"Directed by Steve Buscemi": Four words that mean you're in for something special. Just check out Trees Lounge, Animal Factory and his Emmy-nominated episode of The Sopranos. What we cheer in Buscemi as an actor — his gift for locating the elusive details that define a life — is also there in his work as a director. Buscemi does not act in Lonesome Jim, but his sly humor and keen eye for nuance resonate in every frame. I can't recall having a better time at a movie about depression. Jim (hangdog master Casey Affleck) has returned to his family home in Indiana after failing to make it as a writer in New York. Mom (the superb Mary Kay Place) welcomes her baby back. Dad (Seymour Cassel) is far less pleased. Their older son, Tim (Kevin Corrigan), a divorced father of two, is also back in his old bedroom and working in the family business. "I'm a mess," Jim tells his brother, "but you're a fucking disaster." The remark drives Tim to suicide. He fails. So is Jim worth saving? Anika (Liv Tyler), the nurse who takes this morose premature-ejaculator to bed, gives it a shot. Working from an artfully autobiographical script by James C. Strouse, Buscemi refuses to take any character at face value. That includes Jim's drug-dealing uncle, Evil (a hilarious Mark Boone Jr.). Lonesome Jim is minimalist to the point of vapor, but Buscemi — a poet of the maladjusted — makes sure this deadpan delight finds its wily way into your heart. No tricks. No tears. But, damn, it gets you good.

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“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.