Grade: C+ | For Nashville's Kings of Leon, the third time's not the charm. Where the quartet's two previous albums, "Aha Shake Heartbreak" and "Youth and Young Manhood" are great recordings, it's obvious that Kings of Leon are deliberately trying to put...

Grade: C | The most endearing thing about mega-producer Timbaland's catalogue is that it has never sounded like that of a trendsetting superstar. While his club/hip-hop peers Diddy (who has parlayed his production work into that of an international icon)...

Grade: C+ | Pop rock at its finest - the only way to describe the career of Fountains of Wayne. With its latest release, "Traffic and Weather," they may have drifted off course a bit. The latest release is a lot more pop and a lot less rock. Failing to...

Grade: A- | Lewis is an orphaned boy genius whose inventions never seem to go quite right. After being rejected for adoption by yet another family, he decides to invent a machine that will aide him in finding out the identity of his birth mother. Once...

Grade: C- | The recent slew of movies concerning the end of the world and the need for change has finally spilled over into children's movies. "The Last Mimzy" mixes myth and technology to explain how the world is to be saved from human mistakes. The...

Grade: C | You knew what you were getting yourself into before you entered the theater. Everyone, from the truly excited to the proud-movie-buff-forced-by-their-friends, says, "I know that this will be stupid, but I just want to laugh tonight." Enjoying...

By day, Christopher Fair is a senior media communication major but by night moonlights as a stand up comic. As a media communications major, Fair sees his comedy experience as an "advantage" and a way to get into his field of choice. Citing the Daily...

DeKALB | It could be said that Blue Man Group "blue" away the Convocation Center at Wednesday night's show. The brightly painted trio, backed by a phenomenal band consisting of three drummers, two guitarists, bass, keyboards and a powerful female vocalist,...

Maybe it isn't obvious enough, or maybe it hasn't been brought to the attention to the general public and musicians, but the privilege of NIU students and DeKalb residents have to have several live music venues around town is something that should not...

Teachers love the threat of the next big academic jump. It gives them leverage against their students. Elementary school teachers enjoy the greatest amount of ammunition. Back in fifth grade my teacher loved to begin lessons with a forboding "Next year...

Grade: A | The brilliance of the full-length debut of James Murphy (aka LCD Soundstystem) is that it sounds like a product of the most complete and intriguing record collection on Earth. The producer-turned-frontman's 2005 release compiled the hipster's...

Grade: C+ | "Return of the Mac's" opening cut "The Mac is Back Intro" announces that this is a stronger, more refined recording than the flabby "Blood Money" released by Mobb Deep a year ago. Throughout the "Return of the Mac" album, sexy ‘70s-style...