Media Mix

Book

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Last One In

By Nicholas Kulish
Harper Perennial
$13.95

His expense-account-padded job as a New York gossip columnist in jeopardy, fictional reporter Jimmy Stephens embeds himself in Iraq in an effort to curry favor wth his editor.

"By the end of the war, toilet paper would be called rectal sanitary equipment, and they'd use the acronym RSE for an extra layer of obfuscation."

— Stephens reflects on the byzantine business of military life

The author, himself embedded with a Marine unit in 2003, has pitch-perfect ear for the musical crudity of Marine banter.

Though Kulish vividy brings the men of Stephens's unit to warts-and-all life, the hero remains something of an underdeveloped cipher.

— Reviewed by Adriana Leshko

B

Book

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Pilgrims Upon the Earth

By Brad Land

Random House

$23.95

The South Carolina native behind the best-selling memoir "Goat" tries his hand at fiction with a spare, elusive novel about a young drifter's coming of age.

"He yelled at them, hauled off, felt sad and talented, knew, from then on, he'd look for her, and that was all."

—The protagonist, Terry, gets suspended from high school and falls in love in the same instant

Many of Land's intricate descriptions (the slippery-smooth feel of a breezeway railing, the angle of a stubbed-out cigaette) evoke fleeting moments ith pin-prick precision.

The author homes in on dettails at the expense of the larger story, which grows aimless and hard to follow.

— Sara Cardace

C

CD

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Build a Nation

Bad Brains

Megaforce

$14.98

The original lineup of the legendary, incendiary hardcore band reunites to recrod some breakneck tunes with producer, super-fan and Beastie Boy Adam Yauch.

“Ya gotta be standin' firm / And dontcha ever worry about takin' your turn"

—“Natty Dreadlocks 'Pon the Mountain Top”

After a decade of aesthetic inconsistency, the band revisits the hair-trigger punk that influenced acts from Minor Threat to Lil Jon.

Singer H.R.'s spaciness works on the album's reggae-style cuts, bu the sounds lost in the flurry of the faster tracks.

— Chris Richards

C+

CD

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Translated From Love

Kelly Willis

Rykodiisc

$16.98

The alt-country queen went to high school in Annandale, but nowadays most folks will recognize her as the country singer in those TV ads for Claritin.

"Sweet, sweet little one / don't you berate the sun / It's only coming up from being down"

— "Sweet Little One"

Willis performs a handful of slow, torchy tunes with heartbreaking finesse.

Her voice sounds clearer than ever (thanks, Claritin!) but her delivery feels stiff over the album's looser, livelier tunes, including a cover of Iggy Pop's "Success."

—C.B

B-

COMIC

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The Highwaymen No.1

By Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman and Lee Garbett

Wildstorm

$2.99

Able Monroe and Alistair McQueen have settled into prosaic lives, leaving their dangerous past as special-ops couriers behind — until a request from a long-dead president changes everything.

"We're shooting at the CIA? You really got an explanation that'll cover this?"

— Able wants to know the reason for the duo's bullet-riddled car-chase reunion

Writers Bernardin and Freeman deftly fuse the tension of high-stakes political intrigue with the jazzy rhythmic patter of a buddy action movie.

A hefty amount of exposition bogs down this first issue, and it could have been more tightly paced.

— Evan Narcisse

b+

DVD

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Black Snake Moan

Rated R

Paramount

$29.99

Director Craig Brewer mixes exploitation with down-home morality in this tail of an abused nympo chained to a radiator by a caring bluesman.

"God seen fit to put you in my path, and I am to cure you of yoru wickedness."

— Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) calmly explains the situation to the barely clad Rae (Christina Ricci)

Despite the ludicrous setup, Ricci and Jackson imbue their characters with real fleeting, and it's fun to hear Brewer try to make sense of his overheated mess on the commentary track.

What passage in the Bible reads "though shalt chain the sex addict"? Remember: Sexual immorality is bad, but by all means, ogle Ricci in her underwear.

— Greg Zinman

B-

DVD

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Shooter

Rated R

Paramount

$29.99

After an ex-Marine sharpshooter is asked to help prevent a presidential assassination, he's set up as the fall guy in a government consipracy. Revenge ensues.

"This is the world we live in. . . . It's not the Wild West where you can clean up the streets with a gun. Even though sometimes that's exactly what's needed."

— A federal agent gives Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg, left) the tacit go-ahead to pull the trigger.

A snowy shootout on a galcier is tense and striking, and a lot of things explode beautifully. A making-of featurette is informative.

The film's amoral compass veers wildly — and stupidly — between a desire for flag-waving justice and old-fashoned vigilantism.

— G.Z.

C-

Game

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The Sims 2: Pets

Nintendo Wii

Rated Teen

Electronic Arts

$49.99

The virtual dollhouse game returns with the addition of easy point-and-click Wii controls and as the title suggests, animals.

Choose from an insane number of dog and cat breeds, then customize everything about the critter, from fur markings to tail and ear size.

Your Sim can take his or her pet into town and let it romp in the park with other neighborhood mutts.

There are puppies an dkittens everywhere — but where are the children?

— Christopher Healy

B