Media Mix

Book

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A Lifetime of Secrets

Compiled by Frank Warren

William Morrow

$27.95

What Warren began as a community art project in 2004 is now a phenomenon. This is the latest compilation of anonymous postcards containing the senders' never-been-told secrets.

"I died the day I said 'I Do.' "

— A sample postcard

Reading strangers' intimate confessions feels creepy yet gratifying. We think we're alone, but we find solace in common ground.

At times, two equally poignant but thematically disparate postcards are placed on the same page, diminishing the impact of each one.

— Reviewed by Alexis Burling

A-

Book

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I Am America (And So Can You!)

By Stephen Colbert

Grand Central

$26.99

The Comedy Central faux-pundit delivers a tongue-hopefully-in-cheek mix of opinionated essays, lists ("Animals That Have Sex") and charts ("Things That Are Trying to Turn Me Gay").

"Here's the dirty little secret. When the cameras go off, I'm still talking. And right now all that opinion is going to waste, like seed on barren ground."

— Colbert, reader.
Reader, Colbert.

The work is an irresistible compendium of all things Colbert (including that infamous speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association dinner).

The rapid-fire onslaught of winking footnotes and parenthetical asides makes a straight read-through exhausting. It's best experienced in brief segments that leave you wanting more.

— Sara Cardace

A-

CD

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Brave

Jennifer Lopez

Epic

$18.97

J. Lo rediscovers her inner Fly Girl, serving up dance-happy tunes that'll have booties — both big and small — shaking.

"Heartbreaks are overrated / Stay together / That's the new trend"

— After extensive trend research, Lopez pledges her love on "Stay
Together"

The disc is front-loaded with expertly produced tracks and some undeniable hooks to match.

Thick beats, thin voice. The better the song, the more you'll wish it was Beyoncé singing. Or Mary J. Or Amerie. Or Janet. Or Cassie.

— Chris Richards

B-

CD

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The Flying Club Cup

Beirut

Ba Da Bing

$13.98

How do you say "indie wunderkind" en français? The latest from blog-beloved singer Zach Condon was inspired by his experiences in Paris.

"Yesterday fever, tomorrow St. Peter / I'll beat on my drum until then"

— "Cliquot"

Unlike similarly histrionic indie acts (cough Decemberists cough), Condon's eccentricities rarely feel cloying.

Varied instrumentation — strings, horns, fluegelhorn, bouzouki — can't remedy the album's uniform feel.

— C.R.

B

Comic

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The Nightly News

By Jonathan Hickman

Image

$16.99

A cult made up of maladjusted loners launches a war of terrorist attacks against corporate news organizations, targeting people in every echelon of the media superstructure.

"Most of the people I have recruited are innocent people that, through journalistic indifference or arrogance, have had their lives destroyed . . . ."

— John Guyton, the cult's ringleader, explains how the group finds devotees

Hickman scatters the narrative all over the page, delivering a blistering rebuke of our media culture while exploding commonly held notions of how to tell a story in comics.

Sometimes it seems that Hickman is more interested in creating a polemic than in advancing the plot.

— Evan Narcisse

B-

DVD

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Evan Almighty

Rated PG

Universal

$29.98

In the most expensive comedy ever made, God (Morgan Freeman) tells junior congressman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) to build an ark.

"It's a wife thing, sir. Trying to spice up the love life. She's a big Loggins & Messina fan."

— Evan attempts to
explain his sudden facial hair to Rep. Chuck Long (John Goodman)

Carell makes even the lamest excuses for comedy seem slightly amusing. If the movie actually does have any true believers, they'll give an "amen" to the copious bonus features.

It's hard to believe an omniscient deity — even one as charming as Freeman — would ever be involved in something with this many poop jokes.

— Greg Zinman

C-

DVD

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Reign Over Me

Rated R

Columbia

$28.95

A successful dentist (Don Cheadle) runs into his old college roommate (Adam Sandler), a troubled man who lost his family on Sept. 11, 2001, and is unwilling to revisit the past. Healing ensues.

"Are you gonna to be all right, Charlie? You're gonna make it, right?"

"I'm more worried about you, Johnson."

Alan (Cheadle) and Charlie (Sandler) talk it out

Even though he seems to be channeling the title character from "Rain Man" half the time, Sandler has a winning rapport with the reliably excellent Cheadle.

The film's third act is filled with one implausible event after another, and the package has a serious dearth of worthwhile extras.

— G.Z.

B-

Game

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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Nintendo DS

Rated Everyone

Nintendo

$34.99

Princess Zelda (who left palace life to lead the crew of a pirate ship!) gets kidnapped, and it's up to Link to save her once again.

Look, Ma, no buttons! All action is controlled by stylus: Draw a path for Link to travel, scratch across the touch screen to make him swing his sword, and poke at the enemies you want him to attack.

Help yourself solve the game's many puzzles by jotting notes directly on the screen.

How steady is your hand? Be off by a millimeter and instead of opening the door you meant to tap, Link is breaking the vase next to it.

— Christopher Healy

A-