By Eli Solomon 

The long-awaited Super Mario Bros Movie is Illumination’s newest creation and in contrast to every other movie critic in America, I think it’s really good. It hits all of the classic beats of the Mario games, two humble plumbers from Brooklyn find a strange pipe that takes them to a strange land, Bowser pines for Princess Peach, and Mario using power-ups to defeat hordes of Koopas and other enemies. It's a simple story but there's nothing wrong with that. (honestly how complex could you make a story when it's about a big turtle wanting to marry a princess?) The film's animation is a joy to look at, I can say without a doubt that it’s the best work Illumination has ever done. Another thing I must highlight is the score by Brian Tyler, who did an immaculate job of incorporating music from the Mario games into the movie.

 Before the movie was released the voice cast aroused suspicion online with people doubting the abilities of the celebrity voice actors to live up to the in-game voices people have grown accustomed to throughout the years. But these worries were once again just the internet doing what it does best and getting workup over nothing, Chris Pratt does a fine job of voicing Mario, giving gaming’s lead man a real everyman quality, and Charlie Day did a perfect job of capturing Luigi’s nervous personality, Pratt and Day work off of each other really well and the brotherly bond between Mario and Luigi is one of the strongest aspects of the film. Jack Black absolutely steals the show as Bowser, somehow giving the fire breathing reptile a soft side while still being a threat to our blue-collar heroes and their mushroomy friends. The only major gripe I have with the movie is the Day and Black’s performances were featured enough, in fact, the whole movie seems to speedrun to the credits, which I can understand as it is a movie with a simple story and children were the main audience in mind but I still wish the movie took some time pause a expand on some things, a problem they will most likely fix in the habitable sequels (this movie made serious coin)

By: Keily Morales

Don’t you ever love a good movie with surprises, some jumpscares, and a good scare? “Scream” is one of those movies. There are some good scares and a lot of surprising moments. The movie stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, and Rose McGowan. Following Neve Campbell and her role Sidney Prescott, a 17 year old that goes to high school. It starts with a phone call leading the characters to death without knowing what’s gonna happen to them. The acting was the best for me. There were so many surprises in the movie. The movie was so good to the point I was surprised who the killer was. It was pretty obvious who it was at first, but the reveal still surprised me. I loved how it looked vintage. The whole movie was pretty vintage and a bit grunge. It was such a great movie 10/10 would recommend. There are other movies to watch from there: “Scream” 1-5 and they are coming out with another one “Scream” 6 on March 10, 2023. At first I thought I wouldn’t like the movie because I thought it was gonna be bad and I thought I would not like the killing part or anything, but surprisingly I loved “Scream” so much. I would watch it 100 times just over and over. It is the best movie I have watched. In your free time watch “Scream”, maybe all of them.

The story of the United States penny starts when it was first introduced in 1793, and it has been terrorizing this nation ever since. Economics Professor at Harvard University Robert M. Beren said, “The purpose of the monetary system is to facilitate exchange, but the penny no longer serves that purpose.” According to the United States Mint 2018 Annual Report, it costs nearly $0.02 for every penny minted. This means that there are $85 million annual losses from just making this coin. That’s the price we pay for making them.

Another major disadvantage of the penny is the waste of time it brings with it. Remember a time you were in a hurry at the store and some lady was paying for something with exact change, wasting your time, the cashier’s time and causing you to be late? Fiascoes like this happen all over the country, wasting “120 million hours of time per year in cash transactions,” according to Walgreens and the National Association of Convenience Stores. Think of everything that could be done with 120 million HOURS. That’s 13,000 years of people’s time wasted. Taking the average working income, that’s $426,179,637 dollars in opportunity cost, all thanks to people paying with pennies and taking their sweet time. Add onto all of that the current and ever growing inflation rate leaving economic and psychological terror from penny worse by the day. 

Earlier this year a few articles claiming that the mint would hold all penny production in late 2023 gained popularity, none of which ever gave a quote or source. These articles were later confirmed as a Hoax by the Acting Director of the United States Mint Ventris C. Gibson said “As of this date, the Mint has no plans to cease production of the penny,”. So unfortunately the penny will remain for the time being, altho the popularity of the preposterous penny claims prove there is a demand and desire for this copper menace to be retired.

We need to retire the penny; it clearly wastes our time and our money. The penny no longer serves its purpose, so why keep it?

By: Colin Lynch

The mark of a great restaurant is not necessarily its size, but the quality of the food and the generosity of its staff. In my opinion, Fuji Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar has all of these things. Right when one walks into the restaurant they are greeted with nice words and sayings. When you are seated the waiters and waitresses are so friendly when it comes to taking an order or just little things that get brought up. I would describe the ambiance of this restaurant as calm and soothing because when one opens the door they get a cool and dark feeling blasted upon them. The quality of the food is indescribable whether that's the taste or just the overall presentation. They have plenty of options for sushi. Some of my favorites are the Razorback Roll and the Temptation of Fire Roll which comes on fire! If one doesn’t like fish there are plenty of other options such as Beef or Chicken Fried Rice. Which is just a ball of rice with your choice of beef, chicken, or shrimp and an assortment of vegetables, and a side of their yum yum sauce. I would recommend coming to Fuji on a special occasion because it is pretty costly. This is my absolute favorite restaurant of all time, and I hope I persuaded you to eat at Fuji Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar. 

By: Eli Solomon

What if video game characters thought they were real? “Free Guy” answers that question. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Takia Waititi, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Lil Rel Howery. It follows Guy (Reynolds) A non-player background character (NPC) in a popular video game, as he falls in love with one of the game's coders, Mille (Comer). He learns the truth about his life and decides to be the hero of his own story. I went into this movie thinking it would be okay at best but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Reynolds and Comer have great chemistry together. Another standout performance is given by Takia Waititi as the film's villain, an obnoxious game developer who stole the code of the game Guy occupies. Reynolds gives an expected charismatic performance but this time with an element of naivety, which prevents Guy from feeling like Deadpool in a blue shirt. The movie does a good job of incorporating real-life elements into the plot such as live streams and news interviews and uses internet slang such as “troll” and  “noob” without seeming forced. Now I’m not a game developer but I’m sure that the programming done in the movie it's a little off but I didn’t really care. The action sequences are all fun and pretty creative. Overall, while some jokes were a little inappropriate for younger viewers, Free Guy wasn’t a good movie, it was a great one!

By: Tyler Baker

Movies and cinema have made a huge impact on modern society with vast mediums and large audiences 74% of the US owns a television. Movies are a form of self-expression as well as an art form, movies can connect with a lot of people, make them happy, make them laugh, cry, self-loathe, change perspective. Humans are a personal people and look for themselves in everything they can, something to relate to.(A reflection of what we are is a reflection of what we consume). Poteau High School sophomore Eli Solomon’s favorite film is world-renowned classic “Back to The Future”. Eli, full of charisma, shows love to the little things and pays attention to detail “ Like Eli,  Marty McFly is likable and, funny, a good protagonist, you want to see succeed. Doc Brown is a mad scientist, “one of my favorite tropes” says Solomon. He brings a really enjoyable aspect of comedy, “I like to laugh, I like to feel good.”  A feel-good movie for a feel-good person Eli is known for making people smile wherever he goes. It only makes sense he relates to such a light-hearted movie. Cooper Gilham looks for different things when it comes to cinema,  “Jojo Rabbit” a light-hearted satirical comedy based in nazi Germany. A film that brought a unique sense of variety to 2019. When asked what’s something you see in this movie you don’t see in others Cooper responded “the cinematography and heavy theme unveiled in the darkness of the movie” Cooper admires Jojo’s character and resilient bravery for such a young person, Qualities everyone can admire and should see first hand. John Ocampo, senior, can sympathize with Cooper's interest in “darkness” when it comes to film. Jahn’s favorite movie is “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, a mind-bending display of the “fall and rise” of romance and the complexities of human companionship. His Favorite character of the film is Joel Barish, the protagonist with a lot of bad Qualities in his character. Jahn admires the cinematography of the 2004 film. “It’s got some very complicated and mind-bending shots that kinda tweak with the mind a bit and emotionally wreck you.” It’s a psychological drama That jumps from one point to another. It's not chronological. It skips around a bit, I like how in the end it all comes full circle, you gotta pay attention or you're not gonna get it’, I like movies with a bad ending. It's more realistic.” 

 La Huerta´s Restaurant Review

  La Huerta’s bar and grill is a family-owned authentic Mexican restaurant. It is rated ⅘ stars and known for its fantastic food and bar, and offers a party room. As you walk in you're greeted by an excellent server, great customer service, and a fresh basket of tortilla chips and salsa, with an option of cheese dip or guacamole. Its authentic Mexican food will have your stomach growling. The most popular item on the menu is the Steven Special; its base is cheese and rice with chicken. The one item that will have your mouth watering is the vegetarian fajita which is served on a skillet plate with lemons and fresh tortillas. 

 It fills the restaurant with the aroma of grilled vegetables and a nice grill smell, leaving a path of smoke. After 20 years of being in business, it is clear that La Huerta´s has found the formula for success!