The Artist: The Maine

The Song: "Ho Ho Hopefully"

Where you heard it first: In 2008, my favorite band released a special holiday EP entitled ......And A Happy New Year and I quickly fell in love with this track of the record.  Not only that, but it also mentioned the birthday of my favorite co-host (which just happens to be tomorrow) in the first line of the song.  The Maine's holiday EP is still one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.

Why it’s been stuck in your head: Thanksgiving is in the past which means that it is officially time to break out the holiday music.  Every year, this song and the EP that it is a part of is put on repeat on my iPod as soon as Turkey Day is over.  This year is no different and I've already listened to the song countless times since last Thursday.

Why you recommend it to our listeners: It's that time of year where Christina and I pose the question, "Whose idea was it to have John O. take off his pants and iron them throughout the music video?"  This year, we pose this question to you, our lovely followers.

-- Kelly Lee

What Is It: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is the final installment of the wildly successful Hunger Games franchise.  Picking up moments after Part 1 ended, this final installment shows the rebels of Panem continuing to fight for their freedom from the ruling fist of The Capitol.  Katniss Everdeen (Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence) and her team, including Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), Cressida (Natalie Dormer), and a recovering Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) set off for The Capitol in order to take down President Snow (legendary actor Donald Sutherland) and finally have the freedom that the Districts deserve, but in doing so, they find that The Capitol has set up a whole new version of The Hunger Games where everyone must play and fight for their lives.  

My Experience: I saw this movie last night in the brand-new reclining seats at our local movie theatre, my first real outing since my recent stint in the hospital and it was such a great reason to go out.  Yes, there were some obnoxious high school kids in the audience, but you could tell that everyone in the theatre was a true fan of the series and was genuinely excited to see this movie.  The new reclining seats, by the way?  Totally amazing, baller-status, first class seats.  You should definitely try those out at your local movie theatre.

Why You Should See It: This is by  far one of the more exciting installments of the series where everyone's acting is on point and every cast member gives amazing performances.  It is bittersweet to see the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman in his final portrayal as Game Maker Plutarch Heavensbee and you can't help but wonder if that final scene where he was mentioned was after the actor was already gone.   If you're a fan of The Hunger Games series, this is definitely a movie not to be missed.

The Future: This may be the final installment of The Hunger Games series, but this is not the last you'll see of this all-star cast.  Jennifer Lawrence can next be seen in another David O. Russell film with Bradley Cooper entitled Joy which is due out at the end of the year and next year you can see her as Mystique/Raven Darkholme in X-Men: Apocalypse.  Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson will re-team next year for a film called By Way of Helena and Hemsworth is currently filming Independence Day: Resurgence.  Woody Harrelson can be seen next year in Now You See Me: The Second Act, the follow-up to the magic spectacle from 2013 of the same name.  Sam Claflin will be reprising his role as William in The Huntsman Winter's War next year while his District 4 fellow Victor, Jena Malone will be trying her and at superhero movies in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Finally, Stanley Tucci will be playing the Cadenza in the highly-anticipated live-action version of Beauty and the Beast alongside Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Josh Gad, and Kevin Kline, just to name a few.  May the odds be ever in their favor!

-- Kelly Lee

The Artist: John O'Callaghan of The Maine

The Song: "Coast of Maine" cover, original artist: Ivory

Where you heard it first: John Ohhhh, as he is affectionately called by his fans, is the lead singer of my favorite band The Maine and he recently started his own podcast called Mixed Tape.  This cover, which is the song he sang to audition for the band way back in 2006, was played live by him in his first podcast episode and immediately went viral among fans of the band.  Only a few hours later, this popped up on my Facebook feed.  I have heard the original band, Ivory's version of the song and fell in love with it.  It is awesome to be able to hear it sung by someone who loves Ivory and this song so much that he named his own band after the song.

Why it’s been stuck in your head: I have come to terms with the fact that my lovely co-host Christina calls me a music snob and as such, there are few things that make me happier than getting lost in a ballad by my favorite band.  This song was released on Friday and I've basically had it on repeat since then.  I can't even tell you why it's been stuck in my head other than the fact that any new music from my favorite band puts a huge smile on my face.

Why you recommend it to our listeners: Just give it a listen.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Let’s go back to: One Direction's first performance together, which was a cover of Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn."

-C