Z to A Reviews

Z TO A REVEIWS

Photographed by: AnthonyMedina

Winning another match, Ryan Kikpatric and the West High tennis team as a whole wins again against Waterloo West with the final score of 9- 0.

PHOTO FEATURE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

P 4-5

A Taste of Iowa

By Zein Abu-Hijleh A Taste of Iowa: An indepth guide about how to create the traditional Iowa Ham Balls recipe.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Review

P 6-7

By Anthony Medina The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: A movie reveiw done by Anthony Medina and his experience with the Nicolas Cage movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Hi there!

This is the first print edition of Z-A Reviews. This publication was created by Zein Abu-Hijleh and Anthony Medina hence Z-A. Zein is a sophomore and Anthony is a freshman.

A Taste of Iowa

WRITTEN BY ZEIN ABU-HIJLEH DESIGN BY ZEIN ABU-HIJLEH

04

ENTERTAINMENT MAY 26, 2022

PHOTOS BY ZEIN ABU-HIJLEH

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oo many people today rely on fast food and packaged food products. This is due to affordability, time, and just overall convenience, and as a result, many people miss out on the art of cooking. Growing up, one of my favorite activities was to stand alongside my parents and help them cook. The sizzle and aroma from the food on the stove was so mesmerizing. Because my parents allowed me to help, I learned a lot about food, and gained an interest in cooking. Cooking is an extremely useful life skill that everyone should know how to do. You don’t have to be an expert, but I believe everyone should be able to cook at least a few recipes, and hopefully today I can add another to that list.

The Iowa ham balls recipe is my favorite, since it is one of my grandma’s. For me the ham balls bring back memories of Christmas and Easter at my grandparents house in small town Iowa.

There was such a limited supply due to our large family size, so everyone would fight to get extras. The recipe is actually quite easy, but you have to be willing to get your hands messy. One quick trip to the supermarket should be able to supply you with all the ingredients you need.

Keep in mind that this is a very large recipe, and will take a lot of time to cook.

If you would like, you can drizzle some more of the sauce over the ham balls once they have been baked.

then form into balls. The balls should be a bit larger than a golf ball.

If made right, the ham balls will be the perfect mixture of savory from the ham, and sweet from the brown sugar. If you want the complete authentic experience the Iowa dish has to offer: mashed potatoes, green beans, and brown sugar bacon baked beans are all great, easy to make sides to accompany the dish.

Next make the sauce:

Ingredients

1lb smoked ham 1lb pork 1lb ground beef 2 eggs 1 cup milk 2 cups cracker crumbs 1 ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup water ½ cup vinegar 1 teaspoon dry mustard

You may be asking yourself, “why would ground beef be an ingredient in ham balls?”

Well, not every recipe contains it. My grandma uses it because it makes the dish healthier and more affordable. It’s also more accessible because every store has ground beef but not every store sells ham.

First step is to make the balls: Ground and mix 1 lb smoked ham, 1lb pork, 1lb beef.

Add 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, 2 cups cracker crumbs

Don’t forget to wash your hands before and after cooking, and make sure you have plenty of room in your refrigerator for leftovers.

In a different bowl mix 1 ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup water, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, ½ cup vinegar.

Evenly pour over hams balls and bake at 300 degrees for 1 ½ hours.

ENTERTAINMENT MAY. 26, 2022

05

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent DESIGNED BY: ANTHONY MEDINA

WRITTEN BY: ANTHONY MEDINA

06 OPINION MAY 26, 2022

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uch a bizarre title yet it does work for the star in this film, Nicolas Cage. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is rated R because of language and violence shown. This magnificent film is about Nicolas’s actual spending issues and how he gets invited to a fan’s birthday party for a lot of money. He ends up taking a liking to Pedro Pascal (who plays himself) and they become a great comedy duo and great companions.

Pedro Pascal is a famous actor most well-know for the Mandalorian. In this film however he is a wealthy man that wants to create an outstanding film with Nicolas Cage as the star and that is why Pedro invites Nicolas in the first place. Little did they know that both their lives would be at stake.

The cast is another thing that makes this film great. It consists of some pretty big names such as Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Ike Barinholtz, Tiffany Haddish, and Neil Patrick Harris all of which are known for being in action and comedy films. Out of all of these great actors, Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal stood out to me.

A lot of the movie is about Nickolas and Pedro just hanging out as two buddies. These two wonderful actors have great chemistry and just seem like two best friends, or as referred to in the movie, two old best friends, even though they had just met. For about 20 minutes I forgot I was watching a movie because of how smooth the transitions were and how good the pacing of the story was.

Overall this movie was just hilarious and more serious when it needed to be. In some

films, people focus too much on one or a couple of aspects of a movie yet this one covers it all. The cinematography was partly done in Spain and the acting was great. The plot made sense even though parts of it were unnecessary and just used for comic relief. The cast already has so much experience from prior films so they already had some idea of what they were supposed to do, with some help from the director Tom Gormican of course, who isn’t huge in the film world but has some experience. Tom hasn’t had a very big movie that turned out very well and that could be the reason Nicolas Cage refused to do the movie on multiple occasions but, after a personal letter sent to him, he agreed to be in the movie.

I don’t get why people have a problem with this movie. Personally, I believe that this is a magnificent film and although others might not think the same way, I stand by it. Everyone likes stuff but the perfect movie will be loved by everyone, and that will never happen. The movie trailer is a little misleading to people thinking the movie was all action but the action parts were good. The film is a lot more comedy than action which is the main problem people have with the movie. This movie currently has 4.4 out of five reviews and 86 percent in rotten tomatoes with a total of 252 professional critic reviews.

There are multiple references to other Nicolas Cage movies in this film, but do you know them and where they are from?

Find the correct movies on the back page.

OPINION MAY 26, 2022

07

Nicolas Cage Answers

50 by 50 orthogonal maze

Question 1: Golden Guns - From Face Off.

Question 2: Stuffed Bunny - Willy’s Wonderland