Plenty of ents
As a TV personality, Steve Irwin can't be beaten: the Aussie wildlife-lover is such a good bloke, it's almost parodic. His exuberant good humour and enthusiasm for getting up close and personal with unfeasibly scary critters make this film - almost overcoming a ludicrous story about a crocodile that has swallowed an FBI spy device. Irwin and his (real-life) wife Terri are out to rescue the creature from poachers, unaware it's on America's Most Wanted list. The daredevilry is fun and the DVD has impressive extras, including seven featurettes.
CD: 23 Skidoo: Just Like Everybody Part 2 (Ronin)
The last record in 23 Skidoo's back catalogue to be re-released, this features material from the late 1980s and early 1990s as the group evolved into remix and producer outfit Ronin and, later, hip hop label Ronin Records. Most tracks are instrumental journeys into rhythm, with the odd sample looped into minimal break beat and funk, pared-down dub and staccato electronica. The momentum of these bare, relentless rhythm tracks have a hypnotic quality that compensates for their lack of melody; although the album's rarefied feel suggests it's aimed mostly at completists. Claire Allfree
Book: Desolation by Yasmina Reza (Hamish Hamilton, £10.99)
The playwright behind Art deals with a more bitter subject for her first novel. Samuel, ageing and misanthropic, sends a rambling and brutal open letter to his slacker son, the contents of which constitute the entire narrative. Life, love and the futility of the search for happiness are dealt with at length, and while Samuel's bleakness is hard to deal with, his bluntness is thought-provoking, his rant against youth culture forcing confrontations with mortality. A refreshing change from the saccharine inanities of the festive season.
