MUSIC
Missy Elliott
This Is Not a Test
In a world of perpetual upgrades, it's a novelty when something doesn't need to be improved. Missy Elliott's latest album boasts the same spunk and elastic bass lines that put the hip hop queen on the map in 1997. Here, Elliott raps about everything from Martin Luther King to a woman's "best friend" (a vibrator) -�and producer Timbaland laces her throaty vocals with spacey funk and jittery breaks. Elliott isn't blowing smoke when she says, "This is the realest it gets. Holla!" - Adrienne Day
MUSIC
The Crystal Method
Legion of Boom
Electronic music has splintered into as many subgenres as there are illegal downloads. But of late it's followed two paths: the inscrutably obscure and overtly commercial. The Crystal Method belongs in the latter camp, and the adrenaline-charged Legion is proof. Chuffed-up hip hop beats, shards of nu-metal "rap core" (courtesy of former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland), and big-beat bluster carry this album right into the arena. You can almost hear the mosh pit forming. - A.D.
SCREEN (DVD)
Once Upon Atari
This documentary plays out like MTV's Real World, but with a cast like Revenge of the Nerds. It's the story of Atari employees whose love of gaming made them rich. Like any good reality show, you'll keep watching for the dirt: sex in the company hot tub, cocaine-fueled scripting sessions. For true geeks, tales of coding miracles - like fitting AI into 2 kilobytes of ROM - show how far videogames have come. Too bad programmers develop at a slower pace. - Brian Lam
SCREEN (THEATERS)
Touching the Void
Believe it: Gortex, GPS, and guts can save your life. This is the stunning story of climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. The duo ascended Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes without a glitch in 1985. But on the descent, disaster struck: Simpson broke his leg, and Yates left him to die. Director Kevin Macdonald reenacts Simpson's crawl to safety, intercutting interviews with the mountaineers. The details are so blistering, you'll forget it's a docudrama. - Jon M. Gibson
GAMES (PC)
Vegas Tycoon
Be a big-time casino boss without worrying about the mob or the Nevada gaming commission getting in on your action. In this Sin City knockoff of Sim City, you build your own house of cards from the ground up: Arrange the gaming tables, hire the staff, and decide whether to include a hotel, theme park, boxing arena, or quickie-wedding chapel. With easy-to-navigate point-and-click controls, Vegas Tycoon is as user-friendly and addictive as the nickel slots. - Paul Semel
GAMES (GAMECUBE)
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Who would possibly want to play Little House on the Virtual Prairie? A surprising number of people. This is the 10th installment in Natsume's wildly addictive farming series. Your task is to tend crops, raise livestock, befriend the local townspeople, marry a village lass, and raise kids. For gamers desensitized by one too many frag sessions, playing Harvest Moon is like spending a rejuvenating weekend with Thoreau at Walden Pond. - Chris Baker
PRINT
Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain - and How It Changed the World
Carl Zimmer
Ravaged by religious wars and capricious monarchs, 17th-century England was a kingdom in chaos. Against this bloody backdrop, Zimmer recounts physician Thomas Willis' momentous discovery that the brain - previously dismissed as "a bowl of curds" - is the seat of human consciousness and memory. This page-turner is a tribute to the heretical thinkers who decoded nature by relying on direct observation rather than received opinion. - Steve Silberman
PRINT
Origins of the Crash: The Great Bubble and Its Undoing
Roger Lowenstein
As a premier business journalist and author, Lowenstein has the chops to deliver what this book promises: "the definitive account" of Wall Street's latest unraveling. Alas, Origins doesn't quite live up to it. The book dances across the '90s LBOs, stock options, Enron, and much more. The scope is impressive, but Lowenstein relies heavily on others' work. Things get better when he browbeats the guilty - but that's not until the epilogue. - Jeffrey M. O'Brien
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