A Review

Holocaust movies have their own sub genre in Hollywood. "Defiance" does things a little different than the majority of them. It shows a group of Jews who fought back.

"Defiance" is a movie about the Bielski brothers and their refuge for Jews in the forests of Belarus during World War II. It is based on actual events, which ended up saving over 1200 Jews during the war.

After Nazi forces kill the majority of their family the Bielski brothers flee to the nearby woods and attempt to live. Soon they find more Jews hiding in the forest and start to build a community, while trying to stay hidden from the Nazis.

As the film progresses you see the difference of thought from the two main brothers. On one side you have Tuvia (Daniel Craig) wanting less bloodshed and to help as many people as he can. On the other you have Zus (Liev Schreiber) attempting to achieve his revenge and feels that they should not worry about anything but.

The conflict played out between these brothers is intense and attention grabbing. At times you cannot help but feel like Tuvia is the “good” guy. Craig and Schreiber do very well in these positions. It is nice to see Craig playing the position of the “caring guy” after his recent Bond movies, although they are very good movies.

This film is not perfect, but the film will keep your interest. A big aspect of this film was the building of the community. Many of the members of the community have “forest marriages,” which help build the characters. They have a rabbi and many intellectuals that solidify that community feeling.

There is a good serving of action in this movie without ramming it down your throat. The action does a great job of keeping you wide awake but does not overshadowing the story or characters. Most of the time though the gripping scenes are the ones with the members of the community at odds with each other.

"Defiance" is worth seeing. It plays well on your emotions and it tells the story of a group that fought against all odds during World War II. It may not be as good as other movies about the holocaust such as "The Pianist" or "Schindler's List," it's still a good movie.

After the war the war Tuvia and Zus moved to Palestine and fought in the war that established the Israeli state. After that they immigrated to the United States. Aseal joined the Soviet army, but died in battle in 1945. Only one brother remains alive. That is Aron and he is living in the US.

Released: January 19 2009 in theaters.
Runtime: 137 minutes
MPAA rating: R
Genre: Drama

To be written

Well I went out and saw "Defiance." I thought it was pretty interesting. It was very intense and really pulled me in. So I have been doing some background research on it, as this movie was based on a real group of people. I doubt I will have any issue writing up this story, but right now I have a presentation and a test tomorrow that I need to finish working on.

(Image taken from Flickr.com by sociate)

Did you know Grenada produces 20% of the world's nutmeg? (my presentation is on Grenada)

P to the rofile!

Five questions for my profile subject.
1. Where are you from?
2. What motivates you in life?
3. Who raised you?
4. What is your greatest achivement?
5. Why do you do what it is you do? (what influenced you)

I don't know yet who I will profile. In my experience the profile story is the most challenging for me. It was my lowest graded story last term, I plan to do a much better job this time. It was defenitly an issue of going outside my comfort zone. Another issue for me was locking down someone to profile.

Defiance

I have been kicking around some ideas for my review story. I would like to review a book, but it is not recent. I still think I will review the book at some point, but just on the side. Honestly I would like to see some book reviews in the Commuter. Anyway...

What I am thinking I will review instead is "Defiance." This looks like an interesting movie, and Daniel Craig is just awesome. So maybe on Friday night I might call up some friends and head on out.
(Image taken from Flickr.com by claire_h)

Beer Pong – Now playing in a basement near you!

Not many drinking games can earn you $50,000, but at least one can. Beer Pong.

Beer pong is a drinking game played mostly at college parties and tailgaters. It has become increasingly popular over the last few years. It's a fairly simple game with fun rules.

The game requires two teams of two. Each team has 10 cups at the end of a decent-sized table filled with some beer. The object of the game is to sink a ping-pong ball into one of the opponent's cups.

Each team takes turns shooting. Both players shoot in one turn and attempt to score. When a ball lands in a cup the other team must drink the beer in that cup. When no more cups remain on one side the game is won by the team with any remaining cups.

Every house has their own set of rules. Nick McCallum, an avid beer pong player and college student, says the rules are usually decided on by the owner of the house, or the person who set up the location. Some examples of the house rules are:

-If both players of one team score into the same cup the opposing team must drink two cups of beer instead of one. After the two beers are consumed the team who had shot gets to go again. McCallum has seen some pretty amazing shutout games because of this rule.

-If a player chooses to bounce the ball before landing it in a cup the opposing team must drink a cup for every bounce before the score. So if the ball bounced three times then landed in a cup the team would consume three cups. If a team chooses to play the bounce the opposing team may defend their cups by swiping and knocking the ball away.

-Redemption rules: If one team has only one cup and the shot is made on their cup they have the chance to shoot to save themselves. If they make the shot the game continues and they do not have to consume the last beer.

For a more complete list of rules check out Bpong.com.

Beer pong has become wildly successful over the last few years. McCallum thinks this is for a few reasons.

"First and foremost, people just like to get inebriated," McCallum says.

He feels it gives people a fun way to drink. It's kind of like sports but less serious. "By the end of the night everyone is inebriated and happy, so no one loses."

McCallum also attributes some of its success to the ease of getting a game together. All you need is a rectangular table, 12 cups, two ping pong balls, and some beer.

The game has become so popular that Bpong.com has hosted four World Series of Beer Pong tournaments. The last of which took place in Las Vegas between Jan. 1-5, and the grand prize was $50,000. Four hundred fourteen teams competed from across the U.S. and Canada. The winning team, from New York, was named "Smashing Time."

Bpong.com offers official rules, a beer pong store, beer pong forums and blogs, online games, and a frequently asked questions section.

One problem that is associated with beer pong is binge drinking. This is an issue that affects many college campuses. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) say that 44% of students attending a four year college drink at a binge level or greater. According to CSPI one of the major factors of binge drinking is low price and easy access.

For more information on binge drinking visit http://www.cspinet.org/booze/collfact1.htm

A slow start (EDIT 01-12-09)

We are heading into the second week of the term. The first week was actually pretty uneventful, but I am looking forward to most of my classes. I have started work on my first story of the term, which I mentioned in the last post. This is going... ok. Still need to interview people but I have done some research (not hands on).

EDIT For class: I plan to interview college students who know of beer pong. Right now I have done some research and found some information from the presenters of the World Series of Beer Pong (WSOBP). I would also like to interview maybe a teacher or some adult and get their reaction to the popularity of Beer Pong.

I finished the assigned reading for "On Writing" by Stephen King. I enjoy some of his work a lot, such as "The Dark Tower" series. This book is turning out to be interesting and funny. I would probably be much further into the book except I have a ton of reading for Art History and some for History of Latin America. Speaking of which... I am off to read some more then to bed!

EDIT: Also I should have most everyone from the class on my bloglist.
(Picture taken from Flickr.com by TarikB)

Story Idea Ichi-ban!

Picture: "The Best Pong Table Ever" taken by mattdell on Flickr.com

For my first story of the term I plan to explore beer pong. Probably focusing on either the many different variations on rules, or the perils of playing beer pong. I am in no way advocating binge drinking. I thought this would be an interesting subject to explore because of its popularity across college campuses.

New Terms

My dog, Jake, and I at Ghetto Beach in Buffalo, NY.
Picture taken by my father this last summer.

Well today is the start of a new term. I know I am excited! Last term I got three A's and a B. I plan to do at least that well this term :P

The times I have to be at school are basically the same as last term. I am taking:
History of Latin America
History of Western Art
Feature Writing
General Biology
All of the classes sound very interesting. Managed to keep two teachers that I had last term, so I think that will be nice.

Over the Winter break I accomplished much awesome gaming and hanging out with friends. I am still jobless, but what are you going to do? haha. The break was good, but I cannot wait to get back to school.

Well time to fix some breakfast.