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Hey everyone! We’re back with some more releases in entertainment that are coming out this Friday, June 23rd.

For album releases, you can find all of them here. This summer is turning out to be a hot one, not only temperature-wise, but also because of hot tracks!

Upcoming movie releases can be found here, so get your $15 ready to spend on seeing a movie at your local theater. Bring an extra $10 for a small popcorn while you’re at it!

What are you guys listening to/watching? Let us know! We’re libertysa on social media and our email address is studentactivities@liberty.edu. We love hearing from you!

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

This past weekend was filled with big names releasing new music, such as Katy Perry, Lady Antebellum and even Nickelback. And in case you were in the mood for a somber flick, you may have paid ten dollars or more to see Megan Leavey. No matter what choices you made over the weekend, there’s always a new Friday coming around the corner, offering up new pieces of entertainment to watch/listen to and (hopefully) enjoy.

June 16 notable album releases:

• Crack-Up, Fleet Foxes
• The Nashville Sound, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
• Melodrama, Lorde
• Woodstock, Portugal. The Man

The list of album releases this week aren’t as “all over the map” as they have been in recent weeks, yet each artist/band has their own diversities from the others. Jason Isbell is here and won’t let anyone be disappointed by his Americana-folk tunes. We all know Lorde (and have been patiently awaiting this album), so there isn’t much more to say besides we can’t wait for Friday!

June 16 notable tv/movie releases:

• Cars 3
• 47 Meters Down

Fasten your seatbelts, everyone, and get ready for Cars 3 to take off! Will this be a third installment that keeps up the hype of the first two films, or will this simply be a boring run-on of Cars 2? If the outcome is the latter, maybe you should see 47 Meters Down for some more excitement in your life. Unless, of course, you’re afraid of deep sea diving in a cage and having sharks swarm you. In that case, maybe just stick to Cars 3

Did we miss something? Let us know! Email us at studentactivities@liberty.edu or catch us on social media @libertysa. We’ll see you next week with more releases!

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

How was everyone’s weekend of listening to new music and watching Wonder Woman? While Gal Gadot has already earned herself a whopping 93% for critics’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for the film, Alt-J didn’t receive a critical score above “mediocre” on Rolling Stone for Relaxer. With big names like Katy Perry and Lady Antebellum dropping albums this week, let’s hope the scores are more consistent across the board!

June 9 notable album releases:

• Capacity, Big Thief
• Witness, Katy Perry
• Heart Break, Lady Antebellum
• Feed the Machine, Nickelback
• Ti Amo, Phoenix

Katy Perry is back, everyone, and she plans to send a message through her album Witness. Of course, this message will probably be largely political, so do what you want with that information. Nickelback has some music to share with you all as they unceasingly hope to rid themselves of a comical reputation. Phoenix’s album is their first since 2013, and if its success is anything like Wolfgang, the band is right where they need to be.

June 9 notable tv/movie releases:

• The Mummy
• Megan Leavey
• My Cousin Rachel

If you’re in the mood to catch a flick about an ancient princess, The Mummy might be the right choice for you. Megan Leavey is based on a “true life story of a young Marine corporal whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq” (according to IMDB). My Cousin Rachel seems like a film that may creep you out while also enthralling you – but who knows, really? We will after this Friday!

Did we miss something? Let us know! Email us at studentactivities@liberty.edu or catch us on social media @libertysa. We’ll see you next week with more releases!

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

Master of None made its debut in November 2015, making a name for itself from the beginning. Viewers were quickly pleased with its realism, its ability to present social issues without trying to convince, and possibly above all else, its distinct artistic style. The show’s second season was released on Netflix (as a Netflix original) on May 12, and it has already been critically-acclaimed. Receiving 100% on Rotten Tomatoes by critics and 96% by viewers, the second season not only lived up to its expectations (based off the first season, which was also a 100% critic score on RT), but also surpassed these expectations, “delivering an ambitious batch of episodes that builds on the show’s premise while adding surprising twists”, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

A few SA staff members watched the second season together this weekend and wanted to share some thoughts on their favorite Master of None episodes on the blog today. If you haven’t watched the show yet, be aware, there are a few spoilers in this post!
Kay
Favorite episode: E1 – “The Thief”
Explanation:

“Master of None does its best at avoiding the “sophomore slump” with a comforting reintroduction through the season premiere, entitled “The Thief”. It plays like a black-and-white Italian film which finds Dev (Aziz Ansari) living in northern Italy, spending his days making pasta with friends. Dev is once again the charming and funny young food-obsessed millennial, whose broken Italian only adds to his charm.

Not only the premiere, but also the series as a whole, is a love letter to the food and the culture of Italy. It is a bit of a preview into the development of Dev as he spends the season trying to find himself. The opening episode leads you to binge through the short ten-episode season, continuously immersing yourself, like Dev, in constant self-discovery.”

Erin
Favorite episode: E2 – “Le Nozze”
Explanation:

“The second episode of Master of None, season two, stands out as one of my favorites from the series. In the episode, which is wholly lighthearted, Dev is living in Italy and is visited by his best friend from New York, Arnold. “Le Nozze” is translated as “The Wedding” in English, which is exactly what the episode is about on the surface – Arnold is attending a wedding for his ex-girlfriend of 11 years. Yet, there are a thousand deeper messages about the wedding, including but not limited to long-term love, the crossing and separating of paths, the importance of letting go, and so many others.

After watching the episode, I caught myself reflecting on my own life, my relationships and my path – aspiring to be true to myself and the ones I love while realizing how detrimental it can be to expect more than they can/should give to you. It’s an episode that could be watched repetitively and still possess undiscovered important themes, as are many episodes from the series.”

Clay
Favorite episode: E6 – “New York, I Love You”
Explanation:

“One of the most creative elements I have seen on TV came in episode six of the second season of Master of None. This episode follows three separate groups of New Yorkers as their paths cross throughout the city. Following a doorman at a luxury apartment complex, a deaf convenience store clerk, and a Rwandan taxi driver and his roommates, the stories are independent of one another and yet flawlessly tie, lending a creative insight into how different people’s lives can be from one another.

This episode blew me away for two reasons, the first being the unique manner in which the guest characters were presented. This presentation is unlike anything I have seen in any show or movie before. The second reason was simply the fact that in a show about Aziz’s character, Dev, and his friends, they only had about a minute of screen time. The entire episode was about the people of the city that Dev loves.”

Drew
Favorite episode: E10 – “Buona Notte”
Explanation:

“My favorite episode from the second season of Master of None is the finale, “Buona Notte”. Tension between Dev and Francesca rises to a point of inevitable conflict when the two are in Dev’s New York apartment. Coming off a helicopter date where Dev explains why he doesn’t understand people who stay in lukewarm relationships, the pair contemplates whether or not they would have the same connection if they were both single when they first met. The scene cuts to Dev walking up to Francesca, sitting at the kitchen counter, as if the two of them were meeting for the first time.

After a little more dialogue, the two have their “first dance” with the scene lit on one side with a fiery red contrasting with an icy blue on the other. Dev and Francesca are found dancing in between the vivid colors, in the lukewarm area. The powerful imagery in this scene is why this episode is my favorite in the season. Both characters are currently in lukewarm situations; Francesca, in a relationship with her fiancé and not knowing what she wants anymore, and Dev, with his current relationship and job status. The dreamlike daze seen in both characters’ expressions shows the yearning for a deeper connection with somebody. The quest to really connect with someone is put in jeopardy when Dev kisses Francesca and she leaves his apartment, causing him inevitable confusion and frustration. This scene depicts a deeper theme threaded throughout the season, which is that of finding purpose and passion in relationships and jobs. “Buona Notte’s” combination of excellent cinematography and acting is what makes the episode a step above the rest.”

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

Harry Styles self-titled album was released May 12, seeking to answer the inevitable question asked of a post-boy band member – “Can he do this alone?”

To some, the answer could be a definite no – his songs aren’t necessarily as “catchy” as former co-boy band member Zayn Malik’s have been (such as “Pillowtalk” and “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” with Taylor Swift). The reason that the answer could be yes, though, is because something that Styles does have is a nostalgic sound, reminiscent of David Bowie, Paul McCartney and other 70’s legends.

Harry Styles is unpredictable – each song on the album isn’t anything like the one before. Changing from soft rock to blues to more of a melancholy singer/songwriter ballad, there is no word to tie all the songs together besides “honesty”. Styles’ lyrics, though possibly underdeveloped at times, are incredibly honest, causing you to feel as though you’re a close friend of his. Rolling Stone describes his lyrics by saying, “No club-hopping or bottles popping – it’s the after-hours balladry of a 23-year-old star wondering why he spends so much time in lonely hotel rooms staring at his phone.”* The album doesn’t allude to a celebrity with all the riches and fame in the world enjoying himself – it goes much deeper, offering transparency about what exactly it feels like to be a celebrity, worshipped by teenage girls and being offered anything in the world, yet still being unsatisfied.

Pitchfork** offers up a well-written article about Harry Styles, stating “[He] wants to be a rock star—your father’s rock star, or maybe even your grandparents’ rock star.” The article goes on to say that the style of Harry Styles is essentially everything it needs to be – fresh, reminiscent and unique from other breakaway boy band members. The article mentions Styles’ sometimes underdone lyrics: “Vague allusions, stock characters, and cliché turns of phrase aside, [he] struggles most with writing about women, a shame given that Harry Styles is supposed to be “a song cycle about women and relationships.” While this seems to be true, his slight lyrical struggle comes off as charming, simple, and sometimes boyish. For Styles, the boyish charm behind his transparent lyrics works in his favor.

This album is truly all over the board – “Two Ghosts” begins as something like a John Mayer hit, while “Only Angel” sounds like a song straight off of Foster the People’s Torches. Yet, comprehensively, everything fits together in Styles’ favor. Harry Styles seems to be sure of what he wants his music to be, and as he continues to show off what exactly that is, listeners everywhere are sure to not be disappointed.

What did you think of Harry Styles? Let us know! Email us at studentactivities@liberty.edu or find us on social media @libertysa. We’ll have more reviews comin’ at you soon!

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

Resources

* http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/review-harry-styles-harry-styles-w481586

** http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23204-harry-styles/

Coming off of a weekend with Pirates, new music from Lana Del Rey and another season of Bloodline, we know you were left wanting more – and you’re in luck! This upcoming weekend, June 2, has another array of musical releases, some of which we’re pretty excited to listen through. Whether you’re going on family vacation or simply listening to music on your work break, some of the releases below may “tickle your fancy” (we should abolish that phrase, right?).

May 26 notable album releases:

• Last Young Renegade, All Time Low
• Relaxer, Alt-J
• Somersault, Beach Fossils
• Gone Now, Bleachers
• Cover My Tracks, Charlie Fink (of Noah and the Whale)
• Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, Halsey
• Truth Is a Beautiful Thing, London Grammar

We’ve heard a couple singles off of Relaxer that have made us believe that the album is going to surprise us with a fresh sound, in true Alt-J fashion. All Time Low’s new album, on the other hand, is one we’re expecting to sound sort of like all albums from the band – punk with a pinch of rebellion. Halsey’s first album release since 2015 is one that could go either way; will it follow in the footsteps of BADLANDS or will it have a more comprehensive feel? We’ll find out this Friday!

May 26 notable tv/movie releases:

• Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
• Wonder Woman
• Churchill
• Past Life

For all of you Captain Underpants fans, this Friday is a big day for you! With Kevin Hart and Ed Helms at the “helm” of this premiere, there’s a slim chance that you won’t enjoy yourself. Hopefully Gal Gadot can make the character of Wonder Woman be convincing enough in this debut. And for you history buffs, the combination of Churchill and Past Life should be enough to satiate those historical tastebuds of yours!

Did we miss something? Let us know! Email us at studentactivities@liberty.edu or catch us on social media @libertysa. We’ll see you next week with more releases!

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

Did you stay up late watching Drake sweep the Billboard awards last night? Spend your weekend binge-watching the new “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” season? Maybe you simply took a long drive and caught up on listening to the twisty, always-surprising “Up and Vanished” podcast. No matter what your weekend looked like, another summer Monday is now upon us, meaning that a new week of entertainment has begun. What else could get us through the week besides looking towards the new releases in entertainment that are due Friday?

May 26 notable album releases:

• Kids in the Street, Justin Townes Earle
• Lust for Life, Lana Del Rey
• El Dorado, Shakira
• Different Days, The Charlatans UK
• Teenage Emotions, Lil Yachty

From the Spanish vibes of Shakira to the sultry tone of Lana Del Rey, this week’s releases in music will be a bit scattered. The aforementioned albums cover the singer-songwriter/rap/indie rock genres and more. Will these albums be what we’re expecting, or will they be completely different? We’ll see this Friday!

May 26 notable tv/movie releases:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
• War Machine
• Bloodline – Season 3

Yep, that’s right everyone – Pirates is back (and maybe better than ever before?). Captain Jack Sparrow is ready to show off that charming gold-tooth smile at you while you ask yourself if this series will ever end. War Machine, being much more on the heavy side of a viewer’s experience, stars Brad Pitt, so what else do you need to know? Finally, season three of Bloodline is here, so if you’re into that kind of thing, get your eye-opening toothpicks ready for use as you binge-watch the weekend away!

Did we miss something? Let us know! Email us at studentactivities@liberty.edu or catch us on social media @libertysa. We’ll see you next week with more releases!

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

“The man, the myth, the legend” is a pretty popular saying, although sometimes taken a bit out of context. Chris Stapleton, though, wears the title like a crown – he is obviously a man, as mysterious as a myth, and, though sometimes unrecognized, turning into a legend of our time.

For all of you fans who follow country music religiously, you may recall listening to “What Are You Listening To?” (ironic, huh?) in 2013 as your first Stapleton moment. And for all of you who aren’t always on the up and up of country music, you probably share your first Chris Stapleton experience with much of America – his big 2015 performance, when he sang on stage with Justin Timberlake at the CMA Awards. With the combination of Stapleton’s recently released “Tennessee Whiskey” and Timberlake’s 20/20 hit “Drink You Away”, millions of Americans began to ask Google “who, exactly, is this Stapleton guy?” As his name began to trend, so did his music – “Traveller, released six months earlier, topped iTunes. In the week after the CMAs, it rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 153,000 copies. Until that point, it had sold 97,000.”*

The sales of Traveller didn’t slow down after the CMA Awards – the album is now gold-certified and won best country album at the 2016 Grammys. Washington Post reports, “It’s the highest-selling country album (of 2016) and No. 4 in all genres of music (that year), behind only Adele, Drake and Beyoncé.”* With Stapleton becoming a top contender in the music realm, his From A Room: Volume 1 album has been awaited with high hopes. And on May 5, 2017, Stapleton fans were not disappointed (but did they really think they would be?) as they tuned in to the new album.

Rolling Stone reports, “From A Room was recorded in Nashville with throwback-country super-producer Dave Cobb at RCA Studio A, a venerable room where Waylon, Willie, Dolly and others made classics back in the day.”** Following in the footsteps of Stapleton’s predecessors, From A Room is filled with strength – for example, his voice singing/calling out frustratedly, “Girl you know that I still love you // And you know that I’m so alone” on the track “I Was Wrong” shows empowering honesty and vulnerability. Even in the moments when Stapleton sings at the top of his lungs, every word is filled with control.

And these moments of “singing at the top of his lungs” are not few and far between. Stapleton’s pipes are on display for much of the album, especially in tracks like “Either Way” and “Death Row”. His soulful voice spins country into a whole new genre consisting of not only country, but also blues, soul and singer/songwriter all in one. This twist allows Stapleton to live outside of any genre box, appealing to anyone who appreciates soulfully-written, simply raw music.

From A Room: Volume 1 can make even the biggest country critic give the genre a double-take. As the question “can country music be about more than trucks and parties?” looms over country fans and nay-sayers alike, this album, and Stapleton himself, is the answer we’ve all been hoping to hear – yes, it can be, and it is, about so much more.

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

Resources

*https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-year-after-chris-stapletons-cmas-shocker-country-music-is-still-wondering-how-much-it-mattered/2016/10/28/fb4c8648-9c5a-11e6-b3c9-f662adaa0048_story.html?utm_term=.096cbadb2bb4

**http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/review-chris-stapletons-from-a-room-volume-1-w480399

Lines to get coffee are long, yawns endlessly cycle in every room, and naps are longed for – it’s Monday, everyone! As dramatic as we may all be about a Monday (which comes every week, so we should probably get used to them), it’s sometimes difficult to get acclimated to a new week. That’s why we’re here – to bring you music, movies and any sort of entertainment releases you may care about to liven up the beginning of your week!

May 12 notable album releases:

• Harry Styles, self-titled album
• After Laughter, Paramore
• Welcome Home, Zac Brown Band

May 19 notable album releases:

• One More Light, Linkin Park
• Crooked Teeth, Papa Roach
• Back To Us, Rascal Flatts
• Goths, The Mountain Goats
• Big Fish Theory, Vince Staples

This week in music may not feel as eventful as this past week, which we mentioned above. Yet, for this past Friday and the upcoming one, the common thread is that we’re thrown back to the 2000s with releases from Paramore, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Rascal Flatts and Snoop Dogg. Most of the aforementioned artists may cause you to say “wait, ___ is back?” and especially in the case of Paramore, “wow, this sounds so different!”

*Update: A special shout out goes to one of our campus favorites, the Vegan Llamas, who released their first EP on streaming sites on May 15th! We’re so pumped for you guys!

May 19 notable tv/movie releases:

• Everything, Everything
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Season 3

When it comes to tv/movie, you can probably guarantee yourself a laugh while watching the latter two releases mentioned. Everything, Everything, being more of a drama than a comedy, may stomp that flame in your heart that can only be satiated by a teen romance.

Did we miss something? Let us know! Email us at studentactivities@liberty.edu or catch us on social media @libertysa. We’ll see you next week with more releases!

Disclaimer: Student Activities does not explicitly promote the albums/television shows/movies we write about. As always, we seek to engage with and review what is happening in our culture in order to interact with it in a godly manner, which is why we do what we do. For more information about movies/music that we do promote, check out our FAQ page!

Here at Student Activities, entertainment means a lot to us – it’s the backbone of our department, the basis for most of our events.

With summer 2017 involving the releases of diverse music, movies and books, we want to keep you posted with what we’ve been listening to, watching and reading. For example, we’ll see music releases from Paramore’s revival album “After Laughter” to Alt-J’s third studio album “Relaxer”. Lorde will finally release her long-awaited album “Melodrama” on June 16^th. When it comes to movies, “Despicable Me 3” will be released on June 30^th, allowing all the little kids (and everyone, really) in your life to start talking about minions all over again. These pieces of our culture will be reviewed/discussed right here, on your very own Student Activities blog. Our reviews will not necessarily be critical – they’ll simply tell you what we’ve pulled from these new pieces of art that we want to share – but they will always, always be deeply researched.

We hope you’ll let us know your opinions on the newness that will be brought about in the entertainment world this summer. Catch us here every Monday for your weekly release preview and other weekdays for reviews on recent releases!