Entertainment

While the latest film produced by Seth Rogen may not be a new Christmas favorite to watch every year, it certainly provided viewers with gut-wrenching laughter and a nice transition into Christmas time. The Night Before revolves around the tradition of three best friends: Isaac (Rogen), Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Chris (Anthony Mackie). These longtime friends have always spent Christmas Eve together since the death of Ethan’s parents, but now that they all are growing up and forming their own traditions, this year will be their last spent together.

A brutal plotline and heavy themes have always made The Hunger Games a complicated series. Suzanne Collins’ dystopian story about a girl at the center of a rebellion is expertly nuanced with social commentary that makes it a standout in its genre. It’s a shame, then, that the final film installment feels rather dull.

English singer-songwriter Adele has serenaded us once again with her powerful vocals and love-struck ballads. The Grammy-winning artist released her last album, 21, in 2011, which earned her extreme popularity in the media and love from critics. Her follow-up to that album, 25, was just released on Nov. 20. Given the significant time gap between her previous album and 25, one would think there would be some sort of uniqueness to her new work. Unfortunately, Adele has crooned us with her same old style. This is her third studio album filled with a jumble of slow songs that all sound the same when thrown together (not to mention her lack of creativity with the numbered title once again). When giving this album a listen all the way through, you’ll find very few standout tracks and tons of noticeable flaws.

Alessia Cara, 19-year-old singer-songwriter, got her start in the music world by posting acoustic Youtube covers of popular songs from her bedroom floor in Brampton, Canada. She was discovered by Taylor Swift after covering “Bad Blood” and Swift tweeted at her, impressed by her cover. Having 66 million Twitter followers, Swift’s tweet helped bring attention to and propel Alessia’s single, “Here,” to No.1 on Billboard and Twitter emerging artists chart, according to billboard.com.

One of the contributors on this semester’s Blue Hawk Records compilation album is jazz artist Kellan Brennan. Brennan is a junior communication major focusing on radio and TV studies at the University. He has been playing piano for nine years and enjoys listening to and playing all genres of music. Some of Brennan’s influences are Steely Dan, Esperanza Spalding, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Sublime.

I’m about two hours into Fallout 4 and have just made friends with “Dogmeat,” a stray German Shepard and my first in-game companion. I’m walking along, mostly following a road, occasionally going through ruined woods, and doing a bit of scavenging. By the time I come upon a red rocket gas station, I’ve picked up a double-barrel shotgun and a pipe-rifle to go with my 10mm handgun. Dogmeat and I kill off a few nuclear mole-rats infesting the place and are quite happy to find some empty cans and a hotplate.

Heavy is the head of he who wears the crown.

The smooth, funky bass line and the giddy up of the guitar welcome you onto the dance floor like old friends you haven’t seen in awhile. There are conjoined shouts of a crowd and one amplified voice above them all singing “’Cause this is thriller, thriller night and no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike.” The beast was Waiting On Mongo (WOM), a local jam band, and it struck at Langosta Lounge, a boardwalk bar in Asbury Park, on Friday, Oct. 23. WOM plays the same venue again the night before Thanksgiving on Nov. 25.

Every semester, students in the Music Industry program at the University take Applied Music Industry 3 where they get to experience every aspect of scouting artists, producing and recording music and releasing an album. Joe Rapolla, Chair of the Music and Theatre Arts department and specialist professor, said, “This is a very unique and great experience for these students and it has the ability to reach across many different majors.” Last week we read about  Dan Amato, our first Blue Hawk Records artist this semester. Let’s meet some more artists on the compilation album!

Let me start off with a little disclaimer: I have a bias for video games from the Persona series. I first encountered the Shin Megami Tensei series (and its Persona spin-off) in my senior year of high school. Since that time, I’ve paid close attention to both series, with Persona specifically becoming my favorite videogame series. As a little background, Shin Megami Tensei is a series centered on the occult and the ending of the world. Players fight to control the fate of these worlds (for better or for worse) by taming and controlling various creatures from folklore, religions and mythologies ranging from a Unicorn to Thor to Jack Frost. In some ways, it’s like a more adult version of Pokémon (much, much more adult). Shin Megami Tensei titles normally feature deep and mature plot points with branching storylines. Characters live and die depending on the choices you make, and in some cases, your decisions will literally have world-ending consequences. Actually, in some games, you may even choose to end a world deliberately. If you like moral conundrums, the occult and playing god, this series may be for you.