Monsieur Nov, a French R&B/Neo-soul artist of Asian decent, is well known in France and Europe but is almost unheard of in the U.S.

In fact, I came across his music accidently but was so glad when I did.

His album “Groove Therapy,” — released this year — is available for purchase only on iTunes.

The first single on the album is a cool song called “BCJC.”

Carpe diem; that is the main theme in the 1989 film “Dead Poets Society.”

The ovie tells the story of a group of boys attending Welton Academy, a prep school, in the late 1950s. They are influenced by their crazy but passionate new English teacher, John Keating, an alumnus of Welton.

On the first day of class, Keating, played by veteran actor Robin Williams, makes a lasting first impression on his students by asking them to rip out the first page of their textbooks.

Keating further intrigues students by instructing them to refer to him as “Oh Captain, my Captain!”

With the release of their 13th album “All You Need Is Now,” Duran Duran proved they are still the ultimate party band on March 18 by rocking the stage at Winstar Casino in Thackerville.

The visit to Thackerville was just the second stop on their world tour, which also signifies the 30th anniversary of the release of their self-titled album “Duran Duran.”

The performance started with beautiful string chords that soon turned into the recognizable tune of their lead single “All You Need Is Now.”

“Little Big Planet 2” is an extremely strange game, though it is really fun.

Unfortunately, the main story can be played in about six hours, barring the mini-games.

The mini-games are insanely challenging most of the time, but ridiculously fun.

The main point of the game is to save the world, as is the norm for many of the games.

What happens is a psychedelic explosion of colors, sounds and disco remixes of classical orchestra music.

It’s about as interactive as Kirby’s “Epic Yarn,” though the graphics are much more realistic.

After years of controversial delay, the highly acclaimed rapper Lupe Fiasco has finally released his third studio album, entitled “Lasers.”

With his two prior releases achieving critical and mainstream success, expectations were soaring for Lupe’s latest creation.

Despite being completed for the past two and a half years, “Lasers” still sat on the shelf at Atlantic Records, turning anticipation into frustration for fans.

Unfortunately, even with the release of “Lasers,” fan frustration isn’t likely to subside.

With the release of her fourth album “Goodbye Lullaby,” Avril Lavigne seems to be taking a step backward from her younger days.

Produced by Max Martin, the album feature 14 tracks written by Lavigne along with co-writers Evan Taubenfeld, Butch Walker and ex-husband Deryck Whibley.

Lavigne starts out the album with the upbeat track and lead single, “What the Hell” which is nothing but immature lyrics masked by a catchy tune.

“M.I.A” is the 9th volume of Brian Wood’s DMZ graphic novel series about photojournalist Matty Roth covering the America’s second Civil War being fought in New York City in the near future.

“M.I.A” could be referring to the suspension of belief after Wood had a nuclear explosion go off in Manhattan in Vol. 8.

Anytime a nuclear explosion is dealt with in fiction, it causes the reader to ponder if the series has jumped the shark, or in this case, “nuke the fridge.”

The fallout from those events cause Roth to take a good hard look at himself and his involvement since he started covering the DMZ.

Take a fairy tale, place it in the modern world, add a touch of Gothic glamour, and the result is “Beastly,” the newest re-imagining of the classic tale “Beauty and the Beast.”

Released March 4, the movie is a sweeping critique of the modern view of beauty and popularity, wrapped in the trappings of fantasy and romance.

Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) is a popular, handsome young man who believes looks and looks alone are the most important quality to possess.

This point of view brings him into conflict with Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), a Goth student rumored to be witch.

Claiming he wants to make it up to her, he invites her to a reception at the club.

“Darkest Mercy” is the fifth and final book of the faery series written by Melissa Marr. It brings to a conclusion all the plots Marr wove throughout her books of faery intrigue.

Marr’s writing is eloquent and detailed. She offers many different viewpoints throughout the book to allow readers to experience all the action from all sides.

The characters are well developed, especially if the audience has read the previous books of the series.

If anything, there are too many characters for the brief series to do most of them justice. Readers are left yearning for more details of the history brought up between some of the characters.

Kidnapped as a child and told he was abandoned by his family, Raizo — played by Korean pop music star Rain — is being raised by the Ozunu clan, a powerful and deadly Ninja family in “Ninja Assassin.”

“Ninja Assassin” is a martial arts film which debuted in theaters November 2009, and was released on DVD March 2010.

Raised in a cult-like environment to be a blood-thirsty killer, Raizo is considered a prodigy by Lord Ozunu, (Sho Kosugi,) Ninja clan leader.

When his childhood love Kiriko escapes the family and is labeled a traitor, she is then captured and killed in front of him by their brother Tikeshi.