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 Last Stand

He’s back. And that can only mean one thing: Bad guys better run, ’cause he’s gonna bust some heads. He’s certainly not going to let them go, is he?

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“Love Me”

Flanked by rappers Drake and Future, Lil Wayne cuts loose with another shame-free, drug-fueled (and popular) celebration of … female degradation.

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“Suit & Tie”

Justin Timberlake walks the musical runway again for the first time since 2006. Are his new lyrical outfits natty … or naughty?

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Music Magic: Adam Holz’s Year-End Picks

If you’re anything like me, you’ve already jumped down in this post, not even bothering to read this sentence first, to see what albums and tracks have been chosen as among the best of 2012, from Plugged In’s point of view. After all, it’s the lists th …

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Vessel

If you’re wondering why on earth we’re reviewing an album that came out four years ago, read on.

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“Because We Can”

Bon Jovi returns with a feel-good ode to the relational power of positive thinking … accompanied by a trio of videos that recall the seedier side of the band’s hair-metal heritage.

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Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones

This 19-song opus from the L.A. glam-metal act Black Veil Brides is actually—and surprisingly—more Muse than Mötley Crüe.

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Texas Chainsaw

Leatherface somehow manages to become the hero of this fetid franchise continuation of a bloody cinematic tradition … nearly four decades after the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

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Social Media Torpedoes Productivity

Social media combined with Internet usage is devastating workers’ productivity and nuking students’ studying time. That’s the assessment from the folks over at learnstuff.com, who synthesized data from multiple sources into a sobering—albeit very color …

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‘What Was Impossible 60 Years Ago and Dangerous 40 Years Ago and Difficult 20 Years Ago Is Now Becoming No Big Deal’

One subject we spend lots of time thinking about here at Plugged In is how media influences our culture. Each week we publish a feature called Culture Clips (check it out here if you’ve never done so before) where we often summarize stories that illust …

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Parental Guidance

Plugged In is all about parental guidance. Hollywood typically isn’t. So we were pretty curious about what would happen onscreen in this Billy Crystal-Bette Midler comedy.

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This Is 40

The man responsible for The 40-Year-Old Virgin once again pays comedic homage to the conflicts many middle-aged folks face. This time within the confines of marriage. (But not within the confines of good taste.)

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On the Road

Kristen Stewart joins the ensemble cast in this adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s influential 1947 novel about a young writer’s lust for worldly experience.

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Shooting Reopens Violence-in-the-Media Dialogue

The unimaginable killing of 20 young children and seven adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., last week has not only reinvigorated longstanding cultural conversations about gun control, it’s also reignited the ongoing dialogue about the im …

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Director Peter Jackson returns to Middle-earth to spin out the first part of its “origins” story. But his version of The Hobbit may not be quite the way you remember Tolkien telling it.

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