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.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.