by Charissa Ricker | Nov 10, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
The holiday season is full of fun, food and for most American families, drama. “Almost Christmas” tells the story of the Meyers family as they gather for Christmas in Alabama for the first time since the death of their matriarch. The two-hour film stars Danny Glover (“Lethal Weapon”), Gabrielle Union (“10 Things I Hate About You”), Jesse T. Usher (“Independence Day”) and several other top-billed cast members who make the movie a highly-anticipated film. The first few scenes show the montage backstory of Walter (Glover) and Grace as they grow old together raising their four kids and three grandchildren. As time goes on, the opening tastefully shows the sudden death of Grace 10 months before Christmas. Despite the family’s great loss, Walter tires to honor his wife’s legacy by visiting the town’s homeless shelter, where Grace spent most of her time, and he helps serve the single mothers and their children. He attempts also to recreate his wife’s famous recipes, especially her signature sweet potato pie, as the family starts arriving for the holidays. First to arrive is Grace’s sister, Aunt May (Mo’Nique) with her colorful personality. Soon after, Walter’s son Christian (Romany Malco), his wife Sonya (Nicole Ari Parker) and their son and daughter arrive. Though eager to spend time with family, Christian is pulled away throughout the movie due to his progressing Congress campaign that may jeopardize the town shelter that his mother loved. Walter’s two daughters, Cheryl (Kimberly Elise) and Rachel (Union), arrive next, bringing their long-lived sisterly feud making the following scenes amusingly awkward. Rachel, a strong-willed, single mother, and her quick-witted daughter show up ready for family time amidst...
by Charissa Ricker | Nov 5, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
The College of Entertainment and the Arts hosted the annual event, “Artist Talk,” with actor Jason Matthew Smith on Wednesday night in Shamblin Theater. Smith started his Hollywood career in the movie Airborne released in 1993. Since then he has worked in several popular shows including ER, Bones, CSI and Sons of Anarchy. He also worked with Harrison Ford in Hollywood Homicide released in 2003. Smith is best known for his role as “Cupcake” in the Star Trek reboot directed by J.J. Abrams. The Midwest-football-star-turned-actor shared his journey in the entertainment industry and gave advice to students pursuing careers in acting, directing, writing and animation. Though he originally started his acting career to impress a girl, Smith’s first play, The Wizard of Oz, turned into a serious profession. “I couldn’t decide on what I wanted to do, so I did everything,” Smith said. “That’s why I became an actor.” Smith detailed his experience moving across the country to pursue acting, and how much of a culture shock it was living in a place so different from home. “When I got to Los Angeles, I was freaked out,” Smith remembered. “It is like the biggest market you can ever imagine. It it overwhelming for someone from the Midwest.” With 17 years of Hollywood acting under his belt, Smith did not hesitate to stress the difficulties in the industry and the low points that come with the profession. “You think that you’re unique, but you walk into a room out in Los Angeles for a role that is being cast, and you’re going to see people who look just like you, and it’s really weird.”...
by Charissa Ricker | Oct 30, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb Men’s Soccer (9-5-2, 3-2-1) tied with ASUN opponent No. 20 Florida Gulf Coast (12-3-2, 4-1-1) 1-1 Saturday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex in the final regular season game. The team also celebrated senior night honoring six senior student-athletes: Troy Barr, Micah Bledsoe, Josue Chavez, Shpend Rexhepi, Daniel Vieira and team manager Jared Hensley. These seniors have lead the team to 43 victories over their time, an ASUN Regular Season Championship and three ASUN Academic Championships. “I am so proud of this group of seniors,” head coach Charles Morrow said. “These young men have fought through adversity and demonstrated their commitment to this program. Witnessing their personal growth over their time here is what truly makes them men of character.” Senior Goalie Bledsoe broke his thumb during warm-ups and was not able to start as scheduled. Sophomore Chris Zappia started in place of Bledsoe and had seven saves during the game. “Chris Zappia stepped up and had a great game, and the seniors play today was outstanding,” Morrow noted. The team came out aggressively and played strong offense for the majority of the game, with 16 shots on the goal. After a corner kick, FGCU scored the first goal with five minutes left in the first half, leaving the score at half-time 0-1. The Bisons came out in the second half pushing offense. Within the first sevent minutes, defender Joe Kerridge scored a 30 yard goal tying the game. During the second half, the Bisons held the nation’s best offensive attackers to no shots but couldn’t pull ahead in double-overtime. “I think our pressure was outstanding tonight,” Morrow...
by Charissa Ricker | Oct 8, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s soccer (9-4-1, 3-1) lost to the Stetson Hatters (6-4-2, 3-0) with a score of 2-0 on Friday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The team returned home after a three conference game winning streak at Kennesaw State, Jacksonville, and North Florida. The game started slow with an early goal from Stetson in the first five minutes. However, the game quickly switched to a defensive fight between the Bisons and the Hatters. “For most of the game I thought we played well,” head coach Shannon O’Brien said. “We dictated the tempo.” Lipscomb defense continued to fight throughout the first half with three goal saves by goalkeeper Anna Buhigas, but switched to strong offense in the second half. “We created a lot of good chances, we just couldn’t score,” O’Brien said. “Which in the end is the hardest part of the game.” The game was full of near misses for the Bisons, with ten shots in the first half and twelve shots in the second half, outshooting Stetson by double. “The last ten minutes we gambled we pulled a center back and threw her forward, and they got that second goal,” O’Brien said. “It’s a risk/reward thing; if it works out and you get a goal with an extra forward, great but if it doesn’t, well that’s what happened.” As the game neared its’ end, the Bisons started to lose the control over the ball which lead to a chaotic finish to the tough game. With seven minutes left in the second half Stetson drove the ball from center field into the net scoring the second goal of...
by Charissa Ricker | Oct 6, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Every Thursday night at 10 p.m. Lipscomb students have the opportunity to gather in the on-campus Starbucks for Coffeehouse, an SGA sponsored night of free, live music. “Coffeehaus serves to entertain and bring people together as a Lipscomb community,” sophomore and Coffeehaus host Nordista Freeze said. “It’s the only thing on campus that happens in Starbucks. SGA handed it over to me last year because I was super inquiring about how I could become a part of this, because I know most of the bands on campus and music is my passion.” Coffeehaus aims to showcase student talent in a laid back environment. While occasionally dominated by contemporary music majors, Freeze said the line-up welcomes students from any major. “It’s actually very intentionally not exclusive to contemporary music majors,” he said. “We are trying to allow students who don’t have much experience or don’t have other outlets to share their music. “For students who want this to be their profession, this is the first step to get the ball rolling. When they’re on stage it’s their thing; covers, originals, they get to run it themselves.” Coffeehaus provides an opportunity for aspiring musicians to get a taste of what it’s like performing live. Not only does the audience enjoy listening to their classmates, the artists feed off of the audience to provide the best performance possible. Freeze said he wants Coffeehaus to become a vibrant part of campus life. Although currently booked through the end of this semester, Freeze said he is already searching for talent to sign up for the spring. “College is so much more than academics; it’s about shaping your...
