music
Peaches
Fatherfucker
With old-school synth loops, gritty drum samples, and a mouth that puts Lenny Bruce to shame, this Berlin-based "Feminem" helped make electroclash the sound on catwalks and dance floors. But with pop princess lyrics like "Come on baby baby use that thing / You make my panties go ping," Peaches' self-produced second release muddies the waters of her postmodern feminism. Still, when she actually sings - as with Iggy Pop on the guitar-driven "Kick It" - her renegade spirit is revealed. - Adrienne Day
David Bowie
Reality
For an artist who's all about changes, Bowie has gone back to his old futures. His new album is very Ziggy Stardust: dimly glowing ballads ("The Loneliest Guy in the World"), odes to wild youth ("Never Get Old"), and sly digs at pop stardom ("Bring Me the Disco King"). But he certainly doesn't sound out of time on "New Killer Star" when he looks up at "a great white scar / over Battery Park." Maybe he's always lived in the 21st century and the rest of us are just catching up. - Robert Levine
games
CUBE l PS2 l XBOX
XIII
XIII is a hard-boiled graphic novel in motion. This first-person shooter features a pulpy conspiracy story, cel-shaded stylings, and pop-up frames that punctuate the action. You control an amnesiac (voiced by David Duchovny) with serious killing skills as he tries to clear his name after he's wrongfully accused of assassinating the president. The run-and-gun gameplay isn't new, but the presentation, complete with thought-bubble death cries, most definitely is. - Scott Taves
GAME BOY ADVANCE
Boktai
Slather on the SPF. To battle the vampires in this thriller from Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, you've gotta expose your Game Boy to direct sunlight. The Boktai cartridge's built-in sensor soaks up the rays, charging your weapons and weakening your enemies. Cheaters beware: Halogen, fluorescent, and 100-watt bulbs won't fool the sensor. The jury's still out on tanning beds and Uncle Cheech's growing lamp. - Chris Baker
Beyond Genetics: Putting the Power of DNA to Work in Your Life
Glenn McGee
Biology is irrelevant. Life is just a programming problem. So says bioethicist Glenn McGee in this intriguing, if scatterbrained, manifesto. Envisioning an era of "geneware" in which we make everyday decisions based on our genetic probabilities, McGee anticipates the difficult questions such science will raise. For example: Would a genetic risk of breast cancer justify a mastectomy even before a diagnosis? What would you do? - Dustin Goot
Why Things Break: Understanding the World by the Way It Comes Apart
Mark E. Eberhart
Sulphur-infused steel can turn brittle at 68 degrees Fahrenheit and below, a fact apparently lost on the Titanic's builders. It took such tragedies to give rise to fracture mechanics - the study of substances and their load limits - and its cousin, materials design. Eberhart's book tracks the progression of a science that attempts to eliminate risk from engineering. A pursuit, he argues, that's ultimately unattainable. - Clifford S. Agocs
screen
DVD
Millennium Actress
If you see only one anime this year, make it this one. Director Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue) avoids cartoon clichés and gives his movie the depth and inventiveness of a great novel. Historical events punctuate the tale of an aging star as she recounts her roles in samurai epics, interplanetary sci-fi films, and Godzilloid disaster flicks. The animation stays true to each genre, but what really impresses are dramatic "holds" that span 5 seconds and have lasting resonance. - C.B.
THEATHERS
Dopamine
Love is a drug - a mixture of pheromones, adrenaline, and dopamine. At least that's what Rand thinks. The code jockey in director Mark Decena's first film is stuck in a pre-bust fantasyland where science and tech cure every ill. Rand gets a wake-up call when his virtual-pet project loses funding as he struggles with a budding romance. Part of Sundance's new traveling series, Dopamine captures the pain of a suddenly jobless workaholic facing his life. - Beth Pinsker
PLAY
The Bone-Crunching Physics of Half-Life 2
Dragons, and Slime Molds, and Orcs! Oh, My!
Being Michel Gondry
It's a Surreal World After All
Boxtopolis
From Here to Infinity
Aliens in Our Midst
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