Contributor: Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

Something Just Like This

The Chainsmokers collaboration with Coldplay yields an intriguing song about our longings to be heroic … and our fears that we are not.

Read more

Believer

Imagine Dragons roars back with an ambiguous song about the relationship between pain and belief.

Read more

The Fighter

Keith Urban gets in touch with his inner knight in shining armor here, pugilistically promising always to fight for the woman he loves.

Read more

The Devil Don’t Sleep

Brantley Gilbert’s fourth album preaches the importance of resisting the devil’s wily ways … when this country singer isn’t indulging them, that is.

Read more

A Dog’s Purpose

A Dog’s Purpose is the kind of movie Christian moviegoers often say that we’d like to see: a sweet story that doggedly avoids gratuitous content.

Read more

Blessings

Rapper Lecrae’s latest encourages us to cultivate humility, work hard, trust God and count our blessings.

Read more

The Resurrection of Gavin Stone

Too often the church isn’t seen as a place of grace or honesty, but as a place where hypocrites pretend to be better than they are. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone turns those stereotypes upside down.

Read more

AFI (The Blood Album)

Two decades and 10 albums haven’t made this angst-ridden, alienation-fixated band any happier.

Read more

Vessels

The second album from this sci-fi focused alt-rock band paints a cosmic picture of one man’s badly broken heart.

Read more

You Look Good

If you’re beautiful, you may as well flaunt it. That’s about the only message in Lady Antebellum’s latest hit.

Read more

Sleepless

Sleepless is pretty much a standard-issue R-rated corrupt cop caper. It’s not terrible, by genre standards. Nor is it memorable. What it is, however, is chock-full of violence and profanity.

Read more

Issues

Are the handful of issues with Julia Michaels’ track “Issues” enough to warrant a breakup with her first big solo hit?

Read more

Live by Night

For 98% of this movie, Ben Affleck’s character is a heartless, selfish monster. The fact that he’s slightly less monstrous than his enemies doesn’t make him any less culpable … or any more likable.

Read more

I See You

The xx’s latest might very well stir up deep feelings, but it doesn’t offer much guidance for what to do with them.

Read more

Despacito

This huge, mostly Spanish hit just became the most-streamed track ever. But you might be surprised how racy its lyrics are when they’re translated.

Read more