Overrated / Underrated 2014: Iggy Azalea, ‘The Final Member’ and more

A platinum-selling single that rose to prominence late last year, this potent depressant still roams the airwaves. Beneath its swooning chorus -- and there’s not really much else to it -- is the kind of bombastic, piano-glossed swooning that’s better left to weepy teen dramas than public spaces. But if you’re craving the kind of mawkish ballad that makes Air Supply sound upbeat, all your eye-dabbing dreams have come true.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Not to be confused with the world police organization, which seems properly rated, this stylishly brooding New York City band recently announced a new album, -- terrific news for those unaware of the existence of Joy Division or New Order. If this is nostalgia for 2002, when Interpol’s infectious but empty “Turn on the Bright Lights” debuted, you should know that Good Charlotte and Nickelback were also big that year. Are we really ready to go back down this road?  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

In news that that sent ripples through the comedy and lesser-known comic book-fan community last week, Edgar Wright -- director of “Cornetto Trilogy” genre mash-ups “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” -- was removed from adapting this insect-leading hero’s jump to the screen. The good news? Now Wright is free to bring his reliably skewed eye to something other than the increasingly tiresome trough of Marvel comics, something that leaves us all better off.  (Chris Pizzello / Invision AP)

One of the big winners of a Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival that saw it drift further from its alt-rock roots and into a costly resort-styled playground for the beautiful people, this Scottish-born DJ-producer out-drew headliners Arcade Fire with big, dumb beats and airy synth whooshes. No hard feelings as EDM takes the reins from rock for a while, but look elsewhere to Darkside, Chvrches and even Skrillex for music that aims for more than easy dance floor thrills.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

It began with Ellen, who posed with her famous friends at the Oscars in a glorified phone commercial aimed at Twitter. It was a hit, of course, as was an innocent-seeming shot by a Boston Red Sox star who posed with President Obama in what was really just another shameless phone company plug (much to the dismay of the White House). Let that be a lesson: Unless you’re the one for sale, let’s return all future self-portraits to their roots: Oil paintings.  (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

Right now, somewhere in the desert, an underdressed and overprivileged young person is not drinking enough water because all his or her money went to a three-day concert. Remember when music festivals didn’t require a credit check? Sure, everyone who can afford to has a grand time, but suppose you want to see OutKast or the Replacements and don’t have roughly $1,000 to burn on a ticket, gas and a hotel room. At those prices, it’s no wonder people steal music.  (Bethany Mollenkof / Los Angeles Times)

: A newcomer on DVD, this movie is a graceful reminder of all that’s still right in independent cinema. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film looks at the tenderness of life in a foster care facility and its young staff, led by John Gallagher Jr. and Brie Larson (pictured with Cretton, left). In addition to revealing a system whose hopeful -- even heroic -- side often goes unseen, the film turns on the aching sweetness between its central couple, who have their own pasts to overcome.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Beloved by jazz fans for inside-out piano excursions with his nimble acoustic trio (performing Wednesday at Disney Hall), Mehldau returns to the noisier, more groove-oriented textures of his electronic-shaded “Largo” project with this recording. Amid sparkling Fender Rhodes, burbling synthesizers and restless electronic rhythms, “Mehliana” is a strange and shifty venture into starry-eyed space-funk.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Now that everyone is back from Austin’s annual South by Southwest music conference-marketing campaign, can we agree to keep our overcrowded concert-going to local clubs and festivals where they belong? Even setting aside a track record of overindulgent behavior that culminated with this year’s fatal suspected drunk-driving crash, anyone convinced that those who perform inside oversize vending machines have compelling thoughts about art needs some serious soul-searching.  (Kevin Mazur / WireImage)

Similar in spirit to the vertigo-inducing documentary “Touching the Void,” this tense, tragic film examines a disastrous effort to scale K2 in 2008 that resulted in the deaths of 11 climbers from around the world. The film, which uses footage from the climb and sometimes confusing reenactments, may not explain what drives so many to scale a mountain that clearly doesn’t want them there, but it does put a morning commute up the 405 into perspective.  (Robbie Ryan / Sundance Institute)

Lauded as a modern-day analogue to the overpraised “Say Anything,” this film starts predictable and stays there. Led by a charmingly obnoxious (or obnoxiously charming) senior played by Miles Teller who falls for a nice girl (Shailene Woodley) who’s inexplicably an outcast, the picture mistakes earnestness for compelling characters as it revels in cliches that better movies (“Submarine,” “Adventureland,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) strive to break.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Television writers. Is there anything they can’t do? Fresh from NBC’s “The Office,” Novak is earning praise for a recent leap into the literary realm with the collection “One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories.” While there’s some improv-sharpened skill in imagining scenes such as a woman on a first date with an African warlord, there’s not much depth here beyond an occasional laugh. It’s charming, sure, but let’s ease back on the George Saunders comparisons.  (Amy Sussman, Invision / AP)

In fairness to the creators of the Idris Elba-starring biopic “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” it may be impossible to shoot a film about human rights in South Africa without U2, given the band’s longtime activism. That said, brace yourself for the minor travesty if Bono & Co. beat out “Frozen’s” “Let It Go” for original song with a U2-by-the-numbers entry that serves as a harsh reminder of how long its been since the band sounded vital.  (ROBYN BECK / AFPGetty Images)

Another four years, another missed opportunity to expand the audience for what’s surely a very expensive event to cover. Never mind the clichéd athlete back stories and tape delays that have become traditions by now, but the broadcast’s online presence remains weirdly antiquated. With so many leaving cable behind, why not allow everyone to buy access to Olympic coverage on Apple TV or Roku? Does, say, $25 sound right?  (Scott Halleran / Getty Images)

Inexplicably included as part of an otherwise heartfelt, wedding-adorned performance of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love” at last week’s Grammys, the onetime “queen of pop” isn’t exactly aging gracefully, is she? Never mind the diminishing returns of these appearances, which serve as a reminder Madonna never achieved fame because of her voice, but what will be really tough is watching Lady Gaga age the exact same way in 15 years.  (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

One of the key figures of TV’s ego-ravaged “late night wars,” which seemed a lot more important back before the Internet and a thousand competing options on cable, Jay Leno finally ends his long, middle-of-the-road march as the ever-genial host of “The Tonight Show” this week. Though fans of unpredictable or interesting comedy won’t mourn the loss of Leno the talk show host, this at least opens the door for the return of Leno the stand-up comedian.   (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

One of the many successful alumni of the ‘90s sketch comedy series “The State,” Marino is a straight-faced master of scene stealing, most prominently with the beloved TV series “Party Down” and “Childrens Hospital” and on the big screen with “Wanderlust” and Lake Bell’s romantic comedy “In a World” (pictured, at left) where he portrays a cheerfully smug voice-over star. Not bad for a guy who began -- magnificently -- as the catchphrase spouting Louie on MTV.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Sherman outrage: As we enter another week of head-spinning Super Bowl hype, featuring teams from Denver, Seattle and Madison Avenue, let’s temper the recent fury surrounding this defender. First, how amazing was it to hear an athlete actually say something in a post-game interview? And second, let’s not pretend that Sherman is “classless” in the context of our beloved, billion-dollar “Rollerball” league. If anything, his outburst was a blast of humanity.  (Elaine Thompson / AP)

Somehow the biggest L.A. rock band of the past 25 years, this funk-rock band keeps drawing high-profile gigs. Booked for the Super Bowl halftime show as organizers apparently grew nervous about the drawing power of Bruno Mars, the Chilis’ frat-friendly sound hasn’t aged well, and worse yet they may have kept the brilliant Flea from newer, fresher heights with more gigs like the supergroup Atoms for Peace and backing Ornette Coleman.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)