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.

Inside Llewyn Davis

Despite its angsty pretensions, Inside Llewyn Davis remains merely a story without a destination, a bleak portrait of a bleak man’s bleak life on a self-absorbed road to nowhere.

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Britney Jean

Britney says her eighth album is her most personal. So just how personally do you want to get to know her?

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Meet the Fockers

Ben Stiller is back with part two of a story that could’ve been sweet (and genuinely funny) but is instead sunk by the hyper-sexualized Focker family.

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“Ordinary Love”

U2 celebrates the life of the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, insisting that love is more than just something we fall into. Instead, it’s the foundation for both the ordinary … and the extraordinary.

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How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

After ‘Run Fat Boy Run’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ British comedian Simon Pegg is back in another quirky-and-problematic film that satirizes Hollywood’s vacuous culture.

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The Brave One

Haunted by a brutal mugging that left her broken and her fiancé dead, Jodie Foster succumbs to the dark allure of vigilante justice.

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Midnight Memories

The hit singles! The 3-D concert movie! The international tour! And now the album throngs of tween girls have been clamoring for! (Is it all still good clean fun? Was it ever?)

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Frozen

The Frozen soundtrack is hot. It’s the most popular soundtrack since Titanic’s back in 1998. And an Oscar for Best Song hasn’t hurt either.

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The Last Legion

While not quite a prequel to ‘King Arthur,’ Excalibur factors prominently into this swords-and-sandals epic about a boy-king, a world-weary warrior, a sage mentor and a mysterious beauty embarking on a quest to find a lost Roman legion.

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“Heaven Knows”

Gossip Girl’s good girl gone bad, Taylor Momsen, is focusing fully on the bad with her band, The Pretty Reckless. Because despite this song’s heavenly title, she’s got a whole lot more to say about hell.

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Baptized

We rarely have to wait long in a Daughtry song before he responds to life’s many challenges with exhortations to keep trying, keep praying, keep confessing and keep moving toward a brighter future with those we love.

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“PYD”

Justin Bieber takes a huge step sideways with his music on “PYD,” inviting R. Kelly to help him “put you down”—but not in the way you might at first think.

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The Best Man Holiday

Engaging with The Best Man Holiday feels like watching two totally different movies back to back.

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The Christmas Candle

Based on the popular novel by Max Lucado, this film stands in sharp contrast to the shallow, Santa-saturated sentimentality that surrounds it.

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Nebraska

There’s gold in them thar Nebraska hills. That’s what Woody thinks when he receives a Mega Sweepstakes Marketing mailing promising him a million bucks. (But this movie isn’t about money. It’s about dignity and family and legacy.)

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