Shadow of the Vampire, the first film produced by Nicolas Cage, is a shockingly funny spellbinder with a plum part that Cage — talk about shocks — handed to Willem Dafoe instead of himself. Dafoe, who has never been better, bites into this Oscar-bait role with an uncanny knack for blending mirth and menace. Here are the facts: In 1921, German director F.W. Murnau cast unknown actor Max Schreck to portray the undead Count Orlock in what would become the silent-film classic Nosferatu. As screenwriter Steven Katz wickedly sees it, Murnau, played to the creepy max by John Malkovich, knew that Schreck (Dafoe) was a real vampire when he hired him, promising him the neck of leading lady Greta Schroeder (Catherine McCormack) at the end of shooting if Schreck helped Murnau achieve cinematic immortality. It's a deal that most directors today would make in a snap if they could. That's the premise, and an exceptional cast, including Eddie Izzard as a hambone actor, gleefully plays variations on it. But Dafoe goes deeper. With the help of director E. Elias Merhige (Begotten), who evokes the silent-film era with visionary brilliance, Dafoe captures the humanity in the monster. It's a mesmerizing spectacle.

“Tonight's the Night”

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."