Combining elements of humor and romance with powerful action sequences, “I Am Number Four,” is easily the best science fiction movie of this year so far.

Released Feb. 18, the movie centers around the eponymous Number Four, John Smith, (Alex Pettyfer) who has spent his entire life running from an implacable enemy determined to kill him. He and the six others like him possess immense power as a result of their heritage.

Accompanied by his protector, Henri, (Timothy Olyphant) John moves to a small town in Ohio. There, his life rapidly becomes complicated as he begins to come into his powers, and falls in love with a local girl, Sarah (Dianna Agron.)

Despite a chilly night in the middle of winter, the heat was turned up in a packed house for a show to remember at the Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City on Feb. 25.

With close to 20 years under their collective belts, the Nebraska-bred boys known as 311 rocked the house as if it were the ’90s all over again.

Following an admirable performance from the opening band, The Pretty Black Chains, the crowd’s anticipation built as chants of “Three-eleven, three-eleven” blared over the aptly-named opener, “Welcome.”

Thursday evening, Feb 24, OCCC’s theatrical department proved the old adage “the show must go on.”

Despite interruption of rehearsals caused by recent snowstorms, and the last-minute replacement of one of the leading players, the production of “Trojan Women” took the stage at the Bruce Owen Theater.

The stage set with its strewn and broken porticos; classic music and ambient lighting were an effective way to set the atmosphere while the audience settled in.

It was a cold and windy Saturday on the night of Feb. 12 when Tracy Lawrence took the stage at Cowboys in Oklahoma City. The popular nightspot was a packed house for most of the night.

When Lawrence finally walked on stage around 10 p.m. the crowd lit up with excitement.

Girls in attendance were screaming, “Paint Me a Birmingham!”

Lawrence did a wonderful job keeping the crowd energized throughout the show with witty comments, showing his fun side.

“Here is a song for all the hot grandmas out there,” Lawrence said.

After all the pop culture hubris on music blogs over the last two weeks over the Grammys, it seems almost as if Radiohead released their eighth studio album, “The King

When it comes to thrillers, villains are a dime a dozen. You’ve got monsters, madmen and the occasional alien or two.

In “Unstoppable,” however, the bad guy is no mutated dinosaur or crazy ex.

Instead, it’s a runaway train barreling through a series of Pennsylvania towns at speeds of more than 70 miles per hour — a disturbingly real possibility that makes Freddy Krueger look as intimidating as Fred Flinstone.

“Unstoppable” was released on DVD Feb. 15.

Konami’s “Castlevania: Lords of Shadow” is the latest game in the long and illustrious line of “Castlevania” games that had me frustrated at times with how challenging the game can be.

However, I found the experience to be extremely rewarding.

“Castlevania: Lords of Shadow” was released Oct. 5, 2010, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The game itself is an unholy union of “God of War,” “Prince of Persia,” “Onimusha,” and the “Castlevania” games that many of us have grown up with.

Ghosts, magicians, detectives, and sorcerers all work to solve the mysteries that surround them in “Unusual Suspects.”

Released to paperback December 2010, and available at most bookstores, “Suspects” is an ACE fantasy anthology edited by Dana Stabenow with a mystery theme.

Featuring short stories by authors such as Simon R. Green, Charlaine Harris, and 10 other gifted writers, the anthology presents a broad range of well-crafted fantasy stories.

In “An Appetite for Murder,” Green revisits his Nightside world with his signature dark humor and fast pace.

Destroyer’s ninth studio album, “Kaputt” recalls a sound that reminds the listener of discotheque-and-yacht rock opulence and decadence.

Drawing from those influences, Dan Bejar, who in addition to being the creative mind behind Destroyer is a member of The New Pornographers, has crafted one of the finer pop albums so far in 2011.

The first track on Kaputt, “Chinatown” recalls bits of ’80s new wave and discotheque mixed with elements of mellow jazz.

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

That’s what Randy Pausch teaches us in his non-fiction book “The Last Lecture.”

Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, was given the opportunity to speak to his students in a series called “The Last Lecture.”

Randy had learned just months before that he was dying from pancreatic cancer.

As people watched Randy give his last speech, they did not see a dying man but rather a man who knew how to live life.

His whole presentation focused on really achieving your childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and how to make the most of what you have.