Hey, it's not just Pixar that kicks ass in animation. Case in point: ParaNorman, a small miracle in stop-motion 3D from the wizards at Laika (Coraline). Part ghost story and part teen-misfit manifesto, the movie puts the focus on Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), a weird kid who, well, sees dead people, including grouchy Granny (Elaine Stritch). What starts as a harmless spin through Sixth Sense territory escalates into a full-out zombie war, led by a 300-year-old witch (Jodelle Ferland). Brit screenwriter Chris Butler and his co-director, Sam Fell, lace the fun and fright with keen visual wit. And they don't back off tough themes such as loneliness and death. My advice? Just go with ParaNorman. There's magic in it.

“The A Team”

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.