Movie Review

I wanted to mention one of the best movies in the world- and one of the only ones that my dad doesn't think is stupid. It's called (insert drum-roll here) "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", and was produced by the Coen brothers. Basically, it's a Depression-era version of the Odyssey, in which three men who escape from a prison farm in Mississippi and attempt to return home. They are named Ulysses Everett MacGill (George Clooney), the suave, hair-obsessed leader, Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), who is very sweet and naive, sort of like Lenny from "The Grapes of Wrath", except not quite as dumb, and Pete (John Turturro), who constantly challenges Everett's authority, and is rather crabby. Though they are trying their best to get home, they encounter many problems, such as being pursued by a sheriff who just might be the devil, getting beat up by a one-eyed Bible salesman, and encountering a Ku Klux Klan group in the middle of a lynching, to name a few. Despite being rated PG-13, this film is really good, with many hilarious lines, and several good songs. I would recommend this for ages 13 and up, unless there is adult supervision.

Freegans part 27

Matt
As we ran, I kept my eyes and ears peeled. Suddenly I heard the sound of running footsteps behind us. Whoever it was was trying to be quiet, but they were still making noise.
"Hey Cara, do you-"
"I know, I can hear it too. Right. Ben, you, Lucy, and Matt take the left. Madiza and I will take the right. I'm not going to be captured a second time." She left no option for argument. We moved to our respective sides of the tunnel, and soon the owner of the footsteps came into view. It was a tall man.

He obviously wasn't one of the Junkmen, since he was about six feet tall, and dressed in black material. He had a beret cocked to the side of his head, and carried a big gun. "That's a plasma rifle," Madiza whispered. I barely heard the words. I'd heard that those were illegal, but obviously not. It was clear who this was: he was from the vice president's army, probably here to kill us. Or, failing that, to capture us. I didn't want to have either happen to any of us. So, when Cara gave a signal, we attacked.

I tackled his legs, knocking him to the ground. The others piled on top of him. However, he was shown to be a better fighter than we thought. He used several complicated judo moves, it seemed, knocking us every which way. "Don't let him point the gun at you!" yelled Madiza. She pulled out her tazer and fired at him, but he did something with the gun so it sort of absorbed the electricity.
"Wait!" he said above the commotion. "I'm not here to hurt you!"
"Like heck you're not!" snarled Cara.
"No, really! I'm a friend! I want to get you out of here!"
Cara raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Prove it."

At that instant, the man suddenly said, "Get down!" He lifted up the rifle. We ducked, just in time for him to blast the robot and Junkman sneaking up behind us into little tiny bits. We stared in shock at the smoldering mess.
"That proof enough for you?" he asked. After a second, I got up and said, "Works for me!"

Freegans part 26

Cara again
I lay on the ground, trembling as the last wisps of the terrible cloud left my brain. I saw the others around me, looking as white and shaky as I was. Lucy seemed to be the worst off, but even she was coming around. Slowly I managed to sit up. It was then that I noticed Madiza. She was standing up, with her back against the door of the room, almost like she was trying to keep something from coming out.

"What are you doing?" I asked. My voice came out sounding like a croak.
"Got to hold it in. Can't let it out, or it'll hurt you again!" said Madiza.
"What, the smoke?"
"Yes! Radix pedis diaboli!" Madiza dragged her chalk out of her pocket and drew a picture on the door. It looked like a combination of a foot and a hoof.
"That's what it looks like before it's ground up. When burned, the stuff stimulates the part of the brain which controls fear. Whoever is exposed to it for too long either goes cuckoo like me, or kicks the towel!" I assumed by that last phrase that she was using a combination of 'kick the bucket' and 'toss in the towel', but decided to let it go.

"So how come it didn't effect you?"
"I don't know. Maybe because I've already lost my marbles. And it couldn't have; I wouldn't have been able to get you out otherwise." Madiza grinned at me.
"You saved us?"
"Of course I did, silly! You're my friends! I didn't want you to become Looney Tunes, or get rattled!"
"Rattled?" asked Matt, who had by now recovered.
"Death-rattled. Hee hee!"

I suddenly felt a wave of affection for her. "Thank you, Madiza," I said softly. Then I got up, and helped Matt.
"We need to go. The Junkmen are probably going to come back soon. Ben, Lucy, can you walk?" Ben stood up, and Lucy staggered to her feet, but she looked unsteady. Without warning, Ben picked her up and slung her, piggy-back style, onto his back. Well, that worked.
"Right, let's go." I started to head to the left, but Madiza said, "No, no! Not that way! The camp of the trashy people is over there! We need to go right!"

"How do you know?"
"I can smell them! We need to go this way! Trust me!" She headed down the right branch. I looked at Matt and Ben, who shrugged.
"Who are we to argue with a nutcase who knows more than we do?" asked Matt.
"Good point," I said. So, we went after her. I just hoped she knew what she was doing.

Freegans part 25

The Kestrel

Kestrel walked slowly down the tunnel, his senses alert. He had changed out of his uniform soon after getting away from the rest of the scouting party; it was now folded up in his backpack. His plasma rifle, toned to debilitation, hung from its shoulder strap by his arm; he was the best shot in his platoon, an irony that wasn't lost on him. He was dressed all in black, with his black beret still on (he rather liked how it looked on him). He was moving as swiftly as he could while still maintaining silence; it would be terrible either to be trapped by the Junkmen or be caught by his own patrol. Still, he needed to get to the children. He hadn't found any message from the Ox, who would have left some sign if he had found them. From the signs he had already seen, it seemed like the Junkmen were making a push in this area. Suddenly, he came upon what must have been a battle scene- broken robots, a junk tunnel, and no sign of anyone. Kestrel kicked himself inwardly for not preparing for that possibility. She was counting on him, and he should have foreseen the problem.
A few minutes later, he had followed the tunnel to the Junkmen transit camp. They had to be in there somewhere, probably already under the affect of the drugs the Junkmen used. He had to get them out of there. He slipped quietly around a corner and into one of the buildings.

Freegans part 24

Madiza
What what why leave door unlocked? Don't know, don't know. Light light lamp funny funny smell bad bad not good no no NO! Trouble bad Radix pedis diaboli! Help help help my- friends- need- help. Must help them. Got- to-get-out. Door, door, who's got the door? There there there good good good now help friends.

Find Lucy, she's weakest. There she is, there she is. Come on, out out out door's not locked take her out. Should clear senses. Now find Ben-ben, where's Ben-ben? Oof, what was that? What what what oh, Matt. Better take him out. Get to the door. Put him out. Now find Ben-ben and Cara Cara orange. Found Ben-ben. Looks scared, face gone white, not good not good. Here, up he goes, get out with others. Yes, now Cara Cara. Cara, where are you? Come out wherever you are. Yoohoo? Cara! Got to get out, before you toss the bucket or go my way. Fear's not good, not good at all. Come on, little old Madiza's got you. Each who bears his cross. Ha. Bearing my Cara instead. Hee hee hee hee! The door! Where's the door? Bad, bad, bad no no no not want to have Cara die...there! Out out out...and it came to pass that the lunatic did rise up and move her friends before the terror got to them. Now- got-to-close-this-DOOR!

Freegans part 23

Cara
Unfortunately, we had forgotten about the robots. While we had been talking to the Junkmen, about a dozen more had joined them, so now they attacked us. Of course, we fought back. Ben used his marshal arts skills to smash in several metallic skulls, and Madiza was zapping them with her tazer, and us normal humans did the best we could. I had on my levitation boots, which made it a bit easier. I could zip up out of their reach, and suddenly crash down on them, or kick them. Matt had found a piece of piping, and used it to hit. Suddenly, we heard a shrill scream. Lucy was trapped in a net growing out of one robots arm, and another one was pointing his drill arm at her head. The meaning was clear. Madiza clearly wanted to shock them, but didn't want to risk hurting her. So we surrendered.

In three blinks of an eye we were surrounded and tied up, then slung over our captor's shoulders. Lucy was crying quietly. I could tell she was upset at being captured so easily, but there was really nothing we could have done. The Junkmen awoke, and glared at us maliciously. "Take them to the Room of Horrors," said their leader to the head robot. With that we were marched off. I felt a shiver run down my back. I wondered what the Room of Horrors was. Something told me, probably the name, that it would not be pleasant. The robots went down a long, dark pipe. On the way, I saw another car with a drill on the end, which had more Junkmen in it. The robots stopped and waited for it to go by before continuing. The Junkmen spat at us and called us 'filthy topsiders'. 'Sheesh,' I thought.

Suddenly we came to a door. It was a simple one, made of wood, with no lock on it. That was strange to me. Why not bother locking the door, if it was supposed to be so horrible? The robot carrying me opened the door, and dumped me inside. The others got the same treatment. Once all of us were in the room, a robot walked over to a small lamp in the center of the room. It lit the lamp, and then all of them left, slamming the door. Madiza and Ben managed to wriggle out of their ropes, and then they untied us. "This room doesn't look that scary," said Matt, rubbing his wrists. "I wonder why-" He stopped. His face suddenly twisted in a look of pure terror. I was confused, until a peculiar smell hit my nose. It was sweet, yet at the same time musky. Instantly a dark cloud swam before my eyes. Strange shapes and twisted visions loomed out of it. I didn't know what had happened to the others, and was too terrified to care. Unknown horrors would soon appear from that cloud, and when they did, I would be done for!

Freegans part 22

Ben
The three men were all very short, probably about as tall as Lucy, if not shorter. They all had on big goggles covering their eyes, and leathery clothes. I thought they looked a little bit like leather moles. The one in front, who appeared to be the leader, stepped out of the car and demanded, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"That's none of your business,"Cara replied. She folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. I could tell this would not end well. The man who had spoken walked forward and looked Cara in the face, which wasn't all that impressive, since he was so much shorter.
"We are the Junkmen. EVERYTHING underground is our business," he said. "This is our world."
"Funny, I don't see your name on it anywhere," said Cara. Lucy and Matt both winced slightly.

For a moment the head Junkman looked about to explode. Then suddenly his face relaxed, and he smiled.
"I apologize for acting so rough. You see, we're not that used to having topsiders down here." He held out his leather-gloved hand, and just as Cara was about to take it, Madiza suddenly turned her tazer on him and his two buddies! The leader was knocked off his feet!
"Madiza!" Cara yelled. "What were you thinking?!" I was rather annoyed myself. I always knew Madiza was crazy, but didn't think she had an itchy trigger finger.
"I only stunned them," she replied mildly.
"That's no excuse! He was just trying to shake my hand!"

"No he wasn't," said Madiza. To our surprise, she walked over, and took something out of the Junkman's hand. It was a small glass vial, with some liquid inside.
"Poison," she said softly. "Mostly cyanide, but there is also some strychnine, and a few drops of a newly invented poison known by anti-consumerists as 'Gwilliam's Venom', due to the vice-president's maladjusted antisocial tendencies and slightly murderous nature." Her voice was different, sounding a little bit like a scientist. “Upon shaking your hand, the vial would shatter, and the glass shards cut open your hand, leaving the poison free entry into your bloodstream.” All four of us gaped at her, before Matt finally managed to find his voice.

"How-how did you know that?!" Madiza looked at him for a second, then said in her normal voice, "I don't know." She blinked a few times, then slipped the vial of poison into her pocket, along with the tazer. She then started down the tunnel. After a second, we followed her. I was thinking to myself, "Will wonders never cease?"