Arts
The Truth Would Help
Detective Richardson was in his office, smoking a cigar and looking out of his window, deep in thought. He was expecting Shelia this morning and he hoped Jimmy would also show up on his own accord without his having to return to the cab company. Richardson didn’t like having to ask someone to do something twice. Let alone once. If he had to ask a third time it generally became a demand. If they didn’t show up, he would send a patrol car to bring both of them in, wearing handcuffs.
Is It You?
I woke up early this morning without the aid of my mother calling me or Jean pulling the covers off of my body. I was eager to get to Annie to find out if she was the girl in the picture I took from Mr. Jimmy’s room. I avoided Mr. Jimmy’s questions as I ate my breakfast, grabbed my books, and rushed out of the house, dragging Jean with me.
“So, what are you going to say to her?” Jean asked me as we approached Annie’s house.
“I’m gonna say, is this you, and then show her the picture.”
“Well, now, big Sis is following little Sis’s directions. About time.”
“You have a good thought now and then.”
“If it’s not her, then what?”
“Then nothing. It’s not my business if it isn’t Annie.”
“It’s not your business now? If you hadn’t been snooping in the first place you wouldn’t even know about the picture. You’re just being nosy that’s all.”
“Dune: Part Two” is a sensory overload of epic proportions. In the highly anticipated sequel to 2021’s “Dune,” director Denis Villeneuve returns to the vast universe of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi saga. It takes sharp storytelling clarity to explore the dangers of prophecy, religious fundamentalism, and how people are manipulated through narratives. Simultaneously, we’re treated to gladiator fights, giant worms, and other exciting thematic elements that never overshadow the central story. While some sci-fi films surrender to spectacle at the cost of story, Villeneuve does his best “Empire Strikes Back” impression and delivers a masterpiece that will have you dialed in.
The plot of “Part Two” picks up where the first film left off, following Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he seeks revenge for the destruction of his family — teaming up with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to face the powers that control the spice on the harsh sandy climate of Arrakis.
“Dune: Part Two” is a sensory overload of epic proportions. In the highly anticipated sequel to 2021’s “Dune,” director Denis Villeneuve returns to the vast universe of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi saga. It takes sharp storytelling clarity to explore the dangers of prophecy, religious fundamentalism, and how people are manipulated through narratives. Simultaneously, we’re treated to gladiator fights, giant worms, and other exciting thematic elements that never overshadow the central story. While some sci-fi films surrender to spectacle at the cost of story, Villeneuve does his best “Empire Strikes Back” impression and delivers a masterpiece that will have you dialed in.
The plot of “Part Two” picks up where the first film left off, following Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he seeks revenge for the destruction of his family — teaming up with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to face the powers that control the spice on the harsh sandy climate of Arrakis.
A Problem Even in Death
When Jimmy came home last night he went straight to his bedroom. He was bone-tired, mentally, and physically, and fell asleep, waking up this morning still in the clothes he wore yesterday.
Jimmy sipped his coffee as he watched Shelia washing the dishes. The girls acted strangely towards him this morning, and this concerned him, because although he expected this behavior from Jean, he was surprised that Sara ignored him and wouldn’t give him any eye contact. Instead, she mumbled hello and kept her eyes on her bowl of cereal when he sat down at the kitchen table.
Shelia seemed nervous. He watched her washing the same bowl for over a minute before rinsing the soap off. Shelia didn’t look at the dishes she washed, instead she looked out of the kitchen window. Jimmy cleared his throat a couple of times.
“Everything alright with you Shelia?”
“It’s all good. Why you ask?” Shelia put the last dish into the dishrack and turned to face Jimmy as she dried off her hands with the dishtowel.
“Just asking, you seem to be distracted. That’s all. And Sara was quiet this morning too.”
Is This My Punishment?
Judge Janet Washington took a sip of her coffee as she read the messages that were starting to pile up on her desk. Since the murder of her son, she wasn’t on top of her game. She wasn’t returning calls in a timely manner. She missed a few important meetings entirely and arrived late at others. People who felt her compassion in the past, now felt her discontent. She wasn’t sleeping well and had gained ten pounds from eating junk food throughout the night. People gave her a pass due to feeling sorry for her losing her only child, but she knew it was only a matter of time before that grace period was over.
Do I Want to Know
I was waiting anxiously for Jean to come home from school. Mr. Jimmy had beaten her home, and I was staying quiet in my room because I didn’t want to speak with him yet. Finally, she came bouncing in the room and I jumped up from the bed to greet her.
“Wait until you see what I found today!”
“Wait until I put my books down. Why you leave school early again?” Jean dropped her books on the dresser top and flopped down on her bed.
“I wasn’t feeling good.”
“You just didn’t want to take that English test. Stop lying.”
“If you already knew, why ask me? Look at what I found!”
“What you find?”
“A picture in Mr. Jimmy’s room.”
“What! No, you didn’t go into his room when he wasn’t home!” Jean jumped up from the bed.
“Keep your voice down, he’s home now. He left his door unlocked so I just went in and looked around and found this picture.”
I pulled out the picture from under my pillow and gave it to Jean, who looked at it for a few seconds, and then handed it back to me.
“It’s a picture of Mr. Jimmy when he wasn’t fat. So what?”
Despite its flaws and an '80s soundtrack that outshines the film itself, Zelda Williams' directorial debut, "Lisa Frankenstein," crafts a modern-day Frankenstein tale with a mix of camp, romance, and a dash of gore. This oddly satisfying concoction resembles the quirky storytelling of Tim Burton’s classics, such as "Edward Scissorhands" and "Beetlejuice."
Penned by Diablo Cody, known for "Jennifer's Body," the film is a coming-of-rage story about a misfit teenager and a reanimated corpse. Is this the dawn of a new cult classic?
Set in the neon-tinted year 1989, Kathryn Newton's Lisa is an outcast struggling with her mother's tragic murder. She is navigating her senior year at a new high school, further complicated by her father's remarriage to an insufferable nurse (Carla Gugino). Amidst this chaos, she finds an unlikely confidante in her cheerleader stepsister, Taffy, who offers a genuine sisterly connection.
Don't got to be grown
Jimmy sat down heavily on his bed taking off his shoes and socks. He lay down on his bed looking up at the ceiling. Today had been a rough day, Slim Jim called off work and he had to drive one of the cabs himself because they had gotten so backed up with calls. When Jimmy got back to the office there was a note on his desk saying that Detective Richardson had stopped by again and to call him as soon as he got back.
“Sissy!” Jimmy yelled as he flopped down in his chair behind the desk.
Sissy rushed into the room with a bottle of RC Cola in her right hand and a hotdog in the left. She took a big swig of the drink and a bite out of the hotdog and sat down in the chair in front of the desk, placing the bottle of pop on the desk and taking another bite of her hotdog.
“Man, it has been a hell of a day here without you! This is the first time I got a chance to eat my lunch, which is now dinner. This is the third time Slim Jim has called off in two months. You need to replace him boss man.”
“What time did that cop come by here?”
Annie who?
Detective Richardson rubbed his hand over his face in a weary gesture. He looked over his notes again. Suspects were many, but determining the murderer was going to be difficult. Shelia was on the list. Right under suspect unknown because the case was never solved until you actually found the correct suspect who committed the crime. There was the unknown woman who pulled a knife on Smooth. There were the many unknown men of the women that Smooth fooled around with that were married or otherwise engaged. It could be any number of people that he did wrong in a bad business transition. But the suspect that caused Richardson the most concern was a young girl named Annie.
He came upon Annie accidentally when he was questioning more people from Smooth’s black book. Richardson was questioning Virgina Howard. Virgina was willing to tell him everything that she could to help bring “the bastard that killed my Smoothie to death roll.” Richardson didn’t have to really ask her any questions as she began to spill the beans without any hesitation.