With J. G. Ballard’s recent death, it’s time to assess his impact. I loved Ballard’s early work, and that’s why I choose Chronopolis, a fabulous short story collection that includes “The Voices of Time,” “The Terminal Beach,” “Billenium,” “The Garden of Time,” and “The Drowned Giant.” These are classic stories that reward rereading. I’m also recommending what I consider Ballard’s best novel, The Crystal World. Almost all of Ballard’s work is apocalyptic, but The Crystal World destroys the world most beautifully. And the first edition had the incredible wrap-around cover of Max Ernst’s Eye of Silence. I dutifully read Ballard’s later works like Crash and Concrete Island as they were published, but they lacked the impact of his earlier works. Ballard was a singular talent. We won’t see his like again.

I’m wallowing in nostagia again. For a mere $29.95, you can be the proud owner of Stingray: The Complete Series from Daedalus Books (salebooks.com). AMAZON wants $74.95 for the same set. I grew up watching Stingray. From their secret headquarters at Marineville, the members of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP) battle the Aquaphibians, undersea warriors who want to rid the world of all surface dwellers. At first, it seems quaint to watch marionettes when we’re used to high tech special effects. But the magic of Stingray is that you start to care about the story and the characters and forget about the strings. This DVD collection includes all 39 episodes, digitally remastered. Total fun!

Can you imagine being in the audience and watching Roy Orbison, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Brown, T-Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, J. D. Souther, and Tom Waits perform songs like “Only the Lonely,” “Blue Bayou,” “It’s Over,” and “Pretty Woman”? Can you imagine a brace of backup singers like Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, and k. d. lang? This Showtime concert from 1987 might be one of the best concerts ever filmed. There’s oodles of talent here. If you haven’t seen it, you need to run out and find it. The Deluxe Edition includes a CD with all the songs on it so you can play it in your car and dream of your golden yesterdays past at every stoplight. GRADE: A.

When I first heard “Lay Your Body Down (Goodbye Philadelphia)” on the radio I thought, “This sounds like Billy Joel.” But, of course, it wasn’t. It was Peter Cincotti who seems to be channeling Billy Joe with his singing and piano playing. If you’re a fan of Billy Joel, you need to give Peter Cincotti a try. GRADE: B.

David Denby is best known for his movie reviews in The New Yorker and for his brilliant GREAT BOOKS and his story about his porno addiction and day-trading fiasco in American Sucker. SNARK is nothing like anything Denby has written. The text meanders around its 128 pages in a schizophrenic fashion. First, Denby is concerned about snarky behavior on the Internet, but he admits not much can be done about it. Then Denby goes back into time to claim the Roman writer, Juvenal, was the original snarky writer. Finally, Denby rambles around writing about contemporary writers he finds snarky: Maureen Dowd, Gore Vidal, and Joe Queenan. Not to be snarky, but this book sucked.

The BBC version of State of Play is 335 minutes long compared to the 1 hour and 57 minutes of the U. S. movie version. There are many more minor characters in the British version. Much more detail to the tangled plot. Bill Nighy is terrific as the crusty managing Editor. Comparing the mini-series to the movie is like comparing apples and kumquats. Both have completely different pacing and dramatic moments. The movie is sleeker, with more tension and suspense. The mini-series has more humor, most of it centering around Dominic Foy (the bi-sexual PR agent) and it’s sexier. My recommendation is to see both versions. GRADE: B+

State of Play is a very tricky movie. It has more twists than a pretzel. Bill Crider suggested that it should be called Russell Crowe’s Bad Haircut and I have to admit it’s distracting. Crowe plays a scruffy reporter for a Washington, D.C. newspaper. He’s investigating the mysterious death of a Congressional staffer. So is the fetching Rachel McAdams. And Helen Mirren is the Iron Maiden managing Editor. There’s good acting here to burn. This movie is based on a BBC mini-series which I’ll review tomorrow. Until then, if you’re in the mood for a suspenseful thriller, State of Play is the movie to see. GRADE: B+.

Robert Silverberg once wrote an introduction to a James Tiptree, Jr. book where he “proves” that Tiptree is a male writer. Of course, he was wrong. Tiptree’s identity was uncovered by my friend, Jeff Smith, which lead to a friendship with Alice Sheldon. You can read all about that incident in Julie Phillips’ excellent biography, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon. I almost chose this collection and one of its great novelettes for Patti Abbott’s FORGOTTEN SHORT STORIES last week. There are some great tales in Her Smoke Rose Up Forever: “The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” “Love is the Plan the Plan is Death,” and one of the most haunting stories I’ve ever read, “The Screwfly Solution.” If you haven’t read any of these classic Tiptree stories, you’re in for quite an experience.

Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood is an example of Thomas Rick’s comment: “Our military is better than we deserve.” Donovan Campbell relates the events of his platoon on their tour of Iraq in 2004. Their mission was to defend Ramadi from the insurgents. What happens to Campbell and his men is chilling, heart-breaking, and inspiring. If you want to understand the Iraq war from the viewpoint of the men who fight in this war, Joker One gives you plenty to think about.

Run, don’t walk, to your local movie theater and see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3-D! I had a blast watching this homage to “creature features” of the past. Reese Witherspoon plays Susan, bride-to-be, when she’s hit by a mysterious meteor that turns her into a giant (homage to Attack of the 50-Foot Woman). The U. S. military takes her to a secret base where they keep their other “monsters.” Susan meets Dr. Cockroach (voice by Hugh Laurie) the smartest insect on the planet (homage to The Fly) and the jello-like Bob (The Blob) and The Missing Link (Creature From the Black Lagoon). And, of course, the Earth faces invasion by galactic aliens. Monster time! GRADE: A-