FeatureLocal and Provincial Editorial and Letters Arts and LifestyleNova Scotia Minister of Transportation says the MV Miner will be removed by May.

SEE PAGE 2

Knitting Behind Bars program helps American inmates while breaking down traditional gender lines.

SEE PAGE 4

Cape Bretoners deserve better winter road maintenance.

SEE PAGE 5

American Hustle, Desolation of Smaug, and Time of the Doctor are reviewed in the Arts and Lifestyle section.

SEE PAGE 6 & 7

January 13, 2014Volume 41, Number 8www.capertimes.ca

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Sydney, Nova Scotia

Your community campus newspaper since 1973

FREDERICTON (CUP) — In a conference on Oct. 30, university officials, counsellors, health-care professionals and students met at Mt. St. Vincent University in Halifax to discuss mental health on campuses.

“Mental health has become a real critical issue on univer-sity campuses right across the country and certainly that holds true for our universities in the Atlantic,” said Peter Halpin, executive director of the Asso-ciation of Atlantic Universities.

The conference discussed

ways to reduce the stigma sur-rounding mental illness and new models to help treat students. One of these new models include the Stay Connected Mental Health Project in Halifax, a project that recently expanded to include stu-dents from the city’s universities.

“It’s in its very early days,” said Halpin. “But that’s a pro-gram that our universities are viewing as a potential model for other universities for develop-ment in their home community.”

The project links the com-

munity’s mental health services, like those at local hos to those of the university. It also strat-egizes a way to equip univer-sity staff and students to identify signs of students in distress. This includes possible training certifi-cation for peer support workers.

“Between six to 10 per cent of students report that during the previous year that they had serious thoughts of suicide. About 45 per cent of those don’t tell anybody,” said Rice Fuller, of University of New Brunswick counseling services.

“Of those that do talk to some-body about it, about two thirds

of them will talk to a peer first. So that right there says ‘ok, if they’re talking to a peer first, we need to be educating peers about how to respond to somebody who is having thoughts of suicide.’”

Fuller said Halifax’s “Stay Connected” project would be a big help to students who have received help from another place before coming to university, or vice versa.

“[So if] you have somebody who is getting service at one age and that information would be quite useful to the people treating them at another age, they don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Fuller said.

“I think this is an excel-lent project in terms of trying to make that connection and trying to make that transition better.”

Halpin said partnership and collaboration is important when making conferences such as the one in October successful.

“This past conference we had was about sharing best practices among our universi-ties. Everyone places a high value on that, because we can learn from each other,” he said.

Atlantic universities look to new model in dealing with student mental healthCHERISE LETSONATLANTIC BUREAU CHIEF, CUPWIRE

We’re changing to give you more.It’s 2014. The future is here. That’s why we’re excited to announce that the Caper Times print edition will now be complimented by a

larger, more indepth web publication, starting January 27.

Look for detials in our January 27 issue to access feature articles, interviews, additional photos, and much more!

The Caper Times stands for the progress and development of Cape Breton County, for our island hertiage, and the community values we all hold dear. The Caper Times is dedicated to the service of the people, that no just cause shall go unchampioned, and that wrong shall not thrive unopposed.

Patricia McCannChairperson and Publisher

Mitch MäderEditor-in-Chief@ mitch@capermedia.ca

Frederick BoutilierNews and Sports Editor@ frederick@capermedia.ca

Celine CookeArts and Lifestyle Editor@ celine@capermedia.ca

Allison RedmondFeatures and Social Justice Editor@ allison@capermedia.ca

Holly KennedyAdvertising Director@ holly@capermedia.ca

The Caper Times is a community orientated newspaper and acts to provide a forum for the people of Cape Breton County to debate and celebrate the trials, errors, and successes of their communities. The Caper Times is distributed free county-wide and relies on advertisements for revenue. While the Caper Times possess a highly skilled and dedicated core staff, the Caper Times relies chiefly on contributors from the greater community. The Caper Times welcomes one-time and repeat contributors. Please contact the appropriate editor to contribute content and to access contributor meeting times and locations. The Caper Times is published by Caper Media, a news organisation owned collectively by the students of Cape Breton University and managed on their behalf by a publishing board, with the chair of the board holding the title of publisher. The Caper Times is proudly printed in the unionised print shop of the Cape Breton Post in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The Caper Times welcomes questions, suggestions, comments, or contributions via our contact information below. Our offices are located in the Students’ Union Building of Cape Breton University. The Caper Times has been a full, voting member of the Canadian University Press since June 1, 1979. All employees of the Caper Times are associate members of the CWA Canada journalistic union.

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2 Local and Provincial

ISSN 1929-1140

According to Nova Scotia’s Minister of Transportation and Infra-structure Renewal Geoff MacLellan, the wreck of the MV Miner off the coast of Scatarie Island will be removed by May, regardless of whether the federal government pledges funds or not.

The federal gov-ernment’s position has been that the removal of the wrecked vessel is the responsibility of its owners, but MacLel-lan insists that the wreck is a hazard and that its removal should be

funded by the federal government.

MacLellan also proposed that the federal government look into shipping laws in order to pre-vent potentially hazardous and

costly incidents such as this one from happening in the future.

The Minister has said that a request for proposals (RFP) is being drafted in order to pro-ceed quickly with the removal.

The primary reason for the May deadline is so that the MV Miner does not interfere with the area’s fishing season, and it is hoped that the party winning the bid to remove the Miner will be able to start the project as soon as weather permits.

Estimated costs of remov-ing the Miner range from $3 mil-lion to $25 million, all of which will be funded by taxpayer dollars.

MV Miner will be removed by May says Nova Scotia Minister of TransportationFREDERICK BOUTILIERNEWS EDITOR | PHOTO: CAPER TIMES FILES

Nova Scotia Government predicts $481.7 million deficit

On Thursday, December 19th, the newly-elected Liberal provincial government announced their first budget projection – a $481.7 million shortfall.

The shortfall was said to be due to a num-ber of factors, includ-ing an unfunded pen-sion liability expense of $318 million and lower-than-expected revenue from both income tax and HST, with the lost taxation revenue total-ling over $100 million.

The economic growth rate slowdown most likely explains the loss of HST revenue, with the 0.7 percent

growth rate falling well short of the NDP’s projected 1.3 percent.

This comes as quite a surprise to many, especially after the previ-

ous NDP government had predicted a modest surplus of $18.3 million.

The Liberals, however, had been critical of the NDP budget since August, when they said the predic-tions were unrealistically optimistic.

Premier Stephen McNeil said that he would try to par-tially address the deficit by ask-ing all departments but health and education to find a way to reduce spending by one percent.

This would have a modest

impact on the deficit – according to the 2013-2014 budget signed in April, estimated total departmental spending accounted for $8.8 bil-lion in expenses. Subtracting the departments of health and educa-tion – by far the province’s two

most-funded departments, tak-ing up over 50% of the total bud-get combined – would mean that if all departments successfully cut spending by 1%, the province would save about $33.7 million.

It was confirmed on the same day that the NDP legislation to begin cutting the HST in 1% incre-ments in 2014 would be scrapped, as the Liberal government expected that the loss in revenue caused by a cut would be too much for the budget to reasonably bear.

The law was expected to put through two such tax cuts, each worth about $190 million of the province’s yearly budget. Its repeal is consistent with prom-ises made during the election, as the Liberals said they would only cut the HST if a reason-able budget surplus were reached.

They were the only party not promising an HST cut during the election.

FREDERICK BOUTILIERNEWS EDITORS | PHOTO: PUBLIC DOMAIN

3Canada and World

Massive amnesty signed by Russian government

In a period starting a num-ber of weeks ago, the Russian government have been freeing a number of prisoners due to a combination of presidential par-dons and an amnesty law that was signed by the government.

Notable prisoners freed include members of Pussy Riot, who were detained and charged with hooliganism following an incident in which they played a profanity-laced show calling on the country to get rid of Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin, as well as calling on the Rus-sian Orthodoxy to cease their approval of the government.

Additionally, the 30 Green-peace activists originally detained on charges of piracy following the incident involv-ing the Arctic Sunrise (the “Arctic 30”) were released.

Most unexpected was the pardon of Mikhail Khodor-kovsky, a Russian oil tycoon who had been imprisoned for fraud and tax evasion. His

case had attracted a num-ber of outside supporters who called his imprisonment noth-ing more than a political stunt by the Putin government.

Putin claimed that Khodor-kovsky had written a letter stating that his mother was ill and asking for a pardon, but his attorney claims no such letter was ever written.

Reactions from the inter-national community have been warm, with many countries praising the decision to amnesty these prisoners, but worrying that the intent is not genuine and that Russia’s human rights record will continue to be unsat-isfactory after the end of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.

The Games will begin on February 7th; with a number of international bodies have stated their intention to avoid the event, citing Russia’s poor human rights record includ-ing treatment of political pris-oners and the status of LGBT individuals in the country.

Angela Merkel wins third term as German Chancel-lor

On Tuesday, December 13th, the German parliament voted for Angela Merkel to serve as the country’s Chancellor for her third consecutive term.

Her government for this term is a coalition consist-ing of the Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union, and the Social Democrats.

Merkel won the elec-tion with 462 votes for, 150 against and 9 abstentions.

Amnesty for NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden being discussed

Rick Ledgett, the NSA offi-cial in charge of damage con-trol after Edward Snowden’s massive intelligence leak ear-lier this year, said in an inter-view with CBS that it is pos-sible that Snowden might be offered an amnesty deal.

The deal, he says, would only be made if Snowden could

assure the NSA that all of the so-far unpublished leaked mate-rial would remain unpublished.

This unpublished data allegedly includes informa-tion on how countries might defend themselves against surveillance by US agencies.

According to Snowden, he no longer possesses any information relating to the leaks, having given all of it to journalists, which might make amnesty impossible.

NSA Direction Gen-eral Keith Alexander said he was against any possible amnesty deal with Snowden.

Saudi Arabia pledges to help Lebanon’s military

On Sunday, December 29th, the Saudi Arabian government pledged $3 billion in order to help the Lebanese govern-ment strengthen its military.

The money will be used to purchase modern arma-ments from France, which will be used to combat Hez-bollah and militant extremist

groups active in the country.France is also expected

to help the Lebanese military with military training, essen-tially providing advisers to Lebanon. A French state official said that France would hon-our any requests for assistance.

American Express ordered to refund custom-ers for unreceived ser-vices

Large American credit card issuer American Express was ordered to pay over $75 million on Tuesday, Decem-ber 24th in order to settle claims that it was deceptive in its marketing practices.

As part of the deal, the com-pany will pay almost $60 mil-lion in refunds and restitution to its customers, who it allegedly charged for services not received.

American Express nei-ther confirmed nor denied any wrongdoing, merely restating its continued compliance with federal regulatory agencies.

4 Feature

We have all heard the old expression, “lock them up, and throw away the key”, but in today’s society, this idea cannot simply stand. When an individual is con-victed of a crime, writing them off as no longer worthy of empathy leads to a vicious cycle. A cycle where the prison system fails to help the underlying causes of why someone commits illegal actions, then the released individual faces marginal-ization, and convicts again. When an individual is released from their prison term, they must be able to become incorporated back into society. What they have done to land in jail can affect how people view them, but having the employ-able skills needed for a time after their release and treating underly-ing cause this can help cut down on crime rates from repeat offenders.

This is what one program in Maryland does that wants to help change this. It is called Knitting Behind Bars, a pro-gram that not only helps transi-tion inmates back into life in the outside world but also helps see past traditional gender lines.

Knitting Behind Bars began five years ago with a retired used car saleswoman, Lynn Zwerling, who claims that the persistence she learned selling cars helped make this program possible. For five years, before Knitting Behind Bars took off, guards who told her that men would not want to knit turned her down repeatedly. Zwerling told NPR that “...they want to knit. They just don’t know they want to knit”. Zwerling who was sixty-five when she began the program with Sheila Rovelstad, asked a group of 600 men in the Pre-Release Program at a Maryland, “who wants to knit?”

Through Knitting Behind Bars Zwerling and Rovelstad have taught over a hundred men how to knit. There are still more

men in the Pre-Release Pro-gram waiting to get into the class.

Zwerling said that after her retirement in 2005 she wanted to start a knitting club, which grew to have over 500 individu-als involved. Seeing how peaceful and calming that atmosphere of the club was she wanted to share this with those who might not have this opportunity. While there was resis-tance at first towards a craft that is considered traditionally femi-nine the men eventually “found the zen” as Zwerling calls it. The calming practice of stitch count-ing and repetitive movements that results in the creation of something new, offered a place for inmates to go to find peace of mind and quiet. The men who would be involved would need to be open to the idea that knitting is not just a woman’s craft and can be enjoyed by anyone.

The main concern anyone would have about a knitting pro-gram in a jail, where many are incarcerated for violent crimes, is if they should have access to sharp knitting needles. In our post 9/11 world, knitting needles are even banned from most airlines. While the needles themselves have blunted edges, they can still cause damage with enough force. There is no violence during the knit-ting classes. There are a few rules that Zwerling and Rovelstad ask the men to follow. That there is no profanity, no roughhousing, no nicknames or gang names, and no violent language. These rules are apparently followed to create a calm place for the men to come. Rovels-tad also is charge of all the supplies needed for the program, carefully counts how many needles she dis-tributes and how many are returned to her. The pair state that no one has tried to steal from them before.

What is created by these men is actually pretty remarkable. The

first knitting pattern they learned were for comfort dolls. Zwerling told NPR “They were called com-fort dolls and they were just actu-ally just a rectangle. And then they were sort of sewn together and fidg-eted around and fooled around with and faces were put on them and we called them comfort dolls.” The destinations for these dolls were the arms of little boys and girls who

had been removed from their homes due to domestic violence. The dolls were given to first responders in Baltimore County to use in domes-tic violence cases. This means that the young child who is usually left scared and confused when pulled out of bed in the middle of the night has something to hold and cuddle.

The inmates also made hats for inner-city elementary schools that they attended when they were younger. Children who might not be able to afford hats in winter now have something nice and soft to wear in the chilly months. The hats also go to their own children, who they might not have seen in a long time, creating a connection. Instead of “rotting” in prison after “throw-

ing away the key”, these men are doing charitable, constructive work that allows them to give back to the community in some way. This reminds me of the song “I’ve Got a Dream” from Disney’s Tangled. That not everyone is wholly good or evil but can have redeeming qualities and actions if given the

chance to reform instead of being branded with an inescapable label.

This program acts like a group therapy session for the inmates and helps to transition them back into society with a new skill. While knitting is a skill that is not usually thought of as employable there are jails that are now starting programs where inmates can learn skills to help them get back into the work-force and begin contributing to society again. A prison in Chesa-peake, VA teaches their inmates how to become mechanics. Gordon Ramsey had a show called “Gor-don Ramsey: Behind Bars” set in a Brixton prison in the UK where he taught a group of inmates how to cook, bake, and run a business. While the show only ran one sea-son and never made its way across the pond the Cafes that bought the sweets from prison during filming of the show still place orders with the prison bakery. Those in jail can be taught employable skills that not only help after their incarcera-tion but during to help pay for the expenses of the inmates upkeep. In Ramsey’s show, the profits from the prison bakery went directly into the prison to pay for food and upkeep.

We distance ourselves from the offender by counting on the violence and atmosphere inside the jail to account for part of the punishment, like when society awaits the assault of a convicted sex offender within the jail. We lose empathy for them and we tell those in jail already that they are a form of punishment to others. We dehumanize convicts, and then they cannot be reintroduced into a culture outside of the jail setting. By providing a means of adaption that might not been available to the individual outside of the jail set-ting we help make it possible for them to support themselves without turning back to crime – we offer them a chance at rehabilitation.

Knitting Behind Bars

ALLISON REDMONDFEATURES EDITOR | PHOTO: PUBLIC DOMAIN

Program helps transition American inmates back into society while breaking gender lines

5Editorial and Letters

Over the holidays I found myself in particular delight with all of the food choices that were cir-cling about! With most of my time

spent outside of Sydney, however, I was determined to exercise my ability to visit some place fresh and new. My penchant for breakfast

and my visit to the country found me at Missy’s Diner in Albert Bridge. It is a small add-on res-taurant to an XTR gas station on the Louisbourg Highway. It was a hopping joint upon my entrance, with the dull roar of conversation filling the area. Happy customers were seated comfortably with a view of the Mira that was akin to

what you’d find in resorts. I chose a bar seat at the counter and within minutes I had my order taken and my coffee cup filled. For five dollars I was able to order a full breakfast, with coffee and refills included. I had to look at the menu twice to make sure. I looked at my travel companion and exclaimed in excitement at the prospect of such

a cheap breakfast. My hopes were met with satisfaction as the break-fast that was given to me did not fail to impress, eggs, bacon, home fries, and toast. Pretty standard yes, but sometimes it’s the simple things in life that one has to take pride in. It is also difficult to mess up. However, a little birdie told me that their hot turkey sandwiches were excellent as well. As I am not one to leave good food reputations just on hearsay, this is one place I know I will be back to try again!

Knitting Behind Bars Cape Bretoners deserve better winter

road maintenanceProgram helps transition American inmates back into society while breaking gender lines

visits Missy’s Diner at Mira FerryHOLLY KENNEDYCAPER TIMES FOOD COLUMNIST

It is very unfortunate that the roads in much of Cape Breton County are in such poor condition. Both the provincial road clearing operations, serving the rural areas of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, and the municipal road clearing opera-tions, serving the urban areas of the municipality, are failing to keep the roads in a safe condition. Sidewalks are nowhere to be found in much of the municipality, despite the fact that they are usually cleared in order to allow pedestrians to safely walk alongside roadways (as opposed to in the roadways as is happening now).

On a personal note, the road I live on, located only 10 kilometres from Sydney and home to a number of people, is usually ploughed within a few hours of snowfall. During one storm over the holidays, the road was left nearly impassible for over a day, creating a dangerous situation

for people needing to use the road, especially given the fact no car could stop at the top of it because it would get stuck. This left one option: drive straight into a major roadway, hop-ing there is nothing coming. I have heard similar tales such as this from various parts of the municipality, and have experiences firsthand the despi-cable road conditions in Sydney.

The road conditions are unacceptable. Budgets may be tight, but road clearance is not optional—it is a requirement. Someone is going to get killed on the roads in their current state, and when it happens, blood will be on the hands of those who failed to keep our roadways in a safe and passable state. Cape Bretoners pay high taxes on purchases, fuel, and property. They deserve much better winter road maintenance, amongst an assortment of other things.

The Visual

6 Arts and Lifestyle

As an adaptation of one of the most famous series of book of all times The Lord of the Rings trilogy is considered to be one of the great-est fantasy movies and book to film adaptions of all time. It was then decided to make the books’ stand-alone prequel, The Hobbit, into a trilogy. This caused a much cooler reception to The Hobbit: An Unex-pected Journey, with Tolkenites crying foul. Does this installment have enough to reheat the forge?

After the events of the Hob-bit: An Unexpected Journey our band of adventurers continue their journey to the Lonely Mountain with very little time left and still being pursued by the white orc. They are then taken in by the last shape changer who gives them sup-plies for their trip. As they travel through the Mirkwood, Gandalf find an omen witch and leave the group to investigate. With only a few days left the group must travel quickly to find the hidden door and obtain the Arkenstone.

While the movie does stray from the book narrative, it does a fairly good job of getting the story across, pulling most of the added

fiction from the Silmarillion, the extended fiction of Middle Earth. However this may still annoy some Tolkienites who want a pure origi-nal story. They did change some of the characters genders which does work well … mostly. Within the story of The Hobbit there are not many female characters, so in response to this they changed the gender of a few characters. This does not affect the plot in any major way… except for the addi-tion of pointless romantic subplots that don’t really survive the story and somewhat negate the point of having a strong female character.

As in the first film the cinema-tography and set are amazing. The gorgeous landscapes of New Zea-land served perfectly as the back-drop of a fantasy adventure and add an incredible amount to the film. The indoor sets have won-derful details to them with exqui-site care shown. The larger sets do give an impressive feeling of space to them. The CGI in the film is a mixed bag. The namesake Smaug looks amazing but some smaller pieces, like the bees, definitely need more time put into them. Any

scene where there is a large num-ber of orcs did look a little jumbled as well. The cinematography of the film is really good, except for three shots. During an escape scene there are three shots that are obviously from a GoPro camera. This does distract, with obvious switches between cameras for shots that could easily be cut from the movie as they serve no purpose, other than that the shots look amazing.

The acting in the film is very excellent. Benedict Cumberbatch does an excellent job voicing the dragon Smaug. He does a very menacing portrayal of the character and gives him the proper gravitas to the role. Ian McKellen does an amazing job as always, returning to play Gandalf the Grey. He may be even stronger in this film than the past Lord of the Rings films. Marten Freeman does a good job portraying Bilbo and does well with what he is given in the script. The dwarves do a good job and are more desirable then the first film where they felt very bland. Except for Thorin, the group felt to be just one blob that acted as one charac-ter. Orlando Bloom does a good job as Legolas again in this film but his character may slip due to the writ-

ing. Evangeline Lilly does a very good job as the gender swapped caption of the guard, Tauriel.

This version of The Hobbit is definitely not living up to its prede-cessor. The Lord of the Rings tril-ogy stuck very closely to the book, only removing what they needed to to keep a reasonable time, which was fixed by adding in scenes in the home release. In the case of The Hobbit they added instead of removed to get enough length to make it a trilogy. This betrays the story much more than remov-ing what is not as important or needed to have a full story. If they have made it into two movies there would have been plenty of material to work with without adding more in to the story. It would have given a better flow between the movies as well. It is fine not to have a tril-ogy but it appears that they did not believe so. Most of the stuff added is from the Silmarillion, which is good for the fiction, but it does also feel somewhat disjointed. Yes, the white orc is in the fiction of Mid-dle Earth but he does not stalk the dwarves. This will be bothersome if they are going to make the rumored Silmarillion movies and can dam-age the continuity of the series.

They change major events in the movie which hinders the charac-ter development of Bilbo; making Bilbo more violent than he was in the book just to add in some action scenes. Then, most characters are more violent to make it more of an action movie versus the straight up adventure of the book. They make it more accessible at the cost of the story with its predecessor.

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug is not the perfect retelling that most people were hoping for, instead falling very short of it. If it was possible for them to cut them down in to smaller films it would survive them much better. If you like the Lord of the Rings series and are not a Tolkinite you may like it. The hard core will be very unhappy and should stay away unless you are very curious. This film does try but falls down a lot on the way; if you want to see it I would wait for the DVD/BluRay.

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug: review

As films go American Hustle is one amazing tale. It has already been nominated for many awards and rightly so. Expertly crafted, this film is amazing and knows exactly how to tell it. With all the big action movies I have seen this year, it’s good to have a smart and tense movie that will leave you guess-ing for the majority of the film.

Irving Rosenfeld is a clas-sic American con artist stuck in a marriage with a woman he does not like but too scared to divorce for fear of losing custody of his adopted son. While at a party, he meets Sydney Prosser who he falls for and becomes partners with in both love and crime. They are successful for a long time until a FBI agent Richie DiMaso catches Sydney in the act and detains her. Forced to make a deal Irving agrees to help Richie catch four other cons in exchange for their free-dom. But as the sting grows, Irving starts to grow nervous. It starts to include politicians and the mafia.

The story of the film is beau-tifully written and does not take it

American Hustle: reviewCALLUM COOKE

In November, fans of the long-running British Sci-Fi series ‘Doctor Who’ were treated to an anniversary episode celebrating 50 years of time travel, extra-ter-restrials and a very special mad-man in a blue box. Reaching more than 12 million viewers world-wide and receiving outstanding critical acclaim, the tables were set to bid adieu to Matt Smith and introduce the newest actor to play the Time Lord; Peter Capaldi.

Come Christmas day, the final part of a trilogy of episodes acting as the Eleventh Doctor’s swansong arrives in order to wrap up Matt Smith’s wonderful run as the Doctor.

After seeing a glimpse of the new-est Doctor, fans were excited and wanted to know how BBC would introduce Capaldi. Did ‘The Time of the Doctor’ reach the same epic heights as the 50th Anniversary spe-cial? Not quite. Was it a satisfactory end to a legendary run? Certainly.

The episode starts off with the Doctor running around in space trying to identify a new planet with the still living head of a decapitated Cyberman, which the Doctor has named ‘Handles’. The interaction between the two was rather witty, and they had a great comedic con-trast between each other. It was like watching a conversation between

the right side of the brain and the left. The Doctor’s companion Clara

Oswald then invites the Doctor to Christmas dinner with her family, to which he shows up naked, as he was only wearing a holographic suit that only Clara could see. It was very awkward, and while it was funny, it felt a bit too absent-minded, even for the Doctor. For somebody who always praises the good of humanity, you’d think he’d remember that nudity is frowned upon at most social gatherings. Per-haps that’s just nitpicking though, since it’s only a small scene.

The two soon embark on a journey to learn about the planet, which Handles has identified as Gallifrey: home of the Time Lords.

The Doctor goes down the planet, thanks to the space church known as the Papal Mainframe, which they must attend in the nude. After a run in with the Silence, they are brought down to the planet.

When they land, they are ambushed by Weeping Angels. This is one of the biggest faults of this special; they tried to involve as many of the Doctor’s foes as they could into this, which made each one feel less powerful than they really were. It made the epi-sode feel cluttered, as if they were trying to fit too much con-tent into an hour-long episode.

They make it to the town of Christmas, which has a lie-proof ‘truth field’ around it, and learn

the planet’s true name: Trenza-lore, the planet that will mark his grave. After discovering a crack in time that leads to the true Gallifrey where the Time Lords are sealed, the Doctor tricks Clara into activat-ing the TARDIS, which sends her back to her family. Just as the TAR-DIS is about to disappear, Clara clings to it, and reunites with the Doctor, who has aged 300 years.

We learn that the Doctor has been protecting the town of Christ-mas the whole time, and all of his previous foes were there in order to find the answer to the first ques-tion, ‘Doctor Who?’ If his name is spoken, the Time Lords will return and the Time War will start yet

Time Of The Doctor: reviewKYLE MACNEIL

CON’T. ON PAGE 7

7Arts and Lifestyle

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug: review

As films go American Hustle is one amazing tale. It has already been nominated for many awards and rightly so. Expertly crafted, this film is amazing and knows exactly how to tell it. With all the big action movies I have seen this year, it’s good to have a smart and tense movie that will leave you guess-ing for the majority of the film.

Irving Rosenfeld is a clas-sic American con artist stuck in a marriage with a woman he does not like but too scared to divorce for fear of losing custody of his adopted son. While at a party, he meets Sydney Prosser who he falls for and becomes partners with in both love and crime. They are successful for a long time until a FBI agent Richie DiMaso catches Sydney in the act and detains her. Forced to make a deal Irving agrees to help Richie catch four other cons in exchange for their free-dom. But as the sting grows, Irving starts to grow nervous. It starts to include politicians and the mafia.

The story of the film is beau-tifully written and does not take it

easy on its audience. The twists and turns of the film are perfectly paced leaving you with questions just long enough before the genius answers are revealed. Part of why this movie is so good is the fact that it is very clear that any character would lie to get ahead in life and hides their true loyalties close to their chest. It also shows some wonder-ful transformation of Irving in the film and the overarching ruination of Richie at the same time. With every character being a wild card it keeps you guessing over and over again. The story is very fast paced as well, building up to an amazing crescendo in the climax that shows how smart the characters truly are.

The movie is expertly shot, with crisp and clean shots. There are a few very brutal zooms used at the perfect time to accent the danger of the situation that the characters find themselves in. The camera shots always help the scene and at times to tell the story. The set design is also top notch, with all the varying sets tying together to give the very seventies feel. The

classy, swanky party feels perfect to the time period and also helps in keeping the immersion perfect.

Bradley Cooper as Richie DiMaso does a wonderful job, play-ing a sad lowly man and agent who had great expectations and a great lust for power and fame. Louis CK playing his boss does a very good job adding some levity when need at some dark moments in the film. Jeremy Renner does a wonderful job as mayor Carmine Polito show-ing how he just did what he could to help people even if the means were questionable. Amy Adams does an amazing job as Sydney Prosser. She is a genus character and shows up pretty much everyone else with her ability to stay with a con and manipulator. She is also very strong for a character in the film with off-set the manic nature of Irving’s wife Rosalyn. Irving himself is excellent. Christian Bale acts his heart out in this role and pulls it off perfectly. Showing his elevation throughout the film, and as careful as a con would need to be. He also does a perfect job showing how much Irving cares for his son in a short time and how he really does

care for Sydney. He also shows how conflicted he is during the film, how he is worried that he will ruin a good man with the best of inten-tions for someone else’s gain. It also gives him good reason for becom-ing a con man and shows his regret on having to lead this life at points and truly acts distressed when he hits the lowest part of his life.

This movie is one of the best stories of greed to be shot in the last few years. While in the last few years studios have tried to use bankers or stock traders as sym-bols of greed this movie takes a con man, a classic symbol of greed above all else, to show that they have their limits. The FBI on the other hand, shows that they will look to gain as much as they can no matter who it may hurt. Irving and Sydney only want to be happy and didn’t con any people they consider “good”. The people they took advantage of were the horrible people at the bottom of the barrel. When Irving is taking down some-one good, he hates the idea of it and tries to save him as much as he can. The people who are normal and considered good are ready and will-

ing to sail a man with good inten-tions down the river for their gain.

The film does have some very dark comedy with really helps play into the film’s feel. Whether it is the fishing story from Louis CK’s character which is an amazing run-ning gag throughout the film or a simple scene of Rosalyn deifying Irving and using the “science oven” however she feels. This adds some very dark levity to the film. It is put in to the film in such a way that it feels completely natural and never once feels shoved in because some-one thought it would be a good gag.

This is probably the best film I have seen this year. It may even be a new classic film for the ages. It deserves all the praise that it is getting from audiences and critics alike. This will be likely winning a few awards from its many nomina-tions. I would suggest this film for any one mature enough to watch it. It should not be shown to younger children for the themes involved but anyone older would enjoy this film. If you have to see a movie this month I would say your first choice should be American Hustle.

American Hustle: reviewCALLUM COOKE

again. The Doctor is unable to leave without his foes destroying Trenzalore. Watching the town

defend itself was pretty fun, though it would probably make more sense if it were just the Daleks, since they were the ones who truly needed the Doctor dead in order to prevent a second Time War, whereas every-body else just wanted him dead.

The Doctor knows that all of his regeneration energy is gone, and is standing his ground; keep-ing the oldest secret until the day he dies. He travels to the Church, now known as the Church of the Silence, which has been infiltrated by Daleks, and Tasha, friend of the Doctor, has also became a Dalek puppet. After saving her, the Doctor promises Clara he’ll never abandon her again, only to do so immediately

afterwards. I really thought Clara would have been smart enough not to fall for the same trick again, since she seems like a clever girl, and she technically knows the Doctor better than any companion so far.

Tasha then takes the TARDIS to Clara, and brought her back to Trenzalore, where more time has passed. The Doctor is incredibly old, and at the end of his life, so Clara is there to make sure he doesn’t die alone. The make up and effects used to make Matt Smith look so old is just fantastic. He genuinely looked like an older version of himself.

Meanwhile, the Daleks were the only enemies to not give up pursuing the doctor, and are ready for a final attack. The Doctor stands out to face them, prepared to die, when Clara prays to the Time Lords to help the Doctor. This was a bit

confusing, since it felt like they were struggling to find a way to make Clara useful. She just hap-pened to wish that the doctor was better and suddenly the Time Lords decide to help. They had centu-ries to help him out, but suddenly when Clara asks they just decide to help! Anyway, they send him their regenerative energy, and he uses it to take out the Daleks ship.

The scene itself was absolutely the highlight of the episode. The Doctor looked defeated, and the look on his face when he got the regeneration energy was priceless. His face suddenly went from tired old man to rebellious teenager and it was enchanting. The following destruction was pure eye-candy and a fantastic way to send off Matt Smith, and watching him dressed like an old man dancing around

in front of a Dalek army was one of the best feel-good moments in the history of Doctor Who.

Clara returns to the TARDIS in the middle of the destroyed town, where she finds the Doctor look-ing as young as before. Preparing for the actual regeneration itself. While reminiscing about all that he has done, the Doctor hallucinates and sees Amy Pond, ‘the first face this face saw’ as he explained to Clara, and Amy gets to say a final good-bye as he regenerates into the Twelfth. The whole scene was beautiful, and was the kick-off that the Eleventh deserved. It was sad, and it felt like you were actually saying good-bye to an old friend. The only thing that could have been handled better was how suddenly the final regeneration happened. We didn’t get to see any special

effects showing Matt Smith’s face transform into Peter Capaldi, which wouldn’t be too much of a problem if they hadn’t just thrown us straight back into the action. Suddenly the TARDIS is crashing somehow, and the Doctor forgot how to fly it.

That’s not to say Capaldi didn’t do a great job for the small amount of time he was shown onscreen, or that he didn’t make us look for-ward to more, it’s just that it felt like it was being pushed ahead a bit too quickly. In fact, Capaldi was very intriguing and was very fun to just watch and listen to, despite talking a bit too fast to catch everything he said the first time you hear it. Altogether, this was a decent Christmas special that suffered slightly from not enough time to tell the best story it could.

CON’T. FROM PAGE 6

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