SCREEN (DVD)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Special Extended Edition
There's still no sex in Middle-earth, but this surgically enhanced edition helps clarify why: The Entwives are missing, and Aragorn has been brooding longer than you think - he's 87! (On the other hand, Frodo and Sam ) The 43 added minutes drop no real bombshells; instead they're sprinkled with Shire salt and oedipal guilt, easing transitions and deepening conflicts for Return of the King. Special features are tricksy and precious; Sméagol steals the rest of the show. - W. O. Goggins
SCREEN (DVD)
The Year in Weather
Call it porn for the climate-obsessed. This DVD logs a year's worth of meteorological satellite images from 11 locations. Action-packed storms batter the Pacific Northwest, and hurricanes Claudette, Fabian, and Isabel pummel the Atlantic Coast. The segments, time-lapsed down to 8 minutes each, are set to a Phillip Glass-esque soundtrack. Verdict: It's twice as addictive as the Weather Channel. - Chris Baker
SCREEN (DVD)
Alien Quadrilogy
Attention Alien completists: The definitive nine-disc set is here. It includes all four movies, from 1979's Alien to 1997's Resurrection, along with an insane 45 hours of bonus footage. Highlights: Multiangle views of chest bursters and the reinstatement of the first film's legendary "cocoon" scene. The ultimate prize though is David Fincher's scrapped version of Alien3 - 30 minutes longer than the theatrical release. Lucas take note! - Bill Desowitz
SCREEN (THEATERS)
The Fog of War
Documentarian Errol Morris (Mr. Death and Fast, Cheap & Out of Control) tackles history instead of eccentrics when he puts Robert S. McNamara, secretary of defense under Kennedy and Johnson, in the spotlight. McNamara looks directly into Morris' camera at a projection of his interviewer, allowing the director to deftly capture his subject's unspoken inner conflicts. See his eyes flinch as he says the Tet offensive was predicated on bad data. - Beth Pinsker
GAMES (PS2)
Space Channel 5 Part 2
Dig out that vinyl mini and those platform boots. In this outrageously entertaining sequel to Sega's groovy rhythm game, you use your control pad to mimic the moves of dance-floor-hogging aliens. Plant your steps with perfect timing to score high and unlock new costumes. Tired of bustin' a move solo? Try an out-of-this-world duet with Space Michael Jackson, voiced and motion-captured by the superstar himself. - Chris Kohler
GAMES (CUBE|PC|PS2|XBOX)
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
When saving the kingdom from evil, timing is everything. Lucky for you, you control the clock. Put foes in slo-mo while you spin around to deal a deathblow. Miss your mark and bite the dust? No problem. Wield your magic dagger to rewind the game and try again. When the action chills between fights, listen to the prince lament - in nearly 800 lines of narration - how the empire was lost in the first place. - Brian Lam
GAMES (PS2)
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
This survival game has a harrowing twist. Twin sisters battle tortured souls armed only with an antique camera. The lens captures what the mortal eye can't, or won't, see and destroys phantoms in the process. The convincing Japanese environs and dialog add beauty to a title that's essentially about the suffering caused by tearing apart what's joined - whether it be twin sisters or a butterfly's wings. - Chris Hudak
GAMES (CUBE|PS2|XBOX)
I-Ninja
The cute teenage ninja you channel may look harmless, but he's full of murderous rage and armed with all sorts of trick moves. Beyond the usual run-and-jump antics, he can grind rails, ride half-pipes, pilot giant robots, and hang in midair for endless wire-fu death duels. Add cut scenes animated by Don "Dragon's Lair" Bluth and you've got enough mad flava to push Mario right off the radar. - C.B.
MUSIC
Basement Jaxx
Kish Kash
It's tough to make a mash-up of house, hip hop, and punk that blends together smoothly. But Basement Jaxx has done it again. Vintage synthesizers, drum machines, and samples still prevail in the London duo's heavily layered rhythms, but guest vocalists - such as '80s phenom Siouxsie Sioux ("Cish Cash"), rapper Dizzee Rascal ("Lucky Star"), and nu-soul sister Meshell Ndegéocello ("Feels Like Home") - keep the sound fresh. - Stacy Osbaum
MUSIC
Iggy Pop
Skull Ring
Although they play on only four songs, the Stooges color Skull Ring with the subtlety of a splatter gun. The band pounds along on the title track like it's 1969 (or, for that matter, "1969"), and their concerns haven't changed much, either: The chorus is "Skull ring / Fast cars / Hot chicks / Money." The animalistic thud on the rest of the album comes courtesy of Pop's own band, as well as Green Day and Sum 41, who probably learned all three chords they know from the Stooges. - Robert Levine
MUSIC
Nelly Furtado
Folklore
Furtado blew critics away and went multiplatinum in 2002 with a musical grab bag of hip hop, pop, and bossa nova. Here the singer-songwriter cranks it up a notch. She sings in her parents' native Portuguese on the club-ready "Fresh Off the Boat," shifts to postmodern folk (with Bela Fleck on banjo) on "Forca," and ramps up the worldbeat rock on "Explode." This is high-energy, tambourine-smacking confection. - Beth Johnson
MUSIC
Kid 606
Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
Kid 606 may be the best known of a recent bumper crop of IDM laptop wunderkinds, but that doesn't mean his intelligent dance music translates well to the dance floor. With digital hardcore drill-beats, acid-rave squeals, raga-tempered jungle rhythms, and thrashing breaks that leap gleefully past the 180-bpm mark, the album would just as well replace a trip to the dentist. Thankfully, the final ambient track slows the pace enough to allow for gentle reentry into reality. - Adrienne Day
PRINT
Bond Girls Are Forever: The Women of James Bond
Maryam d'Abo and John Cork
Step aside, Q, Bond babes stimulate the inner adolescent in a way that gadgets never could. Former Bond girl Maryam d'Abo and franchise documentarian John Cork present an astute literary and cinematic critique of these characters as icons of feminine strength. Of course, they also offer up more than 100 distractingly gorgeous photos of the women from the films in large, um, glossy format. - Michael Myser
PRINT
The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse
Gregg Easterbrook
Surprise! Wealth, education, mobility, and life expectancy are all trending up for average Joes worldwide. And yet we still kvetch. Easterbrook's prescription for all the whiners, nitpickers, and stress cases: Forgive those who wrong you, be thankful for life's little blessings, raise the minimum wage, and spread the wealth to developing nations. In a few generations, even the poorest will complain about dropped cell calls instead of hunger. - Josh McHugh
PRINT
A Guide to Ecstacity
Nigel Coates
Visionary British architect Nigel Coates rethinks the conventional city. Part monograph, part manifesto, his fictional "travel guide" melds London, Cairo, Mumbai, New York, Tokyo, Rome, and Rio de Janeiro into a hip update of Epcot Center. But Coates throws so many of his real-life projects into the mix that the book is better read as a quirky tour through his inventive mind than a utopian map to the city of tomorrow. - Reena Jana
PRINT
Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life
David Grinspoon
Grinspoon tackles E.T. in a style that will satisfy science nerds and English majors alike. Drawing on astronomy, biology, and pop culture, the NASA adviser validates the big bang theory, traces the human search for aliens, and suggests that extraterrestrial life, at least on a microbial level, is out there. Read closely: Illustrations such as the Cosmic Evolution chart that puts Hendrix at the peak of complex civilization offer some of the wittiest insights. - Jessica Hilberman
PLAY
Burton's Big Adventure
The Wall of Fame
A Kavalier & Clay Production
Google & Co. to Hackers: Come On In!
READ ME: The Travels of Marco Polo, by Marco Polo
Unplugged
New Gun in Town
What Would Jesus Play?
Chip Hop Shopping
Peek-a-Booth
Reviews
