Study Abroad Profile: Gabby Edzie ’17 Checks in From Sydney

Studying abroad is a junior year rite of passage for many Amherst students. I check in with Gabby Edzie ‘17, an English major at the college who began her study abroad journey in August. She engages with both fellow American students and Australians while spending her fall semester at the University of Sydney. She shares her insights about choosing a program and a location, navigating Australia’s slower pace of life, dealing with time differences and catching on to Australian slang. Q: What cit

Amherst-Based Literary Journal Uncommonly Good

The Common, published biannually, is an Amherst College-based literary journal intended to challenge and broaden the reader’s sense of time and place. The magazine, which counts Jennifer Acker ’00 as its editor-in-chief and Vanity Fair editor-at-large Cullen Murphy ’74 as an advisory board member, released its first print issue in 2011. Since then, The Common has managed to distinguish itself amongst a glut of titles in the literary journal genre as a publication with a unique sense of purpose.

“Begin Again:” A Flawed, Charming Summer Flick

Irish director John Carney brought us the quirky and low-budget movie musical “Once” in 2007. “Begin Again,” his newest release, tries to replicate the charm of “Once” and almost succeeds in doing so. For its setting, the 2014 film swaps the streets of Dublin for an idealized version of New York City cherished by hipsters. There’s an abundance of red brick, green spaces and intimate music lounges and an absence of crowds. In “Once,” Carney selected the unknown actors Glen Hansard and Markéta Irg

City Sports: Tribeca Film/ESPN

The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival has come and gone. New York’s most famous celebration of movies began on April 17 and ended this past Sunday after showing hundreds of feature films, documentaries, and shorts in various cinemas throughout the city. The festival was founded in 2002 by actor Robert De Niro, film producer Jane Rosenthal and real estate investor and philanthropist Craig Hatkoff in an attempt to revitalize Lower Manhattan after the September 11, 2001 attacks. More than a decade

“Mad Men” Gets a Season 7 Makeover

Where did “Mad Men” go? Ten months have passed since the airing of a new episode of the AMC drama, conceived and produced by NESCAC alum Matthew Weiner (Wesleyan ’87). With this past Sunday’s premiere of the seventh and final season, the actors, writers and production team behind one of cable’s most critically-acclaimed shows bring us back into the world of ad-man Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his smoking, boozing, lying associates at Sterling Cooper & Partners. At the start of Season 7, much of “Ma

Exciting Pioneer Valley Destinations

As Amherst students, we’re pretty spoiled with theater, dance and music performances, art exhibits and cultural activities. With the Mead Art Museum, regular shows put on by our on-campus a capella groups, and various other arts events, sometimes it seems that there’s little need to leave the College to get a culture fix. Though supporting on-campus groups by attending their concerts and recitals is great, sometimes escaping the Amherst bubble seems necessary and a change of pace feels sorely ne

You Should Definitely Go See “Probably”

Are you familiar with the process of writing an honors thesis? Perhaps you’re a regular reader of The Amherst Student’s “Thoughts on Theses” column, an underclassman curious about undertaking a capstone project or a thesis-writing senior who knows all too well the frequent advisor meetings, sleepless nights and writer’s block associated with the endeavor. You might, however, know a lot less about the Theater and Dance Department equivalent of the honors thesis. Student majors in their final year

Death of 1930s Child Star Leaves a Void

Famed former child star Shirley Temple Black died on Monday, February 10. She was 85. She began her film career in 1932 at only three years old, starring in small, low budget features and cereal advertisements and found international fame in 1934 after signing a contract with 20th Century Fox and starring in “Bright Eyes.” “Bright Eyes” was created especially for Temple to showcase her singing and dancing talents — at only six years old, she was not only a performer for a major film studio, but

“Her”: A Glimpse at the Future of Love

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) has been having a difficult time processing the dissolution of his marriage to his first wife, Katherine (Rooney Mara): they grew up together, they went to college together, they saw each other through the hardships of establishing careers and beginning their adult lives. But he’s met someone new — her name is Samantha and she’s really great, super funny, smart, friendly, kind. She also sorts emails and files with ease, keeps track of calendar dates and events

“Delivery Man” Doesn’t Deliver Laughs

Amherst is a small college; the student population here hovers around 1,700. That means there are slightly less than 500 people per class. Imagine if all 500 of them were biologically related to you. Five hundred siblings — and you thought your one younger brother was bad enough — creepy, right? This is the premise of writer-director Ken Scott’s “Delivery Man,” the American remake of the 2011 French-Canadian comedy “Starbuck,” also directed by Scott. Vince Vaughn is David Wozniak, a forty-some

What Happened to Quality Teen Movies?

It seems that every generation has had their own “teen” or coming-of-age films. Many of the most memorable movies from those genres were released in the 1980s and 1990s — movies that celebrated fun and frivolity and youth while still being at least somewhat poignant. What happened? Very few memorable films about young adults have hit theaters in the past ten years or so, and fewer still have proved to possess staying power or enduring popularity. What qualities do the so-called “teen movies” of

“Enough Said” Breaks New Ground

Moving on isn’t easy, and Nicole Holofcener, writer and director of “Enough Said,” doesn’t let us forget it in her story of middle-aged love. Holofcener manages to create a romantic comedy that is at once intelligent, moving and fiercely funny, a rarity in a genre recently dominated by forgettable, formulaic plotlines. “Enough Said” is not escapist entertainment: the fairy-tale love affairs of quirky twenty-somethings have no place in Holofcener’s film. Rather, the characters and their difficult