A&E

Weezer’s “Teal Album” had a surprise release on Jan. 23, and the tracklist is just as surprising as its drop.

Orange County School of the Arts alumni Krysta Rodriguez and Scott Barnhardt returned to Orange County on Jan. 27 to perform their cabaret “Coming Home” at the Irvine Barclay Theater.

Shortly after entering the exhibit, an unusual proposition was presented by the Archive of Privatized Experience: volunteer to check in your phone for the duration of your time in the exhibit and get paid.

A few years after he graduated from UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts, Justin Keats’ phone rang in an audition waiting room in New York City.

The psychological thriller “You” has become one of the biggest television series on Netflix since its release last December.

“Roma” is an emotional and powerful Netflix distributed period drama set in the 1970’s Roma neighbourhood of Mexico City. It is a touching tribute from director Alfonso Cuaron, who received a Golden Globe for Best Director of a Motion Picture for the film, to the Oaxacan caretaker who helped raise him.

YouTuber StarWarsTheory’s fan film “Vader Shards of the Past,” was copyright claimed by Warner/Chappell Music (a Disney music publishing company) on Jan. 14. Essentially, this meant that they would be adding advertisements to the free movie, and all the revenue made from it would go to Disney.

Anticipating the upcoming week, actress Morgan Kirner, currently portraying the role of Ermengarde, sat down to talk about her background in musical theater as well as the “Hello, Dolly!” tour in Costa Mesa.

In a year that saw the premature deaths of Mac Miller and XXXTENTACION, the faltering of gate-keeping artists like Kanye West, and the proliferation of drugged-out, teenage depression raps reaching even greater heights, Cole’s “K.O.D” struck the hip-hop scene with an impartial, mature, and sober clarity.

Overall, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is a film that takes risks and succeeds in giving audiences a compelling story with enthralling characters, while effectively doling out Spider-Man’s greatest moral: anyone can be a hero.

As the world we occupy manages to keep deteriorating into morbidity, music seems to be following the same trend, growing more grim and serious. However, in this world of grime on Dec. 7, the Michigan funk quartet Vulfpeck broke through the darkness with their highly anticipated eighth studio album, “Hill Climber”. The album features the group’s original four members Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Joe Dart, and Woody Goss along with brilliant regulars in Joey Dosik, Cory Wong and Antwaun Stanley. The band also continues its newfound tradition of featuring other talents like Louis Cole, Monica Martin, and Mike Viola to present some modern minimalist funk.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year filled with tasty baked goods, cute colorful decorations, family get-togethers, and corny over-the-top Netflix movies.