Dinner for Schmucks Review by Fawn Puhler

      Idiots. Are. Everywhere. These people have MORE than earned the right to have a GPS system sewn into their wardrobe and I for one hope they carry a first aid kit with them wherever they go. 

     For those that are friends with gravity and were smart enough to buy the shoes with Velcro instead of laces and save themselves a couple of stitches, there is still the challenge of social awkwardness. 

      Idiots just will not go away. 

     It takes much more than a band aid to cover up the embarrassment of one of their mistakes. 

     It seems as though idiots have perfect timing and are equipped with radar to ruin another person’s most glorious moments and sink down in their chair and fight the burning feeling to bolt out of the door and change their last name so there is no family tie or possible history that could EVER prove that they are associated with that IDIOT. This is the typical reaction, but there are those who embrace their inner idiot. 

     Dinner for Schmucks deals with all of those people we do not want to deal with in our daily lives, and it is a wonderful example of the extreme possibilities karma can portray. 

     No other movie I have come across could delve into the sweet empathy of human nature by creating a character that is so hilariously naïve, cause its audience to think about the way they treat people while throwing in a number of jiggly-belly laugh teasers along the journey of sweet remorse that so fills the plot line and offer the main character a shot of redemption.  

      It is debatable whether or not the quirky characters in the film are based on people in real life or if their extremities have pushed them far beyond the possibility of being real people. 

     As the evil villain so it seems is none other than Zach Galifianakis who played the beloved Alan from the Hangover, Barry Speck’s largest challenge aside from overcoming his devastating divorce is to battle with brain control.
     No person should ever invite any person to a dinner to be the entertainment for the night, and I would not mind befriending one of these talented people.  

     There is a sense of empathy that goes along with these characters being so tormented throughout the movie and a hope that it ends like the sweet high school dramatic films where the geek gets the girl in the end but that would make it all predictable and the wonderful resolution of embracing one’s inner idiot serves the cinemas well. 

      It is well worth the approximate 10 dollars to get into the theatre and if there is a schmuck beside you chewing his popcorn as loudly as possible or weaving it into popcorn armor for his action figure collection, rest at ease and imagine how boring the world would be without these boring people.

Fresh Meat by Hannah Kimmel

Everyone wants respect.

In high school, respect is especially desired and important.

Throughout a student’s four years in high school, he or she will inadvertently change and mature, grow and evolve.

The one constant is that respect will always be something they need.

Respect for elders is major cultural trait almost everywhere; again, high school is no exception.

Teachers, staff and administrators should certainly be respected.

And in the hierarchy of high school, so should everyone else in the grade above your own.

If one is using the “respect your elders” approach to conduct, then, logically, freshmen receive the smallest amount of respect, since they are the youngest.

It’s nothing personal.  It’s strictly a social norm.

In the not-so-distant past, the freshmen were the top of their middle school food chain.

Guaranteed, while they were the eldest around, they expected, and thrived off of, the respect of the classes below them.

The invigoration of being a person who knows all the tricks, shortcuts and general facts about a school only comes with years of being there.

That feeling is something that everyone experiences at some point.

That feeling shouldn’t be tainted by someone younger being disrespectful.

Although that feeling can generate a sense of superiority, it comes with the well-deserved wait to get there.

When this year’s freshmen become seniors, they won’t be worrying about how they were told to move back at a football game – they’ll be too happy to have the authority to tell someone else what to do and where to go.

Everyone has been in that position. 

Freshmen hate it now, but they’ll love it later.

True, freshman year is a big deal with changes and new people, but there is more than enough time to learn respect for their peers, upperclassmen and staff.

Everyone wants respect.

To make sure everyone gets the respect they want, they have to be sure to give some to others as well.