Uma Ribeiro

Co-News Editor

The number of complaints from parents skyrocketed after the release of the live-action Aladdin trailer in March 2019. Due to the level of fear the trailer caused, the movie was forced to stop production and its release is now officially cancelled.

The complaints of worrisome parents as well as celebrities were constant after the appearance of Will Smith as the Genie came to play in the latest trailer. Children all across the globe, from California to Brazil, reported having nightmares, stating that they thought the Will Smith Genie was hiding in their closets.

The cries of the parents and kids alike to terminate the movie, especially if the Genie would look so demonic in every scene, were highly supported by famous celebrities, who seemed to want the movie terminated as well. When the trailer was shown at the 2019 Grammy awards, the celebrity-filled audience seemed thoroughly horrified at the appearance of a blue, CGI Genie.

Celebrities at the 2019 Grammy awards had a lot to say after seeing the blue-skinned Genie for only a few seconds in the trailer. Donald Glover (also known as Childish Gambino) commented, “Will, my friend, what are you doing, man? Are you trying to scare little kids? Tell the producers to change it up.”

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Carlos O’Ryan

Online Editor

It has been 36 years since “The Thing” was released in theatres in June of 1982. Director John Carpenter’s science-fiction/horror movie, which revolves arounds the bloody events that unfold when a shape-shifting alien finds itself at a research base in Antarctica, was heavily criticized at release for being an absolute gore-fest, where characters only existed to be grotesquely dismembered in a splash of blood and guts.

However, in the years following its release, it was eventually accepted for what it was, which was never an uninspired mess of body horror, but as a genuine classic full of thrills and absolutely wonderful practical effects, but at its initial release, it was heavily criticized for having characters that only existed to be chopped up, burned, and torn apart in gross ways.

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By Uma Ribiero

News Editor

William Shakespeare’s many plays have been taking the stage everywhere for centuries, becoming more famous with each performance. Hammond’s theatre department, alongside their director, Mrs. Lauren Tobiason, have continued to honor the great playwright with their performance of the famous comedy and timeless love story, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The story has three main plot lines to it, one which follows four lovers, Helena who loves Demetrius, her ex-lover. Demetrius, who wants to marry Hermia, and has her father’s blessing to marry her, and Hermia who wants to be with Lysander. The play then enters the world of the fairies, led by Puck, an anti-cupid of sorts who creates as much mischief between the four lovers as possible, and the fairy king, Oberon, along with his queen, Titania, both of whom are feuding over custody of an Indian child. Finally, it follows the story of the Rude Mechanicals who are putting on a play in order to impress and entertain Theseus, the Duke of Athens, on the evening of his wedding with Hippolyta, the Amazonian queen. These three storylines intertwine as the play progresses, creating much hilarity as the fairy world and human world come together when they obviously should not. While the original play takes place in the woods outside of Athens, the Hammond High Production decided to twist the concept of the play by setting it in Athens, Ohio, in the year 1957, inside of a high school.

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By: Troy Kelly
Staff Writer

There has been a lot of talk about the health of Fortnite, a game created by Epic Games for mobile, PC, and game console play. A lot of gamers say Fortnite will later fade out because of peoples’ loss of interest.  There have been many indications of Fortnite dying. A lot of gamers are getting tired of the same thing in Battle Royale. Gamers are getting tired of the repeated glitches in the game, which in turn makes a lot of people get frustrated and quit.

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By: Carlos O’Ryan
Staff Writer

The Hammond Theatre Department is currently getting deep into rehearsals for the fall play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which will be performing on November 8, 9 and 10 at 7:00 PM, and on November 10th at 2:00 PM.

As most Hammond students may already know, as A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a Freshman English class text, this Shakespearean comedy typically takes place in Athens, and involves a quartet of lovers who venture into a forest to either win hearts or to escape the harsh marital laws the city, while a band of woodland fairies, the king and queen of which are in the middle of a feud, cause mischief amongst them. As this is happening, a group of excitable and dim-witted “Rude Mechanicals” rehearse a play to present at the wedding of the Duke of Athens, and have their own run-ins win the trickster fairies of the forest.

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