Contributor: Adam R. Holz

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a rollicking, satisfying conclusion to Peter Jackson’s second Tolkien trilogy. It’s also easily the most violent.

Before ‘Juno,’ Ellen Page acted in this small-budget indie film about a family trying to come to terms with loss, anger … and too much intelligence for its own good.

It’s as if The Pinkprint’s risky emotional authenticity just gets too scary for Nicki Minaj. So she retreats to “safer” territory, which for her is jaw-dropping nastiness.

This rising British star isn’t really who you think she might be. On her second major-label release, Sucker, Charli XCX meshes and moshes pop, punk, rock and dance sounds with brazenly defiant lyrics that Joan Jett only wished she could screamed out back in 1977.

Little Big Town hits controversial pay dirt with a hit song that’s being widely misinterpreted. But do things get so much better when you hear it clearly?

Rapper Common and R&B maestro John Legend team up to deliver a stirring, Oscar-winning tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on the Selma soundtrack.

As the title indicates, this is Bastille’s third Vs. compendium, a so-called mix tape that’s full of contributions from relatively obscure collaborators.

Dementia may have claimed AC/DC’s aging rhythm guitarist. And the band’s drummer may be on his way to jail. But not even those tribulations can stop the electrified Aussi freight train that is about to rock … again.

Splitting the difference between ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Splash,’ this mermaid tail, er, tale, is aimed directly at tween girls. So what is it teaching them?

Horrible Bosses 2 is desperately trying to be even more horrible than its predecessor. It’s really no more than that, and it’s certainly no less

French EDM maestro David Guetta conscripts a long list of upper-echelon vocalists—Ryan Tedder, John Legend and Nicki Minaj among them—on an album he says is his most reflective and least hedonistic yet.

In November we begin musing about mmm-inducing Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas shopping and … the arrival of a new One Direction album.

Nickelback has a new record label. But that’s about all that’s changed when it comes to this consistent—and consistently vexing—veteran Canadian rock act.

Kirk Cameron wants to save Christmas. But you might be surprised who he wants to save it from.

No matter the temptation, the thing to do is stay true. That’s the message of Andy Grammer’s seriously catchy first hit. Good, right? Well, mostly.