Lars and the Real Girl

A surprisingly sweet love story that isn't overly cloying; I guess casting a sex doll as the love interest can add a bit of levity to the situation.

Rating: Moby Dick

Paul's Boutique

What can you say about the Beastie Boy's at their peak: made when sampling was still acceptable, it reamins one of the most creative, and listenable hip-hop albums of all time.

Rating: Grapes of Wrath

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Swedes know how to make a hell of a thriller, well-acted and well-paced, it'll keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Case's beautiful voice are a perfect match to her haunting lyrics; absolutely amazing from start to finish.

Rating: Grapes of Wrath

Zeitoun (book), by Dave Eggers

Zeitoun, the true story of a Syrian immigrant in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, is hilariously tragic, or tragically hilarious, until halfway through, when it suddenly isn't; from that point on it is simply shocking.

Rating: Grapes of Wrath

U2: October

The only U2 album worth owning, and the one you've probably never heard - makes you feel like you just spent a year in Dublin...the rough part.

Rating: Barley...I mean "Grapes" of Wrath

London Calling, the Clash

Too bad the greatest album of the 1980s arrived at the beginning of the decade; way too damned eclectic (reggae, horns, straight ahead rock) to be labeled "punk," true power pop at its finest.

Rating: Grapes of Wrath