Youth (2015) dir. Paolo Sorrentino

Following up The Great Beauty, writer/director Paolo Sorrentino gives up Fellini for something pretty different. (Michael Caine looks like a Tony Servillo stand-in, though.) I, for the life of me, cannot decide if it is a masterpiece or a disaster-piece.

Consider the title, Youth. In a film dominated by the elderly, Youth somehow finds a style that works for it. It's wise, funny, and sometimes mournful. It's the movie's greatest strength.

Michael Caine is dazzling as Fred Ballinger, a retired orchestra composer and conductor spending a holiday at a Swiss spa. With him is Harvey Keitel as legendary film writer/director Mick Boyle, working on his "testament" after a string of flops.

The Game - The Documentary 2 (2015) / The Documentary 2.5 (2015)

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Beach House - Depression Cherry (2015) / Thank Your Lucky Stars (2015)

The music industry is so fricken weird these days. Who would've thought that in 2015, we would get not one, but two Beach House albums? Thanks Beyoncé for starting this surprise album drop trend, I guess. Really though, it's hard to be upset about this though. Two albums by one of the most distinct and quality indie bands working today has never hurt anyone (except maybe my feelings, cuz Beach House does that to ya).

Deerhunter - Fading Frontier (2015)

The more I think about it, Deerhunter's highly acclaimed Halcyon Digest doesn't always feel inspired. But that doesn't mean it's bad, in fact, it still remains as quite an excellent record. "Desire Lines"? You know I still play it. There's something magical and eerie about Halcyon Digest that makes it unforgettable.

And considering that Fading Frontier is Deerhunter's latest record, I should expect something good, right? Fading Frontier is quite good, but its greatest sin is that it's very forgettable. Clocking in at a brief thirty-six minutes, Frontier unfortunately has no standout tracks to speak of. The music all sounds fine, but once the record stops, there's only a feeling of "that's it?"

Unfortunately, that is it. Fading Frontier sounds like something that's been done before, and done better. Frontier lacks Digest's gravitas, the pull that makes Digest an arresting listen. I hope Deerhunter's next record is something less safe and more inspired than this.

6/10

Travis Scott - Rodeo (2015)

Why should one listen to Travis Scott? Lyrically, he's pretty lackluster. But the production is fantastic- Exhibit A: the Days Before Rodeo mixtape. Rodeo, the debut album, makes for a fine Exhibit B. Rodeo has some of the best and most-unique sounding tracks I've heard this year.

We begin with T.I.'s voice as our narrator telling a story of sorts, a la Common on Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon. Opener "Pornography" doesn't really stand too well on its own, but it's a solid opener. "Oh My Dis Side" and "3500" are both bangers, but also a little lengthy. It's not until "90210" where Rodeo really takes off though. It's a mish-mash of influences, but it's fantastic. I was reminded of Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak, Drake's "Marvin's Room", and Scott's own "Don't Play".

Beasts of No Nation (2015) dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga

Who's the best new director to emerge from the past decade? Ask me today, and I'd say Cary Joji Fukunaga. I've heard great things about his debut Sin Nombre and his Jane Eyre adaptation, but I can testify that the first season of True Detective was masterfully made, many thanks to Fukunaga.

The Martian (2015) dir. Ridley Scott

There's a lot to like about The Martian, and it's certainly tremendous that it all works. The ensemble, led by Matt Damon, is enormous, Ridley Scott has stunk so much in recent years, and the playful style of the source could possibly fail to translate well on-screen. But fortunately it works.

Julia Holter - Have You in My Wilderness (2015)

I love this. Before, Julia Holter is a name that would not have rung a bell. But her album, Have You in My Wilderness is one of this year's standouts.

It's thoughtful. Right from opener "Feel You", you can tell this album is different. The compostions are complex. It's like nothing I've heard before. Holter swoons and croons her way through vague, personal stories. "Silhoutte" is dynamic, and the back-to-back of "How Long" and "Lucette Stranded on the Island" work especially well together.

Jamie xx - In Colour (2015)

If you ask anyone who had heard the track "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" what their song of the summer was, they would say that was it. I know it was mine.

Jamie xx's In Colour is certainly one of the best albums of 2015. It's classified as Dance/Electronic music, but it's much more than that. Often I find music of that genre to be frantic and thrown-together. There's not much her lyrically, but this isn't Aesop Rock. Right from the first track, "Gosh", a voice announces "...Keeping the vibe alive!" and Jamie xx does.

What makes In Colour great is its minimalist sound. No track is quite alike - if you had to stick a color to each track, you'd have yourself a rainbow. Of course my favorite tracks would include the Young Thug / Popcaan featuring "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)", but I also have to give special recognition to the steel-drum heavy "Obvs", and probably the closer "Girl". In Colour is almost entirely instrumental, but it speaks volumes.

9/10

Sicario (2015) dir. Denis Villeneuve

One of the best movies of 2012 was Kathryn Bigelow's epic and brutal Zero Dark Thirty, which was massive in scope and short in hand-holding. So, if like me, you happened to dig ZDT, you're in luck. Denis Villeneuve's latest, Sicario, offers many of the same pleasures.

Sicario (Spanish for "hitman") follows Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an FBI woman that volunteers for a Department of Defense task force looking to bring down men responsible for violence on the US side of the border. But Sicario is not really about Macer. We follow her, but it's really about the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).

Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015)

Simply put, If You're Reading This It's Too Late was bound to be iconic. Even the dang cover is iconic, from its plainness to its chicken-scratch handwriting that looks like a suicide note from the Chick-Fil-A cow. But most of all, If You're Reading This It's Too Late validated Drake's status as rap's superstar. Only he can really get away with releasing a mixtape with a price tag (and do it twice in one year).

There's serious debate on whether or not This is a mixtape or not. If it is, it's certainly one of the most polished and well-done mixtapes I've listened to. If not, it's a worthy entry in Drake's album output. Even the wikipedia article for the project can't decide whether or not it's a mixtape.

Big Grams - s/t (2015)

Outkast is certainly one of hip-hop's great duos, arguably the greatest there ever was. But whenever Outkast is discussed, it feels like André 3000 comes up more than Big Boi. Three-stacks is certainly the more artistic and flamboyant of the two, but I (and a growing number of others) believe Big Boi, aka Daddy Fat Sax is a better rapper. Not many have a voice for the genre like Big Boi. He can spit fast, and make it seem cool and easy.

Though we haven't really seen much music from André 3000 in the past decade, Big Boi has stayed busy. His two solo albums, though not smash hits, are universally well-liked. This EP, Big Grams, is not a solo effort, though. It's a collaboration between Big Boi and electronica duo Phantogram, and it marks Big Boi's first collaborative release since Outkast's Idlewild.

Ryan Adams - 1989 (2015) / Taylor Swift - 1989 (2014)

Okay, it's already September 23rd of 2015, and I still have yet to listen to Taylor Swift's pop smash 1989. I've heard the singles "Shake It Off" and the "Bad Blood" remix featuring Kendrick Lamar, but I somehow have avoided the other eleven tracks... until today. I realized I was in a pretty good position to compare Swift's album, and Ryan Adams' cover version, which was released two days ago. I listened to Adams' first, so most of my thoughts on Swift's album will be compared to the cover version.

Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon (2015)

When making Honeymoon, I feel like the hardest part for Lana Del Rey was deciding the track order. She makes sultry singing sound easy with her smokey voice. But how the heck did she decide what order to put her songs in? Really, a lot of them do sound the same.

Honeymoon is incredibly easy listening. If you're looking to be challenged, check Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, because you won't be finding anything difficult here. Highlight tracks are all of them, or none of them. It depends if you are a Lana fan or not.

Just like with Future in What a Time to Be Alive, Rey isn't gonna convert any haters with Honeymoon. But I bet her fanbase is pleased and rightly so. The sun-dappled high spirits of Lana's lifestyle are ever present, making Honeymoon a sweet swan song to a summer gone by.

Many of the songs follow a pop formula, so it does get a little tiring, but Lana is doing Lana, and I'm pretty sure she knows what her fanbase wants. This is probably good kissing music.

7/10

Black Mass (2015) dir. Scott Cooper

Johnny Depp is a very talented actor. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who would disagree with that statement. But, it has been hard to stand by Depp's side as in the 2010's, he's been delving deeper into the makeup and weirdness and avoiding all things challenging. But forget Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter or the iconic Jack Sparrow. Depp is weird as hell and still coated in makeup for Scott Cooper's Whitey Bulger pic Black Mass, but you can see he's challenging himself. It's great.

Okay, it's not all great. Scott Cooper is a competent director of actors, and everything looks good onscreen, but it's hard to enjoy Black Mass when it feels like everything onscreen has been done before. Even the "family recipe" scene from the first trailer feels like it's trying to be the "funny how" scene from GoodFellas. Black Mass doesn't even touch GoodFellas or The Godfathers, but for what it is, it's a decently good watch.

Drake / Future - What a Time to Be Alive (2015)

"Moon pie... what a time to be alive!" -Jasper Beardley, The Simpsons

This is exactly how I feel. September 20th, 2015, will not be a landmark day in rap history in the way September 11th (2001: The Blueprint; 2007: Graduation v. Curtis) is. I am not even sure if Drake and Future's new collaborative mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive, will be talked about or even remembered clearly a year from now. But boy am I glad that it's here.

Jay Rock - 90059 (2015)

It's been nearly ten months since Jay Rock released the outstanding single "Parental Advisory" on soundcloud. Since then, I've been waiting patiently and anxiously for Rock's album, which has been a long time coming. In 2011, he released the poppy Follow Me Home, which featured the decently popular "All My Life (In the Ghetto)". Though it's fun to hear Rock and Lil Wayne exchange bars in the song's second half, there's something about Rock's aggression and conviction bubbling under that deserves something bigger.