Contributor: Adam R. Holz

Clint Eastwood’s second movie about the 1945 battle for Iwo Jima presents a complex look at war from the perspective of the island’s doomed Japanese defenders.

Shakira’s prominent spot on The Voice’s judging panel has surely broadened her musical audience. So what kind of dance steps is this infamously sultry Colombian hip shaker teaching her new fans?

There are moments of implausibility that emerge as the list of non-Christians behaving badly lengthens. But God’s Not Dead can always be seen focusing on the simple power of testifying to the Truth.

The guys behind 2011’s dreamily disturbing hit “Pumped Up Kicks” are back with a second album, one that’s significantly more positive—not to mention culturally prophetic.

EDM maestro Skrillex has finally added more words to his latest pulsating, rave-ready, synthesizers-gone-wild effort. Unfortunately, a lot of them are swear words.

Liam Neeson is a fiercely protective retired CIA agent whose daughter is kidnapped by sex traffickers. He does nothing less than everything to get her back.

Love, as previously reported, is a many-splendored thing when it’s true. When it’s a lie, though, well, not so much. And then there’s just plain ol’ lust, which is what this song’s video sinks into.

Need for Speed is not a movie about the subtle nuances of character transformation. It’s a souped-up, turbocharged melodrama.

Toys rescuing toys is once again the dominant theme in this delightful, visually stunning sequel.

Pharrell Williams tells us on one song, “Half of me is good, the other half is nasty.” But the balance on this album isn’t so evenly divided.

Australia-born rapper Iggy Azalea fuses rap clichés with a fancy video send-up of the movie Clueless in a No. 1 hit that’s long on style and braggadocio but shamefully short on depth and substance.

The Fray’s fourth effort delivers another dose of earnest, anthemic alt-rock. But it (mostly) trades the band’s trademark melancholy for a surprisingly upbeat shot of optimism.

Beck’s reflective, Grammy-winning Morning Phase walks a paradoxical tightrope between melancholic despair and hopeful determination.

This Canadian reggae fusion band belts out a magical song that is anything but rude to the cherished yet currently beleaguered institution of marriage.

In another Japanese horror retread—that’s more than a little reminiscent of ‘The Ring,’ ‘The Grudge’ and ‘Dark Water’—cell phone voice mails portend certain doom.