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It is said that Garth Ennis is the best writer of World War II stories in the comics biz today, and "Battlefields" ($29.99, Dynamite Entertainment) is convincing evidence of that.

All those years of playing a stoner in director Kevin Smith's movies have left actor Jason Mewes in a bit of a haze.

"If someone says, 'Hey, let's get Jason Mewes to play a cop in this movie,' somebody else will say, 'But, hey, isn't he that stoner dude from the Kevin Smith films?' So, yeah, it definitely makes (casting agents) second guess me," says the actor.

"MEMENTO MORI," Flyleaf (A&M/Octane)

Dhani Harrison is in his right mind. And his left.

At Brown University, he majored in aerodynamics and industrial design and played in a rock band. After designing sports cars at McLaren Automotive, he spent more than two years helping to develop "Beatles: Rock Band" -- as both a programmer and a gamer/musician.

"2012" is based loosely on the belief that the world as we know it will end on Dec. 21 of that year. The date corresponds loosely to information gleaned from the writings of ancient Mayan culture, when the "Long-Count Calendar" of 5,126 days turns over and the result is -- what, exactly?

For viewers uninterested in "UFO Hunters," "Gangland" and "Pawn Stars," TV watchers who long for the days when History was known as "the Hitler Channel," your time has come again.

A guide to movies from a family perspective:

"2012"

-- Rated: PG-13.

-- Suitable for: Middle-schoolers and up.

-- What you should know: The world is in peril and then destroyed, by earthquakes, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, toppling buildings, ash clouds and other disasters, in this movie that runs 2-1/2 hours.

Oh, so that's what it was all about.

Many were caught off-guard when "The Prisoner" aired in 1967. It was nonlinear television full of symbols and deeper meanings -- sort of like "Lost" for the hippie era. "The Prisoner" was a statement about the Cold War and international instability.

She's not much to look at, but she's got loads of character. Most importantly, she's got a magical touch when it comes to attracting young readers.

It takes a village to keep a community of souls together, goes the common thinking, and examples are everywhere. Pleasant places for industrious, law-abiding folks.

There are other villages in America as well that are not so pleasant -- the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II, for instance.