By Andrew Russell
LifeAtStart.com Reporter

The Maze Runner is about Thomas, a teenager who is thrown into a group of young boys with a makeshift government after his memory has been erased, and soon realizes he’s trapped in the center of an enormous maze.

Sounds pretty good, right? It was! For the first two thirds or so…

First off, it’s one of those movies cashing in on the  Hunger Games success with the teenage survival-epic, so I wasn’t thrilled about going to see this movie to start. As it went on, however, it grew on me and I found it to be more entertaining than I had initially thought it would be.

In my mind, the best part about the movie is the atmosphere. It makes you feel caged in, and it has a feeling of hopelessness and desperation that you would hope for in this genre. Part of this feeling has to be thanks to the directing with its shots of the looming iron and stone walls and the multiple shots of closing, tight spaces. There is little to no aerial shots of the surroundings which also adds to the feeling of wonder about what’s truly outside the walls.

If there is anything to be wrong with this movie it would be the plot holes that start to pop up about an hour in, and that grow bigger and bigger as you think about it in the car on your way home. Like I said, it’s a good movie for about the first two thirds until the plot holes become too apparent to assume they’ll be explained later (very few holes are explained later). This movie had a good beginning, but as they added more to the complexity of the story, they struggled to come up with reasonable explanations for things, sometimes giving no explanation at all. Along with this, the ending left me mildly upset, as it was clear they hoped for a franchise and that this was a set up just for that.

Another thing that I didn’t like, but something that couldn’t be helped, was that this was an adaption of a book. I feel like everything today is only an adaption of a book (see The Hunger Games), a remake (see Mad Max: Fury Road), or a sequel in an over done franchise (See the Fast and the Furious). Very few movies are original anymore.

All this being said, I would give this movie a 7/10 stars. It’s worth seeing if you want something to do. I don’t think I’ll be going to the next one of these that comes out, though. Or either of the two-part third installment which I’m sure they’ll be doing like everything else is.

Contact Andrew Russell at [email protected]

By Michael E. Komorowski
LifeAtStart Reporter

I decided to do a little investigating at Roy C. Start High School to understand the reasoning behind banning headphones in school. I went to different teachers asking them all the same questions.

Why do you think headphones are banned? Do you agree with this rule and what are your opinions on the ban?

I asked Melissa Hooker, a popular science teacher known to be welcoming and understanding, who had a different view than most teachers on this topic.

“I think students should be allowed to use headphones as long as they are respectful if a faculty member needs them.”

Mrs. Hooker also allows students to use their headphones in her classroom when they are doing independent work and when she is not teaching her lesson. After hearing her opinion on this topic I proceeded to my third-hour classroom where I interviewed Allison Brumenshankel, who teaches marketing. “Mrs. B,” as most students know her by, had a fair view on this topic. “Having headphones in can not only be a distraction, but a safety hazard”.

As I continued on through my long day of school I stopped in for a quick visit to a known headphone “collector.” Scott Mallet, a science teacher, who had this very interesting perspective on this topic.

“First off, there is no reason to have headphones in for only five minutes, and secondly, it is a hearing impairment and can be dangerous.”

When I questioned, “What if students were to use their headphones when working independently in class?” He responded, “Still no, because classical music is the only known music that aids learning, so when students listen to other genres of music it is just a distraction.”

After hearing that I decided to go to the top of the food chain and ask the person responsible for this unfair rule, Principal Ed Perozek, who had this to say: “It’s a safety issue in the hallways in case of an emergency drill.”

I proceeded to ask about headphone use in classrooms and he replied: “As long as teachers permit it, and the headphones are put away before entering the hallway.”

As the day went on I kept thinking to myself who would have a very personal and fair opinion on this topic. After lunch I took a trip down to a teacher that truly loves her job, Jennifer Lahey, one of Start’s art teachers.

“It is always the few that ruin it for the many,” she said. “It is the kids that take advantage and abuse the use of headphones, that’s why they are banned.”

Mrs. Lahey also agreed with Mr. Perozek and other teachers that it can also be a safety hazard when in the hallways.

Contact Michael E. Komorowski at [email protected].