Page 2 November 21, 2019
The Artistry and Depth of Waves
Will Leave You Breathless
By Morgan Rojas for cinemacy.com
There’s a line in Kanye West’s 2016 album The
Life of Pablo that says, “Waves don’t die, Let
me crash here for the moment.” The ebbs and
flows of life are inevitable, but it’s resilience that
will make or break a man. This is the takeaway
from director Trey Edward Shults’ Waves. He
returns home to A24 with his third feature film.
Pitch-perfect in every way, Waves, now playing
at ArcLight Hollywood and The Landmark, is a
mesmerizing portrait of a hard-lived life and the
discovery that every day is a new opportunity
for compassion, acceptance and peace.
In an intensely moving performance, Kelvin
Harrison, Jr. (who previously worked with Shults
on It Comes at Night) plays Tyler, a high
school athlete with a promising future, a steady
relationship and a supportive family. His father
(Sterling K. Brown) takes the tough love
approach to parenting, riding his son to always
push harder, faster. “We are not afforded the
opportunity of being average,” he reminds Tyler
-- and that despite their suburban middle-class
status, society will always identify them as only
African-American. Tyler escapes the pressure in
his home life by spending time with his girlfriend
Alexis (Alexa Demie), riding in cars with the
music blaring and making out on the South
Florida coast. High school love is all consuming,
and theirs is no different. However, when a
shoulder injury sidelines Tyler from his college
prospects, his life begins to spiral out of control.
Waves is split into two acts, and the second
half of the film focuses on Tyler’s family
that is left to deal with the aftermath of his
circumstance. Newcomer and breakout star
Taylor Russell is the protagonist of the second
act. Russell plays Tyler’s younger sister Emily,
and she is burdened with the emotional weight
and societal exile with which Tyler left her.
She finds comfort in the arms of Luke (Lucas
Hedges), a well-intentioned guy who shares
her grief and offers her a healthy escape. Their
relationship is pure and allows for Luke and
Emily to heal both separately and together.
Waves‘ boundary-pushing cinematography
and constant fluidity generate a feeling of
unrest, excitement and energetic catharsis. From
360-degree turns to controlled yet constant pans
and rotations, DP Drew Daniels (who also
shot Euphoria) makes every scene come alive.
Further aided by seamless editing by Isaac Hagy,
a chilling score by Trent Reznor and Atticus
Ross, and set to the decade’s best soundtrack,
Waves is a full-body, full-sensory experience.
Like the title suggests, Waves will put one
through a range of emotions. First come the
rumblings of uncertainty, then the crash of chaos,
all to be swept away and reset to calm, steady
waters. This rebirth cycle is a reminder that
life goes on, despite the hardships, tragedies
and tears that act as roadblocks. Life stops
for no man, and the awareness that we are in
control of our actions makes navigating the
hard times a little more bearable. •
Film Review
Waves, Courtesy of A24
Morgan Rojas
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Wiseburn Board Meets After the
Tragic Saugus High Shooting
By Duane Plank
Less than 12 hours after another deadly
school-site shooting, the Wiseburn School
Board members met to view special presentations
from tech guru Andy de Seriere
and Wiseburn Education Foundation (WEF)
Executive Director Melanie Mack.
Board President JoAnne Kaneda solemnly
recognized the school shooting that occurred
early that Thursday morning at Saugus High
School and resulted in the deaths of two
teenagers, as well as the gunman. Three
other Saugus High students were also injured
in the incident. Kaneda quietly offered the
Board’s condolences to all involved in the
most recent campus tragedy.
De Seriere and his group were the first
presenters. The R.H Dana Middle School
offers a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) program
that, said de Seriere, gives “students
the opportunity to engage in project-based,
real-world challenges that emphasize science,
technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM). The Wiseburn Unified School District
PLTW program has mushroomed from 65
students who were enrolled in 2011 to the
600 enrolled in grades 6-8 this school year.
De Sierre noted that, with the District surrounded
by so many engineering jobs, the
goal is to find ways to help students consider
STEM pathways and career options. Aiding
him in the presentation was Da Vinci High
student Winston Bird, who serves as a mentor
to the Dana budding engineers and was
recently promoted to the Da Vinci robotics
team, leading the CAD department. They
detailed a recent Dana lunchtime competition
that drew 30 entrants, with the students
asked to complete a computer-assisted design
project (CAD) within the allotted timeframe.
Fifteen students made it to the finals of the
competition. The first place winner was Cassie
Vizuete. Nathan Escolero came in second,
with Crisanto Carillo third and Sheraz Fayyaz
finishing fourth. The students gave a quick
demonstration of their CAD skills to the
Board. Said de Seriere of his PLTW students,
‘I can’t wait to see what they can do.”
Next up was Mack, who delivered a
$40,000 oversized check to the Board that
will utilized for teacher grants. Prior to the
meeting, Superintendent Dr. Blake Silvers
stressed the important work that the WEF
does. “The WEF partnership is a real integral
partnership for us,” he said. “It provides
opportunities for teachers and staff members
to be able to fund innovative practices.” He
mentioned Science, Technology, Engineering,
Arts and Mathematics, citing STEAM labs
and initiatives that are often made possible
by WEF fundraising efforts. Silvers added
that WEF has done a great job on focusing
on the Arts. “WEF is a real wonderful part
of our community,” he said.
Upcoming meetings, Silvers said, are set
to focus on the District’s Long-Term Facilities
Master Plan, which he said should be
“wrapped up by March.” He emphasized
that the District and Board will then look
towards addressing Wiseburn facility needs.
During Board member reports, the main
theme was congratulating the PLTW students
and addressing school-site safety issues. Dr.
Neil Goldman noted Kaneda’s initial thoughts.
“Thank you for your opening remarks about
Saugus…Safety remains our main priority,”
he said. Clerk Roger Banuelos spoke about
See Wiseburn, page 5
New Lawsuit Raises Heat on
E-Cigarettes for Tempting Teens
By Rob McCarthy
Los Angeles County has joined a lawsuit
against the popular maker of flavored e-cigarettes
sold by South Bay retailers and online,
alleging the California company focused its
marketing on minors to get them addicted
even though they weren’t old enough to buy.
The announcement by the California Attorney
General’s Office and the L.A. County
District Attorney follows a South Bay vaping
forum held in October that exposed some of
the alleged marketing practices of the vape
industry. High school students told concerned
parents and child advocates that e-cigarette
companies advertise on social media channels
popular with middle and high schoolers.
Those ads have appeared on study websites,
teens said.
The legal action announced Monday is
going after Juul, a San Francisco-based
company that is a major player in the $9
billion-per-year e-cigarette industry. State
Attorney General Xavier Becerra and District
Attorney Jackie Lacey seek to punish the
company for deceptive marketing and failure
to disclose harmful health effects of vaping.
Local physicians said last month that
regular use of e-cigarettes for three months
can lead to an addiction and withdrawal
symptoms when a person tries to quit. The
county and state’s lawsuit alleges that Juul’s
products fail to warn consumers that the
nicotine-laced products, which are inhaled as
a white vapor, contain chemicals and have
serious health risks.
The lawsuit also charges that JuuL failed
to verify the age of California consumers
and violated the privacy rights of minors.
The company kept the email addresses of
minors whom the company knew weren’t
old enough and contacted them anyway with
promotions. Juul used an age verification
process on its website, which is how the
company knew, the suit says.
The use of flavored e-cigarettes, or vaping,
is increasing rapidly among teens and
pre-teens, according to reports from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and the Food and Drug Administration. Juul
dominates the U.S. market with more than
64 percent of the sales, according to officials.
That includes adults, some of whom see
vape as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes.
What perturbs public health officials
and state and local leaders is the novelty
of flavored e-cigarettes has created a new
generation of smokers among children who
were not considered at-risk to become nicotine
users. Four deaths from vaping have been
reported in the state.
“We’ve worked too hard, committed our
hard-earned money for too long combatting
harmful tobacco use to stand idly by as we
now lose Californians to vaping and nicotine
addiction,” Becerra said on Monday. “Juul
adopted the tobacco industry’s infamous
playbook, employing advertisements that had
no regard for public health and searching out
vulnerable targets.”
Nearly one in 10 high school students in
LA County report using e-cigarettes, according
to Supervisor Janice Hahn who represents El
Segundo, Westchester, Lynwood and Gardena
in the 4th District.
”With this lawsuit, we are going to hold
Juul accountable for their hand in this public
health crisis and do what we can to stop this
company from creating a new generation of
nicotine addicts,” Hahn said at Monday’s press
conference about the legal action.
Prosecutors filed the lawsuit in Alameda
County Superior Court. Juul’s viral marketing
campaigns led millions of American youth
to start vaping without knowing the potential
harms associated with nicotine, the suit alleges.
In some cases, underage buyers and
their friends whom they shared with didn’t
know the product contained nicotine.
Juul has been on the defensive since September,
when the first reports of lung damage
and deaths from e-cigarettes were widely
See E-Cigarettes, page 4
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