Sherry Huang: October 2008 Archives

The Wildcat gang is back for one last hurrah and they're not going quietly. "High School Musical: Senior Year" is effervescent, glamorous, kinetic, bubbly, and unapologetically nostalgic.

This third film is focused on everyone's plans for college as senior year winds down. Troy and Chad play their last Wildcats game of the season, and now the gang is planning one last spring musical about the journey of senior year (titled "Senior Year"--get it?) and waiting for acceptance letters. Ryan, Sharpay, and Kelsi have been selected as scholarship finalists for a prestigious acting program at Julliard. Mysteriously, even Troy has been chosen though he never applied. This mysterious acceptance leads him to being torn about pursuing acting or pursuing basketball at the Univ. of Arizona. Gabriella is headed to a special honors program at Stanford which may mean leaving Troy, the play, and the prom before the school year ends. Chad wants to hold on to the Troy-Chad basketball glory, Taylor's busy chairing the yearbook committee, and Kelsi's still writing heartfelt ditties. As usual, Sharpay is slyly trying to steal the lead in the musical to impress Julliard, with Ryan as a reluctant sidekick. New characters are also introduced: Tiara Gold (a British transfer student who becomes Sharpay's personal assistant), Jimmie Z (aka. the "Rocket Man," a goofy slacker and benchwarmer who wants to follow in Troy's footsteps), and Donny Dion (Jimmie's friend and fellow benchwarmer). Still, with all the storylines, the main spotlight is on the golden couple, Troy and Gabriella, as they figure out how to merge both their futures together.

Here's why it took me two months to finish Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Down": I couldn't stand it.

Fellow Idol Chatter blogger and "Twilight" uber-fan Donna Freitas wrote that some fans had problems with the "happy ending." That was not my biggest problem with the book. I don't discriminate against happy endings--I was happy when Bella and Edward ended up together to begin a new, fulfilling, immortal journey. I also had no problem with Bella becoming a super vampire; it seemed justified given her 18 years of clumsiness. For the first time, she was on an even level as Edward and she discovered she had a particular power that was latent even as a human.

My biggest problem with "Breaking Dawn" is that its narrative is way too overstuffed with melodrama. I kept rolling my eyes every time another problem appeared and escalated. I felt Meyers took two more books and jammed them into one in order to finish the saga and satisfy herself and her readers.

In the span of a year, Edward and Bella get married, Bella gets pregnant, Bella's baby rips her way out, Bella almost dies, Bella is saved by Edward's venom, Bella becomes a vampire, Bella learns to hunt, Bella discovers her baby's own special abilities, Bella meets with Charlie and tries to explain her changes, Bella learns to use her power, Bella finally faces off against the Volturi and claims a triumphant victory. In between all this, the reader suddenly sees everything from Jacob's point of view and we discover that, yes, Jacob is meant to be with Bella's daughter, Renesme, who will reach maturity within just five years.

Perhaps there's too much 21st century in me, but I cringed a little when Bella and Edward got married. I know they are soulmates, but I was surprised Bella still got married even after saying repeatedly that she was not "that girl." Only after she married did she entertain the idea of going to college or having any ambitions. Then Bella became pregnant so quickly and everything spiraled into near-tragedy again; the baby began killing Bella and eventually tore out of her womb. The horror movie scene made me so queasy, I actually had to stop reading. The detour into Jacob's point-of-view was almost a welcome relief, except it seemed like a completely different book stuck in the middle of Bella's last saga.