Screen (Theaters) A Graphic Novelty Mirrormask We don't think of special f/x-driven films as personal and idiosyncratic – but this combo of live action and animation, made on the cheap with over-the-counter software, could be the start of a new genre. Mirrormask sprang from the minds of artist and director Dave McKean and writer Neil Gaiman, the team behind the Sandman comics. It follows a teenager as she navigates a series of eerie, sepia-toned landscapes. The story, adapted from the duo's graphic novel of the same name, isn't earth-shattering – a bit of Alice in Wonderland, some Wizard of Oz, a sprinkling of Psych 101 – and it's a tad too episodic, unfolding in chapters that don't always advance the plot. But Mirrormask has a chilly beauty, with eye-bending CG (plus creatures adapted by the Jim Henson Company) in nearly every scene. – Jason Silverman 
Screen (DVD) Arrested Development Season 2 No wonder the ratings suck. This mockumentary-style comedy about a wealthy family and its fugitive patriarch was made for repeated DVD viewing. It's an expert cocktail of Blue Man Group, Iraqi boondoggles, and frozen chocolate-covered bananas. The maraschino cherry on top: 33 minutes of bloopers and deleted scenes. – Eric Steuer
Screen (TV) Neon Genesis Evangelion Ten years ago, Evangelion did for anime what Nirvana did for rock. Director Hideaki Anno layered kabbalistic conspiracy and mental apocalypse with giant robots. He changed the idea of what blockbuster animation could be – and spawned countless rip-offs. See the newly remastered original on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. – Carl Gustav Horn
Games (PS2, Xbox) The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge Jack Skellington, the hero of Tim Burton's classic flick, must save Halloween Town in this game that mimics the movie's singularly creepy style. Slapping around Oogie Boogie's ghoulish henchmen can get repetitive, but the rhythm-based battles at the end of some stages are clever and fresh. – Chris Kohler
Games (Nintendo DS) Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow The 1997 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was the zenith of 2-D game design … just as the industry moved to polygons. That pitch-perfect gameplay is back in this handheld title. Explore the intricacies of Dracula's gothic castle, which gets bigger and more challenging as your array of weaponry and powers expands. Two dimensions, five bars! – Christian Nutt
Games (PC) F.E.A.R. This shooter has hyperrealistic visuals and immersive special f/x (your shadow can reveal your position to enemies, grenades make your ears ring). Single-player mode blends the cerebral scares of J-horror movies like The Grudge with John Woo-esque dual pistol-wielding. The terrific online multiplay is pure adrenaline rush. – John Gaudiosi
Games (Mac, PC, Xbox) Stubbs the Zombie in: Rebel Without a Pulse Mmmm, brains. In a twist on the familiar zombie genre, the stogie-smoking undead Stubbs is the hero of this game. Even the squeamish will feast on its clever '50s-era social satire, morbidly inventive action, and hip soundtrack of bobby-sox classics covered by top alt rockers. – Wagner James Au
Music It's a Beautiful Noise Sigur R�s, Takk … Discerning music fans deserve an antidote to disposable emo bands and bump-by-numbers pop. Sigur R�s dispenses a dose of neuron-tickling Elysium. The Icelandic quartet eschews rock's conventional verse-chorus-break structure for a minimalist, linear dynamic that ebbs and flows like an all-consuming train of thought. Takk features modulating piano lines and floaty keyboards – think Coldplay meets Pink Floyd, but without the former's saccharine pathos and the latter's tense bombast. Woven through it all is the singing of J�nsi Birgisson, who falsettos like some seraphic elf (those Icelanders do love elves). This is delicate, layered art that rewards the attentive listener with a euphoric aural experience. – Jon J. Eilenberg
Music Boards of Canada The Campfire Headphase Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin are known for blending splintered beats with soothing, sampled sounds, but the electronic music pioneers' latest also features traditional instrumentation. Bucolic trip-hop loops are anchored by soaring violins and lite-jazz keyboards, making Campfire an eclectic experiment in dreamy ambience. – Adrienne Day
Music The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike Thunder is a noisy delight of "twee" pop, spunky rhymes, and dense, thumping beats. The Peanuts-style piano in "Feelgood by Numbers" sounds like Belle and Sebastian on uppers, while "Ladyflash" imagines old-school party rap, '50s girl-group vocals, and rock getting along just fine. – Hua Hsu
Print Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife Mary Roach Following up on Stiff, author Roach tours both credible and dubious efforts to investigate life after death. Visits to a school for mediums, a ghost audiotaping session, a reincarnation deposition, and a scale for the newly dead are entertaining; unfortunately, Roach rarely passes up a detour into the obscure and irrelevant. – Joanna Pearlstein
Print How to Survive a Robot Uprising Daniel H. Wilson This hilarious safety guide doubles as a tech primer. Carnegie Mellon roboticist Wilson explains how to fool facial recognition, escape from all-knowing smart homes, and battle overzealous droids. In the event of a showdown between man and machine, the chapter on building secret bases is sure to come in handy. – Kathleen Craig 
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