Why You Should Watch Lost by Finn Alves

Lost is a survival show following the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 that crashed on a mysterious island with much adventure in store. Very quickly we find out this isn't an ordinary island. As the survivors try or wait for rescue, the mission soon becomes to survive. Here are some reasons to watch it:

1. Length - The show has 6 seasons, with each episode being 40 minutes long.  There are around  120 episodes, so you won't be ending soon, but instead will have a long series to sit down to and unravel.

2. Characters - There is a huge selection of characters, and they add and remove them throughout the seasons. Also, many of the characters have mysteriously met each other or been related to each other before they got to the island, yet no one remembers each other.

3.  Violence - If you don’t like violence or gore, this show is NOT for you! There is a lot of violence, and they do it so well for the show being 20 years old. Almost every episode the show has someone getting shot or getting knocked out.

4.  The Plot - This show has an amazing storyline; everytime one thing happens, another issue pops up. The survivors are always facing challenges, and it's always filled with adventure and mystery.
   

   Overall this is a great show, and I’d recommend it to anyone who likes adventure or mystery. This show is a great experience to watch with someone or alone. The only drawback  is that there is a lot of blood/gore;  aside from that, this show is 10/10 for me and I hope you watch it.

The Top 10 Best Selling Christmas Songs by Vivian Hartzell

As the holiday season rolls around the corner, Christmas music becomes more popular. Enjoy reading this list about the top ten best selling Christmas songs of all time. Credits to Wikipedia 

10- ¨Last Christmas¨ by Wham! This song was released in 1984 and is a great song! (In my opinion)

9- ¨Jingle Bell Rock¨ by Bobby Helms. This song was released all the way back in 1957 and is the oldest song on this list. 

8- ¨Feliz Navidad¨ by José Felicianio. This song was released back in 1970 but is still a very popular Spanish-Christmas song!

7- ¨Christmas Canon¨ by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. This song is one of the newer songs on this list and was released in 1998. 

6- ¨Where Are You Christmas¨ by Faith Hill. This song is most known from the famous movie ¨How The Grinch Stole Christmas¨ And it was released in 2000.

5-¨Rockin Around The Christmas Tree¨ by Brenda Lee. When Brenda Lee was only 14 years old she published this song and it was released back in 1958.

4-¨Mistletoe¨ by Justin Beiber. Justin Beiber was a late teenager when he released this popular pop Christmas song. This song was released in 2011. 

3- ¨Christmas Eve/Sarajevo¨ originally by Savatage (but later credited to the Trans Siberian Orchestra). I've never heard about this song until writing this article but anyway it was released in 1996.  

2-¨Do You Want To Build A Snowman¨ by Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monn, and Katie Lopez. This song is a popular song from the Disney movie Frozen. It was released in 2013. 

1-¨All I Want For Christmas Is You¨ by Mariah Carey. It's no surprise that this song is on the top of this list with how popular it's been since it was released back in 1994. 

Rating Country Music Artists of 2024 by Vivian Hartzell

Music has a power to take over people,-in a good way! Read this list to find out who I think the best country music artist is.

5. Coming in at number five is The Blind Owl Band. They have a ton of good songs, even though they aren’t good enough to make the top three. But that’s my opinion. 

4. Here is The Devil Makes Three. They are an AMAZING band and they have more than just country music, they also have bluegrass, folk, blues and jazz. That's something that I love about this band, there's a huge variety of different types of music.

3. Here at number three is Hunter Root. I LOVE his music and his songs are really catchy, but there are better artists.

2. Morgan Wallen is an awesome choice, and I love his music like “Thinkin’ Bout’ Me” and “Whiskey Glasses,” but sometimes he can get annoying with his depressing breakup songs. 

1. Finally, coming in 1st place is……. JORDAN DAVIS! Jordan Davis has really catchy songs like “The Next Thing You Know” and “Buy Dirt.”  So that's why he's here, for his amazing songs. 

Best Pokemon of Every Type By Penelope Baxter

Image from Pokemon.com

Pokemon. An incredible idea from Satoshi Tajiri. If you aren’t familiar with these creatures, they are magic animals in a popular video game franchise. The whole point of the game is to catch them in Pokeballs and then make them kill each other in something called a “Pokemon Battle”. It sounds wrong when you think about it for too long, but that’s normal. Pokemon each have a type. There are 18 types in all, which are what follows: Normal, Grass, Water, Fire, Electric, Psychic, Ground, Fighting, Rock, Dark, Ice, Poison, Steel, Bug, Ghost, Fairy, Flying, and Dragon. And I am going to state what I personally think is the best/cutest Pokemon of that type. 

Note: I am personally biased, so feel free to disagree. 

Note: Feel free to look up images if you don’t know what they look like. 

Normal: 

We have a lot of good contenders. You have Eevee, Audino, Spinda, Cinccino, Lopunny, Happiny, Ditto. And we have some incredibly horrible decisions Game Freak made. I’m mainly talking about Purugly and Likitung. But, if I had to choose one, it would have to be Furret. 

Grass:

Grass has a lot of good starters for every region, with Sprigatito being the latest, and a humongous hit with cat fans, and Meowscarada making the bipedal cat work. And we have some mistakes, like Gloom and Capsikid. But, the winner is going to be: Lilligant, Hussian Form. 

Water:

Water is one of my personal favorite types, next to Fairy. Water also is a starting type, with a lot of good choices. Some popular ones are Piplup, Vaporeon, Mudkip, Grininja, and Quaxly. And I am very biased here. I chose Quaxly as my starter in Pokemon Violet, and they are incredible. I don’t get all the hype about a grass cat and fire croc, the duck reigns supreme. Which makes it clear that Quaxly is the overall best water type, and this is the only one you must agree with. The cat is overrated, and I will die on this hill!

Fire:

Fire is a type that people seem to think is one of the strongest types. It’s not. Fairy is by a large margin. But that doesn’t mean the fire is a terrible type. They are pretty strong, I mean, they have Infernape, Charizard, Arcanine, Incineroar, they have some spicy contenders. But the very best, there ever was? Well, and I know I’ve done Hussian forms twice now, but they are just so good, I have to go with Hisuian Typhlosian. I chose Oshawott in Legends Arceus, but I ended up using this volcano hedgehog thing more than my samurai sea lion, and yes, Sammorot is based on something called a Samurai Sea Lion. 

Electric:

Electric is one of the most famous types because it has the most famous Pokemon, Pikachu. And I’ll be the first to say it, I don’t like Pikachu. There are better electric types. Their name is Emolga. Togatumaru is way better than both, have you watched Sun and Moon? Some other examples are Tynamo, Ampharos, Luxray, Blitzle, Pawmi, and Bellibolt. But the clear winner is the electric corgi’s evolution, Boltund. Yamper is fine. Boltund is better. No one evolves their Yamper, and when you do, you get inherently better Pokemon, that is still a dog, still electric, still cute, and won’t appear in Joltick’s Pokedex entry because they stick themselves to their butts! It is a win, win, win, win, win! 

Psychic: 

Psychic is fine. We have some good ones like Slowpoke, Galarian Ponyta, Wobbaffet, Galarian Articuno, Gallade, Hussain Braviary, Hatterene, actually, I take it back. Galarian Articuno, Hussain Braviary, and Hatterene are pretty cool. But one is the leader of the Psychic brigade, and is a helper to god itself, Arceus. Uxie. Go ahead, track me down. Uxie is one of the cutest Pokemon. There I said it.  

Ground:

Ground types are different from rock types for some ridiculous reason. It may be thought that ground types are way cuter than rock types. Rock types are rocks! Ground types are not the ground. You have Barboach, and Phanpy, and a freaking donkey! They are sooo cute! But, there is a best. It was a very hard decision between two Pokemon, but I desied for the other one to win its other type, because it is the cutest thing ever. But, the best ground type is Flygon. Light your torches and get your pitchforks. It is adorable. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, look it up. It is sooo cute. 

Fighting: 

Fighting is a type that doesn’t have that many good ones. Yes, you have Bewear, Pharmosa, Marshadow, all them. But there really aren't that many good ones.  That is, except for the Pokemon breaks the scientific name system. Well, technically all grass types do, but this one breaks it even further. They are a plant, an animal, and a fungus. I’m talking about Breloom! He is so precious! 

Rock:

I take back what I said about rock types. They’re a lot of good ones. I can’t believe I forgot that Dwebble exists. And Amaura. And Kabutops. And Anorith. And Bastiodon. They are so good! But the best rock type is Stonjouner. And I’ve never played Pokemon Shield. I did Sword, and I deeply regret it. Shield has this cutie pie, and Appletun! Also, Hop is the worst. 

Dark:

There are a lot of good Dark types. I mean, there is freaking Galarian Moltres. This bird of death! And there is Yveltal, another bird of death. Not as good. But there is also Absol. And Umbreon, one of the most popular Pokemon! But the best Dark type is required to be Wo-Chen. I have never gotten it, but it is so cute. It's a literal snail! It’s about time Game Freak!

Ice:

Ice had some great… mistakes. Game Freak. Who. Had. The. Idea. For. Jynx!? It is a nightmare. Smoochum is just as bad. But we had some incredible pokemon. SNOM! Alolan Sandshrew! Alolan Vulpix! But the best Ice type is Galarian Darumaka. I want to snuggle it. It is an actual snowball. And if you know who came up with the idea of Jynx and they also designed Galar Darumaka, don’t tell me! Also, if you like Jynx you’re a monster. I’ll have my snowball and Snom, and you can have your nightmare full. Deal? Deal. 

Poison:

Once more, not very good ones. Yes, you have Skrelp. But you have Crobat. Yes you have Galar Weezing. But you have Galar Slowking. There though is a clear winner. Clodsire. The best boy! Fun fact about Clodsire, it is inspired by the Irribian Ribbed Newt. Which can push its ribs out of its body through holes. And, when they come through the holes, they are coated with poison! 

Steel:

Yeah, Steel isn’t that great. I’m starting to see a pattern here. Well, some examples of failure are Galar Meowth, Perrserker, Aggron, Metagross, and yes you heard me, Metagross is a failure. We will continue with the existance of Alolan Dugtrio. WHY DOES IT HAVE HAIR! WHY IS IT STEEL! But, it was still easy to pick a winner. It was nearly Magearna, but the winner is Hisuian Goodra. I may have lied when I said Wo-Chen was the first snail, but this thing works too. Shoot, I just realized the Shelmet is a thing. 

Bug:

Bugs, shockingly, are pretty good. Illumise is good, Krickatune is good. We have Paras, and the best Kanto bug type, Venomoth. Shuckle is the best Johto bug type. We have Shedinja, Dustox, and Lil’ Dwebble, which sounds like a comedy show.  And 2nd place for best bug, is Mothim. It is so cute! I have a Mothim Sitting Cutie and I love it! It would have won if I had forgotten about Rimbombee. The scarf wins me over. 

Flying:
Fun fact. There are only 3 pure flying types. None of them are good. No one likes Tornadous. Also, dragon type existed in Gen 1. WHY ISN’T CHARIZARD A DRAGON TYPE! I don’t even like Charizard! But there is a good one. WHO IS A DRAGON TYPE CHARIZARD! It is Noivern. One of the most adorable dragon types. Look at that smile! Don’t you want to hug it?

Ghost: 

I will be the first to say it. Then again, I’ve been the first to say a lot of things. Cursola is adorable. Gengar is overrated. I like Phantump. Sensu Style Oricorio is the best Oricorio. Hisui Zorua is better than Unova. I want to ride Golett. And then, there is the best ghost type. And I may be the only person who likes it. Pokemon, 1000. That is right. Goldengho. I collected those 1000 Gimmieghoul coins, and it was worth it. 

Fairy:

My favorite type. With one of my favorite pokemon that unfortunately couldn’t be on my champion team in Pokemon Violet! A few hints. Is introduced in Paldea. Is the first of its typing. And, is a paradox. The answer is… Iron Valiant! It is so cool, and it took me so long to find it! It was worth using the Master Ball! A Gardivoir and Gallade combo is so cool anyway. And, is the first Fairy-Fighting type. 

Dragon:

This had a surprisingly long list. Dratini, Goodra both variants, Jangmo-o, Altaria, Flygon, Dragalge, Noivern, Drampa, Appleton. They are all contenders. But, Flygon, Noivern, and Hisuian Goodra won, so that shortens the list. Dratini and Jangmo-o are off too. We have left a pillow, a bunch of kelp, a pie, and a dragon that burns down bullies’ houses.  Dragalge is now off the list, and Drampa. We have Altaria and Appletun left. And, we are going to judge them based on their regional gimik forms. Altaria becomes a bigger, fluffier pillow, and a fairy type. Being the only Fairy-Dragon type, Mega Altaria. And Appletun, well G-Max Appltun looks identical to G-Max Flapple. So, the winner is Altaria! 

Thank you for coming on this journey, and possibly not being angry at my decisions. To tie this up, the winners are: Furret for Normal. Lilligant Hisuian form for Grass. Quaxly for Water. Typhlosion Hisuian form for Fire. Boltund for Electric. Uxie for Psychic. Flygon for Ground. Breloom for Fighting. Stonjouner for Rock. Wo-Chen for Dark. Darumaka Galarian form for Ice. Coldsire for Poison. Goodra Hisuian form for Steel. Rimbombee for Bug. Noivern for Flying. Goldengho for Ghost. Iron Valient for Fairy. And Altaria for Dragon!  

Sources: Bulbapedia for Pokemon Lists

Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom? By Will Petersen

The Legend of Zelda is a fun, challenging, and interesting series for most gamers. I won’t cover all the games in the article, just two—The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Most people know that Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to Breath of the Wild by a couple of years. Now, on to debating which game is better.

To start, I will talk about the ups and downs of BotW. BotW is a smaller map that is easier to navigate. It does not involve many tools and is not complicated to get powerful weapons. It gets much easier once you get going with a strong weapon and understand the puzzles and challenges. Many more glitches can benefit and sometimes won’t help the game. It also has very original bosses along with a strong background that slowly gets revealed the more you play. Some people say that it collides with other games, but the fun thing about it is it takes place tens of thousands of years in the future from the last game in the timeline. This game is a fun game to play with its special challenges. Now on to Tears of the Kingdom.

Tears of the Kingdom is also a fun game but has differences. The map is three times bigger, with depths that mirror the overworld completely. It is hard to navigate the whole world, and it can take a very long time to 100% get through it. It also takes a lot of free time to complete, but it helps you do everything on the overworld throughout the game. It takes out the fun of the game and it makes Link overpowered after beating a couple of dungeons. I think the depths lose their meaning after you get all of the light roots, so they lose their dark and foreboding atmosphere. Also, you have to go around the world to find places that show you what happened to Zelda in the past. The game gets a whole ton harder when you go to the sky though, because of the risk of falling.

To wrap everything up, Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild have some recognizable differences and similarities that distinguish the two. Everybody has their own opinions on the game, and my personal opinion is that Breath of the Wild is the better game with hard enemies, powerful weapons, and a great backstory.

What We Know About Pokemon Legends ZA By Finn Alves

On February 27th, 2024, Pokemon held a live stream on Youtube called “Pokemon Presents” which happens every once in a while. It usually comes around on February 27th due to that day being Pokemon Day, but there are a few cases where there are multiple in a year, and it presents what is to come in the coming year. This particular live stream had some shocking news. At the end of the live stream, it was revealed that Pokemon Legends ZA would be a new game releasing “Simultaneously in 2025” which has led some people to think Nintendo will announce a new console and this game will be on it.

From the trailer, we know that this game will take place in the Kalos region from the 6th generation and it will most likely take place in a different point in time. I'm unsure if it will be the future or the past. Mega evolving will be making its return since the “Let’s Go” games. There's a good chance the game will focus around the huge Kalos city, “Lumiose City”, home of the Electric type gym.

But that's not all. Before Pokemon Legends Arceus came out there was a Pokemon card fun pack (a small pack with 3 cards) that had the Pokemon Cyndaquil, Rowlet, and Oshawott which ended up being the starters for Legends Arceus. I went to Gamestop and they were giving away brochures that had free fun packs in them. These packs were new and had Litten, Totodile, and Turtwig. This leads me to believe that these will be the starters. I, and others, had thought it would be Piplup, Scorbunny, and Snivy due to their French relation, and Kalos is a French based region.

How to win in Mariokart 8 Deluxe by Julian Nowlin

Mariokart 8 Deluxe, despite being a port from a Wii U game, might just be one of the best games on the switch. Millions of people have bought it, and Nintendo has filled it to the brim with content. It has a hard core fanbase who will stop at nothing to win. I am one of those people, so here are some strategies you can use to secure a top three placement. 

Bagging: If there is a track with lots of off road to cut through, this strategy is king. It involves intentionally driving bad until the final lap, where you chain amazing items and pass a lot of people. To perfect this strategy, try to stay as far away from first place as possible without going below 9th place. The way the engine gives you your items relies on distance from first place and placement. 9th to 12th get the best items, so 9th is the best spot for you.

Another critical part of bagging is to go for coins and double item boxes. Coins make you a lot faster, and having two last place items is the best position you can be. Bagging, although it sounds easy, is hard to perfect. It just takes practice, but as you become good at it you can easily get top three.

Dodging a Blue Shell: This can be done in two ways. The first way is to throw a banana in front of you. This gives you invincibility and makes you slide forward, making it faster than being hit by the blue shell. The second way is my favorite. For some reason, there are frames where you can use a dash mushroom and speed out of the blast. This is a very precise move, though, and it takes practice. To do it, wait for the blue shell to drop down on you. While it does this, quickly use the mushroom. It’s a small time window, so this method is tricky to pull off. 

Bill Extensions: If you have a bullet bill, don’t use it right away. Wait for a specific spot and quickly use the item. This makes the game confused, and it will freak out and drop you off three seconds later. Although it may sound small, that time gap can be the difference between winning and losing.

Snaking: This is very easy to do. In a straight section, instead of just driving, charge and release mini turbos. If you go in a curved line, you won’t hit the wall and will go much faster.

Dodge Item Chaining: If you just finished lap 2 and there has not been a shock yet, start chaining dodge items. Dodge items are anything that make you invincible. This includes, Bullet Bills, Stars, and Boos. Start using these one after the other to attempt to dodge the shock. If done correctly, you will not be hit and will go significantly faster than the other racers. 

These are all the strategies that I use. Although you may not take them seriously, they can work very well. Now it’s to make your friends rage.       

Image: Nintendo. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass. Accessed 14 11 2024.

Will the Minecraft Movie Fail? By Finn Alves

Earlier this year the “Minecraft Movie” trailer was released, but some people weren't too fond of it. First of all, it looked strange. Some parts were not blocky, at one point the blonde guy creates something that isn’t even in the game (he built two buckets that were connected with a chain!), and a lot of people think the animals look funny or goofy. It makes me feel like they're throwing in all sorts of things to show what they can do. 

The movie feels weird being live action and not being animated. I've seen people remake scenes from the trailer as an animation and those fanfilms were smooth, worked well, showed quality and expresion, and these people had a only few months to do these animations. Normal Minecraft has never looked like this; it feels wrong. 

Although the movie is called “A Minecraft Movie” and the Minecraft team explained how it's called “A Minecraft Movie” and not “The Minecraft Movie”, this movie simply tells a story about Minecraft in the Minecraft world. This also makes openings for more movies, not sequels, that are fresh stories with new characters. So the movie might not flop, because after all, the game has sold hundreds of millions of copies since release, so there will probably be at least 10’s of millions of people wanting to watch it. 

Upcoming Movies in November/December 2024 by Kadance Delahanty

1. Wicked 

This movie is based on a  2 part stage musical called Wicked by Stephan Schwartz. The movie is based on the first part of the musical. It is also based on the 1995 novel called Wicked by Gregory Maguire. It also has some of the same characters of the novel and movie, Wizard of Oz. It is an upcoming fantasy musical. It is set in the land of Oz. It is about Elphaba’s studies at Shiz university and the beginning of her ultimately becoming the wicked witch of the west, and her unlikely friendship with Glinda which later became her rival Glinda the Good. Ariana Grande is playing Glinda. Cynthia Erivo is playing Elphaba. It will be coming out November 22, 2024.

2. Mufasa: The Lion King

This movie is an upcoming musical drama film directed by Berry Jenkins from a screenplay by Jeff Nathenson. It will be produced by Walt Disney pictures. This movie and musical is about orphaned, lost, and alone cub Mufasa meets a caring cub named Taka. Taka is an heir to a royal bloodline. Their meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits. This movie will be coming out December 20, 2024. 

3. Moana 2

This movie has had a lot of excitement while it has been in progress. This movie is an upcoming animated musical adventure film. Most of the original cast members will be voicing their characters again. 3 years after the first film's events, Moana gets an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors. She forms her own crew, reuniting with her old friend and demi god, Maui. They journey to the far seas of Oceania to break the god Nalo’s curse on the hidden island of Montufetu. It once connected the people of the ocean. They confronted new and old foes. This movie will be coming out November 27, 2024.  

Top Artists of 2024 So Far by Zoe Angle

Music is, has, and always will be one of the most common (and in my personal opinion, best) ways to express yourself or feel a certain way. Music and its artists are a big part of everyday life, whether you want to relax, scream, the occasional sob into your pillow, or just feel like popping in your AirPods and falling asleep. Though 2025 is months away, these top artists so far this year may shock or may be just what you’ve expected.

6. People worldwide wait all week of hard work for the weekend to have fun and relax. If that’s why Abel Tesfaye chose “The Weeknd” for his artist name, it certainly paid off, as he is the 6th biggest artist of 2024. With the drop of Dancing in the Flames, the newest of his albums, he just edged his way into the top six. You can almost definitely expect to hear him on the radio, possibly in his top three songs, “Timeless (with Playboi Carti),” “One Of The Girls (with JENNIE, Lily Rose Depp),” and “Blinding Lights.”

5. Pronounced the same as the movie snack favorite, Eminem with top songs “Houdini,” “Without Me,” and “Mockingbird” has climbed back up to 5th biggest artist after last year at 14th. How did he make that big of a jump? Who knows! But many (including myself) are certainly happy about it. 

4. In 4th this year so far has been Kendrick Lamar. Not within even the top 20 last year, Lamar spiked in popularity in 2024. Songs of his such as “Not Like Us” have majorly helped with his new-found fame as he has reached Billboard’s number one song many a time in 2024. As well as his own personal creations, his collaborations have been just as beneficial to his music career. In particular, “All The Stars (with SZA)” has helped this #4 creator reach new heights.

3. With the release of her recent album Hit Me Hard and Soft and the top song “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie, Billie Eilish became the third greatest artist of 2024. This new album certainly was beneficial to her career, as it was the newest in three years and received lots of love from her millions of fans.

2. Canadian rapper and singer Drake has been a major influence in the music industry. With eight studio albums and five Grammy Awards, his career has soared. With top songs including “God’s Plan,” Drake has worked his way up from fourth last year to second now. 

1. Known as one of the greatest and most influential artists of the music industry, Taylor Swift holds a steady lead in first with the Swifty Army backing her up. At the 2023 Grammys, she mentioned the surprise release of her newest album “The Tortured Poets Department,” which immediately reached 1st in Billboard. With the Era’s Tour and top songs including “Cruel Summer,” she has shown many times that she is at the top.

Source: RouteNote

2025 Movies: When They Are Coming and What to Expect By Zoe Angle

With each new year, people worldwide look forward to movies coming out. Some iconic movies of this past year have been Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4. Though people have loved these movies (pretty expressively), some films that many are excited for don’t end up being worth your time. These are 6 movies coming out in 2025, so you know what is worth the watch.

1. The live-action version of the 1937 Disney Classic, Snow White is expected for March 21, 2025 (yet to be rated). This modification of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has stars including Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, and Andrew Burnap and is directed by Mark Webb. Though this musical isn’t an exact replica of the animated original, you can still expect to see everyone’s favorite characters, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and last but not least, Dopey.

2. Jurassic World Rebirth, expected July 2, is directed by Gareth Edwards and has stars including Scarlett Johansson, Ed Skrein, and Jonathan Bailey. This (supposedly) incredible movie is the 7th in the sci-fi franchise of Jurassic Park. In this movie, an expedition takes place to extract DNA to help with a “groundbreaking medical breakthrough.”

3. Based on the video game, A Minecraft Movie, directed by Jared Hess and featuring Emma Myers, Jack Black, and Jason Momoa, has many similar aspects to the world-famous pastime. Expected April 4th, 2025, A Minecraft Movie shows the Ender Dragon from the game setting a path of destruction in the Overworld. It is up to a girl and her “unlikely adventurers” to save it.

4. Avatar: Fire and Ash is the sequel to the iconic Avatar movie and is continued to be directed by James Cameron. Starring Cliff Curtis, David Thewlis, and Sigourney Weaver, the sequel is expected to be just as phenomenal as the original and expected December 19, 2025. Even though the plotline is unknown, this is a movie to wait for!

5. Another sequel that is expected in 2025 (without a further due date) is Zootopia 2. Directed by Jared Bush, rabbit cop Judy Hopps and fox Nick Wilde return to solve yet another case. This sequel has stars including Jason Bateman, Fortune Feimster, and Ginnifer Goodwin.

6. Lilo and Stitch returns! Lilo and Stitch is coming out again, live-action. This remake is directed by Dean Fleischer Camp and stars Zach Galifianakis, Billy Magnussen, and Tia Carrere is expected sometime during 2025. 
   

   Source: IMBD

Are Video Games Good for You? by Finn Alves

Press Start

I know it, you know it, we all know it. We’ve probably all had an experience with video games, whether it was a game on a console, or a PC, or getting sucked into the brain rot that is bad mobile games. But, have you ever heard the term, “Video games are bad for you!” Well, if so, well, if you haven't then who are you? But is this saying correct? Let's find out!

Gaming Pros

There is a good selection of benefits of gaming. Some benefits of gaming include:

1. Better mind skills - Doing puzzle or memory games is great for stretching your mind and increasing problem solving skills.

2. Boosting teamwork and problem solving and social skills - Multiplayer games help form teamwork and other people you meet.

3. Virtual reality and other movement based games - Good form of exercise especially in the arms with VR.

These are some of the benefits for something that mostly involves sitting around playing games on a device. Although, with all these pros, there are ought to be some cons about it.

Con-trollers

So, with pros, there always come cons, so let’s look at some cons about gaming. Some cons include:

1. Playing for too long could make you lose sleep or not get schoolwork done.

2. You could get addicted to a game and have trouble paying attention due to non stop gaming

3. Some games involve microtransactions and you shouldn’t be pumping money into a game.

So those were some pretty good, well, pretty bad cons, and it makes the score not so one sided towards it being good.

Final Score

We’ve gone over some cons, and some pros, but now it's time to decide the winner of if video games are good for you or not, and to answer the question, I’d say that it depends. But if I had to choose, I’d say gaming is good for you. All the pros were about how they help you IRL (In Real Life) and in the game. I asked a couple of my friends what their opinion was and they said it was good for similar reasons as listed. As long as you have a good game that you and the game don’t fall into the cons, then gaming certainly has its fair share of benefits.

Top 5 Best Horror Villains by Aidan Murphy

Since Halloween is soon, horror movies are back in season. But what matters most is the villain. So here’s my Top 5 Halloween Movie Villains.

5. Chucky

While he may be small, he makes up for it with his ruthlessness.

4. Freddy Krueger

Really, he’s far funnier than scary at this point.

3. Ghostface

Even though he isn’t that great of a killer, he’s so iconic I can’t put him anywhere other than the top 3.

2. Jason Voorhees

A genuine threat that’s nearly invincible. His biggest weakness might be lakes.

1. Michael Myers

One of the most recognizable villains ever. While he may not be as strong as Jason, or as charismatic as Chucky or Freddy, he creates an aura that’s just unmatched.

10 Reasons why Google Doodle Baseball is the best by Quinn Cunningham

1. It's not blocked by SCASD. 

2. You can hit 2,000 foot home runs. 

3. There are left-handed players, so they are not left out. 

4. If you hit the ball, it is always a base hit. 

5. The players are food. 

6. The field is picnic themed.

7. The pitchers throw many different pitches. 

8. the crowd in the stands and they also celebrate when you hit the ball. 

9. It is easy to score many runs unlike actual baseball. 

10. It is entertaining and keeps you ready for the next pitch. 

Hot take: It's better than Google Doodle Cricket. 

Hot take: I has the best sound effects ever

Hot take: You can’t pause the game!

Best and Worst Gimkit Games by Edward Chote

In this article I will be talking about what Gimkit games are good and which ones you shouldn't even try. 

The Worst Gimkit Games

Now to start off,  let’s talk about some of the worst games, starting with Fishtopia. First,  this game is so boring it's actually kind of sad when you play it -  all you do is fish and answer questions. 

Another bad game is the Dig It Up  game. First off, all this game just isn't that much fun in my opinion. It is a very basic game where you build up and don't do much more. 

There is one more mediocre game I can think of, and it is One Way Out. All you do in this game is run through halls shooting enemies that don't actually do much. 

The Best Gimkit Games

But now I'm going to list some of the better games that I do believe are actually fun. First off, all there's Don’t Look Down,, a spin off of the popular rage game Only Up. The premise of this game is to jump up a map where there are very few checkpoints - one wrong fall and you have to start all over again. 

Another fun game is the new Knockback  game, or at least it's new at the writing time of this article. This game is really only fun if you have three or more people playing on it,  but the basic idea is that you are on a ton of tiny platforms and you have to shoot your friends off of them, increasing the knockback, making it like Super Smash Bros. 

And the final fun game that is on Gimkit has to be Capture the Flag. Whenever your teacher picks this map, it's always fun with how much yelling across the class there is, but if it's only you and a few more of your friends, there isn't much to do, and it's not that fun. 

And that is my final analysis of the worst and best gimkit games to play.

William’s Monster Movie Review - Episode 4: Civil War (2024) By William Gartner

Non-Spoiler Summary of Film:

In the Near Future, The US is dealing with a Second Civil War and a group of War Journalists are following the Rebel forces, all the way to D.C.

My Review:

Before I saw the film I had high hopes for it. The trailers made it seem like it is a gruff war film filled with tanks, explosions and pure awesomeness. And that was delivered . .  at the very end. The film is either incredibly bloody or just plain boring. The film has one of the greatest premises and a great cast, but just terrible execution (no pun intended) Also it is not a war film…it is a road trip movie and then a war film at the end. One other problem I have is that the film leaves you in the dark about the causes of the war itself which is something that you definitely need your audience to know. Finally, there is the fact that it is sad that there could have been a great movie in place of this film but now we have to suffer with this piece of trash.

William’s Monster Movie Rating:  25 out of 100. 

The film is garbage and you should not pay to see it

What’s Next for Phineas and Ferb? by Jacey Gummo

Spoilers Ahead

Phineas waves goodbye for what we thought was the final time. Little did we know that we would see the series return this summer.

As some of you may know, Dan Povenmire is famous for his shows like Phineas and Ferb, Milo Murphy’s Law, and his latest work, Hamster and Gretel. There has been an announcement of two new seasons for Phineas and Ferb. Here’s the latest info and what my predictions are.

 Some may have heard through the news, while others have heard through their peers. I heard this news from another fan and a friend, Orlando Depalma, last year. I was so excited, yet skeptical. But this news was confirmed. The reboot will be released this year around late June and early July. According to Deadline.com (and many others), there will be a total of 40 new episodes split up into 2 seasons, as I have previously mentioned before. And for those who are thinking, “I’m a huge fan, but I don’t want to watch other voice actors. I want the original cast!” I’ve got the news of a lifetime for you. According to the website J-14, the original cast will be reprising their roles. But there’s a much bigger question; will they still be kids or adults, like in the episode “Act Your Age”? I could find nothing on this, but I believe it will be kids.

Now, with all of the information we have gathered, I will play a game with you. For each right prediction, check it off the list.

• It will take place a year later

• Meap Me In Saint Louis will happen

• Crossover with Hamster and Gretel

• Something between Candace and Jeremy

• Doof gets a girl and then loses her later

• Doof’s Professor Time character arc progresses

•  Linda FINALLY busts the boys

• More painful Doof backstories 

But hey, that’s just a theory- a FILM Theory! And-cut.

If you have any questions, please email jjg32@scasd.org and I will try my best to answer them to the best of my abilities. Only ask questions about Phineas and Ferb.

Youtubers Tier Lists by Derek Jones and Julian Nowlin

S.  MrBeast, Mark Rober, Ryan Trahan, TD Bricks, Beluga

Mr.Beast makes great content that's non negotiable. He blows stuff up and it is very satisfying. His challenges are very suspenseful and he gives out so much money.

Mark Rober is an easy S because he makes science fun and is very educational. He also punishes people for doing bad things in the funniest ways possible.

Ryan Trahan is a funny Youtuber who makes a great vlog. I don’t really like his penny series but his one star rating videos are stellar.

Beluga is a funny Discord Youtuber. He makes me laugh with all his jokes and sure some of them are outdated, but the way he uses them is just so funny.

TD Bricks is just a funny Youtuber in general. He makes entertaining videos and never fails to make me laugh. 

A.  SamBucha, LetsGameItOut, Brick Science, Slowmo Guys

SamBucha makes a variety of gaming videos and some good shorts. My favorites are the ones like “Testing Viral Life Hacks'' and “Breaking the Weirdest Laws in the World.”

Letsgameitout is a funny gaming youtuber that does a bunch of video games and he makes me and my friends laugh whenever we watch him.

The Slowmo guys make such good slow motion videos of a lot of random stuff. It's always very satisfying to watch and they spend so much money just to make 30 seconds of satisfaction.

Brick Science is a science Youtuber who makes devices with Lego. I like watching them and seeing how the designs come together. He also shows the large amount of possibilities with Lego.

B. Camman18, aCookiegod, Crave, Odd1sOut

aCookieGod is a cool minecraft youtuber who does challenges and other stuff. He even tried collecting like a one million cookies in one of his videos.

Camman18 is a very good Youtuber who has taught me a lot about Minecraft. He uploads daily so when I come home from school, I look forward to seeing the video.

Odd1sOut is an entertaining animation Youtuber who makes animations about his whole life from working at Subway to having a lisp in first grade.

Crave is a solid Youtuber who makes funny Minecraft skits. A lot of them are relatable but I think he uses memes a bit too much. 

C. Griffpatch, BeastReacts, Camman18VODS, Parrot

Griffpatch is a name you might have heard from the coding site Scratch. He makes tutorials that are very helpful and I am a better Scratcher because of him. He just doesn’t make his content that entertaining. 

BeastReacts you probably know him it's just Mr Beast’s reaction channel it has really good content reacting to random stuff he would have been b or a tier but he stopped uploading 8 months ago

Camman18VODS is Camman18’s channel where he posts Twitch Streams. I’ve watched a few of them and sometimes they are entertaining but they are too long to watch the whole thing except the parkour duel with PrestonPlayz.

Parrot is a pretty entertaining Minecraft youtuber on the lifesteal smp and he makes videos doing a lot of crazy stuff in that server.

D. PrestonPlayz, Jawed,  BeckBroJack, Fru

PrestonPlayz is a youtuber who makes minecraft videos there not very entertaining and the jokes get old really quick.

Jawed, full name Jawed Karim, is one of the founders of YouTube and only has one video. However, that video is a masterpiece.

BeckBroJack is a Minecraft youtuber who makes very entertaining youtubes. I wish I could put him higher but he doesn't upload very often.

Fru is a Minecraft Youtuber who I watched in third and fourth grade. He made a cool Hardcore series that was fine, but I’m 90% sure that he used commands for his diamonds. 

E. Kronkle_Wonkle, JasonPlaysMinecraft, Ishowspeed, 

Kronkle_Wonkle may or may not be a kid who goes to PFMS. He steals his video ideas and needs to make something original. 

JasonPlayzMinecraft is a really horrible minecraft youtuber who just screams random stuff at the top of his lungs while blowing minecraft mountains up.

Ishowspeed is a somehow famous youtuber who plays a bunch of games while blowing everyones eardrums into smithereans.

F. Logan Paul, Stokes Twins, Jake Paul, 

Logan Paul is just a bad person in general. He went to Italian Prison for flying a drone over the Colosseum, posting a video with a dead body, and making a scam game. 

Stokes Twins can be described by one word: Thieves. They steal videos, thumbnails, and even details. In the MrBeast Tesla video, there is a detail in the background that is in the Stokes Twins thumbnail, proof of copy and paste. 

Jake paul is a youtuber that I don't know a lot about, but I know he did a lot of bad stuff with his brother Logan Paul.

Spaceman Movie Review By Kale Cunningham

Last weekend I was able to watch a new space movie based on one of my favorite books, Spaceman of Bohemia. The book came out in 2017, and earlier this year Netflix distributed a movie titled Spaceman. The film stars Adam Sandler, one of my favorite actors. When I heard that this movie was coming out I couldn’t wait to see it. And I wasn’t disappointed. 

What You Need To Know 

First, I should probably mention that although this movie has Adam Sandler who is famous for his comical movies, this is a dramatic thriller. Although this may seem unfit for a comedian, especially for Sandler, I feel like Adam Sandler has proven himself fit for the drama genre, especially after movies such as Uncut Gems (2019) and Hustle (2022)

The movie is also based on a book, so I would recommend reading Spaceman of Bohemia before watching the movie.       

Premise 

Spaceman follows Czech astronaut Jakub Procházka (Adam Sandler) who is alone in space, on a mission to study a strange substance just beyond the orbit of Jupiter. He misses his estranged wife and unborn child that he left behind when he decided to go on the mission. Strange events begin to happen onboard the space station, and Procházka begins to hear voices inside his head, only to discover that a spider-like creature with apparent telepathic abilities has joined him on his journey. The spider (voiced by Paul Dano) says that he wishes to help Procházka with his problems back on Earth.

Reception (By Critics And Audience)

Spaceman has received mixed reviews from critics with praise for Sandlers and Dano’s performance but criticism for the plot and pacing. According to the review aggregator website, Spaceman holds an even 50% on Rotten Tomatoes (slightly below average). Audiences have given it a more positive review, with a 75% positive score according to IMDb.

My Review 

I found the book to be better (which it always is), but Sandler's performance was excellent. Dano’s voice performance cannot be ignored either; both of the actors seem to work well together. The movie also has impressive graphics for its budget. Most good space movies need over $100 million to look realistic, however, this movie has less than half of it, coming in around $40 million. 

People give out different kinds of reviews, like stars, percentages, and grades in their reviews all of which make sense to different people. I’ve decided to give all three of those ratings to make it easier to understand. 

Stars: I give this movie 4.5 stars out of 5

Percentage: 90% positive score, would watch again 

Grade: A-

Sources: 

IMDb 

My Review About the New Gimkit Game Mode and Some Tips by Julian Nowlin

I recently wrote an article about the April Fools update in Gimkit and thought that would be my last article about this game. Gimkit proved me wrong by creating a new game mode, something I just had to write about. Here is my review of the game and a few strategies I learned from my first time playing. 

The new game mode is called “Dig It Up” and is similar to “Don’t Look Down.” The basic overview is that Mayor Cole is somehow trapped in a hot air balloon about 200 meters above the ground and he needs help. It’s up to you and other players to save him. To save him you must mine blocks and place them to get higher up, kind of like Minecraft. The catch is that you have to mine different resources to get permits that let you build higher. If you don’t buy any permits, you can’t reach Mayor Cole. 

Here are some strategies to help you win. The first thing you want to  do is get the best pickaxe in the least amount of time. Similar to permits, pickaxes can be purchased with different mineable materials. A good pickaxe will be extremely beneficial later on as permits require harder to get materials. Trust me, it is worth it,

My second tip is the style of tower you should be building. Don’t waste blocks building straight up or building an inefficient staircase. Instead, build 5 blocks up, the highest you can jump, and then build one block to the right or left. Then build five blocks up again and place one to the left or right. Repeat this to get the most efficient staircase that’s easy to get up and down. You can see what this looks like with the image at the beginning.  

My third tip is that if you are going to play this, use a mouse and not your mousepad. This makes it so much easier to mine and place because you can easily spam click. Mousepads will slow you down, while you can mine things much quicker with a mouse.

Finally, when you mine, don’t dig straight down for ages. Make a tunnel that you can travel up and down easily through. This will save a lot of time, and this game mode requires you to use every second. I mined wrong for my first few games and it really took its toll on the timer. 

Now the review. Before I do mine, I’ll list what another person said about the new mode. “I wish you could teleport to where you ended building up, because it’s hard to get back up,” says Juan Lorber, 6th grader here at PFMS.  

I think the new game mode is a fun game mode and I really want to play it more often. “Don’t Look Down” will always be superior, but if you want a break from that, this is a fun game to play. It’s a lot better with other people because you have to somehow protect your staircase so other players don’t get to Mayor Cole first. My overall rating is 4/5 stars. A good rating, but the game just needs to be a bit more interesting to get that five star rating. My recommendation is definitely to play it. It’s fun!