‘Prisoners’ offers audience suspenseful, crime-filled mystery
Boasting a stellar cast of Academy Award-nominated actors, “Prisoners” is an intense, yet strangely quiet crime thriller. The film, focused on two families dealing with the disappearance of their two young daughters and the detective in charge of the investigation,…
MGMT leaves listeners confused with complex, aimless sounds
New York-based art rock duo MGMT has apparently doubled down on the psychedelia that it channeled on its extremely divisive sophomore album “Congratulations” and created the musical equivalent of a bad trip on their new self-titled album, “MGMT.” Though laden…
Despite De Niro’s effort ‘Family’ experiences rise, falls in quality
“The Family,” Robert De Niro’s latest film, is a strange mix of dark humor, violence and suspense. It seemed as though it wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to be. It tried to do a little of everything and got…
‘Insidious: Chapter 2’ expands plot, provides intense scares
“Insidious: Chapter 2” opens immediately after the events of the first film. The day after confronting the spirit troubling their family, Josh (Patrick Wilson, “The Conjuring”) and Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne, “The Internship”) tries to put the events behind them….
Gloria Estefan honors classics with new twist
On Sept. 10, Gloria Estefan released her new album “The Standards.” “The Standards” is an album Estefan said she has been waiting to do. It is her take on classic hits like “Good Morning Heartache,” “You Made Me Love You,”…
‘Direct Hit!’ releases concept album
While Direct Hit! is known for their catchy brand of grit infused pop punk, they would probably be the last band anyone would expect to make a concept album. Most surprising, the concept actually works. It seems that in 2013…
The Weeknd flunks with uninspired lyrics, bloated production
The latest effort from Abel Tesfay, aka The Weeknd, the enigmatic Canadian producer, vocalist and Internet darling, is little more than a disappointment. One could credit Tesfaye for not resting on his laurels and giving us more of what he…
Authentic teenage troubles, no excessive melodrama in ‘Now’
“The Spectacular Now,” based on the novel of the same name, by Tim Tharp is a genuine and heartfelt coming of age story. The fact that its protagonist is a senior in high school makes it slightly bizarre, considering most…
Questions, experimentation contribute to Arctic Monkeys’ ‘AM’
Are the Arctic Monkeys the same band that took the world by storm eight years ago? It seems only natural to lead this review with a question, as the first three singles of the album are also all titled in…
Same sound, no progress in ‘Hail to the King’
After three years of waiting, fans of the heavy rock/metal band Avenged Sevenfold can finally rejoice in the release of the band’s sixth album, “Hail to the King.” Released on Aug. 27, “Hail to the King” is the first album…
