With all the buzz around David Fincher's upcoming American take on Stieg Larsson's Swedish phenom, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you might forget the Swedes themselves have filmed all three parts of the late Larsson's bestselling trilogy, including Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. They're damn fine films. Get over your fear of subtitles and you're in for a treat. All the films star the incandescent Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, the pierced, tattooed hacker in leather who helps journalist Mikael Blomkvist (a stellar Michael Nyqvist) uncover a conspiracy that eats at the Swedish soul. Hornet's Nest is talky but indisputably terrific, and it ends in a dazzling display of courtroom fireworks. Rapace is hot stuff in any language. Oscar, take heed.

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.