As someone who doesn't always do well with Expressionist art, I was apprehensive about this movie. I shouldn't have worried. Beasts of the Southern Wild is easily my favorite movie of the year so far. The characters are wonderful and heartbreaking, and the setting is something I have never seen before. If you like tearjerkers and movies with a lot of heart, check this one out.

Wade Rouse is a great writer. He really knows how to reel in a reader. He's very good at making you see things the way he sees them. I also like that he's not afraid to show himself in a bad light. A lot of memoir writers tend to gloss over their uglier qualities, but Rouse puts his in, often without even the comedy that softens the blow. If you want to read a funny, but emotionally honest book about a country family, check this one out.

If you like video games and you like satire, you'll like this movie. I loved the video game in-jokes, like the Pac-Man ghost turning white when he was scared, or the graffiti in Game Central Station that says "All your base are belong to us." I also really loved the Mario Kart inspired world that is Sugar Rush. It's like Candyland, but for older kids. Some of the emotional scenes were a little saccharine (pun-intended) for my tastes, but overall it was a good movie for adults and kids alike. Although what was with King Candy at the end? I think I'm gonna have nightmares about him for a while.

In some ways Looper reminded me of Rian Johnson's first film, Brick. In both films Joseph Gordon-Levitt discovers a violent secret and has to work backwards in time to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it. Both films also connected to organized crime and focus strongly on portraying the consequences of the actions we take. There's a sort of sense of karma where our actions come back to haunt us (literally in the case of Looper).

Looper was much better than I expected it to be. I expected a shoot-em-up action movie with an old-cop, young-cop team of vigilantes. This could have been that movie, but it's a lot better. The delineation of "good guys" and "bad guys" is much fuzzier than in most action films. I also loved the actor who plays Cid, the little boy. I thought he did an amazingly good job. He was actually my favorite character. I have no idea how old Pierce Gagnon is in real life, but we will definitely be seeing him more in the future. Maybe he's the next Haley Joel Osment. If I knew Bruce Willis personally, I would ask him which one was more fun to work with.

I really enjoyed 8 out of the 10 songs on this album. In the CD world, that is unheard of. It definitely gets an A+ grade. Strangely enough, I actually think the first track, which is an intro to Some Nights, is the best. And wow, Nate Ruess has a fantastic voice.