“Breaking Bad”
Dominic Piacentini ’15
The final eight episodes of “Breaking Bad” will begin late this summer on August 11. The five season story arc that transformed the awkward and naïve Walter White into the ruthless drug lord Heisenberg was created to be an intensely compact thriller by Vince Gilligan, who from the beginning planned on five seasons regardless of the show’s exponential popularity. The last episode will definitively conclude each character’s arc. Since the pilot episode, “Breaking Bad” has pushed the boundaries of television as they experimented with the heroic and villainous characteristics of Walter. This season will attempt to go even farther as actors and writers have described these final episodes as “apocalyptic” and “darker than ever” –— which is really saying something.
“Before Midnight”
Laura Merrell ’15
I’m so excited to see “Before Midnight,” which is coming to theaters in late May. I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz for it when it was shown at different film festivals, and I want to see if it lives up to the hype. It’s the last movie in a series of three that are directed by Richard Linklater and co-written with the two stars, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. The first two movies, “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset,” have amazing, honest dialogue and the backdrop of beautiful cities: Vienna in the first and Paris in the second. This third and final film will move on to another incredible locale: a Greek isle. Even if the movie fails to live up to the standard set by the last two, I always have Ethan Hawke’s beautiful face to fall back on.
“The Wizard of the Crow”
Dominic Piacentini ’15
This novel, written by African writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, was published in 2008, but it will certainly be the first thing I pick up when I arrive home after commencement. I’ve always had a particular fondness for writers like Chinua Achebe and Thiong’o, but since I’ll be travelling abroad to Tanzania in the fall, this summer will be another great opportunity to read really good books by African novelists. “The Wizard of the Crow” is a dystopian tale set in the imagined country of Abruria. I look forward most to discovering what a non-Western governmental dystopia looks like. “The Wizard of the Crow” combines one of my favorite genres with my favorite tradition of writing. For anyone who hasn’t read any of Thiong’o’s books, his dark political stories are enticing, and I would suggest them to all.
Arcade Fire
Libba Smith ’13
Few bands have produced as many outstanding albums as Arcade Fire. Each of the group’s previous releases, “Funeral,” “Neon Bible” and 2010’s Grammy-winning “The Suburbs,” has been uniquely crafted and filled with flawless, emotional songs, all equally heartbreaking and inspiring. Even though the hype for each album is always monumental, Arcade Fire consistently lives up to the high expectations of both critics and devoted fans. The secrecy surrounding the band’s 2013 release, expected later this year, has been equally high, but one detail should have fans lining up at midnight to get their hands on the album: James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is working in the studio with Arcade Fire. Expect another soon-to-be-classic album from this impeccable group.