Movie Review: He's Just Not That Into You

The movie, “He’s Just Not That Into You”, rated PG-13, and starring the likes of Jennifer Anniston, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, and Jennifer Connelly, mixes wit, humor, and the true struggles of dating into a chic flic you and your special someone might not want to miss.

The movie involves its audience in the dramas of essentially six relationships. The relationships range from a marriage falling apart due to a cheating husband, to an online relationship. As the characters in the movie go through the ups-and-downs of the “dating game”, they bring viewers along for the emotional rollercoaster.

The movie’s main appeal and strength comes from the all-star cast of former Oscar nominees and winners. Although this movie probably won’t garner any further awards for its cast, this talented group impress as they act the drama filled roles of these love struck characters.

The most eventful and witty segments of the movie come from the in-between-scene interviews dealing with questions and issues concerned with dating and love. Don’t fall asleep during these scenes because they are a guaranteed laugh or two.

Although the movie brings a flair of humorous love, the scenes and dialogue also get quite raunchy and are definitely questionable for teenagers and adolescents who just may get the wrong impression about love and relationships.

But give this movie a shot if you consider yourself mature enough for the content and material. You’ll be surprised at how well you may relate to some of the characters as well as circumstances set in the movie.

News Writing Color Story: Expereince at St. Mark's Lutheran Church

Provo, Utah- In LDS-heavily populated and non-diverse Utah County, we sometimes forget the reality that there are other denominations of worship within the community made up of people who we can all learn genuine life lessons from.

Living in north Provo for the majority of my life, I often drove past St. Mark’s Lutheran Church with barely an acknowledgement that the serene, tan-bricked church house existed.

After 21 years of ignorance as to what actually took place inside the walls of that brick church, I decided to cross into the realms of the unknown.

Before the door had even swung to a close behind my friend and I, a greeter was at our side handing us copies of the program and introducing himself.

Kelly was his name.

His round face, neatly combed-over hair, and gentle personality instantly dissipated any fears and doubts either of us had of stepping foot into the homely confines of the Lutheran chapel.

As the sermon on the Transfiguartion was given, one could not help but notice the reverence displayed in the chapel. Even the children of the congregation were sitting quietly with arms folded as their short legs dangled over the pues.

At the end of the service, each and every member came and politely shook our hands.

There was Deborah from Springville with her little girl.

There was George Arglye who had a son in Denver, who loved to smoke and was excited for the new electronic cigarettes out on the market.

There was Gary, the volunteer preacher who was just filling in for the time being while the congregation looked for a full-time preacher.

Each and every person struck a chord of genuine, Christ-like friendliness.

As they invited us to come again the next week, it was gut-wrenching to turn down the invitation explaining our strong ties to the LDS-faith.

Although I may never step foot in that serene, tan-bricked church house ever again, the people of that congregation left a lasting impression of Christians who really practiced what they believed.

That is a genuine life lesson that we could all learn to follow.

A movie review: Taken

My analysis of the movie "Taken":

Argument:

WATCO- What are the effects of watching the "Taken" trailer on the target audiences desire to see the movie

Claim- Watching the "Taken" trailer will strongly affect the target audiences desires to see the movie

Reason- Because watching the "Taken" trailer draws on a person’s emotions towards losing a child to kidnappers.

Assumption- Having your emotions invoked and drawn towards losing a child to kidnappers also strongly affects your desires to see a movie.


Audience: Those who are older and mature enough for the graphic content and serious nature of the movie. The trailer is also looking to entice those who like movies in the genres of suspense and drama. The movie is also possibly geared more towards attracting male viewers in comparison to their female counterparts.


Goal: To get as many potential viewers to the movie as possible through the five minute clip.


How?:
Pathos- The trailer does a very good job of invoking emotion through its one-liners as well as making good use of powerful, dramatic, short clips throughout the 5 min. segment. Lines such as, “I will find you and I will kill you,” or, “You only have 96-hours to find your daughter,” set the audience up for what to expect in the movie. This is a hunt and kill or be killed storyline.
The trailer also shows the daughter being kidnapped from the viewpoint of the father as he listens too the entire ordeal. By showing that segment of the movie in the trailer, it almost throws viewers into the father’s shoes. What if I were in his shoes? How would I react or handle the situation?

Logos- The storyline is in itself very logical. Parents face this type of dilemma (although not on the same scale of stress) everyday. Should I follow my gut instincts and not allow my child to participate in this activity (or go to Paris) or should I relax and let them enjoy themselves? In the case of the movie, the parents suffered the consequences of allowing their 17 year old to vacation overseas without an adult.

T(ypical)- This is a normal, “keep the audience” hanging trailer. It reveals the plot of the movie as well as a short segment of the climax. It also mixes in good one-liners, and of course dramatic music to peak the suspense of the movie.


Effective: Yes, when I saw this trailer, I instantly was interested. It seems like it could sustain one’s attention span for two hours through the action-packed and suspenseful vibe the trailer puts out.

Can a non-BCS conference team win it all?

My paper topic for paper A is on the strength of scheduling factor a team must consider in order to win a national championship in college football. This source for my paper focused on only non-BCS (Bowl Championship Seris) conference teams (teams outside the 6 major conferences in college football) and how they had to schedule in order to compete for the chamipionship. My source was found on Rivals.com.

1.Argument:

Watco- How must a non-BCS conference team schedule non-conference opponents on chances of competing for a nationial championship.

Claim- A non-BCS conference team must play a stacked non-conference schedule against top BCS conference teams to have a chance of competing for a national championship.

Reason- Because playing a stacked non-conference schedule will offset a non-BCS team's strength of schedule in conference play.

Assumption- Offsetting a non-BCS team's weak strength of schedule in conference play also gives the team a better chance of competing for a national championship.

2.Audience: Mainly fans of teams which are outside of the 6 BCS conferences who wonder if their respective teams will ever have a shot at playing for a national championship. Also written for college football fans in general, who are interested in the topic.

3.Goal: To help fans realize there is hope for non-BCS teams, but to be realistic in recognizing it takes luck and other factors for a non-BCS team to be given the chance to play for a national championship even if they have a strong strength of schedule and beat those teams they play.

4.How?:

Logos- The columnist lists the criteria of giving your team a chance of competing for a championship. A team must in essence beat several strong teams as well as go undefeated in the process. And then not only does your team have to do their part, but you need help from other teams losing.

Ethos- The columnist uses mainly statistics and quotes to back up his claims and give his column creditbility. In one example, he encourages non-BCS schools to not shy away from tough competition and explains that they can indeed compete by comparing the Win-Loss record of Mountain West Conference teams (non-BCS) vs. Big East teams (BCS) to show that their records are almost identical when it comes to playing schools in the six BCS conferences. He also uses quotes from big names in the college footall scene such as BCS officals and conference commisioners.

R- The relevance of his argument is very strong when you consider who his audience is. This topic has been a big debate in college football for the last decade. With the system we have in college football, are the non-BCS schools given a realistic chance to play for a championship?

5.Effective: The writer does a good job of mixing logic and credibility throughout his column to argue his point that you better play the big boys if you want a chance. Because sometimes that's not even enough to win a championship.

Your Loss, My Gain

Analysis of the song "My Girlfriends Ex-Boyfriend" by Relient K:

Argument:

WATCO-The joy of having a wonderful girlfriend on the doubts that her ex had in her.

Claim-The joy of having a wonderful girlfriend is due to the doubts that her ex had in her.

Reason-Because the joy of having a wonderful girlfriend occured because her ex wanted more out of her and the relationship.

Assumption-Her ex wanting more out of her and the relationship is also due to the doubts that her ex had in her.

Audience:Those who are having doubts in a relationship, and are considering breaking up with their partner, spouse, or boy/girlfriend.

Goal:To get others to notice that one man's loss is another man's gain, and that you don't want to be on the wrong side of the bargain.

How?:

Pathos-Relient K does a good job of using descriptive words to describe how the ex-boyfriend is feeling now that he's lost his girl, with words such as haunting and terrified in the lyrics. They also repeat key phrases during the song such as: “He’s a guy you should feel sorry for,” and, “I owe it all to my girl’s ex-boyfriend,” to remind listeners of the major mistake the ex made with his decision to call the relationship off.

Logos-Pointing out the fact that greed can cause one to lose what is most precious to him/her in the line, “He had the world but he thought that he wanted more…”, is a way of using logic to show why the ex came to the decision of breaking the relationship off. Another logical line shows the fact that he would still be searching for a girl and unhappy with his life if the ex hadn’t decided to drop the relationship.

R(elevance)-The relevance of the message this song portrays, relates to all those who are in a rocky relationship. Doubts, worries, greed, and uncertainty are part of any relationship, and if they aren’t resolved, both parties will regret it sooner or later.

Effective?:I believe the band does a good and creative job of getting their goal across to their audience through the usage of emotion and logic in their lyrics. This song makes one consider what he/she may be giving up if they don’t work things out in their relationship.