In an effort to get last minute studying in, many of East’s seniors left early for Saturday morning’s SATs. For early decision applicants, the October tests are the last chance to boost scores before the due dates. Regular decision applicants can put it off until November or even December, but students worried about a last chance to impress their first-choice college were not the only ones involved in the mass exodus of seniors sometime after fourth period.

If you ask about Brick and are turned off by the initial one-line description, that’s really no surprise. The premise sounds almost unbearably lame, the sort of plotline one would find in a parodic episode of, perhaps, Saved By the Bell. Simply, then: Brick is a teenager’s film noir – but it is really so much better than that sounds. The film follows Brendan Fry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he attempts to track down the people responsible for his ex-girlfriend Emily’s (Emilie de Ravin) death. Like any good noir protagonist (this is noir, after all, and you can’t quite call him a hero), Brendan uses a unique slang, works without any actual police and gets beat up a lot – though unlike other films, the effects of this are actually seen and dealt with. Brick is blessedly free of voiceovers, however, a definite noir staple. All the other hallmarks are there: the cigarettes, the characters, the stylized shots, even the soundtrack. And, of course, the convoluted plot.