Mike Leigh, the unsparing poet of the British working class (Secrets and Lies), focuses on a taxi driver (Timothy Spall), his cashier wife (Lesley Manville) and their two obese children. Leigh isn't breaking new ground, but he knows how a daily grind can kill love. Strong stuff.

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”