Nestled in the corner behind A.J. Hastings and Amherst Coffee, Amherst Cinema is a local gem that can easily be overlooked. With the motto, “See Something Different!”, the independent nonprofit gives students and townies alike the unique opportunity to watch, in an intimate theater setting, carefully selected films, cartoons, documentaries and, right now, both the animated and live action 2015 Oscar-nominated shorts.
Most musicians dream of making music that is readily available for others to listen to and appreciate. Last Friday, Amherst College’s very own Tuna and the Wongs took a step toward accomplishing that dream. The band, comprised of three Amherst College students and one Holyoke Community College student, was selected among numerous contestants to enjoy a free day of recording at Converse Rubber Tracks Studio in Boston, as part of the Get Out of the Garage sweepstakes courtesy of Converse and Guitar Center.
You’ve probably encountered the #TGIT hashtag on Twitter, or heard the screams coming from your common room every Thursday night. What is this phenomenon? It is nothing less than the magic of Shonda Rhimes, the creator, writer and executive producer of three incredibly successful ABC prime time shows. If the name Shonda Rhimes doesn’t ring a bell than the titles “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder” might. These shows are so popular that ABC decided to put all three shows back to back in one of the most coveted slots of prime time TV, Thursday night.
Set in present-day Louisiana, “Jessabelle” tells the story of a young woman, Jessie, who is forced to move from an unnamed place back to her hometown, St. Francis, Louisiana. Once there, Jessie must confront what seems to be an evil spirit that has been waiting for her return for years. Within the first five minutes of director Kevin Greutert’s 2014 horror movie “Jessabelle,” it’s clear that nothing will happen in this film that we haven’t seen before.
“The Other Side,” written by and starring Pepper Dee ’15 and directed by Ron Bashford, played this weekend in Holden Theater. All three nights were sold out, with dozens of students turned away. Dee’s play is the first of four senior theater and dance theses this semester, and Dee has set the bar high for the three performances to follow.
When I initially heard the announcement for “Better Call Saul” — a spinoff series of Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s epic crime drama, “Breaking Bad” — I had a tidal wave of emotions crash through me. Part of me was fearful for my beloved series, one that had provided me with the single most rewarding television experience of my life; another part of me believed that this idea would be dead on arrival once production started. Despite this internal struggle, one thing was for sure: I was excited to make the trip back to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Two Amherst musicians, Julian Boykins ’15 and Andrew Nwachuku ’15, are trying to realize a dream that lies dormant within essentially every Amherst student. The duo, called Notable Alumni, make music inspired by the idea of greatness. Notable Alumni, are striving to be just that: notable.
Boykins, an economics major from Atlanta, and Nwachuku, a pre-med psychology major from Maryland, met their first year in Charles Pratt, through a shared appreciation for the intricacies of rap music.
