Eclectic Pop

Best Indie: “The Spectacular Now”: James Ponsoldt’s tender teen romance is not only a love story, it's a meditation on adolescence, devoid of formulaic platitudes. Even the supposed foundation of the story, the bad boy/good girl relationship, sidesteps cliché. This film masterfully captures the glimmer of time as high school ends and the crushing pressures of life’s waves; force even the most confused of souls into a life direction.

The character of Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is someone that resonates because he is someone a lot of us have met or known to some extent. He’s relatable and his trajectory is one that spurs people to feel an intervening interest. While, the film offers no easy, Hollywood fix to his problems, it does, leave us with hope he might be on his way to discovering the tools.

Best New Show of the (2012-2013) Season: Bates Motel: Engrossing at every turn, Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin’s eerie mystery series, is anchored by flawed protagonists that are easy to root for and sublimely original. Dark and twisty, it’s a tale we know the ending to and still can’t help trying to figure out, anyway. "Bates" premiered at a time, where the debate on mental illness was launched into the national spotlight and what it has to say, is crucial and socially relevant, now more than ever.

For many, Christmas movies are as much of a tradition as putting up decorations and listening to your favorite Christmas music. When it came to deciding which were the best and most likely to bring about the spirit of Christmas, these 12 titles took the cake.

Given that they are "eclectic" selections, there is a little something for everyone here. There are movies for adults and ones that can be watched by the entire family.

From the old school, Christmas classics to modern favorites, and aspiring ones, this list hopes to have you covered. These are the 12 Christmas movies that should fill you with the perfect amount of the yuletide spirit.

“The Family Man” is truly one of the best movies ever made, period. That is because it is one of those rare jewels that can sustain multiple viewings and constant scrutiny. Unlike “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the dream sequence is the heart of the entire story. Where the typical dream fare of cinema, …

On a snowy Christmas Eve in New York City, 5 strangers are brought together, and alter each other’s lives in “Noel.” As abundant as films that’s plot centers on the 6 degrees of strangers, intersecting during a holiday have become in recent years, “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve,” to name a few, this film stands out.

Overview: The first half of season 5, saw Stefan (Paul Wesley) blaming Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) for not finding him in a safe, that they had no way of knowing he was in, where he drowned and came back to life, all summer. Tessa aka the super witch from last season aka the jilted lover of Silas, Stefan’s doppelganger, returned to stir the pot. Meanwhile, Elena and Caroline’s dreams of collegiate bliss were interrupted by a secret society, that’s sinful acts made “The Skulls” look like choir boys.

America’s iconic outlaws roared back in the second half of this four hour mini-series event, to a better quality than its previous installment saw. The action quotient was significantly heightened and it increased the overall pace substantially.

The historical authenticity continued to blur the lines of fiction with heavy theoretical “insight” that attempted to fill in the countless holes that composite the current knowledge, concerning the psychological motivations of the two enigmatic outlaws.

Overview: Lima and New York remained divided intervals wherein, Rachel continued to pursue her dreams of stardom on the big white way and the New (New) Directions attempted to maintain their former classmates’ Glee Club glory. The show also had to deal with losing one of its core members, star Cory Monteith and his character Finn Hudson.

From Frank Darabont, the writer and director formerly behind TV’s “The Walking Dead” and the Oscar winning “The Green Mile” comes TNT’s 3-week, mini-series event; “Mob City”.  As a fanof the mini-series genre, this definitely promoted itself with massive appeal. A return to prohibition era America and the seedy underworld of the mob has been material for countless film and TV adaptations.

The tragic, and shocking news that Paul Walker had passed away in a car crash alongside his friend Roger Rodas has cast a long dark shadow. Even over a week later, the news is still powerfully surreal. Walker, an actor mostly known for his role in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise, was not an actor that came around every day nor was he your typical celebrity.

There was something that always set him apart, an enduring light of decency that was constantly at the surface of any role he played. He had the striking looks that could have easily seen his career typecast playing the conceited, preppy guy forever and because of a spirit that spoke to more than that, he went another direction.

Overview: When one of America’s most wanted men turns himself in, Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader) says he will only talk to freshly minted agent, Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). While, that might have been the setup, “The Blacklist” has quickly sprawled itself out from a procedural to a core mythos and delivered fall’s best new character, anti-villain, Red.

Word to the wise, do not watch the trailer for "Homefront" before watching it as it practically gives the entire plot away. Nevertheless, this is a highly entertaining and engaging action movie that deserved to have more left to the imagination.

“Homefront” is one of the rare breeds of a…

A French thriller that's plot plunges into deceptively deeper depths than the pool at its epicenter. “UV” is a gripping, character-driven mystery that explores the inner dynamics of a family in subtle turmoil.

Nina Baker’s distinctive vocals, wrap around the heart of ‘Quite Frankly’, her new record. It’s an album that conveys heartache and immense self-exploration. Baker redolently captures the style of 90’s pop, with its spirited navigation of life’s central themes, by crafting a record that doesn’t stay complacent in its study of one particular element.

This heady dose of melodic splendor comes from the Denmark based band, Slaughter Beach. Wrapped in the fervor of a melodic haze, “Spinning Globe” captures an emotional reticence that is raw and tenaciously palatable. There is a deliriously modern feel to it that presents with a stunning theatrical…

Picking up where “The Hunger Games” left off, the highly anticipated sequel “Catching Fire” finds Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) trying to come to grips with the events from the first film as they set off on a promotional tour for the evil Capital.

Cue the teenage angst tenfold as Peeta pines away for the emotionally reclusive Katniss, who is busy navigating the political waters and unwanted attention that has come from winning the games. President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is on to the twosome and their fake relationship with one another. So now Peeta and Katniss must convince the world of their sincerely, undying affection for each other.

Overview: In its sophomore season, “Beauty and the Beast” has roared back with a quality that has far surpassed its freshman run. Gone is the dowdy procedural, the self-obsessed Vincent and the secret agency, Murfield.

When the season opened Vincent had retrograde amnesia, his powers had been updated and his facial scar had been healed. Despite not remembering her, nothing seemed poised to stop Catherine from getting him back.