Movies, TV, music, and books we're into this week

This movie is a musical … kind of. And it's kind of corny. Normally those two statements would be more than enough to keep me away from a film. But for some reason, Hearts Beat Loud really works.It's the story of a single father raising a daughter in some fantasy version of Brooklyn, New York, where normal people can afford to live in nice, big apartments. The father owns and runs a record store, which is failing. And his daughter is about to leave him to head off to med school. But their love of music, and their unlikely union in a band of sorts, solve all their worldly problems! (Did I mention it's kind of corny?)The father, played by Nick Offerman of Parks and Recreation fame, is funny and authentic as an aging hipster whose unsure future makes him yearn for a simpler past. And the music is surprisingly catchy. It's a light, fun, feel-good flick that's worth a watch.

Having watched Avengers Infinity War recently and deciding that the whole series should be something I watch, I've gone back to start watching the rest of the MCU in chronological order rather than the order they were released. That means going back to the Second World War to see the origin story of Steve Rodgers, better known as Captain America, with cameos from the likes of Tony Stark's dad and Agent Carter, it's a great way to start the ball rolling.

The movie that kickstarted one of horror's most venerated franchises, the 1979 still holds up today, often making modern horror movies look like kid's shows in the process.Aboard a gigantic interstellar mineral processing plant, the Nostromo, a crew of deep-space factory workers get sidetracked by a mysterious signal of unknown origin. Soon, they find themselves hunted in what remains one of the greatest, if not the greatest, sci-fi horror movies of all time.

Fellow Canadian Norm Macdonald has always been a favorite of mine. His standup comedy takes a bit of getting used to, and not everyone likes it, but if you get a taste for it, it's hard to pass up. Norm once had a popular video podcast where he interviewed other famous people, but unfortunately, it was removed from YouTube. In its place is a new Netflix exclusive called Norm Macdonald Has a Show, in which the same format applies. An unwitting guest sits down opposite Norm and attempts to answer questions and read jokes in the standard cringey form.

I first stumbled upon Badbadnotgood when a song called "Confessions" popped up my a Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify, and I was instantly hooked. When I dove in to the album that features the track, III, I became even more entranced.Badbadnotgood is a jazz fusion band from Canada, combining a surprisingly wide range of instruments ranging from fluttering piano and groovy bass to wailing saxophone leads and droning synthesizers. There are no vocals across the entirety of the album, laying the instrumentation bare with a deeply moody undertone.III has been my go-to album for both relaxation and concentration while working, and I keep coming back to it. The rest of Badbadnotgood's discography is definitely worth a look, but III is a great place to start.

Siren Song of the Counter-Culture is one of my favorite albums of all time. Packing some cracking Rise Against hits like Paper Wings and Blood to Bleed, it's not only perfect to blast some notes out on a road trip, but also while chilling with your best headphones. If you're a fan of rock, you need to check this album out.

The Buried Giant by Ishiguro blew me away, and I'm excited to get started on another one of his books. I'm about a quarter of the way through Never Let Me Go and already I don't want to put it down. It's the story of three children growing up at an exclusive boarding school, called Hailsham, that seems normal on the inside. Later in life, however, as the three characters reunite, Hailsham begins to seem a lot less normal. There's also a movie adaptation of this book that seems to be quite popular.

The phrase 'great molasses flood' kind of puts a smirk on your face, right? I mean, come on? Molasses? Flooding? After you read this book, though, you'll have a completely different take.Because just such a flood killed a bunch of people, and injured scores more, in brutal fashion in 1919 in Boston's North End, a neighborhood that even today is about as dense as urban centers get and, at the time, was absolutely packed with people.I won't get into much detail here because the best thing about the book is finding out why the hell there was a giant 2-million-gallon molasses tank in Boston in the first place, what the molasses was used for, and how it ended up causing outright chaos in one of America's greatest cities. (Hint: Greed.) It's a fascinating read that history buffs and anyone who loves a good story will definitely appreciate.