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.

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling 2003 novel about two Afghan friends inspires a heartrending movie about friendship, failure and forgiveness.

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“I Really Like You”

Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen scored one of 2012’s biggest hits with “Call Me Maybe.” Now she’s hoping for a repeat with “I Really Like You,” a song that finds her really flirting with romantic disaster.

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Just Kids

Mat Kearney’s fifth album offers a polished amalgamation of pop and rap as he gratefully ponders his past and the place he’s come from.

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Of Beauty and Rage

Christian metallers RED return with a dramatic, boundary-pushing concept album about the “dichotomy of good and evil.”

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“Fight Song”

Rachel Platten is indeed having, as Swift said, “a breakout moment” with her keyboard-driven “Fight Song.”

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“Hold on Tight”

British artist Greg Holden co-wrote Phillip Phillips’ hit “Home.” Now he’s making a name for himself with a hopeful song about making every day count.

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Smoke + Mirrors

Imagine Dragons’ sophomore effort bleeds with earnest, angst-ridden spiritual longing. A longing for what? Light.

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The Fountain

Hugh Jackman seeks the key to immortality to save the woman he loves … in three different time periods spanning a thousand years.

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300

Far more than 300 (graphically) die as Frank Miller mythologizes and immortalizes the Spartan warriors who stood against Persia’s massive army in 480 B.C.

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The Ultimate Gift

An oil tycoon’s unorthodox will tutors his spoiled grandson in life lessons that instant wealth could never instill. Lesson worth learning: selfless giving.

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If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late

Drake offers up an unintentional case study in the idea of a God-shaped vacuum in our souls—by trying to fill it with everything but God.

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“Style”

Mature and all grown up, that’s what they say about this song. But it isn’t really. It’s just styled to feel that way.

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Little Fockers

The subversively named Focker clan is back for round three. And that can only mean one thing: the further obliteration of PG-13 movie boundaries.

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Old Fashioned

Old Fashioned works hard to live up to its title. But it works just as hard to be a really good (in every sense of that word) romance.

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Pass the Light

Pass the Light may be a low-budget movie, but it dares to ask a high-end question: What is “the true Christian message?” The issue at hand is homosexuality. And its answer is …

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