DJ Rekha Basement Bhangra NYC DJ Rekha infuses bhangra — a form of Indian dance music — with raps, chants, scratches, and beats, conjuring a dance party that's like booty-bumpin' in Bollywood. — Scott Thill 
Listen: "Fakir"
Buck 65 Situation The scruffy Nova Scotia rapper's signature style, a charismatic combo of Tom Waits and 4-H auctioneer, falters here on his 13th album, undone by sloppy samples and lyrical piffle. Chump change compared with his past efforts. — Nancy Miller 
Listen: "The Outskirts"
Alexis Gideon Flight of the Liophant On his second album, the Portland, Oregon-based indie MC flits from raging raps to country twang to lo-fi psychedelia but always flies in hip-hoptronica first class. — Eric Smillie 
Listen: "Waves in Waves"
World in Conflict Ah, '80s revivalism. First the leg warmers comeback... and now an interactive Red Dawn. In this strategy game, players command Soviet, American, or NATO forces in a struggle for dominance at the tail end of the cold war. While the single-player mode is an afterthought, multiplayer is as accessible as an online shooter like Counter-Strike. Getting tactical with tactical nukes never gets dull. — Kieron Gillen
The Eye of Judgment
This clever bit of multimedia nerd-bait includes a webcam and a deck of collectible cards. Aim the camera at the tabletop as you play the card game. Each played card is scanned and mimicked onscreen, complete with an overlay of CG-animated skeletons and orcs. Neato! But the setup is clunky, the effects are cheesy, and the gimmick soon wears thin. For Magic: The Gathering geeks only.
— Mary Jane Irwin
No Country for Old Men A satchel full of money, a pitiless borderland pursuit, a moral standoff with deceptive symmetries: It's Coen Brothers country, with Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel at its core. With trim performances from Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin, this film bests even Fargo in brutal bemusement. — Scott Brown 
Photo: Richard Foreman/Miramax Films
Casshern Kazuaki Kiriya's 2004 adaptation of an obscure 1973 Japanese anime series delivers a postapocalyptic dystopia bursting with mad scientists, giant robot warriors, mutant villains, and an invincible superhero with serious daddy issues. Stunning CGI, but only fanboys will follow the chaotic story line. — Eva Kokopeli
Power to Save the World Gwyneth Cravens Pollution from burning coal contributes to 400,000 deaths a year in China; US nuclear plants haven't killed anyone in 50 years. So, asks former nuclear skeptic Gwyneth Cravens, why aren't we building dozens of new reactors, especially if they help solve our global-warming problems. Let's hope this clear-eyed, up-to-date tour of all things nuclear, including the latest safety data (did you know coal-fired plants emit more radiation than modern nuke facilities?), sparks a renewed nationwide debate. — Mark Horowitz
How to Build an Igloo Norbert E. Yankielun After building his first igloo while an engineering student at Dartmouth, the author went on to make hundreds of snow shelters, including several in Antarctica, before shoveling his accumulated expertise into this slim, elegantly illustrated volume. There are detailed directions for constructing igloos, slab shelters, drift caves, spruce traps, and snow trenches; yet what makes this book cool is the background science — structural engineering, thermodynamics, meteorology — not the foreground how to. The added ballast, though less appealing to the hardcore mountain man, is irresistible to the armchair eskimo who prefers building igloos in his own backyard. — Thomas Goetz
