A title like “A Most Violent Year,” without further information, might lead you to expect (as I did) raging war scenes, intense, blaring shootouts and cacophonous dialogue. Yet, the violence that existed was so silent and so subdued, that it felt real, very far from your average action-packed blockbuster. Set in New York in 1981,“A Most Violent Year” carefully depicts failure of the American Dream by following the life of a poor-immigrant-turned-rich-oil-guy as he protects his family and business during New York’s most violent year.
As World War II wrecks continental Europe and spreads throughout the Pacific, a ragtag group of British mathematicians, logicians, cryptographers and linguists stands around a clicking machine each day trying to crack a Nazi code. When it hits midnight, the Nazis change the code’s key and the code-breakers’ work for the day day is rendered useless. The next morning, they start again.
The college has identified five finalists in its search for a new athletic director and will be bringing those finalists to campus over the course of the next two weeks. Amherst has been searching for a new athletic director since last February, when former athletic director Suzanne Coffey left her role in order to become the college’s first-ever Chief Student Affairs Officer.
In the fall of 2009 when Fall Out Boy announced their impending hiatus, fans of the nearly decade-old band were devastated. Not to be deterred, Fall Out Boy put out “Believers Never Die,” a greatest hits album, and played what many feared would be their last show ever. During what became a four-year hiatus,which the band’s bassist Pete Wentz called a “decompressing period”, the members of Fall Out Boy went their separate ways and pursued jobs outside of the former band. Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy’s lead vocalist and guitarist, attempted a solo music career.
Associate Professor of American Studies and Sociology Leah Schmalzbauer received her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire, her master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and her doctorate from Boston College. Her research focuses on immigration and U.S.-Central American relations. She is currently turning her gaze from immigration in the U.S. to the migration of the elite in the U.S. from major cities to rural areas.
Seth Rogen and James Franco are back with “The Interview,” another one of their infamous “circle-jerks” with a twist: Arrogant talk show host Dave Skylark (Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen) get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un (Randall Park). With all the controversy surrounding the film’s release, I expected something uproariously clever or at least intelligently offensive. Sadly, “The Interview” ended up being very average.
Once upon a time, in a recording studio far away, Kevin Smith and his producing partner Scott Mosier settled into episode 259 of their weekly podcast, SModCast. As the session began, Smith began to read and discuss a fake, yet hilariously intriguing, sublet ad that was posted on a website called Gumtree on June 6, 2013. The advertisement described an older man looking to rent a bedroom within his house to an individual or a party of two.
