Until the Magdalene convents closed in 1996, more than 30,000 Irish women were put to work in laundry sweatshops to profit their souls and the Catholic Church. Director Peter Mullan sets his script — based on actual testimony — in Dublin in 1964. Among the alleged sinners are Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff), a rape victim; Crispina (Eileen Walsh), an unwed mother; and Bernadette (the stunning Nora-Jane Noone), a flirt. Geraldine McEwan is fiercely magnificent as Sister Bridget, letting flickers of humanity shine through the cruelty. Mullan errs by making all the sisters dragon ladies. Still, the film gets to you; it's a powerhouse.

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.