Music, movies, and books we're into this week

Deep Blue Sea is a movie about sharks. Angry mutated sharks that eat people.An off-shore research base is growing genetically engineered, giant sharks, to perform tests on their brains; what could possibly go wrong?Samuel L Jackson stars in this violent and vaguely entertaining Jaws-like extravaganza. Lots of blood. Lots.

The legendary film of films. It's the movie that keeps on giving. A twisted story of a man who spirals into depression, but it's so well directed, cast and produced that The Room is now a cult favorite and a solid comedy.

If you're a Halo fan at all, you owe it to yourself to check out The Fall of Reach, a three-part animated adaptation that charts the origins of Master Chief and the Spartan program. There's a ton of lore behind Halo, and if you never took time out to pick any up, you'll definitely learn a thing or two.

In lieu of the two-and-a-half-hour epic that was Avengers: Infinity War, it's nice to return to the very first film in Marvel's Avengers series and see how far the cinematic universe has come from that point. Though fan-favorite characters looked different and in some cases even had different motivations back then, it's neat to see them through a lens that we haven't experienced for years.

There's nothing like a mindless comedy with good jokes and writing, and a great cast. Game Night is the first new film to be released in quite some time that fits that mold perfectly, at least in my opinion.It's the story of an average American couple (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) who're fans of board games and words games — yeah, before video games people use to play those. And they were actually pretty cool ... well maybe not cool but fun. Bateman's older brother, who's better looking, more charismatic, and more successful (or so it seems) shows up for a 'game night' with a group of friends, and mayhem ensues when the brother pulls everyone involved into an elaborate and dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that may or may not be real.It's a light, fun, and most importantly, funny flick that I really enjoyed. And I bet you will too.

Cold Fire is the latest EP from four-piece band PREP, delivering a varied blend of synth-pop and striking vocals. After recently seeing the London-based group live, this latest release has been ideal to kickstart summer. Personal highlights of the album are "Cold Fire," featuring DEAN, and their bundled single from earlier this year, "Don't Bring Me Down."

I kind of have a love-hate relationship with The Smiths. On the one hand, the lead singer Morrissey's pretentious tone and whiny lyrics make me roll my eyes and snicker. Yet I constantly find myself singing along with their songs whenever I hear one of them — and then I hum it for like three days after that. (I am, in fact, humming the tune of 'Some Girls are Bigger Than Others' as I write this … )The Queen is Dead is my favorite Smiths album, thanks to tracks like 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out' and 'Bigmouth Strikes Again.' It's a perfect representation, from start to finish, of when The Smiths' music works. It's quirky and moody, overdramatic and entitled, harmonic and rhythmic, and I love it. And hate it. Which is why it's great.If you're not familiar with The Smith, give The Queen is Dead a Listen. You'll love it … and maybe even hate it a little.

I've been listening to a lot of John Prine lately, and thanks to the beauty of technology, I'm always being introduced to similar or associated acts. Steve Goodman, who only make it to age 36, is one of those musicians, and I've been listening to one of his live albums titled Artistic Hair. Goodman has sort of a joke-y style (he referred to himself as Cool Hand Leuk after his Leukemia diagnosis) to his folk music, not taking himself too seriously while simultaneously delivering a message in each song. The song "East St. Louis Tweedle-Dee" is my favorite off of the album.

I read DeLillo's White Noise awhile ago and it's stuck with me ever since, so I figured I'd give Underworld a try. It's definitely a much more daunting task at over 700 pages, but DeLillo's style is so satisfying that you'll hardly notice you're reading. I'm about a quarter of the way through, and it's evident that there's a nonlinear progression to the storyline. The setting jumps around, beginning in the '50s with a young boy who sneaks into a baseball game in New York. It then jumps to the '90s, where new characters are introduced, albeit with a common theme: the baseball that the young boy snatches in the stands. There are hints of the Cold War here, which no doubt will be revisited later.Underworld has received a lot of acclaim since it was published in 1997, and I really can't wait to see what all the fuss is about.