Many science-fiction movies try to dazzle us with the high-tech sights of tomorrow. That's not the case with writer-director Rian Johnson's "Looper." Although it's set in the 2040s, the world it shows us isn't radically different from 2012.

Following World War II, Americans began to question the conventions of society as never before, explaining the enormous popularity of novels like Somerset Maugham’s "The Razor’s Edge" and the rise of the self-help book culture.

They used to write backwoods ballads about men like the Bondurant brothers, the Virginia moonshiners who built their own little empire during Prohibition. Unfortunately, instead of picking up his guitar and cranking out a tune about them, alt-rocker Nick Cave turned to his word process...

There has not been much music in the former Chrome Cat space since the bar closed last year. That will change Thursday during "Dollar-Bin DJ Night," one of the Broad Art Museum’s summer events in its Summer Annex.

"Yes, finally!" said founding director Michael Rush, with a laugh. "It seems every day there are dramatic changes, and we will be fully ready and installed by then — probably, we’ll be ready earlier."

"He ends up in Newport, R.I., because he wants to find adventure," explained Andy Callis, who is directing Matthew Burnett's dramatization of "Theophilus North" for Lansing Community College's Summer Stage Under the Stars Festival.

The Buitendorps checked out the film last week (along with their older sister, Erin, a City Pulse Pulsar judge). They didn’t have to wait very long to see the first of their creations on the screen.

Faster is the chief operating officer of the National School Climate Center, which organized the BullyBust program three years ago in response to the problem of bullying in schools. In 2010, BullyBust began a partnership with "Wicked" to promote its efforts.

"They are saying goodbye to the lake, to the summer, to other people, but they're still hanging on. She calls him a tough old buzzard, and that's what they are: They're buzzards, hanging on, keeping the spirit and keeping the blood flowing."

Nine years ago, Christine Dwyer fell under the spell of Idina Menzel, the actress who originated the role of the green-skinned enchantress Elphaba in “Wicked.” The “Wicked” tour opens at the Wharton Center tonight.