music.
They choose songs that I typically wouldn’t listen to or songs from the top-charts that they re-create or mash-up.
In this episode, they performed “We Got the Beat”, “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”, “It’s Not Unusual”, “Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do”, and “You Can’t Stop the Beat” — none of which I really enjoyed. Their vocals are very impressive, but the song selections could have been better by adding a more current song.
The plot line developed in this first episode also seemed very cliché.
Senior year. College looming in the distance. Characters struggle to make plans for the future.
We get it. We’ve all heard this scenario a million times. Hopefully, as the season progresses, Glee will develop a new angle on the same old story.
For me, the episode seemed way to fast-paced, which was another thing I didn’t enjoy. Too many things were happening at once with characters leaving, changing or being introduced. It made the episode really hard to follow. Many times throughout the show I found myself asking “Wait, what?” or “When did that happen?”
Sam is gone because his family moved away for his dad’s job. Zizes quit the New Directions because it was hurting her reputation. Santana is still on the show, but was banned from the Glee Club because she was secretly helping Sue Sylvester. And don’t even get me started on Quinn. She quit the New Directions and took on a new bad-girl attitude, makeover included, because she’s “finally revealing her true personality.”
Despite losing a few of my favorite characters this season, Glee introduced a couple new people during the season premiere.
Blaine transferred to McKinley High to be with Kurt. Mercedes got a new boyfriend named Shane, and they could not be more perfect for each other. Lindsay Pearce, runner-up of The Glee Project, was introduced as Harmony at a NYADA mixer that Rachel and Kurt attended. Sugar Motta, an obnoxious girl with self-diagnosed Aspergers, wants to join the New Directions but is told by Mr. Schuester that she can’t sing.
Although the episode was a let-down, it still reminded me why I love Glee.
I forgot how much I enjoy watching Sue’s attempts at ruining the Glee Club and her crazy personality in general. Mr. Shuester and Emma are still just as cute together as they were last season. I remember how much I love the jokes between the characters and basically anything Brittany has to say.
Even though this episode was mainly about setting the stage and catching viewers up, the writers should have done this in a more entertaining way.
As the season progresses, I’ll be interested to see whether Glee can top its past two fantastic seasons.
Even though the season premiere didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, I’ll still keep watching every week like a true Gleek would.

Glee is on Tuesday nights 8/7c on FOX.