Tim Burton goes back to an idea from his early days as a filmmaker, exploring the Frankenstein monster from the perspective of childhood. Young Victor, a more modern child, has the perfect pet that dies, so he endeavors to bring him back to life with a little lightning and a lot of love, but there are always consequences.  

Dump consultants. Cancel audience-counting contracts. Fire click whores. Ice eyeballs. Adopt my cost-free 12-step program (actually 15) to save surviving news media ... from ourselves. Readers, viewers and listeners know we fill space and time with meaningless words. It goes beyond verbosity. It's insulting. Start the new year by embracing virtue.  

Natalie Portman is all grown up, and the proof is in her searing portrayal of the innocent perfectionist Nina in Darren Aronofsky's intense exploration into the dark heart of a rising ballerina. As Nina, Portman fully embraces the girlishness and wide-eyed striving of an artist who has been little more than an instrument to be set in motion by others. Grade: A.  

In an interview music journalist Charles R. Cross said that around 100 DJs insisted to him the only reason Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" became such a Rock radio staple was because of its smokebreak-friendly length. If his theory is true, though, Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" (clocking in at a whopping 18:34) would be more than twice as popular.  

Bret Easton Ellis' novels translate nicely from page to screen. The author's obsession with pretty surfaces — from faces to food to designer clothes — is catnip for an industry/art form that thrives on images. The same can't quite be said of Gregor Jordan's adaptation of 'The Informers,' which is based on a collection of loosely connected short stories Ellis wrote during his college days. Grade: C-.