Monthly Amusements: January 2016

I've decided to add a new element to my blog where I review entertainment-related things that I have been enjoying within the past month. This may not be a regular thing as I might not do these reviews for every single month of the year, but I figured I would try my idea out for January and see how I enjoy writing one. Feel free to give feedback in the comments, and also tell me your favorite January things.

Movie: What Maisie Knew

I didn't watch a lot of movies in January, but one of the few that I did choose to view surprised me. What Maisie Knew was honestly just one of those Netflix movies that I selected on a whim, simply because it had a pretty high rating. I didn't know who was in it or what it was about, but I found myself really enjoying the movie as it progressed. I found it to have most of the elements needed to create a touching story about a young girl trapped between her battling parents.
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

TV Show: Broadchurch

I'll be honest and say that I don't watch many TV shows, but occasionally I'll give one a watch. I had heard good things about Broadchurch, and upon watching the first episode I was hooked. It's an extremely well-executed TV show that gets just about everything right. The plot does fall a little short for me and is somewhat typical of most murder mysteries, but the acting, cinematography, music, and setting of the show more than make up for this.
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Book: The Delirium Trilogy

Lauren Oliver's science fiction romance trilogy, consisting of the books Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem consumed most of my reading time in the month of January. Overall I enjoyed this series of books more than I thought I would, but it still fell a bit short of the bar that Oliver set with her books Panic and Vanishing Girls. Still a good read for the month though, as the Delirium trilogy offers a unique look at a loveless world.
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Music: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

January has been pretty lackluster for music, and I haven't been very lucky this month with finding new additions for my soundtrack. However, I have listened to the album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming by electronic band M83 several times. This album provides some really unique-sounding songs that blur seamlessly together when the whole album played, and it is definitely worth a listen.
My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Most Anticipated Movies Of 2016

I was recently looking at a list of movies that are set to be released this year, and realized that there are some pretty awesome looking ones in the making. So I thought I would share my most anticipated movies for this year with all of you. I don't necessarily think that all of these films will be good, but I'm very intrigued by them nonetheless. This list is simply the movies that I look forward to watching, and isn't necessarily a list of what I think the best movies of 2016 will be. Enjoy the list, and feel free to share your most anticipated movies for this year in the comments.

Knight Of Cups

This experimental film, starring Christian Bale, doesn't really give much of its plot away in its trailer. However, this movie certainly masks itself in intrigue and therefore is one I will be giving a watch in 2016. If nothing else, I want to see what exactly Knight Of Cups is about.

Release Date: March 4, 2016
[Watch The Trailer]

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Not one for superhero movies, I surprised myself by putting this film on my list. However, I actually loved the Batman trilogy with Christian Bale in the title role and am curious to see Ben Affleck's interpretation of the character.

Release Date: March 25, 2016
[Watch The Trailer]

Snowden

This biographical thriller has the potential to be amazing or tremendously cringe-worthy. But regardless, I want to see Snowden when it's released. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has not disappointed in previous roles, so hopefully this movie will not take its dramatizations of Edward Snowden's life overboard.

Release Date: May 13, 2016
[Watch The Trailer]

X-Men: Apocalypse

I stated before that superhero movies usually aren't my thing, but the X-Men franchise is certainly an exception. I am really looking forward to seeing the familiar characters in the X-Men world reemerge in this 2016 action flick.

Release Date: May 27, 2016
[Watch The Trailer]

Now You See Me 2

I really enjoyed the 2013 caper thriller Now You See Me, so when I realized a sequel was being made I was pretty excited. I have fears that the second movie will fall short of the first, but I'm still willing to give it a watch. I do hate the name though. How much more unoriginal can you get than simply putting a number after the name of the first movie?

Release Date: June 10, 2016
[Watch The Trailer]

The BFG

One of my favorite childhood books was The BFG by Roald Dahl, and I recently learned that it was being made into a movie set to be released in 2016. To be honest I think that this movie will probably be a flop, but I hope that Steven Spielberg proves me wrong!

Release Date: July 1, 2016
[Watch The Trailer]

Bourne 5

Although its official name hasn't been announced yet, I am very excited for the fifth installment in the Bourne movie franchise. In fact, it's probably the number one movie set to be released in 2016 that I am looking forward to watching. I only hope that it will live up to my expectations, but with a cast including Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, and Alicia Vikander it very well could.

Release Date: July 29, 2016

Suicide Squad

This movie has been so hyped that it very well could be a major disappointment, so I'm trying to not expect a lot from it. With that being said, I am very curious to see Jared Leto's interpretation of the joker and also how the entire cast portrays their characters. I'm trying to set the bar low in my head, and hopefully Suicide Squad will pleasantly surprise me.

Release Date: August 5, 2016
[Watch The Trailer]

The Girl On The Train

This movie is based on the 2015 novel by Paula Hawkins, which was one of my favorite books of the year. I am looking forward to seeing how the book is crafted into an interesting movie, and I hope that Emily Blunt can portray the lead character well. I'm not sold on the idea of this book as a film, but I certainly hope a good movie will result.

Release Date: October 7, 2016

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Not knowing what to expect, I watched the action film Jack Reacher back in 2012 and actually really loved it. I look forward to seeing how Tom Cruise will continue his portrayal of the title character in the sequel movie.

Release Date: October 21, 2016

The Shortlist: Best Of 2015

As the year of 2015 comes to an end, I am yet again faced with my annual task of compiling my favorite things of the year into a list, which always proves to be a very difficult and time-consuming but fun task. The past few years I've stuck to films only, but 2015 was a bit different. I found myself reading a lot of great books and listening to quite a bit of music in my spare time, so I wanted to include these elements on my shortlist as well. The only rules I gave myself before making this list is that every movie, book and song included had to be released or published sometime in 2015. I also made sure that I only selected one song per artist and one book per author, as I wanted my shortlist to be as diverse as possible. With these parameters set, I began the task of selecting my 2015 favorites, and here they are. Share your favorites for the year in the comments!

BEST MOVIES OF 2015:

Ex Machina

Alex Garland

★★★★☆ (Read my review)

Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller

★★★☆☆

It Follows

David Robert Mitchell

★★★☆☆ (Read my review)

BEST BOOKS OF 2015:

Vanishing Girls

Lauren Oliver

★★★★☆ (Read my review)

The Girl On The Train

Paula Hawkins

★★★★☆ (Read my review)

It's What I Do

Lynsey Addario

★★★★☆ (Read my review)

BEST SONGS OF 2015:

Realiti (demo version)

Grimes

[Listen]

Down Side Of Me

CHVRCHES

[Listen]

Black Sun

Death Cab For Cutie

[Listen]

Warm Blood

Carly Rae Jepsen

[Listen]

Sorry

Meg Myers

[Listen]

Haunting

Halsey

[Listen]

Lifted Up

Passion Pit

[Listen]

Wasteland

VÉRITÉ

[Listen]

Circadian Rhythm

Silversun Pickups

[Listen]

Can't Deny My Love

Brandon Flowers

[Listen]

Album Review: Art Angels

Canadian musician Grimes recently released her newest album Art Angels, and I thought it would be a good time to give my opinion on it. I can say that overall, this is my favorite album from Grimes. Perhaps as an artist she is still a bit "out there" for many people to get on board with, but slowly and surely Grimes is begining to pave her way into the musical world. Art Angels is the perfect bridge that will undoubtedly start pulling more individuals toward becoming fans of Grimes' music.
Many of the songs on Art Angels are quite refreshing in the sense that they are very unique, blending distinct aural elements into a relatively cohesive package. However, I think that this is also somewhat of a blight on this album. For example, the overt aggression in the song "SCREAM" sharply contradicts the almost angelic, orchestral quality of the intro track "laughing and not being normal." It is these opposing sounds that make Art Angels a little confusing for the listener.
However, there are certainly elements of this album that shine and make the musical talent of Grimes clear. For one, I really enjoy how Art Angels makes Grimes' vocals more apparent than many of her previous songs. The lyrics can actually be mostly understood, but they still don't detract from the instrumental components of the tracks. This album also strikes me as being more accessible to a wider audience. Her upbeat tunes such as "Flesh without Blood," "World Princess Part II," and "Kill V. Maim" seem like they were made for the sole purpose of getting stuck in your head for days. It's this catchiness that will make Art Angels appeal to more people and become an album that many will listen to. I was also impressed with the way Grimes changed her demo version of "Realiti" to fit the sound of her whole album. Although I do still prefer the original, I think that the album version of the song fits into the framework of Art Angels much better.
Although falling short on a few aspects and having several songs that I personally don't love, overall Grimes' newest album is something refreshingly different and possesses a unique sound that the radio does not provide. Blending musical elements that few artists would dare attempt to mesh together, Grimes has largely succeeded in composing an enthralling sound with Art Angels. I will admit that it took me several listens of the album to really start enjoying some of the songs, but I think Art Angels is worth giving a chance. It might not be musical perfection, but it sure is musical creativity to the max.
Artist: Grimes

Genre: Art pop/Synthpop

Number of Songs: 14

Release Date: November 6, 2015

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Movie Review: Liberal Arts

One recent night I found myself caught in a movie trailer vortex on YouTube, a very dangerous place for myself to be. After watching the trailer for the 2012 film Liberal Arts, starring Josh Radnor and Elizabeth Olsen, I figured I would check Netflix to see if it was available there, and seeing that it was I opted to give it a watch.

This quirky comedy drama opens with Jesse, a college admissions officer living in New York City, traveling back to his liberal arts college in Ohio to attend his old professor's retirement ceremony. There he meets Zibby, a student attending the college, and they quickly form a strong friendship. Once he returns to New York, Jesse stays in contact with Zibby through exchanging letters with her. Zibby asks him to return to Ohio so she can see him, but upon arriving is apprehensive about continuing a relationship with Zibby who is 16 years younger than him. The two must help each other figure out the complexities surrounding their wide age gap and the feelings that they have for each other.

To put it simply, this movie was certainly odd. From "the hat guy" (you'll know exactly what I'm talking about if you watch Liberal Arts) to the awkward chemistry between Jesse and Zibby, I found this film to be somewhat uncomfortable to watch. Sure, there were some elements that did work and buried among all the awkwardness were several truly funny moments. But overall, I was pretty disappointed with Liberal Arts.

To begin, I thought the movie was slow to evolve and get to its point. The plot itself is pretty sparse; a guy travels to his college town and falls for a girl much younger than he is. That's pretty much it. I feel that to compensate, Liberal Arts just throws a bunch of unrelated stuff into the mix that just doesn't seem to mesh with the main storyline. This movie also bounced around between comedy and drama, never quite establishing what it is suppose to be. A last negative point I want to make about Liberal Arts is just how disjointed the characters all seem from each other. While I was watching the film none of the people in it seemed to really connect to the other actors. It's hard to explain, but the best way I can describe it is that the actors didn't seem authentic. There was an emptiness behind their words and actions in this movie.

As I said above, there are a few positive elements. Not only are there several comedic scenes that were pulled off pretty well, there were also some heartwarming moments. Ultimately, for me Liberal Arts was like a blank, dull canvas with a very unsubstantial plot punctuated by brief yet vivid moments that were done well. I certainly didn't love this movie, and found myself to be bored and sometimes a bit bemused by parts in it, but I also didn't hate it. Overall, Liberal Arts is not a movie that I would go out of my way to advocate watching, but if you are so inclined you may find it to be more enjoyable than I did.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Run Time: 97 minutes

Release Date: September 14, 2012

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆