Sadly, the end of the holidays means the beginning of winter — real winter, that is. There are no more festive lights to illuminate the long, cold nights, no weekend parties to liven up the bleak weeks. Winter is a great excuse to curl up with a good book, however, or do the next best thing . . . Netflix. With so many anticipated movies and albums debuting in 2015, I’m pretty sure that stack of books by my bad will be untouched until spring. So here we go, grab a mug of hot chocolate and settle in for some great new flicks!

Movies

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron: America’s favorites are at it again including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Captain America (Chris Evans) battling with the evil robot Ultron (voiced by James Spader) for, you know, the entire world. The movie premieres on May 1st and, based on the preview, will most likely be awesome.

2. St. James Place: Steven Spielberg directs and Tom Hanks stars in this cold war thriller that involves a lawyer tasked with negotiating the release of a pilot shot down over the Soviet Union. Due out in early October, this project by two Hollywood veterans is sure to be a good pastime on a rainy day.

3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2: Katniss, played by the flawless Jennifer Lawrence, is out of the arena and into the fire. The district’s champion must lead her underdog army against the all-powerful Capitol and its villainous ruler President Snow (Donald Sutherland).  The sequel opens in theaters on November 20th. If the second part is even half as good as the first, this movie will definitely be worth the wait.

4. Joy: Jennifer Lawrence (once again!) and David O. Russell pair up for the third time to recreate the life of Joy Mangano, the real-life inventor of the Miracle Mop. The movie is already an Oscar contender, and was released on Christmas day. Let’s be honest, I just really love Jennifer Lawrence, but come on, who doesn’t??

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: JJ Abrams sets his directing eye on a galaxy far, far away with this movie. The cast includes original stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford alongside new additions John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson. Appearing in the universe this December, the world will witness how Harrison Ford is in his seventies and still kicking butt.

Music

1. Coldplay –A Head Full of Dreams: In late 2015, this British band will release what could be their final album. Speaking to the BBC last month, singer Chris Martin described the new album as their last. “We haven’t told anyone this, but we’re making an album called A Head Full of Dreams. We’re right in the middle of it,” he said. “I have to think of it as the final thing we’re doing. Otherwise we wouldn’t put everything into it.” Don’t be too broken up over this grand finale though. Coldplay will tour their new album for another year.

2. Kanye West: The great Yeezy gave fans a new year’s gift by releasing Only One, the first single from his new album. The track is an ode to his late mother and features Paul McCartney on backing vocals and piano. It is the only clue we have about what to expect from Kanye’s seventh album, which is supposed to be more toned down than 2013’s Yeezus. West’s co-writer, the rapper Malik Yusef, described the songs to Rolling Stone magazine as being “like a pair of Timberlands – like how Timberlands are not quite leather and not quite suede.” Who knows what that means? I’m just hoping he brings baby North on tour.

3. Kendrick Lamar: His second album Good Kids was embraced by everyone from hip-hop fans to hipsters, and Kendrick’s follow-up is the most eagerly awaited rap album of the year. He probably knows this, and he and producer Dr. Dre have been working hard in the studio to record more than 40 songs. People are eagerly awaiting this album, the real question is, Ken he live up to the hype? (lol)

4. Lorde: When she was 16, her hit song Royals invaded every radio station my car can play, and her album Pure Heroine found itself on every 2013 end-of-year album list, even topping The New York Times’ critics picks. As a result, her newest venture is eagerly awaited by millions of fans. Lorde promised something that sounds “totally different.” However it sounds, I bet I will definitely be praising the Lorde when I hear her newest tunes.