Movie Review for Water for Elephants

December 18, 2010
By: Laurie Hogemark, Film critic


     Based on the book by Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants opens with the death of Jacob Jankowski's(Pattinson) parents. He is a Student of veterinary sciences at Cornell college, days away from his final exams. After the accident, he does not return back to college, therefore not becoming registered.
     Jacob leaves town, following the rail road tracks.  A train happens to pass Jacob and he decides that with nothing to loose he might as well jump it.  But he soon discovers that it is not just an ordinary train, this was the Benzini Bros. Most Spectacular Show on Earth train.  Jacob gets signed on as the circus's veterinarian and begins to care for the animals.  Then he meets Marlena (Witherspoon), the wife of the abusive owner of the circus.  In a whirlwind of events Jacob and Marlena somehow find love in the most unlikely of circumstances.  Then the circus acquires an elephant named Rosie. August (Waltz), Marlena's husband, becomes even more dangerous than ever when Rosie turned out to be useless, or so they all thought.
     This story, which focuses on the grittier side of the circus in the 1930's, could have been executed much better if the actors who played Jacob and Marlena had possessed a stronger connection on screen.  Overall this film was adequate but will not completely full fill the expectations of those who read Gruen's book

shown below: Jacob (Pattinson) and Marlena (Witherspoon) meet their new companion, Rosie.  Photo curtsy of filmair.com

Diary from Marlena

Dear Diary,
     My feet are killing me!!It is a pain that i can't seem to escape no matter what i try to do!But the pain is no match for the confusion that is infecting my heart ans soul like a deadly virus.  I love Auggie I really do!But he can be so mean and hurtful, sometimes i am frightened for my own safety! Is this what marriage is supposed to be like? I really doubt that.  When he is in a good mood no one can surpass him in charm and wit but those good days are becoming more and more rare. Now that Jacob has come along I feel somehow relieved of my fears.  He makes me feel like I have never felt in my entire life! It is so wrong for me to posses theses feeling because I am a married woman after all! Oh how my heart aches for Jacob! If only we could leave this dang circus and have a fresh start!  I know this can never happen for I have already given myself away to August , but there must be someway for me to get away from him... but until i figure out what to do I will continue pretending that my feet are the only reason for my sorrow.

Running Away to the Circus

Home alone with Brian and Katie
and I'm thinking just maybe
They wont tie me to that chair
 in that room so cold and bare
They giggle and laugh
as they tie the rope around my calf
I'm only 5 years old and
let me tell you this game is getting old
I wish I could run away
so that I wouldn't have to play
This is a boring  game
I need something fun like a lion to tame
I deeply sigh as we start again
hopefully i wont have to play till I'm 10!

My Mr. Tribble

My Mr. Tribble is a godsend. No matter how down on myself I am or how terrible the situation is, my Mr. Tribble always has something encouraging to say when I need it. When everything is going bad I know I can look to Mr. Tribble for advise. My Mr. Tribble often knows what I need to get motivated again, even before I do. It's not always nice things like "you can do it" or "I believe in you". Sometimes all that Mr. Tribble says to me is more blunt, "stop moping around and do something about it" or "pull your head out of your butt, it's not that big of a deal". But the most common is "you're being ridiculous Laurie!" Most of the time this just makes me mad but in the end it gets me out of that downhill spiral. if it wasn't for my Mr. Tribble I would be walking around all sad and downtrodden most of the time.  On those  occasions when words can't even begin to help me out, my Mr. Tribble knows that a simple hug can make all my troubles leave me alone, even if it's only for one short, sweet and silent moment. If actions speak more than words, then my Mr. Tribble's actions are screaming at me!  I can never explain what my Mr Tribble means to me!

Number one place I want to go

There are many places that I want to see while I am alive, but the number one place I want to go cant be accessed from Earth. This  is a place I won't return from once I am there, I cannot visit  or stay for a while.  Going to this place is permanent.  I want to go to heaven. If I am in heaven I know I have done the best job I could possibly have done with the tools God gave me and that I have lived a good and meaningful life.  When I get to heaven I will be granted some of my greatest wishes.  I will hear my Aunt Karen's laugh once more, feel Aunt Cathy's warm embrace, and  see Brandon's crooked smile that I fell in love with. I will be reunited with all of my loved ones again and for this I am patiently awaiting.  Heaven will be a place where I can escape the torment of this world and be truly happy with those I love. But before I go to this magnificent place, I want to see the ancient civilizations in Machu Pichu, Visit the coliseum in Rome, eat fresh lefsa in Norway, and meet the  family in Holland. But until these things and many more are accomplished I will wait for my trip to heaven.

Halloween memory

My oldest memory of Halloween is a great one! I remember we were vaccinating cows all that morning so I ran around the corals with visions of sugary treats dancing in my head. When it was finally time to go put on my costume I couldn't have been more excited!I was a princess fairie that year and my outfit was amazing.  I was to wear a sparkly yellow dress. I. LOVED.SPARKLES. I was so super stoked to get dressed I didn't even wait for the gown up men to leave the room before I started stripping down to my skivies. Along with the dress, I was going to wear a crown and have a magic wand. Both of these items were covered with pretty silver sequins. This was the best costume ever!
I looked across the room to see what my sister was wearing, I just assumed that she would be a witch, again. I was right.  Oh how I felt so bad for her because she couldn't possibly ever look as pretty as I did in my costume when she was doomed to wear that terrible black hat!That very Halloween was the beginning of a lifelong competition of which of us has better clothes, and I'm still winning!

Pitch for group assignment-Shay, Laurie, and Carly

Amos, Hogemark & Rech

PO Box 522

Big Timber, MT  59011

October 10, 2011

Disney Shareholder Services
500 S Buena Vista St MC 9722
Burback, CA  91521-9722

To whom it may concern:

We are students from Sweet Grass County High School that have recently completed the children’s book Skippyjon Jones  by Judy Schachner.  We strongly encourage your company to adapt this book into a film. If this book was created into a film, children would line up to watch it because of the fun characters and interesting plot.

The story line follows Skippyjon Jones,a Siamese cat who believes that he is a Chihuahuas,  as he embarks on an adventure deep in his closet.  This is sure to capture the attention of children and they will fall in love with Skippyjon Jones and the rest of the fun Mexican Chihuahuas.

Another reason as to why this book should be transformed into a film is that parents will love it because of the great moral that it illustrates.  The moral is simply encouraging children to accept themselves for who they really are.  This is something that is an important lesson for all young children to learn.

The third reason to make this film is that it is educational.  The book has some words from the Spanish language inserted and in the 10 page excerpt we have enclosed shows how the Spanish words can be involved in the script.  This involvement of the Spanish language can be the first step in raising bilingual children.  When the children watch this movie they will feel motivated to speak the same language that Skippyjon Jones speaks and will want to incorporate it into their daily lives.  We have also enclosed a story board to give you an idea of what the animations would look like.

We thank you for your time spent reading this letter and we really hope to hear from you in the future about this project.  If you have any questions about anything we have stated or want us to clarify our intentions and opinions further, please contact us.

Sincerely,



Shay Amos, Laurie Hogemark, and Carly Rech
Sweet Grass County High School Students

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