QJ Pop: What to watch for in 2015

I don’t know if it’s because this is the year I graduate or because I just like the way 2015 sounds, but something about this year is glittering with promise.

Maybe it’s because there are so many amazing things happening in the pop culture universe this year. Here are a few to watch for in 2015.

Actor

Daniel Radcliffe crushed it in 2014. Through his work in two films, a lauded Broadway play, a mini-series and a handful of surprising and delightful viral videos, Radcliffe cemented his position as a masterful and diversely talented performer this year.

Most importantly, he triumphantly overcame his moniker as “that Harry Potter boy”. 2015’s dose of the charming actor will no doubt even more satisfying.

Radcliffe will appear in Judd Apatow’s latest comedy Trainwreck in July and a horror-style adaptation of Frankenstein in October.

Both films boast wildly impressive ensemble casts, including heavy hitters like Tilda Swinton, among which Radcliffe may now comfortably reside.

Books

If you can feel the ground shaking, it’s because of the many literary giants fee-fi-fo-fum-ing back onto the literary scene this year.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Jonathan Franzen will see Purity, his first novel since 2010, arrive in bookstores in 2015, as will Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison with her latest, God Help the Child.

Canadian legend Margaret Atwood bestows upon us The Heart Goes Last in September. But most intriguingly, previously unpublished works — including a number of novels and short stories — by Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger are rumoured to appear this year.

Movie

I think if Hollywood was a perfect place, every movie would have Julianne Moore in it. Needless to say, Still Alice, which comes out Jan. 16, is something to look forward to.

The film centres around Alice Howland, played by Moore, as she is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

It looks both devastating and deliciously realistic, and provides a hard look at family, love, disease and relationships.

In a year brimming with unnecessary sequels, reboots and 50 Shades of Grey, Still Alice will be a refreshing oasis of poignancy.

Musician

In 2014, 18-year-old American singer-songwriter Raury released an astonishingly good EP entitled Indigo Child and received praise from the likes of Outkast, Kanye West and Lorde.

While this wunderkind may make me feel a little insecure, his music makes me feel amazing. Indigo Child is a beautiful blending and bending of genres, which makes sense when he cites influences as disparate as Freddie Mercury, Bon Iver and Kid Cudi.

Raury placed in the top five of the BBC “Sound of 2015” list, a highly coveted spot, and has received a flurry of interviews and press since.

When asked in an interview with BBC News if we can expect an album from him in 2015, Raury replied, “Definitely”, which is definitely cause for excitement.

Tags

Daniel Radcliffe, Margaret Atwood, QJ Pop, Raury, Still Alice

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