Welcome to Amherst College, where the struggle is ever-present and stress seems to be your permanent roommate. But when the readings, exams and papers start to suffocate you, there are lots of places on campus to go for a much-deserved break.
“Avengers: Age of Ultron” was released on May 1 and made close to $200 million in its opening weekend alone. The sequel to Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” has been long awaited, but does it live up to its predecessor? I write not as a Marvel Comics expert but as a big fan of the first movie and of each of the individual superheroes’ movies. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is equally as fun, action-packed and humorous as its predecessor, but as many reviewers have stated, it doesn’t live up to the standard of Whedon’s 2012 hit.
Now that spring has finally arrived and it’s possible to travel beyond campus bounds without risking frostbite, perhaps a trip to Smith College to see their production of “Water by the Spoonful” could be added to your spring itinerary. Written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, “Water by the Spoonful” premiered in October of 2011 at the Hartford Stage Company and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012. Smith College Department of Theater’s adaptation of the play, directed by J. Mehr Kaur, adds an extra dimension to the original version, emphasizing the power of connectivity.
There’s little chance you haven’t heard of Fox’s new hit show, “Empire.” With an average of 380,000 social media mentions per episode and a collection of Buzzfeed articles dedicated to it, “Empire” is undoubtedly the most discussed new show of 2015. The show is about the fictional Lyon family, who own a music production and entertainment company called “Empire.” The heir, Lucious Lyon, played by Terrance Howard, is in the process of deciding which one of his sons will succeed him in leading the empire. Things get heated as Lucious’s ex-wife, Cookie Lyon, played by Taraji P.
Sitting on a small patch of grass against the wall of the dark studio, audiences waited to see the senior thesis show, “Destiny.” Written and directed by senior Daejione Jones, “Destiny” tells the story of a young girl who goes from the being homeless in California to attending Amherst College.
My favorite part of the dreary month of February is Oscar Sunday: a night to be distracted by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood stars as they award each other gold trophies for making million-dollar movies. Cynicism aside, I was very excited to see Neil Patrick Harris bring his Broadway talent to the Oscar stage. Although I expected a night of musical numbers, cheesy jokes and heartwarming speeches — not much different from the last 10 Academy Awards I’ve watched — I was in for a surprise.
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.
