By: Brennan Carley

If you’re a music fan who lives in the Northeast, a common complaint is the lack of festivals that make their way to our neck of the woods.

By: Brennan Carley & David Riemer

Pro (Carley)

When TMZ broke the news that American Idol contestant Jermaine Jones had failed to disclose two 2011 arrests to producers, fans threw up their arms in support of the “friendly giant,” a nickname posed by the miniscule Ryan Seacrest.

By: Brennan Carley

Miike Snow is, in fact, not a man, but a band. “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of him, he does that song ‘Animal,'” friends have said in the past, but not many understand that the band is, in fact, a they, not a he. The band, composed of Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winberg, and Andrew Wyatt, are former producers who won a Grammy for their work on Britney Spears’ pre-breakdown “Toxic.”

By: Brennan Carley, Taylor Cavallo, and Dan Siering

Actors are a fickle breed. They thrive off their annual awards shows, heaping praise on one another like it’s the last time they’ll ever be in a room together.

If history has taught audiences anything, it’s that actors and actresses love to leave their comfort zones—after all, how else does someone get a critic to describe his or her work as edgy?

For as long as movies have existed, actors who’ve carved themselves a groove—whether it be the funniest woman in the business or the guy who can shed a tear like no other—relish the opportunity to leave that genre. Take Eddie Murphy, for example: after years of gross-out comedies—all the Shrek films included—he delivered a bomb of a heartbreaking performance in Dreamgirls, and oh, how the critics crooned. Morgan Freeman took a journey opposite of Murphy’s, segueing his years of experience in dramas like The Green Mile and Driving Miss Daisy into family-friendly fare like Bruce Almighty and The Bucket List.

When we sat down to pick the five actors we wanted to highlight, it was close to impossible to narrow it down. Inside, we present the five most shining examples of actors who have both soared and failed in leaving their comfort zones.

By: Brennan Carley

Taylor Kitsch 

The Heights:What does it mean to you to portray a character that has existed for a century?

Taylor Kitsch:I don’t think you’re going to put more pressure on it because it’s existed this or that. I think that’s a lot of the outside pressure trying to come in, but no one is going to put more pressure on it than I will. I think the most pressure I truly had was probably playing a guy that’s lived and has passed on, but I’m not going to prep more because it’s Edgar Rice Burroughs’ vision or anything like that— but I mean it’s very flattering to be a part of it, and I think that scope of it all is quite cool to be a part of as well. I think to breathe life into Stanton, who directed it, his childhood dream is an amazing thing to do and be a part of.

By: Brennan Carley, Taylor Cavallo, and Dan Siering

Most people from our generation know many famous pieces of art solely through commodities, as opposed to the original pieces themselves. While this exposure to fine art is undeniably valuable to the public, it is imperative that we understand the artists’ intentions and appreciate the original paintings themselves.

By: Brennan Carley, Taylor Cavallo, and Dan Siering

Elaine and Jerry

Any Seinfeld fan would agree that the flame of this relationship should be rekindled. Having dated before the start of the show (unfortunately, viewers never see the two as an item), Elaine and Jerry remain best friends throughout the nine seasons of Seinfeld, any couple’s dream.

By: Brennan Carley, Taylor Cavallo, Dan Siering

By: Brennan Carley

Critics often fall into that oft-used “less is more” trope in their work. Just look at any recent Cirque du Soleil review, or pick up any of Michael Riedel’s snark-laden Spider-Man:

By: Brennan Carley, Taylor Cavallo, & Dan Siering

Electro

A close cousin to trance, electro house music uses similar synthesizers and catchy lyrical melodies, yet the genre’s DJs tend to speed up the tempo and build up songs quicker for more powerful drops. Electro house still stays away from the intense, song-altering drops more accustomed to dubstep, as the DJs aim to create clean and euphoric sound. Despite a rather small following in Europe, electro house’s popularity has grown exponentially in America, as famous DJs within the genre constantly tour in the States.