Screen (in theaters) Steamboy Eight years and $27 million in the making, Katsuhiro Otomo's long-awaited follow-up to Akira explodes with geek whimsy. Set in Victorian England during the Industrial Revolution, the animated epic fuses 2-D and 3-D graphics to tell the story of Ray Steam, a young inventor who's heir to a legacy of potaent scientific knowledge. Steamtrooper warriors, retro-futuristic gadgets, and vistas of dizzying detail set the scene for a tale that packs a timely moral punch for today's technologists. – Xeni Jardin
Screen (in theaters) D.E.B.S. Move over, Leslie Nielsen. In this high-concept spoof, a cadre of crime-fighting sorority girls at the D.E.B.S. secret spy academy tracks a notorious thief who just happens to have the hots for the team's alpha female. First-time feature director Angela Robinson uses high tech tools and a deft comedic touch to create a disarmingly charming low tech goof. – Beth Pinsker
Music M.I.A. Arular Maya Arulpragasam's story – the daughter of a Sri Lankan Tamil revolutionary raised on hip hop in London's projects – threatens to overshadow her music, but the beats and barks of her debut hold their own. Her infectious, internationalist tracks fuse dance hall reggae, Punjabi pop, and scads of electronic subgenres. Amid this patchwork atlas, the singer-MC bigs up the Palestine Liberation Organization and crosses Amazon war cries with Dadaist poetics. – Philip Sherburne
Music The Mars Volta Frances the Mute If the Mars Volta's sprawling prog has you washing out the water bong, blame Yes – it was Rick Wakeman's moldering Mellotron that first put your thumb to the carb. Mute is a 76-minute eruption of distortion-fueled concept rock that doesn't let up until the backwards guitar effects, jam-band meltdowns, and thunderous drums make magma of your brain. Cover art by Storm Thorgerson (Dark Side of the Moon) seals the deal. Find your bliss here. – Sean Cooper
Games (PS2) God of War Clash of the Titans meets hack-'n'-slash adventure gaming in this irresistibly demented release. You are the antihero Kratos, who – in a quest for vengeance against Ares – must do battle with the God of War's minions. Cut a swath through hordes of lowly humans to reach epic battles against mythological monstrosities like the Hydra, the Cyclops, and Medusa (whose decapitated head can later be used to turn enemies to stone). This stylish actionfest also includes mind-bending puzzles that would make the Sphinx burst into tears. – Chris M. Baker
Games (Gamecube) Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Break out the bongos! Jungle Beat uses the same whacky controller as the rhythm title Donkey Konga, but the gameplay is entirely different. Here, you maneuver the big ape through the jungle with the intensity and accuracy of your percussion: Beat the left or right drumhead to make lateral moves, pound both skins to jump, and clap frenetically to induce a shock wave strong enough to shake those peaches off their trees. You'll look like a circus chimp, but it's worth the humiliation. – Raina Lee
Print Make: Technology on Your Time Edited by Mark Frauenfelder O'Reilly gives at-home hackers the ultimate modification guide with this "mook," a quarterly publication that combines an easy-to-read magazine format with the heft of a book. Editor-in-chief Frauenfelder (a Wired correspondent) and his staff offer up illustrated instructions for stuff like making a magnetic strip reader (to access the info that's stored on your credit cards), rigging together a steadycam for just $14, and building a hybrid car. Make is like a Time-Life collectible series for geeks. – Erika Stalder
Print Freedom of Expression� Kembrew McLeod Although McLeod's argument may sound familiar – the push to patent and privatize ideas is killing creativity – his examination of intellectual property law is clear, concise, and funny. Smartly, he avoids being pedantic and makes his points with wit and humor. This isn't surprising, given that the self-proclaimed professional prankster is famous in copyfight circles for trademarking the phrase "freedom of expression" as a joke in 1998. – Eric Steuer
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