We all know Alan Arkin as the profane, heroin-snorting grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine. But he was also Ernie Lazarro in The Jerky Boys (worth seeing if only for Tom Jones singing “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz) and Bean in Freebie and the Bean. It’s worth mentioning that he voiced Schmendrick in the classic The Last Unicorn and played the lily-livered George Aaronow in Glengarry Glen Ross. He’s been a part of your life.

Ava Bigtree is a third-generation "equestrian of Mesozoic lizards"—an alligator wrestler, if you speak mainlander. She lives with her eccentric circus family on a small island off the coast of southern Florida. There, at their bizarre theme-park, the titular Swamplandia!, they've made a business of wowing tourists with death-defying acts in their stadium-seated Gator Pit.

Lewis Black makes a living being angry on television. On a recent “Back in Black” segment on “The Daily Show,” he railed against the merchandise tie-ins surrounding Eat Pray Love. On another he lambasted Glenn Beck for his incessant Nazi imagery. Black throws his hands every which way, seemingly in the midst of a nervous breakdown. His eyebrows sink into a sharp V and you can’t help but think: Man, this guy looks pissed.