82nd annual Oscar awards: March 7, 2010

The Academy Award, more commonly known as the Oscars are awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize the excellence of film industry professionals such as directors, actors, writers, and motion pictures. As most of you may know, the 82nd annual Oscar awards took place on March 7 of this year. There were 24 awards to give, 5 nominees for each award, but only 1 out of each could win. There were so many nominees, some of which were nominated for more than one award.
There was an award for best picture, directing, actor and actress in a leading role, art direction, foreign language film, film editing, documentary feature, visual effects, music (original score), cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing, costume design, actor and actress in supporting role, writing (adapted screenplay), makeup, short film (live action), documentary short, short film (animated), writing (original screenplay), music (original song), and animated feature film.
One of the 2 movies that were nominated for more than one award was “Avatar” directed by James Cameron and Jon Landau. It was nominated for best picture, directing by James Cameron, art direction by Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, film editing by Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron, visual effects by Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones, music (original score), cinematography by Mauro Fiore, sound mixing by Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson, and sound editing by Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle. Although it did not win what seems to be the most important award-best picture- it did win awards for art direction, visual effects, and cinematography. Many people said it was the best movies they had ever seen. The other movie that was nominated for so many awards was “The Hurt Locker” by Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro which won the award for best picture. People were expecting “Avatar” to win the award for best picture.
There were different actors nominated for awards as well: actress in a leading role, actor in a leading role, actress in a supporting role, and actor in a supporting role. Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for actress in a leading role in the movie “The Blind Side” and Jeff Bridges won the Oscar for actor in a leading role for starring in “Crazy Heart”. The Oscar for actress in supporting role went to Mo’Nique for starring in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” and Christoph Waltz won the Oscar for actor in supporting role in the movie “Inglorious Basterds”. There are so many more details about the Oscars and for more information go to http://oscar.go.com/.

gecko life: iPods and mp3 Players in Between Classes at School

Last school year the school faculty put a new rule into effect about iPods and other mp3 players which does not make students happy. The high school students are not allowed to use their iPods or other mp3 players during school hours. This was not a rule before, but apparently the mp3 players “distract students from school work,” says senior Tyler Yoshimoto. Junior James Kim says using mp3 players at school would set “a bad reputation for the school.”
The rule about mp3 players is enforced in between classes, during morning break, and lunch break. Students are taking breaks from classes and having some time to relax. Mp3 players play music, which entertains and makes people happy-especially high school students who are into listening to music in their spare time. Sophomore Amber Roberts says, “I feel it’s unnecessary since kids aren't doing anything.”
Parents of some students do not like the idea of their children using mp3 players at school because they send their children to school to learn, not listen to music. When asked to put herself in the place of a parent sending her child to SIS and is asked how she would feel about her child using an mp3 player at school, freshman Christine Kim doesn't mind. “I don’t think it disrupts anything,” says Christine. Senior Selyna Leon Guerrero says she wouldn’t mind “as long as the teachers are able to teach easily.”
Apparently students have a very different view about using iPods and mp3 players at school compared to parents and teachers. Using mp3’s during class is definitely something to ban but it shouldn’t be a problem during breaks and in between classes because students do not have anything to worry about. As long as school work is not being disturbed there should be nothing to worry about.

English and ONLY English at SIS

There has been a problem with speaking English for students at SIS who are from outside countries and whose native languages are not English. There is a rule that states that students must speak only English to each other during school hours.

The majority of the students at the school are Korean and it has become the most spoken language at school but never the less there are Chinese students who speak Chinese to each other while in class and probably more than that. The main reason students are being sent to SIS by their parents, besides to get a good education is to get better at speaking English which should be considered a great privilege to students who do not speak English as their first language.

This will be able to help students greatly in their future. Some people take that privilege for granted and do not make the right amount of effort to improve their English and continue to speak their native languages. This is why there is a new very strict rule about speaking languages other than English at school. First there are warnings, which lead to detention, which may lead to suspension, which might just lead to expulsion. This shows how much the staff of SIS wants to help non native English speakers improve their English to help them in the future. As a warning, before saying something, think about what language it is going to be in.

A Movie Worth Watching: Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a movie a romantic comedy that tells the story of how a few different couples in Los Angeles, young and old, spend their day of romance. The whole movie takes place on Valentine’s Day. Each couple is somehow linked to all the others through friends or work.

Each couple in the story spends their day very different from the others. The scenes switch from couple to couple showing where they are and what funny things they are doing throughout the day even while they are not with their partner. There are funny flaws between each couple such as funny valentine gifts, age difference, high school versus work, funny personalities, weird jobs, and more.

One cool thing about the movie is that all it’s stars are all actors that are already famous and who’s names are well known throughout the country. Country singer and song writer Taylor Swift is one of the many stars of the film, playing a clueless high school student whose handsome athletic boyfriend is played by hunk Taylor Lautner, the werewolf in the Twilight Saga. This is probably the cutest and funniest couple in the movie.

The movie is really funny and is worth watching, comparing every couple to the others and seeing them side by side. Looking at love between high school students next to love between middle aged people and comparing them to the real world is so hilarious. For some people it might just be one of those movies that you can watch over and over again without getting tired of it. If romantic comedies are a favorite, head down to the movie theater before it's gone.