THE LIST

DVDS

"The Ex" (PG-13 and unrated versions available): Zach Braff ends up pitted against his wife's ex-beau and working for his father-in-law. The movie attempts to be darkly zany to get an occasional laugh, but the cast (Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Donal Logue, Paul Rudd, Charles Grodin, et al.) is of far higher quality than the script.

Also out today: "Rob Zombie 3-Disc Collector's Set" (Unrated); "September 11" (Unrated); "House of Games" (R); "Perfect Stranger" (R); "The Lives of Others" (R); "Blood in the Face" (Unrated); "Sacco and Vanzetti" (Unrated); "The Ultimate Gift" (PG); "I Pity the Fool: Season One" (Unrated); "Broken English" (PG-13); "Redline" (PG-13); and "South Park: The Complete 10th Season" (Unrated).

CDS

M.I.A., "Kala": Three-and-a-half decades after Sly & The Family Stone famously declared that "There's A Riot Goin' On," M.I.A. keeps the revolutionary fervor alive with an album that bursts to life like a molotov cocktail hurled through your speaks.

The daughter of Sri Lankan refugees, the British MC captures the sound of chaos on her incredibly diffuse sophomore LP, "Kala," an album of wailing sirens, clanging beats and deft verbal buckshot. Lead dense and absorbing, "Kala" is an early candidate for album of the year.

Also out today: Joe Bonamassa, "Sloe Gin"; Greg Brown, "Yellow Dog"; Johnny Cash, "The Legend of Johnny Cash: Ring of Fire Vol. II"; Choro Ensemble, "Nosso Tempo"; Floratone, "Floratone"; Halfway to Hazard, "Halfway to Hazard"; Thelma Houston, "A Woman's Touch"; Rilo Kiley, "Under the Blacklight"; Joe Nichols, "Real Things"; Ratt, "Tell the World: The Very Best of Ratt"; The New Pornographers, "The Challengers"; and Soundtrack, "Halloween."

BOOKS

"Still Summer" (Grand Central Publishing) by Jacquelyn Mitchard: High school friends Tracy, Olivia and Holly, known as The Godmothers, the girls everyone wanted to be and know, reunite 20 years after graduating for a luxury sailboat cruise across the Caribbean. But with Tracy's college-age daughter and a two-man crew, they sail into a series of devastating events.

Also out today: "Power Play" (St. Martin's Press) by Joseph Finder; "Away" (Random House) by Amy Bloom; "The Sanctuary" (Dutton) Raymond Khoury; "Letters to a Young Teacher" (Crown) by Jonathan Kozol; "Ike: An American Hero" (HarperCollins) Michael Korda; and "Sweet Revenge" (William Morrow) by Diane Mott Davidson.