The Hap
November, 2023 1st Edition
In This Issue:
Introduction
Artist of the Month: Gustav Klimt
Aztec Restaurant Review
Halloween & Halloween II Movie Review
Introduction to the Hap
Introduction
Hi everyone, and welcome back to The Hap! We’re a student-run and student-written newspaper whose goal is to share stories that students are passionate about writing. In our first issue of the 2023-2024 school year, we have articles about everything from arroz to art, and we hope you all enjoy reading this month’s issue of The Hap.
Also, if anyone else is interested in joining the newspaper, The Hap meets Thursdays in E209!
Artist of the Month
Artist of the Month: Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian artist, born in 1862 in Vienna, Austria. He lived until 1918 when he died from pneumonia. His father was a gold engraver, and until his passing, Klimt did not create his own art style.
Klimt went through many periods of different styles during his career. At the beginning, he was mainly focused on architectural painting, which can be identified through his pieces like “Church in Cassone.” As his career progressed, he shifted into “academic style murals,” which is an accurate representation of life realist style that is usually represented in sculptures or paintings, and in Klimt's case, murals.
While you may not have heard of Gustav Klimt, you have probably seen his most iconic work, The Kiss. The Kiss is thought to be a recreation of one of his alleged lovers, Adele Bloch-Bauer. She has been featured in many of his paintings, giving the impression that this piece could be an artistic depiction of their romance. An interesting fact about this work is that Klimt uses the gold gowns the subjects are wearing to display their individuality in a gender-focused sense: squares and rectangles for masculine, circles and wavy lines for feminine. Some other pieces by Klimt that showcase this same style are “Hope II” and “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.”
If you are interested in seeing some of Klimt’s work in person, you can find some of his pieces on display in the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA) or the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY) as well as the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY). To see his most famous works, however, a visit to Vienna is necessary. The Kiss is on display at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, and some of his other works reside in the Leopold Museum (Vienna, Austria). Of course, his art is featured in many more museums, but these are some good places to start.
The Aztec Restaurant Review
The Aztec
Service: 5/5
The service was very good. Our server, a woman in her early 20s, was very kind and patient. She seated us as soon as we walked in, and our food and drinks were out very quickly. The server was also incredibly flexible when we needed to exchange cash in order to pay for the meal. She was overall a very sweet woman, and made the dining experience very enjoyable.
Food: 5/5
Emma: For an appetizer, we split nachos as a table. But for my entrée, I got the soft tacos with chicken. It came with three soft-shell tacos with chicken, rice, and refried beans. All of it was very good, as every part of the dish mixed well with the next. It was also a very large portion, and I brought half of it home in a takeout box. I would definitely order this again and recommend it.
Sonia: The nachos we got as an appetizer were so good—the cheese was perfectly melty and the chips were satisfyingly crunchy. For the main course, I got the beef enchiladas, which were amazing. My meal came with rice, refried beans, guacamole, and some lettuce on the side, as well. Everything tasted great separately, and just as great when put together. It was so good and I would also recommend this dish.
Space: 5/5
While it was a small place, the restaurant was very pretty and colorful. Like many restaurants we’ve reviewed in the past, the owners took a place that was small in size and made it into a comfortable and homey space. The outside dining area was also on theme, but we didn’t eat out there because it was too cold. However, that area was also packed with colorful picnic tables and bright umbrellas. The entire vibe was warm and welcoming while still maintaining a bright, eclectic feel.
Cost: 5/5
The cost was very reasonable. The nachos were $12, the chicken soft tacos $16, and the enchiladas $16 as well. For the quantity and quality of taste the dishes had, we were very happy with the end cost.
Overall Rating: 5/5
Link to The Aztec Restaurant Website: https://www.theaztecrestaurant.com
Horror Movie Review
Lila Wolf-Wagner, Class of 2024
Halloween & Halloween II Movie Review
Halloween is an iconic slasher film. One of the first of its kind, it set the tone for the rest of the genre going into the 1980s. Michael Myers is an immediately recognizable character — his original mask, stifling silence, and imposing figure have proven hard to replicate, even in the sequels. The movie’s status as, according to some, the very first slasher horror, on par with Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, both of which had their own equally impressive series (if we’re looking at number of movies). Halloween came out on October 25, 1978. The opening scene itself is memorable: a first-person POV shot tracks two teenagers inside a suburban house in Haddonfield, Illinois, waiting until the girl is alone to attack her in her bedroom and ultimately kill her. The killer then makes their way back outside, where it’s revealed to be a six-year-old boy, blank-faced and holding a bloody knife. The girl was none other than Judith Myers, killed by her younger brother, Michael Myers. Twenty-five years later, the infamous Michael, prodigal son of Haddonfield, escapes from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he had been detained. His psychiatrist, a secondary protagonist of the film, Dr. Samuel Loomis, has come to realize there is nothing in him but pure evil. He even goes so far as to say that Michael has “the blackest of eyes — the devil’s eyes.” He is clearly set up to be an irredeemable villain; there is no hope to be had for an appeal to his humanity. The brutality and apathy with which he delivers his killing blows only solidifies this.
The sequel tries its best to live up to the incredible standard set by John Carpenter, a man who would go on to direct many more classic horror films, such as The Thing, The Fog, and They Live. Unsurprisingly, though, it falls short. Picking up directly after the events of Halloween, Laurie Strode is checked into a hospital while the police search for Michael. Despite the interesting premise, the story is lackluster at worst and confusing at best. Laurie Strode is woefully underused in a movie that is supposed to be about her, and the twist at the end adds next to nothing to the plot. I do have to give it kudos for its impressive use of the hospital setting, as well the continuation of Michael’s reign as a slow-moving but unbeatable hunter. However, the good points of the film do nothing to offset the strangely paced story and the lack of the final girl.
If you had to pick, I would highly recommend Halloween — the original. As usual, with the exception of a very small number of movies, the original greatly outranks the sequel in terms of story, pacing, characterization, and even plain scariness. The kills in Halloween II always seemed a little silly to me, while the original’s are menacing and add to the tension of the scene. It’s a good rule of thumb to start with the original and let it sit, so that if you watch any sequels (such as any of the twelve —twelve! — Halloween sequels) they don’t color your impression of the first. Don’t let this dictate what you watch, though. Watch these first two, especially if you love classic horror. They both hold up pretty well to the test of time and even if you don’t think so, they’re still pretty entertaining.
The Hap Staff
Sonia Fanous, Editor, class of 2026
Lila Wolf-Wagner, Layout Editor, class of 2024
Staff: Anya Connell '25, Sasha Tsizer '25
Susan Corcoran, publisher, advisor
Questions? Feedback? Email scorcoran@framingham.k12.ma.us
Interested in joining? We meet in room E209, 2:00 - 2:30 p.m. on Thursdays.
