Jake Walters '14

So here it is, huh? Almost four long years ago I donned my writer’s cap for The Student for the first time. Now that I’m graduating, I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately. I decided to look back on some of my first reviews for The Student.

Wes Anderson is back at it again, this time with the shockingly successful money-maker that is “Grand Budapest Hotel.” Three years after the endearing and quietly affecting “Moonrise Kingdom,” a film which highlighted the best aspects of Anderson’s work (visual composition, off-beat dialogue, whimsiness) while moving away from his

Restaraunt/Bar/Arcade 8 Railroad St, Hadley Open 5PM-1AM Mon, 12PM – 1AM Tue-Fri, 11AM-1AM Sat-Sun A common criticism of Amherst social life is the similitude and frequent mediocrity of larger, public options. The Socials and larger campus parties lose their appeal about a week into Orientation. The blinding elatedness

103 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst (between Panda East and Bart’s Ice Cream) Casual Mediterranean Restaurant Prices: Quite affordable, especially in comparison to Moti’s Recommended Dishes: Kibbeh Football, Chicken Kabob Pocket, Hummus, Grape Leaves There’s a venue right off North Pleasant Street that boasts some of simplest yet

March is around the corner, meaning the flurry of albums I’ve actually been looking forward to will be upon me soon. I’m struggling through the wait for the new Hold Steady and Drive-by Truckers albums (seriously, if anyone has any interest in rock music you really should check

As a first-year at Amherst my list of potential majors went something like: History, Sociology, Political Science, English, LJST, cultural elitism, turf & golf course management (available at the University of Maryland), entrepreneurship, constructed relativity, puppetry (University of Connecticut), mastodons in literature and society (personal favorite) and, of course, Film

With the Oscars around the corner, a month of marathon movie viewing behind me, and no Student articles to share my opinions through, I had a difficult time deciding which film to review with the start of the semester. So, allowing myself to make matters easier, I thought I’d

In the midst of daily crises over impending finals, I always try to find time at the end of the year to reflect on the media releases that did the most to keep me sane in the previous months, as well as to discover anything I may have missed. Thinking

As a history major at Amherst, I’ve taken numerous classes specializing in slavery in the US. I thought I could understand something of the history, the pain, the suffering, the anguish. I thought, to whatever extent it was possible for a white kid in the early 21st century to

I’ve never seen a film quite like “Gravity”. It’s a thrill ride to end all thrill rides, never letting up in subjecting its characters to situations from bad to worse during its 90-minute running length. “Gravity” is, for those who want a no-frills blockbuster, nerve-wracking in a way

“AM” is the Arctic Monkey’s most anticipated album since their sophomore release, 2007’s “Favourite Worst Nightmare,” and the band is well aware. With attention high since the release of single “R U Mine?” over a year ago, many doubted that the Arctic Monkeys could ever recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle

The day after I finished The Last of Us, near the end of my summer vacation, I was talking to my sister, who had, on-and-off, been watching me play through the game. When my sister asked me to catch her up on what she had missed one day, I described

The summer. When not forced to brave the heat and midday traffic to fetch coffee for your seasonal employer or trying too hard to avoid listening to your coworkers’ embarrassing and way-too-personal stories, students can hopefully make enough time in their schedule to see many of the year’s most

Over the past 20 years, the man who invented the blockbuster film has time and time again attempted to retain his title as the king of popular entertainment in cinema while also distancing himself from the notion that he is a purely populist filmmaker cynically attempting to earn maximum profit

I learned of Roger Ebert’s death not two days after he reported that he would be stepping down from reviewing 200+ films a year in favor of reviewing one or two a week. What he called a “leave of presence” now means more to me than simply an affirmation

In late January, I remember scratching my head in elation when I heard that David Bowie, the famously press-shy, eccentric whirlwind of a musician who all but promised us he would never release new music again, announced a new album, “The Next Day.” It was due in March (only two

It’s that time again: Time for me to have an excuse to talk about the Oscars without complaining about how meaningless they are! But seriously, the Oscar nominations proved me wrong this year by taking some interesting chances and meting out some snubs which, whether I agree with them

In the past few months, much has been written about “Zero Dark Thirty,” Kathryn Bigelow’s dramatization of the hunt for Osama bin Laden through the eyes of fictional CIA officer Maya (Jessica Chastain). By a wide margin, it’s the best-reviewed film in what was generally a pretty good

I love horror movies. Unfortunately, it seems like I’m increasingly alone in this statement — not that I can blame people for a lack of interest in a genre that self-cannibalizes and generally trades character identification and suspense for cardboard cut-outs and shock value. That being said, the number of

“Argo” is the second of the handful of year-end films carrying with them heavy loads of Oscar buzz and attempting to bring home the hearts of film-goers and, more specifically, the Academy Awards come February. Following “The Master,” the result of a five-year toil of the director whose previous film

There’s a lot to be said about “Looper,” but perhaps the most important speaks less to the successes of the film than to the dreary state of the pseudo-genre “time travel” movie and the larger science fiction genre as a whole. Simply put, time travel in film is usually

On March 26, The Mars Volta released their fifth album, “Noctourniquet.” For any who aren’t familiar, the album title should provide a clear indicator that their music isn’t exactly main-stream. The Texas-formed outfit definitely isn’t for everyone; calling them esoteric would be charitable. But they’re also

Despite my appreciation of music and almost-unhealthy habit of listening to it while doing just about anything, I am often accused of not appreciating newer music enough. However, my complaint is not with new music in general; I just wish that the most popular artists were also the best. Unlike

“The Almighty Alum” is a series of interviews with alumni who have meandered far beyond their college majors. Last Thursday, Frits Van Paasschen ’83 gave a presentation about his role as C.E.O. of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc, a global company with approximately 1,000 owned and

The day has finally come. One of cinema’s most esoteric, obtuse-sounding pairings has finally been realized. “Drive,” the new film from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, deftly blends two dissimilar cinematic worlds: those of the art and action film. In its sensibilities, it’s at one with any of