Weekender got in touch with award-winning comic writer Alex Robinson to talk about his latest work, super hero comics and pro-wrestling. Weekender: Give us a brief run down of your most recent book "Tricked." Alex Robinson: "Tricked" is about six people...

This 1955 classic gave way to the Coen Brothers’ troubled remake starring Tom Hanks and Marlon Wayans. In the original, several crooks posing as traveling musicians rent a room in downtown London from a seemingly helpless old lady (Katie Johnson). Several...

After watching 2004’s "Closer," directed by Mike Nichols, I found it impossible not to recap a career highlight for his directing. In 1971, "Carnal Knowledge," starring a young, chauvinistic Jack Nicholson and a sensitive Art Garfunkel of the acoustic...

Mardi Gras exists all year long at NIU. The New Orleans Room, located in the basement of Stevenson North C, makes this fantasy true. The non-profit lounge is open to all students and is organized by the Residence Hall Association. The room’s theme is...

Room 337 of Founders Memorial Library will be the bustling apex of transcendental culture no more. For the last six years, NIU has been the world’s leading researcher on Henry David Thoreau. The research project, known as the Thoreau Edition or "The...

This Luc Besson film is a vivid portrayal of the life of a professional assassin. Jean Reno plays a skilled hitman who befriends a young, troubled Natalie Portman. Gary Oldman plays a short-tempered crooked cop who kills Portman’s family over a misplaced...

Pop-culture critic David Eggers theorizes we listen to songs to "solve" them. When a track loses its mystery, it loses its purpose. If so, The Cribs’ sophomore LP poses one riddle: "Where have we heard this before?" The English siblings’ mimicry is...

The Midwest now has a second home to prominent independent rock bands on tour: DeKalb’s own The House Café, 263 E. Lincoln Highway. In association with Kickstand Productions, The House is bursting onto the indie rock road map this fall with an impressive...

Something Corporate, the pop-punk, semi-emo band defined its sound with piano leads and vocals dominated by lead singer Andrew McMahon. Alongside heavy guitars and catchy lyrics, SoCo, as they are known to their fanatical band-aids, added its touch to...

Fighting a battle against the Hollywood slump, many studios are relying on the name power of nostalgia instead of actors and actresses. From May to August, Hollywood released nine movies with links from popular television shows and even classic films...

Some musicians are better at playing chords on their guitar than using their own vocal cords. Tristan Prettyman’s debut album "Twentythree" is a calm collective effort which turns opposite. Ten songs clock in at 30 minutes, leaving some questions unanswered....

"Twin Cinema" is what we in the "rock critic" circle like to term a "grower." The New Pornographers’ 2000 debut album "Mass Romantic" exploded right away with unbelievably fun and instantly catchy pop songs, all accentuated by seemingly familiar but...