NOCTILUCA May 2018

CULTURE Appleton, Wisconsin May 2017 Volume XXIII ‘AQuiet Place’Movie Review: Silence Has Been Broken! By Logan Gaertner ‘A Quiet Place’ is a revolutionary thriller movie

Issue V Page 9

Henry Ptacek:AWell- RoundedMusician

By Rachel Kairys The Noctilua interviews musician Henry Ptacek A fellow, well-known junior has taken over the school. Henry Ptacek is involved in many diverse clubs, as well as multiple bands. He’s involved in the school band and in two other bands. The first band he was featured in is called Minus One, and the other band that he’s in is called Goodbye Eden. The Noc- tiluca decided to interview him about his musical en- deavors. The first question we asked was “Who is in your band?” Minus One includes five other permanent members. Now-juniors Henry Ptacek, Jando Valdez, Danny Lo- pez and now seniors James Woznicki, Sam Woo, and Kaden Buck, are all partici- pating in the jazz combo. Goodbye Eden includes Henry (drums), Jack (guitar and vocals), Jando (bass), and Ben Stephan (guitar), who is a junior as well. Secondly, we asked “When did you start the band?” His response was saying that the Minus One jazz combo started in middle school and Goodbye Eden started in their freshman year of high school. The third question we asked was regarding the music they play. What music do you play in both bands? Are you writing your own music or doing covers? “Well the Jazz Combo only plays covers, as is very common for jazz groups. • “Lately” by Washed Out • “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John • “Tomorrow” by Shakey Graves • “The High Road” by the Broken Bells • “Herside Story” by

ily very quickly. Similar to Chris- topher Nolan’s Dunkirk, the film lets the actions of the characters tell the audience who they are as peo- ple, and not some eye-roll-inducing exposition that is awkwardly delivered to ev- eryone watching. The movie is also brilliantly crafted when it comes to f o r e s hadowi ng and the recall- ing of events that

It appears as if Holly- wood has found its latest trend: giving very talented comedians a career defin- ing opportunity by directing ground breaking, incred- ible horror films! The first example of this would be beloved comic genius, Jor- dan Peele, and his cultural juggernaut and award win- ning Get Out that was very popular among moviegoers in 2017, and even more re- cently, John Krasinski, Jim from The Office himself, with “A Quiet Place”. “A Quiet Place” has a straightforward, yet cre- ative premise. The world is in a terrible, post-apocalyp- tic state where creepy, blind demogorgon-type creatures will come and kill if a noise is made by anyone. No one knows where these things came from or what they are, which makes them even more terrifying. The film follows John Krasinski’s character and his family as they try to survive being ripped to shreds by these creatures. Krasinski has a bright career ahead of him, both in terms of acting and di- recting. His performance, along with everyone else, is very engaging and real. Emily Blunt steals the show though in terms of acting chops. The constant, strong look of dread, fear, and de- termination that she is able to convey believably is just astounding. The child ac- tors are also very talented, and that statement is more

Henry Ptacek during Pulse’s Future 15 Awards We play “standards” and any funk tunes we enjoy. In Goodbye Eden we play a lot of Indie Rock, our fa- vorite artist is Ron Gallo. However; we are making the transition from being a cover band to an original band, with around 5 songs currently in the works”, Pta- cek said. Along with that was “What inspires you?” Henry replied “As far as the direction of our band, Ron Gallo is our biggest musical influence. Person- ally, I listen to a lot of The- lonious Monk with Frankie Dunlop on drums. And I’ve recently been discovering the Velvet Underground and The Kinks, the straight ahead simple style of drum- ming.” Overall, Henry is a very well-rounded musician, who has a lot of experience. Find Henry on Social Media Instagram: @henryptacek Twitter: @henryptacek

A promotional photo for “ A Quiet Place” . The movie was released on April 6 and is a drama.

lead to bigger moments. The placement of a little nail on the basement steps, for ex- ample, seems unimportant at first, but is then brought back into the narrative, and when it is, it makes the film more tense. The score for the film is also equally as terrifying as is what occur- ring within the world of the movie. “A Quiet Place” is by no means a flawless work. The creature designs, while very frightening, were not the most original (very reminis- cent of the iconic demogor- gons from Stranger Things). A staple in the horror genre is that the characters are likely to make illogical and ridiculous decisions. This problem is within the film, but it isn’t too groan-wor- thy. “A Quiet Place” is going to be a film that is going to stick in the back of your memory days and weeks af- ter you’ve seen it. A clever, suspenseful, thriller that is an impressive contribution to the horror thriller genre.

than apparent on screen. Millicent Simmons, the young girl in the film, is very good, as is Noah Jupe, the young son to Krasinski’s and Blunt’s characters. From the opening shot of the film, the viewer is in- stantly on-edge. The eerily silent environments help out a lot here, and they make for some of the most tension- filled scenes and scenarios that my eyes have ever wit- nessed. The silence that sur- rounds the family is equally as terrifying as when there is sound, and when a loud sound occurs, the family, like the viewer, becomes in- stantly horrified at what is to come. Quite possibly one of the most impressive ac- complishments in “A Quiet Place” is how, through very little dialogue, the film gets the audience to grow emo- tionally invested in the fam- • “Palace/Curse” by The Internet, Steve Lacy, Tyler, The Cre- ator • “Come Together” by The Beatles • “Once You Know” by Good Morning • “Hawaiian Boi” by

Spring 2018 Playlist Fling By Amara Neitzke

Triathalon • “Julia” by Mt. Joy • “Moon River” by Frank Ocean • “All4you” by The Palms • “Lemon” - Drake

Goldlink, Hare Squead • “‘Til It’s Over” by Anderson .Paak • “Sunsets for

Somebody Else” by Jack Johnson

Remix - by N.E.R.D, Rihanna, Drake