Brighten up your day with the irresistibly catchy "Routes to Riches," as English-Filipino instrumentalist/singer Andy Platts and his band show flashes of soul-funk brilliance and bring an old-school sensibility along with a few modern touches.

This week’s suggestions: Catch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, watch some Thanksgiving football, get out of the house for a movie, start your Christmas decorating and prepare to shop.

UMass-Dartmouth professor Alan Hirshfeld pens a mathematical pot-boiler about the life and science of Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor and astronomer Archimedes.

The song most closely associated with Thanksgiving is (arguably) “Alice’s Restaurant,” Arlo Guthrie’s sprawling folk narrative from 1967.

“New Moon” is the forbidden love story of a tormented vampire and a shy, pouty schoolgirl with a thing for the undead. It has nothing much to offer for non-Twilighters - it's made for the legions of females who find the books and movies irresistible.

“The Messenger” is evenhanded to a fault, stressing realism over propaganda while staring at the consequences of combat through the eyes of two soldiers (Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson) assigned to the Army Casualty Notification Service, who have the unenviable task of informing the next of kin when a loved one has paid the ultimate price.

Can mainstream audiences swallow a sports film tackling issues of race, poverty and social injustice? Writer-director John Lee Hancock doesn’t think so, as evidenced by his warm, fuzzy retelling of the life of Michael Oher, the black Baltimore Ravens rookie who was raised by a white Southern family.

Ten years ago this week, “Fight Club” was released to theaters. I was there on that opening weekend, sure I’d see something special, and I wasn’t wrong. Like few movies in my life, “Fight Club” seemed to reach right down into my brain and scratch a nagging itch I didn’t know was there.

“Planet 51” began as a promising idea in which an earthling is the invader, and the paranoid but peace-loving creatures from another world are the frightened masses. Unfortunately, writer Joe Stillman takes that seed and buries it under a mountain of clichés.

This is a rough, tough, sometimes sadistically brutal film. Yet co-writers Brock Norman Brock and Nicolas Winding Refn (who also directed) instill it with a dark and outrageous sense of humor.

Back when Facebook went nationwide in 2004, the social networking site was simply a way for college students to connect. The exclusive domain of the 18- to 25-year-old set, it reflected college life through photos of parties and spring breaks.

"Blackroc" has what so many other rap-rock projects are missing: By using the same type of raw sound that so many hip-hop samples are after in the first place, Ohio garage rockers the Black Keys are able to create a hybrid record with an impressive guest list that includes Rza, Mos Def, Raekwon, Jim Jones and others.

Handywoman Marie Leonard says if you want to impress people, just tell them how you rebuilt your toilet. For years, Leonard has shown women how to use a power drill, replace a leaky faucet or rewire an electrical outlet. Now she is sharing her knowledge globally with her new book, “Marie’s Home Improvement Guide.”

In "New Moon," the second film in "The Twilight" series based on Stephenie Meyer's novels, love means never having to say you're happy. The movie comes off as a two-hour brood fest where everybody looks miserable as they bob up and down in an ocean of angst. Muhammad Ali would call this film a mope-a-dope.

The echoing shouts of "Edward ... Jacob ... Edward ... Jacob" resounded through the considerable crowd gathered Tuesday at a West Knoxville movie complex to catch a glimpse of or perhaps even share a moment with "Twilight" actors Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner -- two of the stars of "New Moon," the second film from the popular Twilight vampire series.