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Students have spent the weekend planning strike action.

According to CTV, CEGEP student leaders from around Quebec convened at CEGEP Montmorency to plan out their strike action should a walkout occur.

Plenty of students are already on strike as of last week and more should follow suit in the coming weeks.

They claim that they will do all they can to change the government's plan of raising tuition fees over the next five years.

Students in Quebec CEGEPs and Universities are voting now on strike action until mid-March.

Flickr photo by: zalgon

Read By Shaun Malley

Produced by Erica Bridgeman

Stories written by Joel Balsam and Shaun Malley

The Woman in Black is the classic tale of a haunted mansion situated upon the outskirts of a secluded village. A young lawyer and our main protagonist, Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe), is sent to the run-down mansion to take care of the ancient and unorganized paper work left by the old tenants. As soon as Kipps gets to the village, the villagers are infuriated with his presence and make him feel very unwelcome, which builds the mystery for the viewer.

As the story unfolds, the mansion seems to be inhabited by a very angry ghost who is, as you guessed it, a vicious woman dressed in black; the tale in the town is that every time she is seen a child in the village will die in some gruesome way. Arthur is determined to discover why this ghost is taking the lives of the children so ruthlessly, especially because he keeps seeing her and more children are dying in the village.

Horror films are undeniably my favourite genre; they leave audiences very vulnerable and, in my opinion, are one of the truest examples of an emotionally charged genre. Tension builds and builds until the audience can no longer stand it; they sit on the edge of their seats waiting for that horrific release that comes from revealing the always-present threat. If your audience is constantly feeling threatened then you will have a successful, memorable horror experience. Because horror is my favourite genre, I was really excited to review this film, but after the credits rolled so did my eyes.

Director James Watkins (Eden Lake) leads this project with class. His choice of camera movements were clean and clear yet they left me feeling bored. Watkins builds up the tension until it is almost unbearable. The musical score guides the audience towards the mediocre “pop-out” scare tactic, unfortunately the scares get old by the middle of the film and started becoming even more predictable as the film goes on. Marco Beltrami (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Blade 2, The Hurt Locker) composed the original scores, and without his musical guidance audiences would not have known when to feel tense and the scares would not have been as frightening, unless you’re idea of a good scare involves close-ups of creepy wind-up dolls and empty rocking chairs that keep rocking away without anyone living sitting in them.

The cinematography is what I loved the most about this film. Tim Maurice-Jones (Snatch) was the cinematographer on this project and he was able to capture amazing, smooth helicopter shots of the location, which created the mysterious tone felt throughout the film. The mansion is situated on a marsh and the tide determines when you leave; the only way in or out of the property is this long, winding road that is usually covered by aggressive water. The mystery was amplified with the cohesive framing of certain areas of the mansion. The long dark hallway was a key area for the film because of all the different encounters that happen and all the different doors that Kipps could open and explore.

In conclusion, this film was a typical twenty first century horror film. I haven’t been scared while watching a horror film in a really long time and The Woman in Black didn’t do it for me either. I couldn’t help but glance at my watch once or twice anticipating the conclusion of the mediocre ending. Then ending and conclusion of a horror film is why I am a filmmaker myself: the creativeness of the director is pushed to his or her limits and the possibilities are endless. I was left disappointed and looking for more. Save your money for the rental.

2 out of 5 stars

-Andrea Boulet

The rotating strikes which were supposed to affect many Montreal daycare centres on Thursday were called off as reported by CTV.

On Wednesday night the union representing the daycare workers announced that talks have advanced. This led to the union calling off the walkout as well as those which were scheduled to take place this Monday and Tuesday.

The daycare workers have been holding rotating walkouts over the past ten days to pressure the government to step up negotiations.

The workers have been without a contract for 2 years.

Flickr photo by: University of Saskatchewan