Best American Movie of the Year (So Far)?

UPDATE  NYT with big piece just posted online, and probably in print tomorrow, on guy who creatred the "beast," with much detail on the how.  And BTW, it's still near top of my "Best of" list.

Earlier:  "A million years from now, when kids go to school, they gonna know: Once there was a Hushpuppy, and she lived with her Daddy in The Bathtub."  Saw sleeper indie Beasts of the Southern Wild tonight and it's tremendous, both ultra-funky (set in swamp land south of New Orleans) and magical (are those aurochs from before the Ice Age?).  Warning about climate change subtle.  Plus the music is great (imagine the group Beirut doing much of the horn-driven soundtrack) and even some Cajun fiddling  here --  and the little girl may get an Oscar nod.  You can have your Dark Blight Rises.

Trailer: