My Own Little World

Over the past several years, music has been undergoing a return to roots at the same time as it has been going forward. Folk music is back in the limelight, with groups like Mumford and Sons and solo artists like Vance Joy and Sufjan Stevens providing a renaissance of sorts to the genre. Of course, besides the countless radio singles Mumford has brought to the table, The Lumineers are probably the best-known group in this new folk revival, with their smash hit "Ho Hey" from their debut self-titled album. However, recently a question has arisen within this group of artists: where do we go from here? Many of these bands it seems have two choices: stay the same or go to a different genre. Some listeners are having a little bit of folk fatigue, it seems, so artists are being forced to consider which direction they should go. Now, The Lumineers' first album was a little bit of fresh air even within its own genre because of its incredibly bare-bones recording techniques...

As I've been binge-watching recently, I began to wonder why I didn't talk about it on here at all. There's some really cool gems that people might not know are on Amazon Prime or Netflix, and I want to let people know what I think of them. So, welcome to Chronicles of a Binge-Watcher, the story of a college student with way too much time on his hands. In this first installment, I will cover an HBO show that I've now watched completely twice in the past year: The Newsroom . I first heard of this show through its opening scene which has more or less become an internet sensation. In it, Jeff Daniels's character Will McAvoy, a popular cable news anchor, is asked what makes America the greatest country in the world. His response caught me more than a little off-guard, and I think you'll see why if you watch it. It is without a doubt one of the most honest moments I have ever seen on American television. In fact,  watch it here  before reading the rest of this po...

Many of you know the high regard in which I hold film critics. Quite often, that Tomatometer score is my deciding factor as to whether or not I want to see a movie. It might be a bad idea to put so much weight on other people's opinions, but it typically works quite well for me, so I haven't changed the way I choose what movie to watch. Why am I telling you this, you ask? Because I want you to know how hard it is to say that I enjoy a movie that critics hate... ...like Batman v Superman . I liked this movie. Yes, there were some elements that made me a little uneasy at times, but on the whole this is a great example of how to make a really fully stuffed superhero film. That being said, there are some gripes I have with Batman v Superman  that make me dock it more than a little bit, and there are still others that I'm not decided on yet. In light of that, I'm going to try a new format for this review in which I'll separate the different aspects of this film...

So, this morning I got an email that looked a little something like this... I then also got an email that looked like this... Then I questioned my existence and got really, really mad. You do not cancel school and then blame a student for hacking into the system and sending a fake email to the entire student body. Let's face reality, people: if students actually knew how to send email from faculty accounts, this would happen way more often. Here's the moral of the story: either don't send an email until you know for sure or just let classes be cancelled. Own up to your mistake and don't blame it on your own students. I'm pissed. And I've got a right to be.

Recently, I asked you, my readers, for some questions you'd like answered in my College Life series. I got some free time last night, so I'm going to answer one of them for you. Today's question comes from my aunt, Sue Langhoff: "How many times a week do you go to Starbucks?" Ouch. I didn't think I was that much of a white girl to be asked that question. There is a little bit of backstory here, though. Last semester I was having trouble writing papers in my room because I got distracted by the environment on the floor. Late in the semester, I decided to find another place to work on them. One Saturday, I realized that I had a lot of Starbucks gift cards and was just a few stars away from being able to get free refills on coffee and tea. I went over there and worked for four hours before my laptop died and got a lot of my work done for the weekend. The next day and the next weekend, I went back and did the same thing. During finals week, I spent many ho...

I've taken a little more time in prepping my year-end wrap-up this year, mostly because I was making sure I had seen everything I wanted to in theaters before publishing. Like last year, I've written mini-reviews on all the films that I either saw too far into their theatrical run to do a full review on or after their home video release. Without further ado, I present to you Part 4 of the Rest of 2015... Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - Buy it.  How can a franchise be this good in its fifth installment? M:I shows no signs of stopping with Rogue Nation , and neither does Tom Cruise, as he performs some of the most dangerous stunts of his career. The rest of the returning and new cast members make sure we don't lose the team dynamic that was so essential to Ghost Protocol . McQuarrie also has some great helming of the many action scenes, particularly the motorcycle chase. This is a thrill ride that keeps you on edge the whole time. Grade: 92 The Martian...

I've taken a little more time in prepping my year-end wrap-up this year, mostly because I was making sure I had seen everything I wanted to in theaters before publishing. Like last year, I've written mini-reviews on all the films that I either saw too far into their theatrical run to do a full review on or after their home video release. Without further ado, I present to you Part 3 of the Rest of 2015... Ant-Man  - Buy it.   What sets Ant-Man apart is its unique tone. From 2014 on Marvel has done a really good job of making each film's tone distinct, and this continues with Ant-Man . It feels less like a superhero film and more like a heist comedy, allowing Paul Rudd to flex his comedic muscles quite a bit. The way Peyton Reed crafts the film's shrunken sequences puts a very unique mark on this Marvel film that will allow it to stand apart from the rest of their body of work.  Grade: 85 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2  - Watch it.  Mockingjay...