BY JAHIYA CLARK ’20
Hell hath no fury like man’s best friend scorned in the new Wes Anderson film, “Isle of Dogs.” Set in the futuristic dystopian city of Megasaki, the film’s main characters — or canines — were show dogs or actors in dog food commercials before being deported to the post-apocalyptic wasteland Trash Island.
BY GABBY RAYMOND ’20
It’s 2018 and your life is probably full of social media, responsibilities for work or school and general upkeep of your life. But if you’ve never embarked on this journey into the cult of podcasts, it can be hard to know where to start. If you’re looking to try something new or want to add to your list, here are some of the most interesting shows in the four categories of talk, news, interview and narrative.
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
Daphne Gauthier ’20 is one of the many Mount Holyoke students who takes full advantage of the various Five College arts communities at Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Hampshire College, UMass Amherst and Amherst College. As a member of the UMass Marching Band Color Guard (UMMB), she gets to practice and perform with the team.“Being involved in the UMMB has been without a doubt, the greatest experience of my life,” said Gauthier.
BY ERIN CARBERRY '19
The newest entry in an expanding catalogue of Netflix original films, “The Titan” examines issues of humanity, survival and hope. The futuristic thriller follows Abi Janssen (Taylor Schilling, “Orange is the New Black”) as she travels to a remote base with her family so that her husband, Rick (Sam Worthington, “Avatar”), can participate in a risky military experiment in genetic evolution and space exploration.
BY EMMA MARTIN ’20
Indie group Frankie Cosmos released their new album “Vessel” through Seattle-based record company Sub Pop on March 30. “Vessel” is more experimental, more ambitious and longer — featuring an impressive 18 tracks — than the groups’ earlier records, employing new instruments and recording techniques. Band members David Maine, Lauren Martin, Luke Pyenson and Kline all contribute vocals and their unique musical perspectives to create a familiar yet distinct sound.
BY ERIN CARBERRY ’19
One of the most anticipated films of the year, “Ready Player One,” is directed by industry giant Steven Spielberg (“Jurassic Park”) and based on the 2011 debut novel of the same name by Ernest Cline. The film follows Wade Wyatt, or Parzival (Tye Sheridan, “X-Men: Apocalypse”), through the fantastical multiplayer virtual world of “the Oasis.” There, he and his friends battle for control of the virtual wonderland against a heartless corporation, Innovative Online Industries, and its head honcho, Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn, “Rogue One”). In the real world, Wade battles the realities of a rundown futuristic Columbus, Ohio.
BY SARAH OLSEN ’18
Since her 2011 departure from Disney, Demi Lovato has been taking great strides to prove herself to be more than a childhood star. Last year she released her sixth album, “Tell Me You Love Me,” and, this February, she embarked on a world tour. The international portion starts in Brazil in May with the U.S. leg of the tour finishing in Newark, NJ this Monday.
BY EMMA MARTIN ’20
“Do you ever think about just killing him?” Amanda (Olivia Cooke, “Me, Earl and the Dying Girl”) asks her kind-of new friend Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Witch”) in a memorable scene from psychological thriller “Thoroughbreds,” the feature debut of writer-director Corey Finley. As Amanda casually uncorks a bottle of wine, the two teens first discuss the main subject of the movie — their plan to kill Lily’s stepfather Mark (Paul Sparks, “The Greatest Showman”).
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
Writer-director Cass Fernandez-Dieguez ’19 has always loved cinema. “I remember when I was little, my grandpa would pick up a camcorder and we would go and make movies,” they said. “It wasn’t until I was in about 11th or 12th grade that one of my teachers noticed I had really strong screenwriting skills. Whenever there was a project, I wanted to do a video project.”
BY ERIN CARBERRY ’19
It’s more than likely that not one person on the Mount Holyoke campus — save for myself — watched this recent Netflix release, helmed by the creative team and cast of “Workaholics,” a sitcom about college dropouts starring Adam DeVine (“Pitch Perfect”), Anders Holm (“The Mindy Project”) and Blake Anderson (“Dope”). Following in the footsteps of “Jackass” and “Harold & Kumar,” “Game Over, Man!” takes its niche genre — brainless, vulgar and hyper-masculine gross-out humor — to a startling new extreme.
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
Mount Holyoke Folk Music and Dance Society (FMADS) hosted its St. Patrick’s Day Irish Showcase in Chapin Auditorium Thursday night. The holiday event encouraged attendees to wear green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, but otherwise focused on the celebration of Irish performance styles, music, texts, prominent figures, heritage and culture.
BY EMMA MARTIN ’20
“Boy, do we have a show for you tonight!” local meteorologist Brain Lapis told Chapin Auditorium while opening the first performance of the Big Broadcast Saturday afternoon. Lapis reprised his role as M.C. Fred Kelly, hosting the 12th annual recreation of a live radio broadcast on the fictional station “WJAZ.” Big Broadcast celebrates the golden age of radio with the Mount Holyoke Jazz Ensemble and other soloists performing renditions of 1940s jazz tunes.
BY ERIN CARBERRY ’19
Following the Five College Film Festival, the Mount Holyoke Film Society and Mount Holyoke Broadcasting Channel (MHBC) hosted their own festival on March 2. The Mount Holyoke Film Festival aimed to showcase the works of students who were not accepted to the larger festival or did not submit entries.
BY ERIN CARBERRY ’19
Drizzling rain and cold breezes ushered students, faculty and parents into Gamble Auditorium on Friday night for the 24th annual Five College Film Festival. The program consisted of 22 films, all made entirely by students in the community. As attendees arrived, jurors and volunteers had to hurry to print additional voting ballots. “I printed 125 programs and I had to go back and print 50 more,” said Bernadine Mellis, professor of digital media and production at Mount Holyoke and Smith. “It’s Mount Holyoke, it’s hard to get to [and] it’s raining, but there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. It was amazing.”
BY DALE LEONHART ’19
Friday nights are always busy at Mount Holyoke, and last week was no exception. Among the many events taking place on campus was an intimate open mic held by the Asian Students Association (ASA). Art 220 was lit with tea lights and the classroom chalkboards decorated with intricate drawings. Soda, chips and Pocky (a sweet Japanese snack) were served and a group of people were animatedly searching through Youtube to find the first song of the night — “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana” was the winner.
BY SAVANNAH HARRIMAN-POTE ’20
Since the first Acafella performance 14 years ago, all-male a cappella groups have traveled to Mount Holyoke to share the stage with Mount Holyoke’s Victory Eights. Last Saturday night the annual showcase featured four guest groups: The UMass Amherst Doo Wop Shop, the Amherst Zumbyes, the Middlebury Dissipated Eight and the SUNY Potsdam Pointercounts.
BY EMMA MARTIN ’20
The screening room of the South Hadley Tower Theaters was buzzing last Saturday, as people gathered to see a special midnight screening of cult classic flop, “The Room,” written, directed by and starring Tommy Wiseau. As the title credits and oversweeping shots of San Francisco, it become apparent that no one in the theater was taking the movie seriously. The audience shouted and cracked jokes the entire evening.
