Media Mix

Some Loud Thunder

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Self Released

$13.98

BASIC STORY:

The jangly Brooklyn- and Philadelphia-based indie rockers follow up their successful 2005 debut with a thoughtful, eclectic album of genre-bending songs.

SAMPLE GRAB:

"How'd I arrive in a place like this?/Red right hand as the alligator kiss/My head is white and my face is green/But my feet are still moving if you know what I mean"

-- "Satan Said Dance"

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE:

Singer Alec Ounsworth switches up his David Byrne-ish delivery to good effect, and many of the songs are smarter and more experimental than the easygoing pop of the band's first album.

WHAT YOU WON'T:

The album is wildly inconsistent. If you love the demonic dance-rock numbers, you may hate the instrumental polka interludes. And vice versa.-- S.C.

GRADE: B-

COMIC

Storm

Marvel Comics

$19.99

By Eric Jerome Dickey, Lan Medina and David Yardin

BASIC STORY:

This hardcover tells how teenage pickpocket Ororo Monroe crossed paths with Prince T'Challa, years before they married and became the weather-wielding bombshell Storm and the warrior king known as the Black Panther.

SAMPLE GRAB:

"I am still poor, T'Challa. I have no money. No kingdom. I still have to survive."

-- Ororo justifies her thievery to T'Challa, underscoring their class differences

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE:

Best-selling novelist Dickey generates real romantic tension in a fantastic milieu and creates a poignant coming-of-age story for a beloved character.

WHAT YOU WON'T:

The story can feel overwritten in spots, with huge dialogue balloons choking the art's expressiveness.

-- Evan Narcisse

GRADE: B+

DVD

Flyboys -- Two Disc Collectors Edition

Rated PG-13

MGM

$39.98

BASIC STORY: James Franco, Martin Henderson and Jean Reno star in the World War I epic about the first U.S. pilots to fly in combat.

SAMPLE GRAB: "You've got to find your own meaning in this war."

-- Veteran Reed Cassidy (Henderson) gets existential with the newer pilots

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE:

Extra features look at the real history behind the film and the techniques of filming the aerial battles, which are really more interesting than the movie itself.

WHAT YOU WON'T:

Between fleeting moments of actual excitement, the film's endless scenes of biplane derring-do and improbable romantic rescues amount to little more than monotonous epic-fatigue.

-- Justin Rude

GRADE: D+

DVD

Lucky Louie

HBO Home Video

Not Rated

$29.98

BASIC STORY: Louis C.K., Pamela Adlon, Michael G. Hagerty, Laura Kightlinger and Jerry Minor star in HBO's old fashioned blue-collar sitcom.

SAMPLE GRAB:

"Do you know how much money we have in our bank account? Negative 50 dollars. We have to raise 50 dollars to be broke."

-- Part-time mechanic Louis waxes funny on money trouble

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: Fans of the now-canceled show will no doubt be excited to catch "Clowntime Is Over," an unaired episode included in the set.

WHAT YOU WON'T: The series is very hit or miss throughout, and while it's very funny when it's on, its acerbic tone is particularly hard to take when it's not.

-- J.R.

GRADE: C+

GAME

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

Nintendo Wii

Rated Everyone 10+

$49.99

BASIC STORY:

Pair the motion-sensitive controls of the Wii with the extremely fast, non-sequitur "microgames" of the Wario franchise for a blissfully absurd gaming experience.

SAMPLE GRAB:

Discover bizarre new techniques for using the Wii remote including "The Waiter" (balance it on your palm), "The Mortar & Pestle" (stand it upright and grind) and "The Elephant" (extend it from your nose).

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE:

You may never have thought you'd have fun zipping a man into a panda costume or scrubbing a cow's backside -- but, trust us, you will.

WHAT YOU WON'T:

Often, the time limit will zip by before you can even figure out what you're supposed to do -- but that's all part of the joy.

-- Christopher Healy

GRADE: A