TeenTix Blog

Cannibal, a Spanish thriller directed by Manuel Martín Cuenca, is about a Carlos, a Granada tailor with a concealed desire for human flesh who has to grapple with the fact that he has fallen in love with his next prospective victim. In the words of Carlos, “I kill them. And I eat them.”

There are many splendid aspects of this movie, especially the unique cinematography. Much of the beginning shots feature small pockets bright of light in an ocean in darkness and were either very zoomed out so that the only thing the viewer sees is taking up a tiny fraction of the screen and everything else is just darkness, or focusing on the faces of the characters to the point that they hardly looked like faces and instead just like patches of light. This kind of “light in a tunnel of darkness” aesthetic is used when the tailor, Carlos, is in a dark place and is symbolic of his tainted mind, whereas in other parts of the movie it is the opposite where the viewer sees an ocean of white snow with just two black figures, which is symbolic of the purity and uncontaminated nature of his psyche when he is with his amour.

It's interesting to see a foreign take on patriotism; so much of the American conception of it is mostly seen as a stereotype. But how does it manifest in other countries? More specifically, in Finland? That seems to be one of many questions that A Patriotic Man attempts to answer, and it doesn't completely fail on that front. But in terms of lighthearted entertainment, the movie lacks just enough to be something even of satirical nature. I truly wanted to enjoy the film. It's a story based on true events with completely fictional characters, but unfortunately those same characters are actually what makes the film feel so bland at points. None of them feel entertaining or as if they have depth. The main character Toivo feels more like the type who's just too blank from beginning to end. He never changes who he is and that makes him feel as if he's a blank easel that other people write on and then wipe away before any significant changes can be made, which makes him mostly unlikable.

Surprisingly, the real concept outshines all the characters as a whole. The basic idea of athletes so determined to win that they'll be willing to submit to near-daily blood transfusions from Toivo (who has massive amounts of hemoglobin that any athlete could use for better performance) is interesting, which makes it too bad that the events of the film feel so mismatched with the characters. The second strongest component of A Patriotic Man is its wit, which comes with its ups and downs. It's supposed to be a comedy, but the best you'll be able to draw is some smart one-liners. It's more akin to another anti-hero tale that's morally gray, which wouldn't be bad if I had come into the movie expecting the latter. The director does a fantastic job of capturing this, and the cinematography is stellar as well. It's great that the few moments of comedy are so intelligent, but it's disappointing that there's so little.

LAST TUESDAY, HISTORY WAS MADE.

Our very own Executive Director of the TeenTix program, Holly Arsenault, met with the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa on May 20th to accept the Pathfinder Award. This award honors and recognizes extraordinary leaders in promoting high quality learning and, specifically, they made it super official that we have made a huge impact in the lives of teenagers since our program began. Did you know that TeenTix has facilitated the sale of over 40,000 tickets to the arts?! HOW COOL IS THAT?

About the DJ: My name’s April. I like reading everything and anything. Most of my time is spent playing video games, and every once in a while I go outside to longboard. I’m the Opinions Editor of the Thunderword, the Highline Community College newspaper.

1. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood This show changes the lives of anyone who watches it. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend starting right now. This critically acclaimed anime focuses on two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, and their struggle to retrieve their bodies through alchemy. As the show advances it gets darker and darker, but no matter what Ed and Al are always there bring a little light and a little hope for the future.

Arcadia is a charming romance of the highest intellectual caliber, featuring a living, breathing, on-stage tortoise. Right from the beginning, you will find yourself immersed in the witty dialogue and guessing the age of the extraordinarily talented youngest lead, Isabel Mar, playing Thomasina. The play is the intersection between intellectual passion and romance, telling the story of two families who seem to coexist in the storied house, Arcadia, despite their separation of a few hundred years.

Arcadia is difficult to place into a genre. The play includes the full spectrum, with interpretations of carnal embrace involving “wrapping one’s arms around mutton” on one side and a candle-lit waltz with the dancer’s fate predetermined on the other. The tagline is “a witty romance,” however, I don’t feel that it would do the play justice to discount the more tragic components that will sneak up on you toward the end.

Desert Runners Screenings: May 23 and 24 In Desert Runners a group of amateur runners all decide to attempt the same feat and complete all four of the major desert runs on the planet in one year. These races are in some of the windiest, driest, hottest and coldest places on earth and are hundreds of kilometers, but hey, marathons were getting pretty cliche. Whether or not you’re a runner, these absurd and sometimes desperate journeys will bewilder and fascinate you. - Emily H.

Standing Aside, Watching Screenings: May 23 and 25 Protagonist Antigone refuses to do what the title of this film suggests when she returns to her hometown and finds it violently controlled by a group of thugs. Domestic violence, bribes, threats, and crime cover-ups don’t sit well with Antigone, but she’s the only one willing to do something about it. Paired with expertly framed landscape and architecture shots, Antigone’s tale makes Standing Aside, Watching, a surprisingly quiet, yet heart-racing thriller. - Kali S.

Hi! I'm Holly and I run TeenTix. Every year, we do an annual member survey to learn more about how our members are using TeenTix and engaging with the arts, and to find out how we can do better. This year, 505 TeenTix members took the survey. Here are some of the results. Tomorrow, I will respond to some questions and comments that came up in the survey responses. Enjoy! And thank you for being a part of the TeenTix community. 68% of TeenTix members say they attend the arts "more" or "a lot more" often than they did before joining TeenTix.

Question: How did you first hear about TeenTix?

About the DJ: I am a freshman in high school and especially enjoy studying American Sign Language and writing. I enjoy most art forms, including theater, music, dance, and visual art. In my free time I love to bake, read, draw manga, play the piano, and paint my nails. Fun fact about me: I am homeschooled.

1. Frozen Of course! This is by far the best Disney movie ever! Instead of being a love-at-first-sight, fairytale-ish, totally idealistic story, Frozen is much more realistic and empowering for girls. Plus Olaf, the snowman, is so cute and funny. His summer song is the best — the first time I saw it, I laughed so hard I cried! Right after the movie was available, I bought the DVD, so I’ve watched it many times and never get tired of seeing it. The songs are so awesome and super catchy. I’ve been singing them for months! Let it go!!!!!

Joining the ranks of Girls, Broad City, and Frances Ha, Obvious Child is humorous take on young life’s tragedies. The plight of the 20-something female has become a genre unto itself, and Obvious Child exemplifies this oeuvre. The film is a lighthearted, hilarious depiction of the heartbreak, job changes, and personal growth punctuating that rollercoaster of a decade.

Obvious Child is a feel-good comedy not just in its humor, but in that the plot can certainly make one feel better about the situations of their own life. Though it must be obvious that such “tragedies” should be taken with a grain of salt, this genre is popular because the depiction of 20-something crises feels all too real for many (Trust me; I’m 22.), and it’s a relief to see others similarly struggling and still coming out OK on the other end.

Virpi Suutari's documentary Garden Lovers is a fascinating study on art and relationships. The slice of life film, which focuses on middle class life in Finland through the vector of gardening, is exquisitely crafted. Almost too exquisitely, actually. Just seconds in, I was struck with how well-made the images I was seeing were. Was I looking at a high-budget commercial for some multinational corporation? The frame just looked too good, too beautiful, soft and muted and finely lit. The camera movement and angles were weirdly perfect. A film about gardening involves things like dirt and physical labor, but even the gritty was idyllic, set to a charming score. So many documentaries are closer to the style of hard news, filled with pertinent information, raw visuals, and agendas. Garden Lovers is closer to an art film than a documentary, though it's really both; it's a documentary that is also a work of art. No shot looks unplanned, though it might have been. The exquisite gentleness of the film speaks favorably about the skill of the creative team and the preparation, which makes us care about something — hobbyist gardening — that doesn't seem like something to care about. This juxtaposition makes the film interesting. The story of a simple way of life is being told in a way that appears simple but is actually meticulous. The film offers a slow pan of a man engrossed in potted plants on a table while a woman and her baby perform acrobatics in the background. The slow, uneventful bucolic life is punctuated with ambition — will this year's pumpkins bring home a championship title? We learn that the typical Finnish homicide is between friends after drinking and glimpse a very different life a crime scene investigator lives when he's not gardening.

Appearances and creative vision aside, what's the viewing experience like? Well, it's slow. Garden Lovers is not about anything particularly important or awe-inspiring, yet it's not boring. It's relaxing in the uninterrupted, methodical way that weeding is (but with less pressure on the knees). "Forget clothing stores. We don't need many clothes. It's more natural to buy plants and bushes," says a nudist gardener. This connection with nature and the peace that exists there is passed on to the viewer for the duration of the film. It's not riveting and breathtaking as some other films are, and it doesn't have a plot. The driving force is simply living.

Monsoon Shootout Screenings: May 16, 17, and 19 Monsoon Shootout, directed by Amit Kumar, is an action-packed and attention-grabbing film that centers on one pivotal moment in a newly hired policeman’s life and the outcomes of three different choices he could have made. With original cinematography and a saturated color scheme that expertly captures the setting of rain-drenched Mumbai, this film explores the relationship between law and justice, as well as the concept of the ends justifying the means. - Vida B.

Ida Screenings: May 16 and 21 The silence of Ida echoes quite loudly. It feels like walking through a history museum full of World War II-era photographs. The artfully shot black-and-white Polish film follows a young almost-nun as she explores a painful family history before taking her vows. Secrets kept and stories of lives untold punctuate this quietly heartbreaking film. Ida’s cinematography is as stunning as its story, with each shot framed as precisely as if it was a photograph. - Kali S.

1. Florence + the Machine Florence + the Machine is an English alternative pop band with lead singer Florence Welch and a combination of other musicians. Although they’re known for “Dog Days Are Over,” my favorite songs are “Cosmic Love” off the album Lungs and “No Light, No Light” off of Ceremonials. Florence’s earthy voice combined with the beautiful instruments create an otherworldly experience you will want to have again and again.

2. Elly Mackay Elly Mackay is a Canadian artist based in Ontario who, in her own words, makes “scenes using paper, light and photography.” The process is just as interesting as the art; Mackay first creates little dioramas and then photographs them to create the prints she sells. Her work focuses on the theme of childhood and has a sense of nostalgia and exploration, which is conveyed through the dreamy, pastel colors and wistful characters. She sells her prints on Etsy (I have four so far!) so look her up and check out her website ellymackay.com as well.

If you are a student at Cornish College of the Arts with a Work Study award, we want YOU to come and work with US! We have two immediate job openings for Cornish Work Study students.

NOTE: If you are interested in both positions, you don't need to apply twice. Just indicate in your cover letter that you'd like to be considered for both.

Position 1: Member Services Coordinator $11/hour 8 – 10 hours/week Start Date: ASAP

The Fifth Avenue Theatre’s musical A Room with a View was, to say the least, very well done, and that is coming from someone who does not prefer that type of production.

The plot of story is actually quite simple and quite predictable (It is a classic, after all.). A young, adventurous British woman travels to Italy with her overbearing, much more traditionally British cousin. She meets a young man, and he falls in love with her. Of course, there is a “but”: She is engaged to a complete snob who is filthy rich, which is the only reason for their engagement.

Shakespeare's King Lear reminds us that we all go a little mad sometimes, and that there is much uncertainty in the world whether it be in your mind or your relationships with others. With only one subplot, this is one of the easier Shakespeare plays to follow, and the cast and crew of the Seattle Shakespeare Company do a fantastic job of making it accessible. King Lear features plenty of inspirational insults, witty humor despite its status as a tragedy, and relatable themes that make it easy to see why it is still being performed more than 400 years after it was written.

The play follows the emotional and goofy King Lear, played by Dan Kremer, as he goes mad. The king’s advisers, the Dukes of Gloucester (Michael Winters) and Kent (Amy Thone) are not happy about some of his less sane decisions, and Kent even goes so far as to argue with the king until she is banished. The Duke of Kent was orginally written as a man, but Seattle Shakespeare Company's choice of gender change worked marvelously, and Thone did a fantastic job with the part. As the play progresses, the king goes mad as those faithful to him dwindle from all the kingdom to only Kent, Gloucester, his fool, and his youngest daughter.

Teen Night Out is a fun, hands-on experience with the art at the Seattle Art Museum. The latest rendition, on May 2, involved a photobooth, painting, henna, a concert, a sugar bar, and a writing project.

I had fun taking pictures in the #SAMSelfie booth, including one I got for my significant other, Troy that involved a chalkboard and a fuchsia feather boa chosen from a huuuuge box of props and costumes ranging from giant sunglasses to a sailor hat. I also had a blast at the Tacocat (best band name ever, in my opinion) concert, rocked out at a failure of a dance circle, looked through all the exhibits (Hardly anyone looks through them during Teen Night Out, so definitely take advantage of this. It’s a great chance to see things up close!), laid in the Italian room, and sat and looked at one spectacular painting of a seascape for quite some time because I rarely get the chance to do that.

About the DJ: Emily is a sophomore at Interlake High School who already knows that she will disagree with whatever prompt is on her AP English Language test on Friday, or any other prompt she ever sees because she is a second negative policy debater who can disagree in some capacity with almost anything. Her other talents include having more hair than everyone else she meets and distributing dinosaur stickers to strangers.

1. East of the Web East of the Web is one of my oldest discoveries. When I was 10 and happened upon a link to infinite, absurd short stories available to me on my father’s glossy desktop, I was so enthralled by the copious amounts of worlds I could jump into in a matter of minutes that I forgot where I was. I still like to catch up with the unusual, intriguing stories in between study sessions. My favorites range from classics like “The Lottery” to inexplicable stories like “The Great Orbital Road.”

The Age of Aquarius is dawning on us, fellow human beings, in this glorious universe of ours. The day and night are alive and dancing in harmony to the music of our souls. The stars and moon are reaching out to you to say, “Seriously, you should go see Hair.”

Hair follows the story of Claude (Mark Tyler Miller), who is taken in by a tribe of hippies during the 1960s, including their leader and Claude’s best friend Berger (Jeff Orton). It’s celebrated for being one of the first “rock musicals” — complete with drums, electric guitars, psychedelic colors, bending backdrops, and even some super-scandalous nudity.

It’s Winter in Brooklyn — so naturally, it’s freezing as I walk into the theater and it’s snowing on stage.

Enter Kat, a purple and blue-haired punk rock vixen with a ridiculously filthy mouth. Kat, played by Valerie Vigoda (who, according to the program, is Disney’s go-to lyric doctor!) brings the energy and verve from the very second she steps on stage, stomping around in combat boots in her sleep-deprived stupor. Kat is a video-game composer, and her apartment is strewn with instruments, mixing equipment, and loop pedals. “OK,” you think, “that’s just the set. There’s no way she’ll use any of that.” BUT SHE DOES. THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SHOW. Within the first minute, she’s rocking out and live-mixing the hilarious first number, “This Sucks.” Every part of the song is created by her with the equipment — and then it gets better. She walks over to an electric violin and begins shredding, which is awesome, but then she tops herself yet again. She starts singing and playing at the same time! The audience’s collective jaw drops.

1. The soundtrack of Hercules I know what you’re thinking: Isn’t “Hercules” that Disney movie I saw in like third grade? Yes, yes it is. While the movie has a very minimal plot — like really no plot — the soundtrack is seriously groovy. This gospel-infused tracklist has all the catchiness of the contemporary Disney soundtracks, but with the danceability and fun of gospel. It makes me want to dance and sing along every time I hear it. My favorite number is "I Won’t Say (I’m In Love),” sung by Meg, the female love interest in the movie. She is incredibly sassy in this number, and it really just exemplifies my favorite parts of music: sass, dancing, and incredible catchiness.

2. Seattle Symphony This latest season has really shown how wonderful the Seattle Symphony orchesta truly is. Last October, Seattle Symphony performed the soundtrack of Psycho along with the movie, showing their versatility and pure musical ability. Then in February, they performed Hector Beriloz’s Symphonie Fantastique in its entirety, which completely blew me away. Their next major concert is Celebrate America beginning on May 29, and it’s sure to be great.