A new year in entertainment

In music

Long-awaited music

This year promises to provide lots of variety in terms of new music. In the coming months there will be new full-length albums from Vampire Weekend, Spoon, The Black Keys, Interpol and LCD Soundsystem.

U.K. group Los Campesinos! are scheduled to release their third effort in the past two years on Feb. 1 with Romance is Boring. Vampire Weekend’s much-anticipated second album Contra comes out Jan. 12.

Later in the year, Blink-182, MGMT, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade are all expected to release new material.

As well, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien has said that the band is working on an eighth album for release late in the year.   

More music

The coming year also provides music fans with some odd releases.

Lil Wayne’s rock album Rebirth, scheduled to come out on Feb. 1, marks a departure from rap.

Limp Bizkit has reunited and plans to release an album this year, along with Good Charlotte, The Pussycat Dolls and Jessica Simpson.

Britney Spears is reportedly working on material for an album to be released in May, and Christina Aguilera’s first album since 2006 tentatively comes out in March.

Courtney Love and Hole’s album Nobody’s Daughter that was postponed since 2007 is set to come out this year, although Love’s loss of custody of her daughter in December may or may not lead to a different title.   

Tours/Festivals

Bands touring in support of new albums will be playing shows throughout 2010. Some notable artists touring as a result of or in spite of not releasing a new album include Mos Def, Grizzly
Bear, Spoon, Sonic Youth and Jay-Z.

A lengthy tour extending long into the new year featuring Kanye West and Lady Gaga was scrapped last fall.

The Glastonbury Festival in the U.K. will feature U2 and Pearl Jam this June as well as a rumoured performance by the Strokes.

While most festival line-ups are not finalized until the spring, the Canadian Music Fest in Toronto this March is set to feature many big-name acts.

EdgeFest and North by Northeast in June and the Guelph Hillside festivals should also provide a lot of selection for your summer entertainment.

–Mike Lakusiak

In film

Movies to anticipate

Shutter Island
Release date: Feb. 19
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio collaborate again for a thriller centring on the convoluted hunt for an escaped inmate of Shutter Island’s hospital for the criminally insane.

Alice in Wonderland
Release date: March 5
Retelling one of the most beloved stories ever told through the mind of Tim Burton, this long-awaited film’s star-studded cast includes Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Alan Rickman.

Despicable Me
Release date: July 9
Steve Carrell, Julie Andrews, Jason Segel, Will Arnett and Danny McBride star in this long-anticipated animated film about a villain who decides to steal the moon but runs into trouble when three orphaned little girls enter his life and foil all of his plans.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Release date: Nov. 19
Another David Yates production, it’s the second last installment of the Harry Potter movie series, meaning that with the novels completed, we will have nothing else to look forward to. Ever.

-Compiled by Rebecca Vasluianu

More film

The Book of Eli
Release date: Jan. 15

The Lovely Bones
Release date: Jan. 15

Iron Man 2
Release date: May 7

Robin Hood
Release date: May 14

Shrek Forever After
Release date: May 21

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Release date: May 28

The A-Team
Release date: June 11

The Green Hornet
Release date: Dec. 22