TOP PICK
Dragon's Dogma
(Capcom)
Like The Elder Scrolls, this RPG-adventure video game (for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) is set long ago in a land of fierce warriors and mythical monsters, and it offers a huge world open to hours of exploration. The levels of gameplay come close to those found in the classic Scrolls series, and your commitment to them never seems like a chore. The terrific combat system keeps things moving.
VIDEO
The Awakening
(Warner Archive)
This 1980 shocker (now available as a manufacture on demand title at warnerarchive.com) stars Charlton Heston as an archaeologist whose baby daughter is taken over by the spirit of an evil Egyptian queen after he opens her tomb (won't these guys ever learn?). So he plans a ceremonial ritual to sacrifice his daughter to save mankind. It's kinda cheesy but good. Look for the guy who played Emperor Palpatine as a doctor.
MUSIC
Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music
(Williams Street)
This Atlanta rapper (and Adult Swim voice actor) has been kicking around for a dozen years, first appearing on an OutKast cut. His sixth album is his best, a beat-heavy, rhyme-slinging manifesto delivered in Mike's killer flow. He goes deep … and deeply political, taking on all parties and causes. Also credit producer El-P, who constructs a dense landscape for Killer Mike to build his words on.
VIDEO
Summer Interlude
(Criterion)
Ingmar Bergman's first stateside hit, from 1951, makes its Blu-ray debut with this elegant Criterion set that's surprisingly short on extras. No matter, the movie itself – about a ballerina who looks back on her first true love – is pretty much Bergman 101, with many of the great director's usual themes (remembrance, separation, death) coming together for the first time. It's the start of the rest of his brilliant career.
BOOK
When I Left Home: My Story
(Da Capo)
Bluesman Buddy Guy (along with writer David Ritz) recounts his life in an autobiography that's filled with the usual touchstones: ancestors born in slavery, an early baptism with the music, a fateful gig with a legend. But Guy's story is a little less gritty than those that came before him. Still, the dude paid his dues, working his way up as a master guitarist who showed Eric Clapton a thing or two along the way.
