Next time you say to yourself, "Man, I can't fathom how this movie was made," step back and ponder this: Even the most despicable, tacky, foul, groan-inducing, cliche and boring of movies allows us to have a bit of fun. These aren't the "so bad it's good"...

Many filmmakers these days seem to be forgetting that a film is as good as its script. "Death to Smoochy" (Warner Bros., R) is the perfect example of this paradox. If this film tells us anything, it's that no matter how many talented actors are involved...

Fans hungry for the second effort of underground metal hybrid Down should head to any music store and pick up the band's latest album, "II." For those unfamiliar, Down is Black Sabbath-meets-Pantera. The group features five guys from four different bands....

With all the redundancy of pop music, it can be hard to find something fresh. On the Great Plains Gypsies' latest release, "Ride the Blinds," the music is not only fresh, but also inventive. The album is a collection of 12 stripped-down tracks that range...

This is Benjamin, and he's a little worried about his future. A young man set to graduate is trying to find his way in a chaotic and obtuse world. For answers, he sleeps with family friend Mrs. Robinson and her daughter Elaine. Now that sounds like a...

Soul Asylum showed Otto's Niteclub, 118 E. Lincoln Highway, its usual song and dance Saturday night. Audience members eagerly cheered the band onto stage at 11:15 p.m., but the excitement subsided as the band launched into its first song. Most people...

A concert is actually sold out in DeKalb. Multi-platinum rapper Snoop Dogg will perform Wednesday night at Otto's Niteclub, 118 E. Lincoln Highway. Not only will Snoop, also known as Calvin Brodus, be the most popular rapper to strut a stage in DeKalb,...

In honor of the appearance of Snoop Dogg at Otto's Niteclub on April 10, the M.O.O.S.E. wanted to highlight one of the Dogg's mentors and boyhood idols, Slick Rick. "Lodi Dodi," off of the platinum-selling "Doggystyle" album, was a cover of Slick Rick's....

Jodie Foster is my hero. Playing the character Meg Altman in the current box-office giant, "Panic Room"(Columbia, R), this reclusive actress stops everyone who's ever sneered at the phrase "single mother" dead in their tracks with her powerful performance....

"Shuffleplay and the Mutations," the first release from the local band of the same name spawned from the area, is a cornucopia of different sounds and genres. The independently produced six-song EP (plus an intro) combines the loungey tones of the Coctails,...

Predictability isn't an ideal attribute for a band trying to make it, but it just might work in the bar scene for Suite Oblivion. The Rockford-based quartet's debut album, "Shine," certainly isn't earth-shaking, but it follows the formula for good rock...

All souls will be out Saturday night at Otto's Niteclub, 118 E. Lincoln Highway. Otto's isn't having some spiritual seance, but alt-rockers Soul Asylum will perform at 10 p.m. A veteran of the rock scene, Soul Asylum has been together since 1981. Originally,...