May
29
2009
Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) a 17-year-old decides to start over in a new life and move from Phoenix to Forks Washington to live with her dad Charlie (Billy Burke). When Bella arrives in Forks, she doesn’t expect much to happen there. But things change when she meets the mysterious, and beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Edward is different from anyone she’s ever experienced; He’s intelligent, witty, and seems to see into her soul. Edward can run faster then a mountain lion, he can stop moving vans with his bare hands, and he hasn’t aged since 1918. Bella soon finds out his secret of being a vampire and they fall desperately and inseparably in love. Edward is not like other vampires; He is in a group of vampires that considers themselves “vegetarians;” they don’t drink human blood, just animal blood. The closer Bella and Edward become, the harder it gets for Edward so resist her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. Once things start to seem to good to be true, the unexpected comes along. Bad Vampire Visitors soon realize there is a human in love with a vampire, who is considered impossible and unacceptable; Edward must fight to save Bella’s life and their rare love.
I really enjoyed this movie. They did an extremely good job getting the main points and important parts from the book across in the movie. The movie does a really good job explaining and showing the romance between a human and a vampire. Twilight illustrates all the obstacles the couple has to go through just to be together and save their “unacceptable love affair.” Twilight does a brilliant job explaining how hard it is for Edward to resist Bella’s human blood scent. The actors/actresses in the movie really play their part well and fit the role they play in the movie. There is a lot of action and exciting parts that really get you involved and interested in the movie quick. They really do a good job conveying what its like to be a teenage girl in love and the feelings she goes through.
The movie does a great job visualizing the baseball scene. The baseball scene is actually better in the movie, then the way the book explains. I really enjoyed how they used darkness and shadowing of the clouds and the storm over the field while playing baseball. When you hear the thunder roaring as they hit the ball, you can see why the storm is necessary for the game. There are a few minor changes in the movie from the book, but not so different to where the movie is not the same at all. Edward and Bella really fit the physical description, described in the book. They both look as I imagined in my head.
Making the movie exactly like the book on the big screen is difficult to do without dragging on the movie any longer; with out boring the audience to get the point across. Considering this, I think the movie was awesome compared to the book. In the book, Edward explains to Bella how he never goes out into the sunlight because his skin sparkles. I pictured how he would look differently in the book, but what they did in the movie to his skin actually worked well; he looked very heavenly. His skin sparkled like he was covered in tiny shimmering diamonds that glowed off of him. The only thing I do think they should have changed is the fact that Edward and Bella fall in love way too fast. They meet each other and have a quarrel then suddenly fall in love. It seems too sudden and weird. In the book Stephanie Meyer makes Bella come off as extremely vulnerable and clumsy; they don’t really show that she is clumsy and vulnerable in the movie much.
Twilight overall was much better then most people perceive it to be. Yes the book is more detailed then the movie but you also don’t have a time limit in a book as you do in a movie. I love the movie twilight.
May
15
2009
March 17th, 2009 a 20-year-old Grand Valley State University student Derrek Copp who is currently hospitalized and in serious conditions after a police officer shot him in the chest while serving a drug warrant. Derrek claims he had no idea the officer was even an officer after coming through his apartment’s back door, then shining a flashlight in his eyes. He never even got a chance to see who was coming at him. Derek was unarmed and police haven’t told whether he had possession of marijuana or not. (Webster) Does this seem like something to get shot over? It’s not exactly even clear why he was shot?
Illegal drug policy, which is currently in effect, is just stupid. Poor innocent people who are not harming anyone while doing drugs and going to jail for years and life sometimes is insane. For a first time offence you can get a fine up to a $5000 fine and go to jail up to a year. (Analysis) People are going to do drugs whether they are legal or not and it is causing people to go crazy just to get it. It’s putting people in extreme debt and making them homeless because illegal drugs are so expensive. Tell me why this makes any sense? Police arrest more American people for marijuana charges alone per year, then they do for rape, murder, robbery, and aggravated assault combined. (NORML) Convicted marijuana offenders are denied federal financial aid, welfare, and food stamps and may be removed from public housings. Is all this really necessary if its not harming anyone? It should be your own choice. In some states, convicted marijuana offenders are automatically stripped of their driving privileges even if the offence is not driving related.
Decriminalizing marijuana is treating marijuana like a speeding ticket and getting a fine. Instead of going to jail, you get treatment and it does not go on your record, which I think is an awesome plan. Each year we waste $7-10 billion just prosecuting users alone it.(NORML)
Decriminalizing drugs just seems more reasonable; your not making them legal but you are also not making people who use them affected for life, just for trying it once and getting caught. This policy is also making it possible for people to get treatment and get better rather then going to jail and going right back into doing drugs again when they get out. People are going to jail and paying all of these fines for something that is not harming anyone. Getting treatment for doing drugs is a much more positive solution then being sent to jail. In treatment there’s usually a relapse but that’s the case for everything. Just keep going. More then 76 million Americans have admitted to trying marijuana. The majority of these people did not go on to becoming regular users, try other illicit drugs or suffer from any deleterious effects to their health. (NORML)
A recent research report published in Thorax an international journal of respiratory medicine stated that; “Smoking a Joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer risks.” ( Marijuana). Cigarettes and alcohol are worse then Marijuana. Alcohol affects your liver and other health problems that kill you. Juniors in High School drank 35 % of all wine coolers in the US. Alcohol related accidents are the leading cause of death among people 15 to 24 years of age. Half of all youthful deaths are alcohol related. Cigarettes cause lung cancer and birth defects that kill you and are also harmful to your body. Not only are cigarettes a gateway to higher worse drugs, they are also more likely to get into fights, carry weapons, attempt suicide and engage in high risk sexual behaviors. The US Department of Education echoes the CDC found that people who begin to smoke at an early age are more likely to, develop severe levels of nicotine addiction that those who start at a later age. (Keeping).
Everyone should have the right to choose what is affecting his or her health or not. Who is to say whether alcohol is better then marijuana or cigarettes to marijuana? Who is the one who judges this? Right or wrong? It’s your life and you should be able to make your own decisions. Who are you to say what’s someone should do or not? Marijuana should be at least decriminalized and treated like a traffic ticket at least. If anything I think Cigarettes and alcohol should also be banned, not just marijuana.
