By Gabrielle Diaz, Current Staff
The familiar voices from the West Bend High Schools’ public announcements are now being heard on local radio.
West junior Andrew Haese and East senior Lydia Spettel can be heard on 101.3 WIBD talking about events happening in the community and the schools at 6:45 a.m. every Tuesday morning. Listeners can also find Haese daily on his own station, A100 Radio. Continue reading
Filed under Community, Entertainment, School News and Features
East junior brings Disney love to Autism Walk/Run
By Mattie Zautner, Current Staff
Her yellow gown twirled around her feet as she danced the night away with her beast.
For as long as she can remember, Gabby Diaz, a junior at West Bend East High School, has loved the Disney princess Belle. This obsession inspired Diaz to dress up as Belle for a recent Autism Walk/Run, attend prom wearing a dress similar to Belle’s gown and start her own party entertainment business. Her princess career has already begun and she plans on continuing to be a role model to all the little girls and boys out there. Continue reading
Filed under Community, Entertainment, School News and Features
Siblings will perform original songs at Friday’s talent show
By Mattie Zautner, Current Staff
“Why Do I Like You?” and “Diamond Eyes.”
These two songs cannot be found on a Billboard Top 10 list because they were composed by West Bend West High School students Victoria and Sebastian Hunt. Their love of music inspired each sibling to write original songs to perform in this year’s WBHS Talent Show. The show is at 7 p.m. Friday in the Silver Lining Arts Center. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
Making television for teens is easy, making television about teens is herculean.
Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” is about the 13 reasons why a high school girl named Hannah Baker committed suicide. The events of the story are told through recorded tapes that Hannah made before her death and through her friend Clay in the aftermath of her death. It’s surprising to see entertainment aimed at teens actually tackle a subject that’s relevant to them, but it does make it inherently difficult to discuss because of its subject matter. The dodgy execution of the series doesn’t help either. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
East junior nominated for Wisconsin Area Music Industry award
By Hannah Bensen, Editor in Chief
Many young musicians dream of winning a Grammy Award one day. Savanna Bonlender may not have received a Grammy quite yet, but she has the chance to win a prestigious award. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment
“Time After Time” is a character-driven drama built on drama-less characters.
On paper, especially if you have prior knowledge about the show’s concept, what I just said must seem silly. After all, how can that be true about a series featuring time travel author H.G. Wells actually traveling through time to stop Jack the Ripper from ripping in modern times? Well, you throw out any personality or perspective that those two characters might have and replace it with public enemy number one of television, teenage drama writing. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
The movie’s soundtrack is both contemporary and timeless
By Kara Conley, Current Staff
Winning seven Golden Globes is a miraculous feat in the film industry, but the success of “La La Land” doesn’t stop there.
Damien Chazelle’s modern-day musical continues to captivate audiences, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took notice of its beauty, nominating “La La Land” for 12 Academy Awards. One of the awards “La La Land” is in contention for this weekend is Best Original Music Score. The film’s composer, Justin Hurwitz, has created musical mastery with a nostalgic sound that is refreshing to ears engulfed in a contemporary cacophony. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
What were the most notable commercials of Super Bowl 51?
Hello, hello, and welcome again to the annual TV Talk article about Super Bowl commercials! The corporate advertisers of America have united once again to entertain and frustrate millions of fans. Here are my insights on a few of the most memorable ones.
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
There’s something off about the buzzed-about episode of “Black Mirror”
At what point does satire become propaganda?
Simply put, satire is caustic criticism, whereas propaganda is the demonization of a target in order to push what the author views as “good.” The two can be hard to separate at times (especially since satire of propaganda is pretty popular), but it’s important to know what’s what.
Which brings me to “Black Mirror.” Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
By Kaitlyn Von Behren, Current Staff
As six-year-old Saleem Soden tried to sink a putt at a mini golf course, the cameras were rolling, the lights were on, and everyone was watching.
Saleem and his mother Hadwat acted as extras in “Another Yesterday,” a feature film directed by Steven Heil in Oshkosh throughout the month of October. Hadwat and Saleem are the wife and son of Joel Soden, a math teacher at West Bend East High School. Continue reading
Filed under Community, Entertainment
How do you convey the sensation of liking the initial premise of something, but hating the end result of that premise? That’s my dilemma with “Glitch.”
To elaborate, “Glitch” is an Australian series now on Netflix about six people who are resurrected from the dead. Each of these six people come from different time periods and different walks of life, but share one thing in common: they are obsolete. Simply put, the world moved on after they died and those that cared for them are either dead, senile or not the people they knew while they were alive. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
By Kara Conley, Current Staff
There’s nothing like watching the same story become a completely different one in a matter of moments.
“Right Now, Wrong Then,” a South Korean film that played at this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival, differentiates itself from those in its genre with the original idea of blending the same story into two separate ones, transformed by adjustments in a few subtleties. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment
Local veteran will appear at Monday’s film screening at UW-WC
By Allison Trampe, Current Staff
Some people know Anthony Anderson as a neighbor, some as a war veteran. Others know him as a lead in the new documentary “Almost Sunrise.” Continue reading
Filed under Community, Entertainment
By Kara Conley, Current Staff
Last week I was transported to a small town in China.
“Kaili Blues,” a movie playing at this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival, is a terrific work of art that evokes emotion and engulfs audiences with an emphasis on visualization. I was entranced by the images floating across the screen as a complicated story unfolded in front of my eyes. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment
“He who fights with CGI monsters should look to it that he himself does not become CGI…. When you gaze long at the spasming, spinny camera, the spasming, spinny camera gazes into you…”
Another summer hath come and gone, yet the eternal wheels of Television keep turning. Preacher was orange, JoJo’s was weird, but there’s a particular series that really stood out to me over the summer season… it’s Berserk 2016. I’ve said it time and time again, I’m a hardcore fan of the Japanese Berserk and highly recommend the stellar, if poorly animated Berserk 1997. It only took 19 years without a proper continuation to the series for Berserk to finally get a continuation of its story. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
As my time as a member of The Current draws to a close I hope to leave you all with one last recommendation that you will hopefully enjoy as much as I do.
Chet Faker is his name (well, Nicholas James Murphy), and his music is going to get me through this summer and the looming shadow of college. Let me introduce you all to this new up-and-coming indie star, and his chill vibes should help you all calm down after final exams like it will for me. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
As the number of remaining school days lessen and the temperatures rise, TV Talk celebrates one whole year of existence! However, we are not here to discuss the length of my tenure on The Current. Instead, we’re here to talk about all the cool stuff coming out over the summer. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
I’ll be the first to admit that I was actually pretty excited when I heard about “Marseille.” Imagine, for a moment, Netflix budget + France + political intrigue. Sounds great, right? Well, it pains me greatly to tell you that “Marseille” is underwhelming. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
By Anthony Schlass, Current Staff
The WBHS orchestra is teaming up with the Well Pennies to put on a concert Friday in the West Bend Silver Lining Arts Center.
The Well Pennies are a husband and wife folk pop group based out of Boston, Massachusetts. The acclaimed group consists of four members from all over the United States, from the Seattle area all the way to the East Coast. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
If any of you at home have been keeping up with a little show called The Blacklist, you’re probably aware of what went down in the 18th episode of season three. A major character died and, naturally, forums for The Blacklist exploded with discussion.
Denial and shock on one hand, praise and credit on the other. Typical responses to this sort of thing.
However, The Blacklist’s controversy isn’t the only controversy to crop up in the television sphere. A certain AMC post-apocalyptic zombie fest recently had a similarly executed finale that has gained no less of a storm with its fans. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
By Alina Prahl, Current Staff
Five movies by West Bend students have hit the big screen.
The short films were featured at the inaugural Lake Country Film Festival, hosted by the Oconomowoc High School film department at the Oconomowoc Arts Center on April 8. The festival’s intent was to create a platform for exhibiting student films. WBHS was well represented, as its talented student filmmakers received many accolades. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
Marvel’s really been getting around lately. With the stellar success of Age of Ultron, Ant-man and Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel has been raking in the cash and praise from all cylinders. However, Marvel seems to have adopted an interest in the smaller scale as of November, when they announced a Mini-Avengers of sorts with previous business partner Netflix. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
Thanks to a popular remix by DJ Snake, AlunaGeorge has finally been brought into the public eye. But the music they created before their “big break” and, honestly, their original version of the remixed song that made them famous, are so good that I am here to convince you that AlunaGeorge is a band you need to check out! Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
I think Netflix has finally revealed its hand. For a while now, Netflix has been releasing nostalgia pieces, with Fuller House and Pee-wee’s Big Holiday being only the most recent to join the charge. However, what we are dealing with now makes those look modern: Netflix’s Your Childhood, which begins streaming today, is the final boss of nostalgia reboots. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
Netflix is really pushing the nostalgic stuff aren’t they? Barely three weeks after Fuller House and we’ve already got other nostalgia trip back to the mid-80s on the plate with Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, and it proves to be a much tastier morsel than expected. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
By Maggie Kieser, Current Staff
The last curtain of the WBHS performance of Cinderella in February was more than just the final performance of a talented cast. This signified the final high school musical production for longtime director Karen Wysocky. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
Jack Garratt started as a musician in 2005, but it is his new and first album, Phase, just released last month, that has pushed him firmly into the public eye.
Working in both indie pop and electronica has helped show Garratt’s impressive mastery of multiple instruments, from the guitar, piano, and drums to the harmonica, mandolin, trombone, and ukulele. He has become immensely popular in a very short amount of time, and after releasing his album he was awarded The Critics Choice Award (given previously to singers like Adele). Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
I would like to apologize to Fuller House.
Last week in my review of Fuller House, I unfairly criticized the show’s actors, writing and humor. I was overly negative, partly because a certain episode of the show (unintentionally) hit a little too close to home for me and my disdain became personal. However, hitting close to home is no excuse for lacking as a critic. Thus I present a more objective article on how to fix Fuller House. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
When I finished the second episode of Fuller House, I knew that it wasn’t just gonna be a bad show—I was in for the bad show. A kick in the stomach, a needle to the eye, a waterfall of burning flames of which there is no escape.
Where do I even begin? Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
By Kaitlyn Von Behren, Current Staff
The Charity Ball has a new name: Snowcoming.
Over the past month, the WBHS Student Council made decisions to modify the annual Charity Week, to encourage more students to participate. Only 300 students attended the Charity Ball last year. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
What were the most notable commercials of Super Bowl 50?
Hello, hello, and welcome to TV Talk’s article about the commercials of Super Bowl 50. Yes, the amusing sideshows for patrons of America’s great pastime and the saving grace for bored friends that you dragged to the Super Bowl party have come yet again to delight and or horribly confuse you! I’m just here to share the ones that stood out to me. Let’s kick it off, shall we? Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
You know, the original The X-Files was pretty good.
Its use of creepy atmosphere and general paranoia are some of TV’s best and there’s really nothing today that can call itself this generation’s X-Files. (Okay, maybe Supernatural, but let’s be honest: Supernatural stopped trying to be even semi-watchable after the seventh season.) Since there’s no “FBI hunts down monsters/ghosts/aliens/bigfoots” show for the audience of the modern day, it only makes sense for Fox to reboot The X-Files for a whole new generation to enjoy. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
By Hannah Bensen, Current Staff
After a two-year hiatus, the West Bend High Schools talent show is coming back.
Randy Reysen, a West social studies teacher, coordinated auditions and worked with the PBIS committee and a marketing class to bring the show back to West Bend, which is happening Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Silver Linings Arts Center. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
Well, 2016 is a thing now.
Another year has indeed passed and with it, many resolutions for the next one have been made (and broken). Shows, new and old hold promise of being bigger and better—and the great entertainment void that is January opens its great maw again.
I could go on and on about how January is a singularity of no releases or how Shades of Blue is totally gonna bomb… but instead, I thought I’d talk about an old gem and personal favorite from 1997 that’s making a comeback in 2016. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
That dreaded time is upon us—semester exams are here, and there is a desperate need for motivational music to get us through those late night cramming sessions before the big test.
Unfortunately, that is not what I have for you. Instead of a high-energy band with screaming lead singers and booming bass, I present to you Glass Animals. This band is for relaxation and de-stressing, but that is still important before taking your test so don’t write them off yet! Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
