"Puss in Boots" Isn't "Shrek"

Puss in Boots

 By Sara Prygocki, staff writer

Come to see the new “Puss in Boots” movie if you’re looking for a fun family movie, but not if you’re looking for another Shrek movie. DreamWorks Productions new movie, Puss in Boots works as a standalone and has no reference to the original Shrek movies.

The movie takes place in Mexico, where Puss grows up in a small town as an orphan. He is the odd man out, being a cat, and soon befriends Humpty Dumpty. They have dreams together and are the best of friends before a falling out causes Puss to become an outlaw. After a while he meets up with Humpty’s right hand woman Kitty Softpaws. Humpty tells Puss that he has changed his ways and is ready to be friends again in order to find what they had been searching for their entire lives. Soon Puss is off on the adventure of his life.

The movie is filled with classic Mexican type music, including cat dance numbers. The one thing that remains similar to the original Shrek movies is the sly hilarity that makes both kids and adults alike laugh. Antonio Banderas as Puss and Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Dumpty helped to add comedic talent to the voice actors.

Many entered the movie theatre with low expectations, expecting a cheap Shrek sequel. This film is nothing like that, with its dry humor, new characters and new action sequences defining it as an entirely different film. My only complaint would be that it took a very long time to get to the climax of the film. Overall it’s a good movie to watch with your family, and one of the best animated features of the year.

Theatre Teacher Directs Final Play for East

By Sara Prygocki, staff reporter

Appropriately Mrs. Anna Botsford dressed as a Super Theatre Teacher during Tuesday's Superhero and Super villain theme day

Photo by Hannah Driscoll, staff photographer

 As most of the school knows, our hard-working theatre and English teacher Mrs. Anna Botsford is dividing her time between Sturgis West and Sturgis East. Following this year she will be working permanently at Sturgis West.

One of her many jobs is being the theatre director for Sturgis Theatre Arts Guild of Entertainers (STAGE), which puts on the school plays outside of the academic theater classes. This job will be passed on to the new English and Theatre teacher Mrs. Rachel Ollagnon following the fall play.

Botsford plans to make her last play here a good one with the popular comedy “Rumors,” authored by Neil Simon. It takes place in New York City: Four couples get caught in the middle of a gunshot mystery, and hilarity ensues. The play opens in December.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part II

By Sara Prygocki, staff reporter 

The final chapter in the Harry Potter series finally arrived in theaters this summer. Lasting more than ten years, the series has been a worldwide success with all eight movies on the 35 Highest-Grossing Films of All Time list. Based on the bestselling novels written by J.K. Rowling, the movies collectively have garnered over 50 awards.

Daniel Radcliffe returns for the last time as hero Harry Potter along with Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. The trio set out to destroy Ralph Fiennes’s villainous character Voldermort once and for all.

Auditions for the School Play

By Sara Prygocki, staff reporter

Auditions for the school play, "Rumors" by Neil Simon, had a very successful turnout. For a cast of eleven, nearly thirty confident students showed up for the event. After the greeting, she chose excerpts of the script and divvied the roles between the actors.

Following the usual routine, the hopefuls assembled into a theatre circle while the stage director Mrs. Botsford gave a short summary of each of the characters, and an overall gloss over of the play.

Although there were some ‘old faces’ in regards to theatre auditioning, incoming freshman and once-shy upperclassmen decided to participate.