I was originally tempted to read Philipp Meyer's American Rust by the comparisons with John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy, which are probably deserved. It is an excellent novel, especially as a debut. American Rust is about various individuals in a picturesque, but desolate and economically devastated, former steel town in America's rustbelt. It has a powerful narrative, and his prose is a good interweaving of literature and elements of popular thrillers.

I also recently enjoyed the film, The Band's Visit: about an Egyptian Police band supposed to be performing at an Arabic cultural festival in Israel, that gets lost in a tiny Israeli town in the middle of nowhere. One of the better explorations of cross-cultural differences and potential bridges I've seen in a while; simple, unpretentious and charming.

A film I did not enjoy however was Transformers 2. I was told to expect two and a half hours of action and virtually no plot. No one warned me how boring and overlong it would be though, in spite of unceasing fights between giant robots.
(So much for 'More Than Meets the Eye'!)
This mildly amused me: [link]