TOP PICK
The Three Stooges Ultimate Collection
(Sony)
Need to wash the taste of the recent big-screen revision out of your mouth? This 20-disc DVD collection is filled with almost 200 shorts featuring Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, and, um, Joe Besser and Curly Joe Derita. Two feature-length Stooges movies make their DVD debuts, plus there's a bunch of animated shorts and rare films, adding up to more than 60 hours of nyuk-nyuk-nyuks.
VIDEO
Breaking Bad: The Complete Fourth Season
(Sony)
TV's best show blew up big during its fourth season last year. The 13 episodes on this terrific set are worth watching again, even if you sat through them a couple of times already. Extras include some deleted and extended scenes, and a gag reel, of all things. But you don't need them, the 13 hours collected here are among the most riveting television minutes of the millennium.
BOOK
Ernie K-Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans
(Historic New Orleans Collection)
Ernie K-Doe had one song you might hear on oldies radio from time to time: 1961's “Mother-in-Law.” But he's a New Orleans legend – he'd even tell you that. A colorful personality with musical chops to back it up, K-Doe (who died in 2001) was a regional delicacy who slipped through the mainstream cracks over time. This beautifully packaged bio by Ben Sandmel tells his story.
MUSIC
Paul Simon: Graceland 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition
(Legacy)
Simon's 1986 classic gets better and better each year. This gorgeous box tacks on an extra disc of demos and alternate versions, a 1987 concert DVD, and a documentary about the album that goes deep into the political ramifications of Simon recording the album in apartheid South Africa. But they're just background to the wonderful music found on Graceland, a cultural and musical milestone.
BOOK
Spider-Man: Inside the World of Your Friendly Neighborhood Hero
(DK)
Just in time for the new big-screen reboot, this book is packed with everything you ever need to know about the web-slinging superhero. All of the villains are here, and most get extensive bios; key comic books are checked off; and there's a whole history of everyone who came into Peter Parker's life over the past 50 years. It's a wonderful reference volume for geeks.
