The Boxer, 2010’s solo debut from Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, had all the hallmarks of a one-off, stop-gap release. With Okereke’s full-time band becoming increasingly electronic with their third LP Intimacy, it seemed a time-lapsed outlet for the singer to exercise his creative whims.

Insufferable asshole Philip (Jason Schwartzman) is an acclaimed literary wunderkind; his debut novel made him “notable, but not successful,” as he repeatedly points out.

The Transformers book you never knew you needed.

Noah (Dominic West) is an upstanding family man. Father to four children and happily married, he’s a teacher and first-time novelist. His wife, Helen (Maura Tierney) comes from money, and their family is about to spend the next three months summering at her parents’ Hamptons home.

It’s hard to describe Pedro Almodóvar’s 1990-released Spanish romantic-absurdity concisely, nearly as hard as it is to look away from the film. Shot with passion and intensity by José Luis Alcaine, Almodóvar has fun genre-blending while telling the bizarre tale of a young actress (Victoria Abril) who falls in love with the man (Antonio Banderas as a former mental asylum patient) who kidnapped her.

In an interview just before the release of their official debut full-length, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, Foxygen‘s lead singer Sam France said, “On our next album we’re gonna completely promote it like I’ve gone insane or I’m in a mental institution.”

At its best, Gabe Ibañez’s Automata is the kind of visually rich, idea-driven SF sleeper that will always find a home in our collective unconscious, holding up a mirror to the horrors nested in our march towards an increasingly contemporary future world.

Wilco’s first big splash as a band came with their sophomore release, 1996’s Being There. A double album stuffed to the brim with varying styles, moods, and themes, it remains an enjoyable and eclectic listen as a tour through rock and roll and alt-country history.

The past decade-plus has not been kind to Bill Murray characters.