This compulsively watchable police thriller comes on like gangbusters with a cop (Jason Patric) chasing a perp. Simple stuff. But ballsy director Joe Carnahan — a real find — gives the scene the breathless urgency of something out of The French Connection.

Narc is a no-bull throwback to 1970s action films. It zips along with B-movie verve while adding the rich details and go-for-broke acting that heralds something special. Patric has his best role in years. And Ray Liotta — firing on all cylinders — is surefire Oscar bait as a cop you don't trust. Not if you're smart.

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."