A view of Los Angeles' City Hall from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where the LA Philharmonic plays.

Unfortunately, these trips are not open to CMC students.  This is where our student government needs to step in and put forth some funding and organizational effort to plan off-campus excursions for the student body.  There is no denying that CMC has plenty of social events and activities. However, campus life inevitably becomes dull from time to time.  If ASCMC wishes to truly represent the will of the student body, it should offer subsidized trips to desirable locations.  Such locations could easily be determined by a poll, distributed via email.  Once the desired locations were determined, the endeavor could start out small, one trip per month at the beginning and expand from there.

Student government-organized trips are especially vital considering the fact that freshmen are not permitted to have cars on campus.  If transportation is not provided and the fees associated with various trips are not subsidized, many students will miss out on some of the best destinations Southern California has to offer.  If students wish to truly make the most of CMC’s incredible location, a greater effort needs to be made to plan such trips. What it really comes down to is student happiness.  ASCMC-sponsored trips would be fun and accessible for everyone and would add a whole new dimension to CMC’s social climate.

As a first step in the planning and execution of subsidized trips, I have polled a selection of CMC students on where they want to see ASCMC organize trips.  The results are as follows.

Question: If ASCMC were to organize a trip at a subsidized cost, providing transportation, to the following place would you attend?

Wolf (1994)

I think an important element to any good monster flick is the actor or actress playing the monster, and I honestly can’t think of anybody I would rather see turn into a werewolf (or even a mermaid, for that matter) than Jack Nicholson. James Spader co-stars in one of his better roles pre-Boston Legal, as a wimpy, nerdy foil to Nicholson’s, well, Nicholson-esque werewolf protagonist. The movie does have its fair share of ridiculousness, such as the opening scene, where Nicholson’s character, Will the magazine editor, pokes a wolf with a stick until it bites him. That being said, the film provides some good suspense, the effects are solid, unexpected people die, and like I said before, Jack Nicholson is a werewolf. If nothing else, watch it for scenes like the clip below, where Nicholson realizes he has “heightened senses” (sounds like another good movie in itself).

The Wolf Man (1941)

After seeing the original, it’s easy to understand why Hollywood would want make a remake. The Wolf Man really was a gem of the Golden Age with groundbreaking make-up, impeccable acting, and an ending that knocks the socks off viewers still today. The actors in the remake, by the way, creepily emulate the originals in a non-acting, natural sense. Benicio del Toro could be Lon Cheney Jr’s. son, and the original actor Claude Raines looks like a munchkin doing an Anthony Hopkins impression. The entire movie can be found online, but the clips are long and I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Just try to ignore the fact that everyone in Wales besides the father has an American accent.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

This is the undisputed greatest werewolf movie of all time. It has the comedy, the horror, the teen slasher elements, and the abrupt, awesome finale that has yet to be surpassed these 29 years. Boy gets bitten. Boy meets girl. Boy turns into wolf. That old story. The make-up is some of the best in the history of Hollywood, and every scene holds up when compared to the best a computer could create today. It’s probably better.  Also, the soundtrack is awesome. Every song has something to do with a moon.  I will leave you all with one of the greatest transformation scenes in movie history, to the pleasant sound of Blue Moon in the background. Be sure to take note of Mickey Mouse. I’m still trying to figure out that shot, but I like it.

An American Werewolf in London Transformation

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