Film explores the world of competitive a cappella

Anyone who has been on a college campus has seen them. Or heard them, anyway. They are enclaves of a unique brand of music nerd.

They are a cappella singing groups.

These groups write their own arrangements of popular songs, not only singing the lyrics, but also creating melody and rhythm using nothing but their voices. They’re usually cheesy as all get out, but no less enjoyable because of that.

‘This Book is Full of Spiders’ transcends its genre

What if the people of the world were slowly being infected by parasitic brain spiders? Spiders that burrowed their way in and waited until the proper moment to simply take complete control of their hosts (with monstrous consequences)? Spiders that no one could even see?

No one but you.

Detroit’s Cabrera first Crown winner in 45 years

Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers had a season for the ages in 2012. He batted .330, with 44 home runs and 139 RBI, leading the American League in all three categories.

Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown, one of the most elusive achievements in the sport. He accomplished something that only 15 players before him had done; something that hadn’t been seen in baseball in 1967 – the year Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski won the Crown while playing with the Impossible Dream team 45 years ago.

Hulkamania!

Hulk Hogan is perhaps the most revered figure in the annals of professional wrestling history. He was the main star during the WWF zenith that was the 1980s. Like so many of his fellow wrestlers, he also stuck around long after his physical peak had passed, putting in multiple decades of work in the squared circle. He has become a pop culture icon, a self-perpetuating, reality-show-starring fame machine. So what’s the next step?

That’s right; Hulk Hogan has a sex tape.

The UFC president offers some thoughts on the state of his sport

The sport of mixed martial arts had some rough beginnings. Its perception as a niche sport, its constantly shifting rules, its punching-bag status among politicians who didn’t truly understand it – all of these were obstacles that MMA needed to overcome.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has been at the forefront with regards to bringing the sport into the mainstream. From humble beginnings, the UFC has been transformed into a sporting empire rife with sold-out arenas, superstar fighters and huge broadcast deals.

There is no denying that the New England Patriots haven’t started the season the way they would have liked. The Pats sit at 2-2 after the first four games of 2012; still, while Coach Bill Belichick and company would probably prefer to be sitting north of .500, there are reasons for optimism.

For instance, while New England is indeed 2-2, those two losses were by a grand total of three points. Losing to Arizona was unexpected, but it was only a two point loss – a loss to a team that appears to have a defense far more ferocious than anyone thought possible. And losing by a single point to Baltimore – a probable playoff team – is certainly understandable, if not exactly welcome.

‘Looper’ a fresh, fascinating take on time travel

Every once in a while, a film comes along that takes a tired cinematic trope and breathes new life into it. These new and interesting takes on old ideas are relatively rare – why have a new take when old takes make plenty of money?

Take the new film “Looper” for instance. The latest offering from writer/director Rian Johnson takes one of the classic science fiction foundations (time travel) and takes it in a direction that we’ve never seen onscreen. The result is a smart and challenging film that transcends its speculative origins.

Animated film has thin plot, but plenty of laughs

As a rule, I don’t tend to have particularly high expectations going into a kids’ movie (Pixar being the exception, of course). So when I started seeing trailers for the new movie “Hotel Transylvania,” I was on the fence as to whether I would even bother. I mean, Adam Sandler stars – how good could it be?

But then I received a vital piece of information. Game-changing information. You see, it turns out that “Hotel Transylvania” is the feature film directorial debut of Genndy Tartakovsky, the man behind the subversive brilliance of an assortment of wonderful animated series. This is the guy who unleashed “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “Samurai Jack” on the world.

Country-style cheating

Here in the 21st century, we live in a world where keeping secrets has become almost prohibitively difficult. And if you’re a celebrity? Forget about it; you can rest assured that almost anywhere you go, there will be at least one person with a camera phone and absolutely no conception of your right to privacy.

Honestly, Jason Aldean – you really should have known better.

Relationships take the field in this baseball offering

As a rule, I enjoy most sports movies, but the truth is that with very few exceptions, Hollywood has been most successful with films about boxing and baseball. While boxing’s visceral brutality is a large part of why it works on film, baseball’s advantage is in its inherent romanticism. America’s relationship with its pastime allows the sport to work as a framework to explore our relationships with one another.