Making fun of Facebook is almost too easy. While people obsess over their own and others' profiles, as fellow Northern Star writer Sean Kelly pointed out this week in his column, they miss out on actual social situations with people. While I don't necessarily...

Staff Writer A.J., Howie, Brian, and Nick are have returned with their new album "Unbreakable." The Backstreet Boys are back. The album is proof that the Backstreet Boys are more mature than ever. Kicking the young teen band sound and incorporating the...

If you can't stand cookie-cutter pop radio or shallow, hype-heavy indie rock, you probably already love Rufus Wainwright. If you don't already know about him, "I Don't Know What It Is" from his 2004 album, "Want One," is a perfect place to start. It has...

The entertainment industry came to a halt Monday. The Writers Guild of America, with its 12,000 members, went on strike due to failed contract negotiations with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The writers say they deserve a bigger...

Staff Writer 8/10 Jay-Z is back with his second post-retirement release, "American Gangster." Guess what? It's not terrible. Interlaced with audio clips from the Ridley Scott film of the same name, the album starts off a little rocky, but eventually picks...

Starring: John Cusack, Bobby Coleman, Joan Cusack, Amanda Peet Plot: John Cusack plays a science-fiction writer who is considering adopting a six-year-old boy named Dennis. The only problem? Dennis believes he's from Mars. The Good: Cusack steps into...

Chicago Afrobeat Project comes to DeKalb tonight hoping to fill Otto's Niteclub with infectiously kinetic dance music and - hopefully - lots of college kids. "We're definitely expecting a way better turn out than the last two shows," said drummer Marshall...

Duane "Dog" Chapman, star of the A&E reality series "Dog The Bounty Hunter," recently came under fire for a racially charged verbal tirade in which he used the "n-word" several times during a recorded phone conversation with his son, urging him to...

Chicago pop/soul band Eli Jones has come a long way from its humble beginnings as two Carleton College alumni sitting in an apartment and talking about music. Helping the group along has been a hearty dose of hard work, an unbreakable faith in the power...

Rating: 9/10 Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson, Oprah Winfrey Plot: Barry B. Benson has graduated from Bee University and has to pick his lifetime...

The ultimate curse of not seeing a movie right away is the "mixed review." When people you know and trust say different things, it's hard to watch a film and make your own opinions. Fortunately, nobody seems to be talking about the new Wes Anderson movie,...

Track of the Day: "Banana Pancakes" - Jack Johnson Since pancakes are probably one of the best comfort foods, it makes sense that a song about them would be just as comforting. Off his 2005 album, "In Between Dreams," "Banana Pancakes" is a feel-good...