Fresh from New York City, QTY brings listeners a fun indie rock album that is reminiscent of classic rock styles.  QTY is a good blend of old guitar sounds and underground indie rock melodies.  "Rodeo" drops us into the album with a heavy rock vibe with loud drums and classic guitar riffs.  It is quick to engage the listener into the soundscape.  "Dress/Undress" progresses the album with interesting vocals between Dan Lardner's low voice and Alex Niemetz's softer background harmonizations.  The vocal fluidity runs the song into an intense ending buildup.  After "Dress/Undress", the album lightens up for the third track.  "Michael" has a catchy chorus with a more traditional song form.

The fourth track is currently my favorite song because of how it breaks open halfway through the playback.  "Cold Nights" balances haunting lyrics with repetitive instrumentals.  It drills in the point with Lardner's vocal strains at the two minute mark.  We get to hear more of Lardner's higher vocal range in "Word for This".  There is nothing special about his somewhat worn-out voice, but it works really well with the band's genre.

The second half of the album is a smoother and more subdued.  "Notify Me" has easy-going guitar chords and consistent drum beats.  The guitar solos in the track would make for a fun live performance of the song.  One of the strengths of the album is the raw sound that would make for a good concert.  Towards the end of "Notify Me", QTY adds sweet string melodies to play off of the twangy guitar.  This leads the listener softly into the most subdued track on the album.  "Sad Poetic" is created with a sympathetic soundscape.  The lyrics claim, "No, I don't wanna sound like a sad poetic".  Yet the song has a sad tone to reflect the message.

Towards the end of the album, we finally get to hear Alex Niemetz's voice in the lead vocal role.  She is dreamy and has potential as a lead singer for more songs to come.  There is a country twang to "New Beginnings", helping to create the dreamy atmosphere for Niemetz's voice.  Just as the song fades out, we fade into the final track of the album.  "Salvation" is a solid ending song with a buildup to leave the listener in anticipation of more music to come from QTY.  As Niemetz and Lardner's debut album, QTY strikes a nice balance between classic rock and indie rock soundscapes.

Score: 7/10

Favorite Tracks: "Rodeo", "Michael", "Cold Nights", "Salvation"

Least Favorite Tracks: "Living Things"

Ah yes, the dawn of a new Star Wars movie has arrived.  This means that I have another chance to attempt to make it through the prequels in a potentially ultra-movie-marathon.  Well, I surprisingly made it through The Phantom Menace and surely will not be able to finish the prequels before I see The Last Jedi.  In my view, The Phantom Menace is the worst Star Wars film ever created.  However, I cannot speak about the holiday special since I have not seen it and it may or may not exist according to Harrison Ford.

There is an overwhelming majority of people who claim that Attack of the Clones is the worst film of the franchise, but for many reasons I disagree.  Attack of the Clones at least gives us better CGI effects than the first film does.  Everything in The Phantom Menace seems extremely fake and poorly made.  George Lucas (Raiders of the Lost Ark) got a bit carried away with the effects and it detracted from the already half-hearted storytelling.  Honestly, puppet Yoda could've carried this movie much better than the CGI Yoda did.

Unfortunately, the storyline also carries no weight in the franchise.  The whole reason for the prequel trilogy was to set up Darth Vader, but Jake Lloyd (Jingle All the Way) is a poor choice for young Anakin.  We are also introduced to other characters who carry no weight in the franchise, ranging from Qui-Gon Jinn to Jar Jar Binks.  I'm assuming that everyone reading this review is familiar with the flaws of Jar Jar, so I won't go into a long rant about Lucas's terrible writing/casting decision for this one.  However, Liam Neeson (Schindler's List, The A-Team) is wasted in the role of Qui-Gon and that is unacceptable.  Lucas brings in big actors and tears them apart with his poor storyline for the prequels.

The Bottom Line:  After the original trilogy, George Lucas lost his touch with the Star Wars franchise. 

Score: 3.5/10

The Age of Shadows is a simple cat-and-mouse chase film with a lot of details that become confusing at times.  As a whole, the film is very enjoyable and extremely well-shot.  From acclaimed Korean director, Jee-woon Kim (The Good the Bad the Weird), comes this thrilling and constantly progressing story involving cops, a resistance group, and untrustworthy spies.  These three elements make for an intriguing story full of twists and turns.  At a runtime of two hours and twenty minutes, the film never gets muddled down or boring.  The directing and shot choices keep every scene fresh and vibrant, forcing our eyes to never look away from the screen.

While the shots are clear and concise, there are certain pacing choices that could have been better executed.  At times, the setting jumps from one place to another in an instant.  Because of the constant setting changes, I found myself lost on occasion and was left trying to figure out what happened between the filming locations.  There is one scene that occurs at a nunnery, but it is hard to figure out who is at the nunnery at the time and how they leave the nunnery.  The transitions are fluid, but not detailed enough to explain what is occurring between scenes.  

The main plotline was easy to follow, with corruption and two-faced protagonists leading the charge.  Yet, there are a few subplots that are harder to comprehend and might require a second screening of the film to completely understand.  Yoo Gong (Train to Busan), Kang-ho Song (The Host, Snowpiercer), and Byung-hun Lee (A Bittersweet Life​) are all brilliant in their respective roles.  It is often hard to figure out their characters's allegiances, but that is a huge part of the storyline.  Often times Korean films include overly cheesy characters, creating comic relief for the story.  Yet, I usually find that these characters detract from the seriousness of the genre.  Luckily, there are no such characters in this award-level film.

The Bottom Line: The Age of Shadows is an enjoyable Korean cat-and-mouse chase story, filled with untrustable characters and exciting camera shots.

Score: 9.4/10

Image credit: ​By wasabcon - http://wasabcon.tistory.com/621, CC BY 2.0 kr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31364107

For Swifties that really enjoyed 1989, this album is an almost completely different sound for one of the biggest musicians in the world.  Some Swifties might hate it, but most will probably love it.  Throughout the album, Swift reflects on her past and how it made her who she is today.  There is still the charming acoustic side of her, but there is also something much darker brewing on this disc.  Starting off, "...Ready For It?" is a bold statement with a large production of sound.  This is the new sound that Swifties will have to grow accustomed to over the course of the 55 minute runtime.  After the first track, we get a clear glimpse into Swift's past with a song featuring Ed Sheeran.  As the only song featuring other artists, "End Game" is an interesting addition to the album.  Personally, I think that it might've been better as a bonus track.  

Following "End Game", Swift dives back into the sci-fi soundscapes with heavy synthesizers and beat drops.  "I Did Something Bad" is dark and heavy, with sounds reminiscent of gunshots.  The fourth track on the album seems to directly reflect upon the third track.  After admitting that she did something bad, she asks for listeners not to blame her.  "Don't Blame Me"  brings us back to her older music through its lyrics.  It's a slower song with a lot of build-up, showing off her vocals and high range.  Unfortunately, the build-up leads to a duller song.  "Delicate" would have probably fit in well on 1989, but it's a bit of a bore on Reputation.  

After five tracks, we finally get to the track that made the world crazy.  When "Look What You Made Me Do" came out, there was a lot of mixed emotion going around.  This was a completely new sound for Taylor Swift fans to enjoy or hate.  I'll admit that I originally hated everything about this song except the pre-chorus.  Somehow, that hate has grown into enjoyment.  I find it hard to take the song too seriously, but it is still a fun song to move around to.  The pre-chorus leads to a weak chorus, but the rest of the song is heavy and intense.  There are five songwriters credited for this song, including one of my favorites.  Jack Antonoff's influence probably added a lot of layering to this song, making it a big stadium hit.

The second half of the album strays away from the darker tones in the first half.  "Gorgeous" creates a dreamy soundscape with tropical instrumentals.  There is an interesting video online about the making of "Gorgeous" that I would recommend watching.  It really shows off some of the struggles that songwriters go through during the writing process.  After "Gorgeous", we get a song that is reminiscent of an old Bleachers release.  "Getaway Car" has a lot of similarities to "Rollercoaster" from Strange Desire.  Sure it's not a copy of the song, but you can definitely hear the Antonoff influence whenever Swift says the word "shotgun".

The rest of the album is more pop-oriented and less experimental than the first half of the record.  "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" brings us another heavily layered pop song that is in constant motion.  We get funky rhythms with "Dress" and then we go straight into the last three tracks of the album.  

The last three tracks on the album are some of my favorites.  "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" is a total dance track, using heavenly strings and stadium drum tracks.  The track is all-out fun for the listener, balancing a heavy message with head-bobbing instrumentals.  This leads the listener straight into the catchiest tune on the whole album.  "Call It What You Want" displays the superb writing and collaborative skills of Swift and Antonoff.  Solid writing and clever rhymes make the penultimate track on the album the best track.

Finally to soothe our minds and ears, Swift leaves us with a calmer piano ballad.  "New Year's Day" is emotional and retrospective.  This is the old sound that Swifties might miss, but finally get to hear again at the end of the album.  Overall, Reputation is another solid outing for Taylor Swift.  Although it is vastly different from her previous discography, the experimentation adds a new backbone to the familiar writing style of the full-hearted artist.

Score: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: "Look What You Made Me Do", "Getaway Car", "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things", "Call It What You Want", "New Year's Day"

Least Favorite Tracks: "End Game", "Delicate"

Image credit: ​By Agneslawkwanyi - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47885553