With "New Moon" opening in theaters Friday, there's no escaping the hype about Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. And that's just fine with Eleni Yannelis. "The original 'Twilight' novel made the New York Times' Best Sellers list, so I am not alone in my fascination with a teenage girl and her undead love interest who happens to be a 'vegetarian' vampire who sparkles in sunlight."

"New Moon" is finally coming out! For those of you who aren't "Twilight" fans, it's also a good week in music and video games, with new albums from John Mayer and Norah Jones and the release of "Assassin's Creed II." On the concert front, violinist and Uni alum Chris Otto returns to town with the JACK Quartet for two performances at the Krannert Center.

Writer Stephen Clarke introduced the character of Paul West in his 2005 comic novel, "A Year in the Merde." The book's success has led to three more novels about the likable Englishman living abroad. "Paul West really grows on you," writes Eleni Yannelis. "He's overworked, oversexed, and nostalgic for Anglo-Saxon ways. You can't help but fall in love with such an amiable character."

The title of "the scariest movie of all time" has been thrown around with many great horror movies, and recently "Paranormal Activity" has been called just that while grossing more than $100 million. Reviewer Will Fernandez went to go see what goes bump in the night.

So what did you do Thursday night? Thousands of hip-hop fans made their way to Assembly Hall to see superstar Jay-Z perform. Reporter Will Fernandez was at the scene as well to get the scoop. Although some of the supporting acts were less than stellar, there was no denying the brilliance of Hova himself.

In the weeks before "The Miser" was performed in front of enthusiastic North Attic Playhouse audiences, several actors sat down with fellow cast member Kahlilah Cooke to talk about getting ready for the play. Here is a chance to get the inside scoop on what it took to put on the performances that commanded the Uni stage last week.

Sufjan Stevens has already turned out some of the most interesting music of the decade, but he has outdone himself with his most recent release, a mixed-media work about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. An unusual choice of subject matter, to be sure, but Stevens manages to produce an orchestral suite of genuine brilliance. The result is critic Katy Metcalf's favorite album of the year.

After one day of auditions and nearly two hours of arguing over massively talented fellow students, the cast list for this year's Student Productions has been assembled and rehearsals have started. StudProd '09 is set to be performed 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 and 5 in the North Attic Playhouse. Check inside to see who will perform in the five one-act plays, all of them written and directed by Uni students.

Jay-Z arrives in town this week to perform at the Assembly Hall in support of his latest album, "The Blueprint 3." Critic Will Fernandez says this third and final installment of "The Blueprint" series turns out to be a good album but not on par with classic works such as "Reasonable Doubt" and "The Black Album," which gave Jay-Z his legendary status in today's hip-hop world.

It's over — Uni's fall play, "The Miser," is over. "All the work we did since September came down to our closing-night performance on Saturday," writes actress Kahlilah Cooke. "Or rather, it was over for the audience. For everyone involved in the play, things weren't even close to finished even after the final bow."

Another dull week in the entertainment world. Music releases are bad, movies in theaters are worse. For gamers, the much-anticipated release of "Modern Warfare 2" brings some cheer. The one bright spot is live music — specifically, Jay-Z's concert at Assembly Hall on Thursday., Check below for more information about the latest movies, music, local shows and more.

Spike Jonze's film adaptation of the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" was not what Revathi Maturi was expecting. "It was different from any other children's movie I've seen," she writes. "It's hard not to watch the movie without comparing it to your own life at least once."

Opening night finally arrived for the cast and crew of Uni's fall play, "The Miser." And, according to actress Katy Metcalf, it was amazing. "Today, I got all my lines," she writes. "Every single one. I did accidentally scream — but I can work on that later. And not just me. Monologues were finally in place, costumes were completed, everything went wonderfully. Taking the final bow was dreamlike."

"There is a particular set of smells that accompanies productions at Uni High," writes actress Anna Gooler. "I can't say exactly why I focus on these smells, but perhaps it's my brain preparing for nostalgia. I'll be flying around in my hovercraft someday in the future and smell something familiar, and I'll find myself yearning for the good old days of theater at Uni."

"I have a different perspective on this process from most, for I am a techie and I am not on stage," writes crew member Adam Joseph. "While the actors are worried about learning lines and entrances, I worry about knowing what lights to turn on when and making sure each light is where it needs to be. And just doing that presents a certain number of problems."