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CLASSIC MOVIE REVIEW
OF THE SEASON
The Nightmare Before Christmas
By: Paul Horton
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” is perfect to watch on Christmas Eve or in October because of how well it’s composed in musical style. The beautiful stop motion brings it to life, and its music is great (I put it on my playlist to listen to while I do math). Also, it’s written by Tim Burton, so it gets bonus points.
Animation
I love the design because I always loved stop motion and the look of Jack Skellington’s (yes, I researched his full name) funny jaw hinge and how he pretends he’s Shakespeare and talks to a skull.
Plot
I am amazed by how cool the plot is. The movie portrays different holidays having their own towns, and the strange idea comes up of having trick-or-treaters kidnap Santa (played by Ed Ivory). I love how they thought of all this (all hail Tim Burton). Please make a sequel or something, because it was amazing to watch how the story is told!
Music
This is kind of important when making a musical, but they have so many songs that I would listen to any day, and they blend the animation with the music to make a masterpiece.
References
I love how many cool little jokes there are, like when the main character, Jack Skellington, takes off his skull to talk to it or when someone calls him “Bone Daddy.” I think it is a joke about a real musician, but I don’t know for sure.
So, if you like amazing movies, this one's for you. This movie made me love movie-making. This semi-classic has held up so well over the years that it gets three spooky scary skeletons out of a gingerbread house.
4th Grade’s Favorite Classical Christmas Songs
By: Simon Estifanos
Andreas enjoys the Christmas Classical Song In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music, and was used in the 6th scene of act 2 for a 1867 play by Henrik Greig (Peer Gynt).
Mathilde enjoys Carol of the Bells by Mykola Leontovych, and she enjoys this song because according to Mathilde,”It’s pretty and makes me feel calm and christmassy”
I (Simon Estifanos) enjoy not a Christmas Classical, but a classic called All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey. I enjoy this song because it’s just one of the best classics of all time.
HOLIDAY ART HIGHLIGHT
Deck the Halls with O' Antiphons
By: Debi Teferi & Andreas A. Philippakis
The 4th Grade class artistically designed O Antiphon art pieces to put on the hall walls outside the classroom. These antiphons address Christ with seven great titles of being the Messaiah [in Greek, the Messaiah is called “Christ”], based on the Old Testament prophecies and different types of Christ.
The O Antiphons are 8th Century Gregorian chant prayer songs rich with meaning and make a truly beautiful Catholic tradition! Since the Middle Ages Catholics have been singing them, one for each day until Christmas Eve, beginning on December 17th. They are very simple to participate in - you can simply pray and sing to them. We sing them all together at our school Mass when we sing the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
The O Antiphons start on Dec 17 and run through Dec 24. This time is known as the “second part of Advent” or “The Golden Nights.” The O Antiphons are taken from the evening Vespers pray of the Liturgy of the Hours. So because they are traditionally said in the evening, there is not one for Dec 24 because the evening on Christmas Eve is already the vigil of Christmas, so we are no longer waiting.
Each night for the octave (8 days) before Christmas, you ask Christ to come, and call him by a different name. Each of these names starts with “O”, such as “O Come O Come Emmanuel”. Therefore, they are called the O Antiphons. [An antiphon is a line in liturgies that is usually sung, like in the Responsorial Psalm we pray in the Mass liturgy.]
The O Antiphons get across two messages: each one highlights a different title for the Messiah (listed below), and each one refers to the prophecy of the Messiah from the Book of Isaiah:
December 17
O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!
December 18
O Leader of the House of Israel,
giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!
December 19
O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!
December 20
O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!
December 21
O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.
December 22
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
December 23
O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!
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