** 1/2 out of ***** When thinking about the film The Backup Plan, one good thing can be said: It was better than expected. Is this a compliment? Well … maybe. Considering some of Jennifer Lopez’s...

Anchee Min, a writer from Shanghai, uses the history of the Communist China she grew up in as the starting point in all seven of her books, the latest of which is a work of historical fiction titled Pearl...

The Sound Thoughts always performs with the audience’s interest in mind. During one song of each performance, the band “throws the audience a curve ball,” with a group of mismatched cover tunes,...

Grant Wood spent most of his life painting explorations into the lives of others — rural Midwesterners in particular. This weekend, a group of scholars will turn this dynamic around, using Wood’s...

The University of Iowa’s RiverFest hasn’t had the best of luck in delivering a successful, fun festival in recent years. Last year, the annual event was moved to downtown Iowa City because of flood-recovery...

Nate Staniforth doesn’t get inspiration from fellow magicians. Instead, he gets it from filmmakers and such musicians as Bob Dylan. “I don’t want to be the next David Copperfield or the next David...

Matt Nathanson compares the back-and-forth banter with his audience to having sex with a stranger. While not talking does have its place, he said, it’s more fun to talk and “get to know the audience...

A family theme resonates in the graduate-student dance thesis concert for student choreographers Keely Glenn and Kate Vigmostad. Displaying the work of Glenn, Vigmostad, and Chih-Hsien (Joan) Lin and...

Irish fiction writer Colm Tóibín can’t be found writing a draft on a laptop. He composes his ideas longhand before they ever reach a computer screen. “I still write the way I always wrote,” he...

Over the past four decades, April has become the “greenest” month of the year. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and the entire month has seen its share of environmentally conscious activities...

English Professor David Hamilton, the acting director of the Nonfiction Writing Program was very careful to stress the word “suspended” rather than “ended.” Officials announced at the beginning...

When he’s not helping select the movies shown at the Bijou, Executive Director Evan Meaney makes films of his own. This weekend, both passions will intersect when his master’s thesis project is shown...