gift-off: The Suburbs vs. The 'Burbs

Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
"...a generously paced collection of meditations on familial responsibility, private disappointments, and fleeting youth..."

Availability: Everywhere melancholy indie rock is sold. Which is pretty much everywhere.

Price: $9.99ish

Coolness Factor: Medium. when one of your songs is featured in an ad for the NFL, you've lost significant chunks of your hipster cred. Even if you donate all the proceeds to Haiti.

Warnings: "Rococo rococo rococo rococo. Rococo rococo rococo rococo."

Joe Dante's The 'Burbs
`The 'burbs" tries to position itself somewhere between "Beetlejuice" and "The Twilight Zone..."

Availability: On DVD, or, for the impatient, on Netflix Instant View.

Price: Depends on if you want it sullied or unsullied. Unsullied is gonna cost you about $12.99

Coolness Factor: Low. The late 80s comedy aesthetic has aged about as well as the late 80s fashion aesthetic.

Warning: Tom Hanks.

gift-off: Nintendo Wii vs. Yevgeny Zamyatin's We

Nintendo Wii

"What is Wii? Quite simply, Wii is fun."

Availability: Limited. Nerds with the wherewithal, spiritually and fiscally, to stand in line for hours, if not days, are the only ones guaranteed access.

Price: $249 and up.

Coolness Factor: Medium. Reduced by the fact that your mom wants one.

Warnings: May result in muscle tears, "Wii hand," or blurred vision. Not for the lackadaisical.

Yevgeny Zamyatin's We

"One of the great novels of the twentieth century."

Availability: Sold in quality bookstores everywhere. No mad rushes, no lines, no threats of mugging.

Price: $11.20 new.

Coolness Factor: High. A definite subway read. A hipster 1984.

Warnings: May result in depression, fear of technocracy, or literateurism.