SCREEN (DVD)
Tomorrowland: Disney in Space and Beyond
Uncle Walt was an enthusiastic futurist, as this profile shows in panoramic detail. It was he who buttonholed rocketeer Wernher von Braun into appearing in three 1950s TV documentaries. He also backed other science-heavy specials that helped jump-start the US space program. Beyond these shows, the two-disc set includes an interview with Ray Bradbury and the pitch for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, aka Epcot. - Kenneth M. Chanko
SCREEN (DVD)
The Triplets of Belleville
This Oscar-nominated tour de force redefines joie de vivre. An ingenious retromodern blend of hand-drawn cel animation and three-dimensional CG, the French-made cartoon pedals off into a messy world of grotesque whimsy and visual hyperbole - all to the beat of thumping gin-joint jazz. Director Sylvain Chomet and his peloton of merry inkers continue the ride on the DVD, with a process-specific making-of that will leave you wondering how they stayed so merry. - Todd Wagner
MUSIC
The Streets
A Grand Don't Come for Free
British MC Mike "The Streets" Skinner has a flair for creating extraordinary narratives from ordinary life, and A Grand doesn't disappoint: The album details his quest to find a thousand quid that's gone missing. Along the way, he rents DVDs, sends text messages, falls in love, and watches a lot of TV. It may sound rather shallow, but the lyrics - delivered over music rooted in hip-hop and UK dance beats - cut deep. They're unapologetically emotional, keenly observant, and funny to boot. - Geeta Dayal
MUSIC
The Magnetic Fields
I
The I's have it. More than half the song titles on this album begin with the first-person pronoun, although frontman Stephin Merritt remains devoted to the elusive second person - and to composing sad-clown odes to its absence. Merritt is still center ring in the big top of quirky pop, and this time he's "tongue-tied and useless," hopelessly in "quote love unquote," and wishing for an evil twin to get him dates. I love him for it, even if no one else does. - Eric Demby
PRINT
The Zenith Angle
Bruce Sterling
Sterling knows geeks. He knows that they communicate better over email than over the breakfast table, and that they'll kill or die for just the right tool. So as the Wired columnist's latest novel speeds through our times - hitting upon cyberterrorism, satellite surveillance, Bollywood starlets, and shell-shocked ex-millionaire dotcommers - it turns into a valentine of a technothriller, filled with end-of-the-world hardware problems that only a geek can solve. - Adam Rogers
PRINT
Wordcraft: The Art of Turning Little Words Into Big Business
Alex Frankel
A is for Accenture, asked to change its name from Andersen. B is for branding and big successes like BlackBerry. C is for corporate story, like the cautionary tale of Cayenne. Frankel, who once ran a naming firm called Quiddity, is still spellbound by the business, and lyricism here takes a backseat to the sales side. Wordcraft is best in the narrative episodes, though true word freaks will yearn for a few more logotechnical details. Call it In Search of Lexcellence. - W. O. Goggins
GAMES (PC, XBOX)
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Players attuned to running and gunning may find themselves in the dark - staying hidden and silent is the only way to win here. You play master sneak Garrett, who performs myriad acts of larceny and espionage for a shadowy secret society. The plot twists and turns like the torchlit cobblestone streets of the medieval metropolis it's set in. The missions are incredibly suspenseful: You'll find yourself holding your breath as you snuff out candles and tiptoe past guards to get to the treasures. - Suzanne Ashe
GAMES (PS2)
Siren
Here's survival horror from a new point of view. You control the last remaining humans trapped in a town full of zombies. The undead go about their daily routines as though they were still alive, but the beat cop will gladly take five and deliver a knife to your back. Luckily, you can see the world through their eyes - and learn how to avoid them. The awful English voice dub undercuts the painstaking realism of the graphics and sound effects. In the end, Siren is a gripping, scary experience. - Brandon Sheffield
PLAY
Transformers in Overdrive
High Concept, Low Resolution
Freeze Frame
Reading, Writing, Revolving
The Doomslayer
Final Fantasy at the Philharmonic
What's on Your iPod?
The Hub of the Party
Infrared-Light District
Time Warp
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