New releases

Massive ice floes. Hiccupping volcanoes. An atmosphere and ocean in perpetual, chaotic flux. And that's even before we pesky humans started mucking around with carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The earth certainly has faced enough challenges in its 4.5 billion years and this five-part National Geographic special glories in every disastrous, high-definition moment. Yet, from disaster springs balance, as volcanoes, atmosphere, ice, and ocean interact to keep the Earth and its inhabitants alive - and making documentaries. Narrated by geologist Iain Stewart.

Classic film: Tengoku to jigoku (High and Low)
Drama: 21
Drama: Pete Kelly's Blues
Drama: Turn the River
Comedy: Robot Chicken: Star Wars
TV: Comedy Central's TV Funhouse
Comedy: Picture This!
Drama: The Boston Strangler (2008 version)
TV: Las Vegas, season 5
TV: Spaced, complete series

Nintendo DS (SOUTH PEAK INTERACTIVE)
Slime never looked so good. Actually, that's Mr. Slime to you. Players will help Mr. Slime defend the Slime Village from the evil Axons, using Nintendo touch-screen capabilities to manipulate Mister Slime by attaching his "arms" to anchor points through the levels. You can also blow on the system's microphone to make Mister Slime fly or give him bubbles to help him breathe underwater. You won't even get your hands dirty.

Jennifer Haigh (HarperCollins)
Jennifer Haigh's disturbing, well-crafted debut novel, "Mrs. Kimble," explored the psyche of a charismatic predator and the three women who loved him. In her third novel, she returns to the rocky landscape of human emotions, this time with a proper New England family faced with the harsh reality of a rare genetic condition. When the McKotches learn that their middle daughter has a syndrome that will keep her in a childlike physical state, the family slowly disintegrates. Decades later, a twist of fate holds the potential of bringing the family back together.

Live Santa Monica '72 (Virgin)
It's been more than 35 years since David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust alter ego and the Spiders From Mars introduced a special brand of mind-blowing glam rock. Now, a long-treasured bootleg of a 1972 concert in Santa Monica, Calif. - Bowie's first live US radio broadcast - has gone legit. Live versions of the classics are here: "Space Oddity," "Suffragette City," and "Changes" as well as Bowie's versions of Jacques Brel's "My Death" and the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting for the Man." While the material has been released in part before, the new CD brings it all together to show a new generation how Mum and Daddy used to rock on.

Rock: Nine Inch Nails / The Slip (Null Corporation)
Pop: Miley Cyrus / Breakout (Hollywood)
Country: Sugarland / Love on the Inside, deluxe fan edition (Mercury Nashville)
Rock: Black Sabbath / The Rules of Hell, remastered (Rhino)
R&B: Noel Gourdin / After My Time (Epic)
Alternative: Sunfold / Toy Tugboats (Megaforce)
Blues: Buddy Guy / Skin Deep (Zomba)
Rock: Paul Weller / 22 Dreams (Yep Roc)
Rock: U2 / Boy / October / War, deluxe remastered editions (Island)

By Stephanie Schorow; sschorow@comcast.net