Urban Dictionary
Aaron Peckham
Andrew McMeel Publishing, $17.95
A must have for those who want to earn some street cred by picking up the latest slang and the speaker who wants to keep his game tight. Includes more than 500 of the most popular definitions from the urbandictionary.com website including badonkadonk (an extremely curvaceous female behind), sheeple (people who don't think for themselves) to ridonkulous (completely absurd).

Hey! It's That Guy! -The Fametracker.com Guide to Character Actors
Tara Ariano and Adam Sternbergh
Raincoast Books, $19.95
How many times have you watched a film and wondered "who is that guy?" or "where have I seen her before?" Find out more about the scary tattooed guy from Con Air (Danny Trejo) or the sassy granny from The Wedding Singer (Ellen Albertini Dow) and
other unsung character actors and actresses in Hey! It's That Guy! With more than 100 of these stalwarts listed (with headshots), you'll never be left wondering where you've seen that cop, nurse, army sergeant or teacher again.

Kong Unbound - The Cultural Impact, Pop Myths and Scientific Plausibility of a Cinematic Legend
Pocket Books, $19
Just in time for Peter Jackson's interpretation of the mighty Kong, this collection of essays suggests the film is more than just another "beauty and the beast" tale. The essays examine such themes as Kong as a symbol of slavery and the story as an example of the triumph of technology over the natural world.


L.A. Noir - The City as Character
Alain Silver and James Ursini
Santa Monica Press, $26.95
Los Angeles is as much of a star in film noir as any actor. In fact, the city has been featured so often in these films, often characterized by their alienated and doomed characters, that it is the focus of this book. L.A. Noir features dozens of noir and neo-noir landmarks from such movies as Sunset Boulevard, Touch of Evil, Chinatown, L.A. Confidential and Pulp Fiction.




Walk the Line
Wind Up/Warner Music
For the long-awaited Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, actors Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon learned to play instruments and underwent intensive vocal training. The results can be heard on the film's T-Bone Burnett-produced soundtrack on which Phoenix has recorded such Cash classics as "Ring of Fire," "I Walk the Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues." Witherspoon performs solo renditions of "Juke Box Blues" and "Wildwood Flower" and the two perform duets for "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Jackson."

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Milan/Warner Music
To suit the '50s and '60s setting of the film, composer John Frizzell, joined by Sara and Sean Watkins on fiddle and guitar, creates a mix of quirky riffs and soulful melodies to provide a rich, sweet depth to the movie's score. Also included on the disc is "Wheel of Fortune" by Kay Starr, "Waiting for the Sunrise" and "Bye Bye Blues" by Les Paul and Mary Ford, "Rag Mop" recorded by the Ames brothers and two versions of "I'm Sitting on Top of the World," one by k.d. lang and one by Woody Harrelson (who co-stars in the film).

Chicken Little
Walt Disney Records
This soundtrack is bound to be as much of a crowd-pleaser as the film. For starters, there's the infectious pop of the '80s hit "Stir It Up," by Patti Labelle and Joss Stone, followed by the Barenaked Ladies' "One Little Slip" and a sugared version of "Shake A Tail Feather," done by the Cheetah Girls. Tongue-in-cheek inclusion of R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," is a standout, as are Diana Ross' anthemic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and Five For Fighting's "All I Know."