8th Grade ~ Cascade Heights Public Charter School

Two weeks ago we wrote the first of our critique papers. Students were to choose a movie they detested and write a scathing review of it. Several of them did an amazing job and we wanted to share some with our faithful readers. The first one is from Miss Olivia, an incredible writer.

Don’t Watch This Movie

The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones, directed by Harald Zwart, came out in August of 2013. Receiving only two out of five stars, it was only in theaters for a curt period of time. Realistically compressing the rich book City of Bones into a two hour movie is near impossible because you cannot capture the calamity of the circuitous adventures that the characters are called upon. Sixteen year old Clary Fray’s mother is kidnapped which leads her on an adverse journey. Teaming up with shadowhunters who protect the world from evil and darkness, she discovers a world that has been completely concealed her entire life. Constructing the book into a horrible movie, bad acting made it even worse and the deviation from the story added more things for the fans to hate. The writers were not cognizant of the character building features that help the viewers understand the person. Concomitantly, the set of the movie curtailed the realisticness of the scenes.

Although people cried, their tears were shed for the wrong reasons, and bad acting was one of them. In the beginning of the movie, Clary, played by Lily Collins sees Jace the shadowhunter who is played by Jamie Cambell Bower. She is supposed to be scared and confused but instead she looks normal and unfazed by the events occurring in front of her. All throughout the two hour movie, the character Jace looks like a constipated model who only knows how to make one face. “Mysteriously” gallivanting through scenes, Jace plays his nonchalant, carefree self while looking constipated. When Jace finds Simon ( Robert Sheehan ) in Clary’s bedroom, instead of being shielded and unfazed as stated in the book, he denounces his dissent openly. Alec, another shadowhunter who is the jealous type and is Jace's left hand man, is not as weary as described in the novel. In the book, Isabelle, Alec’s sister, who is also a shadowhunter, is caustic and shows Clary no affection. Isabelle is a conspicuous girl because her beauty is so blinding that nobody can circumvent it. Her complacency makes her almost unbearable to be around, unless you are her family. The actress failed to capture all aspects of Isabelle that make her who she is which curtails the viewers love for her in the movie. Terrible acting has made this movie unwatchable.

Condoning the deviation from the book is simply impossible because there is such a great amount of it. The Warlock Magnus Bane in the book wears rainbow leather pants and is a completely outrageous person who dares to explore places and things that many are too afraid to, but disposing of these traits, Magnus is portrayed as just a mysterious warlock. Easily discarding scenes from the book, the director made completely new ones that didn't coalesce with the others, added on or left out important scenes that were necessary to understand the movie. An entire battle between the werewolves and the forsaken is discarded. In the ending, the whole last half hour is full of scenes that are nothing like the book, which does not abet the story line. Battling against her father, Clary connives a plan to deceive him but the copious amount of deviation from the story line makes it counteract the feelings the viewers are experiencing. Since you cannot go inside the characters minds, you need to know the back story, which is scarcely given in the movie and leads to confusion. Effortlessly producing this movie, Harald Zwart inconsiderately left out many needed scenes and changed scenes to the point where they are unbearable.

To watch a movie you have to want to sit for hours and watch it, be interested in the story line, the actors, the set, but many people were put off by the unrealisticness of the set. As each scene unravels in front of you, the ancient church, and Hodges commodious office where the portal is located, both look like a dollhouse, a fake, plastic play set. In the sets you can decipher that this movie had a low budget. When the shadowhunters, Simon and Clary are fighting against the vampires, the abandoned clandestine hotel, which is where the battle takes place, looks unimaginable and unrealistic. When Jace fights his father and gets defeated, Clary finally decides it would be good time to help out. Sharply plunging her stele into the wavering surface of the portal, Clary freezes it while her father is submerged in the surface of the portal, which then leads to the portals destruction, her fathers death and a cheesy ending. The set of this scene makes the movie’s ending not as dramatic and devastating. Although this movie is imaginative and unrealistic, the low budget, unrealistic sets decreased the viewers love for the movie.

The Mortal Instruments, a dystopian fantasy series is very successful and loved by many teens. Although the books are fantastic, director Harald Zwart butchered the film of the first book, City of Bones. In the movie, bad acting, deviation from the storyline and characters and terrible low budget sets convene this uncaptivating movie. Actors Lily Collins and Jamie Cambell Bower brutally constructed their characters into completely different people. Befriending a team of Shadowhunters, Clary Fray sets out to find her mother who has been kidnapped. Along the way Clary discovers a world that has been deliberately concealed from her. Watching this movie may cause great distress and hatred. Harald Zwart ruined any chance of successfully creating a movie that will please the readers of the Mortal Instruments, City of Bones.

It's time for mid year progress reports! These reports are the official assessment of progress towards end of year mastery. What that means is that students are being assessed on the standards they need to meet when they walk out of 8th grade.

So what should you expect?

Students that are on track will receive a score of MP (making progress).
Scores of MP+, SM-, SM, or SM+ mean that your student is demonstrating advanced skills for this point in the year.
Scores of MP-, CLP, CPU, and CNU mean that your student is not yet demonstrating the skills we would expect at this point in the year.

How will this affect high school report cards?

It won't. When sending mid year progress reports to high schools we attach a cover letter explaining our grading system to the high school. Mrs. Denman will follow up this letter with a personal call to La Salle and Central Catholic to ensure that our students are not penalized by possible misunderstandings.
At the end of second semester, when standards should have been met, their scores will be translated into a GPA.
If you would like an estimated GPA based on their current projection, I am happy to do that via email or at conferences. Just let me know!

8th Grade ~ Cascade Heights Public Charter School

Monday, February 16, 2015

50's Costumes

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Electricity Lab

Buddy Time

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Movie Critiques

Monday, February 2, 2015

Mid Year Progress Report

Student Led Conferences

Portland Opera to Go