Alone in the Dark: 'Babylon A.D.'
I can’t decide what is most confusing about “Babylon A.D.,” writes Sun critic Josh Larsen: the nonsensical, science-fiction plot, the participation of classy Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh or the fact that Vin Diesel’s voice has somehow dropped another register.

See summer off in style with these fun ideas
Sure, there are technically a few weeks left to summer. But everyone is back in school and busy with fall activities, so Labor Day weekend really feels like the last weekend of summer. So if you are not going to the Last Fling or you are just looking for some other ideas, too, here are some ways to celebrate summer's last gasp.

Alone in the Dark: 'Disaster Movie'
Another in a series of movies that puts pop culture in a blender and comes up with just over an hour of, er, filmed content, "Disaster Movie" does in fact feature a disaster. It's "The Day after Tomorrow" meets "Cloverfield" meets "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull," but that's not all.

If you like fun, then you'll like Last Fling
As if the blinking carnival lights and blaring music stages at Last Fling weren't sensory overload enough, this year's event caters more than ever to those with the shortest attention spans: Little kids.

Dice control works, except when it doesn't
Tom is a dice controller. At least he says he would be if he had time to practice.

Five worst movies by athletes
"Double Team": You probably don't remember this action feature, starring Dennis Rodman and Jean Claude Van Damme, and there's reason. And don't laugh, but Mickey Rourke was also in this irresponsible film.

5 Things to Do
Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival: Annual festival, including barn dance, ghost stories, folk music and storytelling, is at Island Park in Geneva from Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. Call 630-844-3655. Visit www.foxvalleyfolk.com.

Jonas Brothers living the dream
Having completed a successful first tour as a headlining act this summer, the career of the Jonas Brothers kicks into high gear this summer with a run of headlining shows at outdoor amphitheater dates (with a few co-headlining shows with Avril Lavigne sprinkled in).

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Chalk art festival comes to Glen Ellyn
It's one of the most impermanent forms of art ever created, and for a few short days it will add a splash of color to the streets of downtown Glen Ellyn. The "Madonnari on Main" street art festival comes to a section of the village's Main Street from Friday through Sunday.

5 Things to Do
Heartache Tonight: The Eagles Tribute band is at the Pheasant Run Resort Mainstage Theatre to Aug. 23. At 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. Call 630-584-6342.

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Pay table changes can change the game
Video poker players looking for the best-paying games can use one simple rule as a starting point: The lower on the pay table a change is made, the bigger the effect it has.

‘Fly Me to the Moon’ way off course
A 3-D picture of the blurry, headache-inducing variety, “Fly Me to the Moon” is a miserable little family film.

Sensual cast enlivens Allen's 'Barcelona'
Though "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is nowhere near as steamy as the commercials suggest, the cast gives it a surprisingly physical sexuality for a Woody Allen picture, writes Sun critic Josh Larsen. Sex is usually an intellectual endeavor for the filmmaker, but this foursome forces him - and us - to get out of our heads.

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'Tropic Thunder' skewers Hollywood stars
The jokes are machine-gun fast in Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder," a spoof of pretentious war movies and Hollywood hubris in general. To help you keep up, we've prepared a guide to the movie's targets.

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5 Things to Do
Illinois Railway Museum: Day Out With Thomas 2008: The Great Discovery Tour Aug. 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24. Activities start with a 20-minute train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine, which departs every 30 minutes, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.ticketweb.com or call 866-468-7630. At 7000 Olson Road, Union (McHenry County). Call 815-923-4000 or visit www.irm.org. How much? $18 for ages two and up. Quilt Show: The popular show returns to Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville. See a variety of quilts and textiles displayed throughout the historic village. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 16 and 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 17. Visit www.napersettlement.museum or call 630-420-6010.

New Horseshoe barge is Vegas-level casino
A few minutes before the official media tour of the new half-billion dollar barge at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, I mentioned to a colleague that I'd taken a little private walk around the casino floor. "Is it all they say?" she asked. "Is it really like Vegas?" It really is, I told her.

Dinosaur: A sense of time of the giants
The United Center is traveling back in time and is being taken over not by basketball or hockey players, but by dinosaurs. Fifteen of them will roam the floor through Aug. 17 in the theatrical show "Walking with Dinosaurs - The Live Experience."

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Sometimes, you don't see a lucky streak coming
Until I received a phone call from my old friend Greg a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know he played roulette. For that matter, I didn't know he gambled - he was never part of our late-night college poker games.

Hazy, crazy fun on 'Pineapple Express'
I laughed at the stoner comedy "Pineapple Express" not because a loser pothead and his spacey dealer find themselves on the run from a goofy drug lord, writes Sun critic Josh Larsen. I laughed because the guys on the run are both endearing and really, really funny.

5 Things to Do
Keep on truckin': Trucks at the Farm from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 9 and 10 at Dickson-Murst Farm in Montgomery will include food, drinks, games and a chance for truck owners to show off their "baby." Located at 2550 Dickson Road, Montgomery. Call 815-955-0052.

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Lollapalooza makes its way back to Grant Park stages
Lollapalooza's promoters are fond of the mantra that the giant music festival, which descends upon Grant Park for its fourth year Friday through Sunday, is a tremendous bargain: "130 bands - a dollar a band," they chant for anyone who'll listen. In fact, those numbers are a little squirrelly.

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