Writers of MWC

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Film review of The Martian by Jesse Manders (2G1)

On the 1st of October, the film the Martian came to the cinemas. It was a huge success. With actors Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig and Kate Mara the film had thousands of visitors. All the actors play their role very good and convincingly. I like the characters too. For example, Mark Watney. Most people would be very desperate if they were alone on Mars. But Mark Watney was not. He never gave up, and was always searching for solutions to his problems. And there is the crew, who had a plan to save Mark.

I have made a short recap of the film: During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) was taken away by a storm. His crew members thought he was dead, so they returned home. But Mark Watney wasn’t dead, He was only wounded. He had to survive alone on a strange planet. Luckily there was a research center with some food supplies. He had to make a farm of potatoes, because there wasn’t enough food to survive long. He had to find a way to get home…

The length of the film is 2 hours and 14 minutes. My opinion is that that’s a good length for a film. I would recommend watching the movie on a big screen in the cinema, because it has beautiful moments and it is just not a movie to watch on a small screen. The film is the best for people who like films with science and adventure.

[mwcwriters-blog]

Inspiration by Anonymous 

There are a few quotes that will stick with me for the rest of my life. For example: Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time. It’s kind of what is going on right now. Our own country keeps so many secrets from us, without our consent. I get that they don’t want to tell us every little detail of what’s going on, but some knowledge would be nice.

So I was browsing on the interweb a few days ago, and I came across a blog called; 32 Of The Most Beautiful Words In The English Language. My favourite word from that article is Ineffable, to great to be expressed in words. Another word that got to my attention is sonder, the realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own. Those two words really hit me like a truck, probably because I feel them in my everyday life. Usually I walk into my very big school and take a second to think that 1 of the 100 children in the Netherlands get abused. I sometimes look around in my classroom while the teacher is teaching and wonder what kind of problems all my classmates have, maybe one of them is pondering every day because a relative is lying in a hospital bed or maybe it’s something much worse.

A few months ago I was in the mall with my mother, we were just enjoying our day until a woman stopped in front of us and started talking about her life. How her parents kicked her out because she used drugs and how she is living in a 4 by 4 m2 room with 10 other people. And I being naïve little me, decided I would give her al my spare change. A few days before that event took place I watched a documentary about how giving someone a little bit of money can change someone’s life. While I was giving her my money I heard a man say that what she was doing is completely and utterly terrible. I ignored it and gave my money, she thanked me and went her own way. The man from before came up to me and began talking about how nice it was of me to give her money, although she didn’t deserve it. She isn’t trying to get a better life , all that money I just gave is going to be used for drugs. I was beyond pissed and disappointed. At least I got from all that money a life lesson that I can carry around for the rest of my life. Bad people only use you for your kindness if you let them.

I learned a few years ago what my interest is by watching a tv show called Lie to Me. It’s about a professor who can tell whenever you’re lying by watching your every movement .  Usually when you’re lying you’re nervous, and when you’re nervous you tend to do small movements that help you get calmer, at least you think they help. For example touching your necklace or scratching your neck. A facial expression that lasts for more than 4 seconds is self-created. I got really into it, so much that I printed out people with different facial expressions and taped them to my walls. Every week a new one. I also followed psychology courses, every time one of my friends or classmates decided to go out and be social, I stayed home and learned.

[cute-baby-animals]

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A kitten to wish you good luck in the third test week!

[thewritershandbook]

10 Ways to Become a Stronger Writer - Ink and Quills

Ways to become a stronger writer and improve your writing skills. Spoiler alert: it's more than just reading and writing.

[mwcwriters-blog]

The Spring Begins by Floris van der Zwart (1H3)

Once upon a time there was an evil witch named Azami. Azami loved cold things and of course the winter. Azami used a spell to make it winter forever. She created ice golems to protect her ice castle. 

People had to live in the cold and there was nothing to do about it. Farms couldn’t grow, drinks were hard to make, people started to protest against it. They all said: ‘Make it normal weather again. We hate the winter, it’s horrible’. The people made weapons to fight Azami with. But the ice golems were too strong to kill. The people ran away from the castle, far away from it. 

In the meantime, Azami created more ice golems but also ice knights, ice canons and ice archers. Fifty years in the snow and cold where the people had to survive and hide from the dangerous ice soldiers that would hunt them down. If you were found you would be dead where you stood. People didn’t make any towns because of the ice soldiers, because the people knew if they would build them they would die. 

But out of nowhere someone started to fight back, his name is John. John saved many people from being killed. John created an army. The army grew and grew until it was big enough for him. John and his army attacked Azami’s castle but once again failed. The ice army was too strong. Of course they are stronger, they are made of ice! 

Years flew by but the people didn’t give up on attacking. It was in year 99 that the biggest attack was made by the people. They almost made it, but Azami killed them with ice spears raining from the sky. 

In year 100, it was over. The people attacked with an army of thousands of knights that would fight till the end. And it worked. They finally had an army of 200 knights left against Azami. Azami used every spell she had but it was not enough. Azami was killed and the winter was finally over, the spring began.

[mwcwriters-blog]

The Rock with a Voice by Floris van der Zwart (1H3)

Once upon a time there was a rock called Barny. Barny was not a normal rock. No, he had a voice. “Man, it’s really boring not to be able to talk to someone, I wish the other rocks had a voice so I could talk tot hem and get a response.” Barny went to the club where he got a drink and some food. Barny went to a chair and sat down and thought: “What if I had no voice? Is everything going to turn quiet? No, I should not think about those things.” 

The other morning Barny woke up and wanted to say something but realized he had no voice anymore. “What happened? Where is my voice?” thought Barny and walked to his friends standing next to the tree. “What happened last night?” thought Barny. 

Out of nowhere one of his friends wrote a letter that said: ‘’You had a wild night Barny’’. Another friend gave a picture of him drinking a lot of beer next to a pile of empty beer bottles. “What?” said Barny. “How did this happen, you can’t lose your voice just by drinking?” His last friend gave the picture of him selling his voice to the leader of all the stones: Adam. “I am going to talk to him and ask to get my voice back and I know I can’t talk so I am going to give him a note,” said Barny. 

Barny walked to Adam and gave him the note. Adam laughed about it and said: “You can only get it back if you show your secret.” Barny gave him a second note. “Okay then, let’s go to your secret.” All of the rocks walked behind him to his secret. “So, this is your secret?” said Adam and opened the door. Inside the room was a giant pile of empty bottles and a turtle. “What? Is this your secret?” Barny nodded yes. “Okay, then you get your voice back,” said Adam. 

A bright light appeared and after the light was gone Barny said: “Yes, I have my voice back and I have no secrets anymore!” Everyone gave Barny a hug and at the end a huge family hug.

[to-write-my-book-deactivated201]

When a story idea comes from somewhere unexpected

[thewritershandbook]

Adjectives

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Teacher comment: use these adverbs (bijvoeglijke naamwoorden) to spice up your descriptions.

[thewritershandbook]

[mwcwriters-blog]

Film review of the Hobbit by Daphne Gommans (2G1)

The last movie I’ve seen is the Hobbit. I watched it with my little brother and my father on the 30th of January. Before I saw the movie I didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t read the book yet, so it was really new for me. And I loved it. Honestly, there weren’t many things I didn’t like, so prepare yourself for a long list of positive things! Better for your mood, isn’t it?

Positive things

The storyline was really good. Things happened for obvious reasons, there weren’t many useless things to see.

But what I liked most about the movie were the details. If you’re really “in” the story, you don’t look at what is happening around the character. But if I watch a movie, I look mostly at the details. The details in this movie are fantastic. The landscapes that you see are beautiful, they look very realistic. You have a part in the movie, which takes place in the woods and it is so nice. All the little things in that scene make you feel happy. You’ve got little bunnies hopping around, you’ve got flowers that go with the wind, you’ve got mushrooms and you’ve got holes in trees where squirrels are eating nuts… It looks perfect together. But then you see a group of nasty dwarves walking in that wood and then you think: ”Nah”.

The music is also really good. The music makes the movie better than it already is. Without the music, you just don’t feel so excited about a situation, it is too boring then.

The filming techniques are amazing. I have been wondering, since I saw Harry Potter, how they make films like this. With all those weird “people” who are in the movie. Just how people make films with so much fantasy and science-fiction in them. I’m really curious about that.

I’ve got a lot more positive things about the movie but if you want to read all that, you will sit here way too long.

Negative things

The movie lasted really, really long. The total time is 3 hours (and 2 minutes). I think that that is too long for a movie, but that’s my opinion. And because the movie lasts too long, you get the problem that you’re getting bored. That isn’t what the producer wants but still, the producer makes long movies. The second and third part of the Hobbit last even longer…

Another negative thing was that you had to think really fast before you get something. There is a problem, they talk about the problem, they go, they fix the problem and then you start over. In this movie, this goes very quickly. That’s probably why the movie is so long, because everyone has to think about what they are talking about…I think it would be clever to read the book(s) first.

These are my only negative things.

I hoped you liked reading my review!

[mwcwriters-blog]

My Top 10 Favourite Songs by Koen Lamers (2H4)

I made a list of 10 songs that I listen to very much and are my favourites.

This is MY opinion and I have got diferent genres and styles of music so here we go:

10 Sing - Ed Sheeran

Let’s start this list with a pop song I really like Ed Sheeran and this is my favourite song of his, just shouting along to this song is pretty fun to do!

9 Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis

This a typical rock song that everybody knows but most don’t know the band. This is a perfect song to put on when you are in a good mood and you’re going to play a game or something.

8 Smells Like Team Spirit - Nirvana

This just has to be on my list. Just the vibe and the guitars…..

7 Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

I am also a fan of Johnny Cash and Elvis and singers like that from the 60s. For Folsom Prison I really like the little story in it.

6 Master of Puppets - Metallica

Yeah, that is some pretty heavy music right there, but if you play guitar and you play along this song that is awesome - especially the live performance in Quebec.

5 For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) - AC/DC

What is so cool is that they have a song for their fans and that is what I like about it. AC/DC is just a great band overall, so one of their songs has to be on this list.

4 Beautiful Day - U2

First of all, U2 is one of the greatest bands ever. The song starts calmly and nicely and then the guitars kick in, that is cool.

3 Paradise City - Guns n Roses

I know a lot of you are going to think: “Why not Sweet Child O’ Mine?” but that is because I prefer heavier and harder rock over glam rock. Also, the solos are amazing and they are performed by Slash, one of the best guitarists now.

2 Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

This is a cool song. The lyrics are good, the singing is great, the guitars are perfect and it is just a classic.

1 Hotel California - The Eagles

This is just my favourite song overall. I like the guitars in it and the guitarists are freaking good. My dad likes it too, so I just hear it a lot and the solos are the best.

[mwcwriters-blog]

The Return Save by Floris van der Zwart (1H3)

Once upon a time there was a prince that was called Papyrus. Papyrus was on his way to save the princess. She was trapped not in a castle but in an empty vulcano. Papyrus got to the edge of the vulcano and said: “Princess, are you there?” The princess responded: “Yes, over here! Save me, you noble knight.” 

Papyrus grabbed a grappling hook and went down into the vulcano. Once he was at the bottom, enemy knights came out of the shadow and grabbed their swords and ran at Papyrus. After a long fight, he went to the princess and cut the rope so the princess was released. “Let’s get out of here,” said Papyrus.

 “Look out!” and Papyrus got knocked to the ground. “What happened?!” Papyrus turned around and saw a sword in front of him pointing at him. “You fell into my trap, you idiot,” said the knight and as he was saying that he caught the princess. “You will never get her back!” he said. The knight punched Papyrus in the face and ran away. 

Papyrus lay knock-out on the floor. After he woke up he saw that the princess was gone and stood up and went back to his white horse. “Let’s get her back to her castle.” Papyrus went to the enemy’s castle. Once he was there, he grabbed his sword and went in battle mode and started fighting. After a really long fight, Papyrus got to the top and saw the princess behind the knight. “Let’s end this, for the princess!” said Papyrus. “Okay, sounds good, let’s do this,” said the knight. 

After the fight, Papyrus went back with the princess. Once they were back at the castle, everybody was cheering at Papyrus. After all the cheering they all partied till the end of the night with plenty of food and drinks. The next morning everybody said: “Where is the princess?!” Papyrus said: “No, not again!”

[mwcwriters-blog]

David Bowie by Koen Lamers (2H4)

David Bowie has recently died, but who is he? I am going to give you an answer to that question.

So, to start off: what you probably know is that he is the guy with two different-coloured eyes and red hair with a lightning bolt over his face.

But what did he do exactly? He was one of the most succesful rockstars from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s with great hits like Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust, but that is not the only thing he did. He was a singer-songwriter and an actor. You can see him in a movie about a camp in Japan during the Second World War called Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence playing the part of Maj. Jack ‘Straffer’ Celliers.

So what kind of music did he make exactly? His music is categorised under glamour rock and pop rock and he was absolutely famous and popular. He was a little bit the Justin Bieber of the time. A funny fact is that he claimed he was the first gay, then he likes women and men, and finally he said he was hetero.

If you are now interested in him, feel free to Google him. Space Oddity is a good track, I definitely recommend it.

[mwcwriters-blog]

Film review of Song of the Sea by Suzanne Wondergem (2G1)

The movie I watched most recently is Song of the Sea, an animated Disney movie. I have seen this movie a couple of times before, but it never gets boring. First of all, because the characters are great. Their personalities match their looks amazingly well. I also fell in love with the main character, Saoirse (say: Seersha). Secondly, the movie is a piece of art. I had never seen animation like this before, and I personally adore movies with stunning visuals. Thirdly, the movie is based on an Irish tale, accompanied by Irish music and it contains the mystery most Irish tales/stories have.

So, I do really, really, really like this movie. If someone asked me whether to see it or not, I would definitely tell them to go watch it. Twice. Ten times. Twenty times. You can watch it on both your laptop and a big cinema screen. I don’t know if people that aren’t really into animated and/or fantasy movies will enjoy it. It doesn’t have any action in it, at least, if you don’t count sitting in a bathtub with a jacket you stole from your grandma as action.

The reason I love the characters is probably because of their mystery, yet they all have something everyone recognizes. Their voices also fit very well. I couldn’t choose better voice actors if I had to.   

The clothing style of the characters isn’t really special or something. Although it is still kind of fun to see how their clothes match their personalities so well, but perhaps that’s a usual thing in movies. When Halloween happened in the movie you could see the animators had put some time in decorating every single child with fun costumes. Aisling, a character from ‘the Secret of Kells’ (Another Disney movie Tomm Moore worked on) was there too.

I would like to tell everything about the film because I love it so much, but I think it is easier for everyone to just watch it if you got curious about it! Its running time is 93 minutes, like a lot of Disney films. I think the length is just good.

[mwcwriters-blog]

Film review of Titanic by Gemmy Kuijpers (2G1)

Titanic is a really good film because it is a true story about a boat that sank. The main characters are Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater. Jack is a poor guy who won his way into the trip by a game of poker. Rose is an honoured guest on the boat with her family. They meet each other on the boat and after a while they fall in love but when the boat hits the iceberg and starts to sink it is not certain if they will survive….

I think they have chosen the right actors for this film, and I like the characters. Also, I think it is quite amazing that everything looks so real (so they must have used really good film techniques). There is a good story behind it, too. But after a while I needed a break from the film because it is such a long film. The film lasts 194 minutes!

I would definitely recommend this film and not just because it is a great movie but also because it has great actors/actresses, a nice (true) story and it fits into multiple genres like romance and (historical) drama. I think the film is meant to be for people from 10 years of age, because a lot of people die, so it is not for small children.

[mwcwriters-blog]

Book review of the Silkworm (by Robert Galbraith a.k.a. J.K. Rowling) by Tessa Janssen (4VD)

Imagine, your husband is missing. You hire a detective to find him and then your husband shows up dead. The police thinks that you did it, but you’re innocent. After a couple of days, you find out that he wrote a book which describes his own murder. What would you do?

This is what happens to Leonora Quine in the book the Silkworm. Her husband is gone and nobody knows where he is. It’s up to Cormoran Strike to find him.

I don’t think that a crime as cruel as this one would happen in real life. The murderer had had a lot of trouble before the murder, because it wasn’t just a murder. The killer had been working on this murder for months. Nobody is going to do that. If you live in America, you can just buy a gun and shoot someone. So the crime in this book isn’t very realistic. I think that this book is irrelevant to today’s society.

Nevertheless, I really like the book. The main characters, mainly Strike, are very interesting. Strike is a detective who wants to help people. He’s very smart and he has a lot of tenacity. He had been working on this case for a long time, when he finally found his first real clue. We don’t have many things in common. He’s very good with people, he doesn’t always act like it, but when he’s interrogating someone, he knows exactly what he has to say to make them feel good. He knows what they’re thinking by just looking at their faces. Personally, I’m not very good with people.

He has a good relationship with his assistant Robin, but in the middle of the book their relationship becomes more distant. He was working on an exciting case, while Robin was stuck in the office. She also wanted to get out and search for evidence. After they had had a good talk, Strike explained that her fiancé doesn’t like this job and that he didn’t want to ruin their relationship. Despite his argumentation, they decided that she would help him with his investigation. Their relationship was amazing again after that conversation.

I read this book with a big smile on my face. The characters, the story, the writing style, it was all amazing. I think people will read this book in 100 years. The world will be different, but crime is smoething that’s never going to disappear. So in 100 years, people will still be interested in crime. The way Owen Quine was murdered is really strange, so it stays interesting. It isn’t a ‘normal’ crime where the victim gets shot. That’s going to bore you in time. But this book is different. It will never get boring. Neither now nor in 100 years.

Teacher comment: J.K. Rowling’s third crime novel, Career of Evil, has been out since November 2015. More information on the book series can be found on the Robert Galbraith website, linked here.

[mwcwriters-blog]

Gizmo the Flying Pig by Floris van der Zwart (1H3)

Once upon a time, Gizmo the pig went to a castle and knocked on the giant door of the castle. After a few minutes he knew that nobody was there, so he went to the farm where chicken Quack was. Gizmo asked Quack if he was in the mood for an adventure. Sadly, chicken Quack was not in the mood for that. 

Gizmo walked away sadly, but then out of nowhere a witch popped up and smiled at Gizmo. “So you want to go on an adventure,” said the witch. “Yes, I would love to go on an adventure on the clouds,’ responded Gizmo. “But you know if you fall you will die?” said the witch. “I know,” said Gizmo, “that is why I need wings”. “Okay, I can do that,” said the witch.  “Just stand still and everything will be fine. Stings, stings, stings, give Gizmo wings” and then a big flash blinded Gizmo. Once it was over, Gizmo opened his eyes and he looked left and right. Then he said loudly: “yes thank you witch!” and he flew away into the clouds. 

When he was there he saw pretty colorful rainbows. “This is what I have always wanted to do” said Gizmo happily. But after a few minutes he saw a beautiful unicorn. The unicorn said: “Oh hello there. Who are you?” Gizmo answered: “I am Gizmo the flying pig”. “But you have no wings,” said the unicorn. “But how do I fly then?” asked Gizmo. “I am magical but you are about to fall so.. good luck”. “Oh oh …. aaaaaaah!” screamed Gizmo while falling.

When he almost hit the ground a trampoline appeared and Gizmo fell safely on the trampoline. “Thanks witch for saving my life,” said Gizmo. “Sorry for not telling you that there was a timer on it,” said the witch. “It does not matter I had the best day of my life!” said Gizmo happily.