New and noteworthy experiences among DVDs, video games, gadgets and the Web.
DVD
Strap yourself in for a wild ride in 'Zombieland' Who knew that "Zombieland" would turn out to be such a fun, wild ride? Jesse Eisenberg stars as the unlikely hero Columbus in a zombie-infested future where the few uninfected go by the names of their hometowns so as not to become too close to other survivors. They will, after all, inevitably become lunch to the roaming hordes. In fact, "no attachments" is one of the many rules Columbus uses to survive. So things get complicated when the Twinkie-deprived loner Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) storms into Columbus' life, followed soon by two crafty young women, Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). They warily join forces and head west to find an amusement park fabled to be zombie-free. Getting there is only part of the fun, as the film mixes gut-wrenching gore and belly-aching slapstick with equal abandon. There's also a scene-stealing cameo along the way that rises from the dead for another round of laughs after the end credits. Like other great cinematic send-ups, such as "Galaxy Quest" and "Scream," "Zombieland" delights because it lovingly mocks its genre while it serves as an exemplary entry in that category. Extras on the DVD and Blu-ray (Sony, $29-$40) include commentary by the filmmakers and a few deleted scenes, with the high-def disc adding a picture-in-picture option with behind-the-scenes footage.
RANDY A. SALAS
Also out Tuesday: "Adam," "Amelia," "Beverly Hills 90201" (Season 9), "Doctor Who: The Complete Specials," "Love Happens," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (Season 6), "Murder, She Wrote" (Season 11), "The Music Man" (Blu-ray), "Ong Bak 2: The Beginning," "Planet Hulk," "Universal Soldier: Regeneration."
GAME
Work out with a celeb while you help a good cause EA Sports Active is holding a clever auction to benefit March of Dimes. The video-game behemoth has teamed with 18 celebrities and Charity Buzz (www.charitybuzz.com/easportsactive) to put custom Wii consoles up for bid. Each autographed system comes with EA's Active Personal Trainer and Active More Workouts, and comes pre-installed with each celebrity's workout routine and his or her avatar. To be honest, the list of celebs is a mixed bag of "Is he the guy from ...?" and "I've never heard of her," but you might find someone you like. They include actor Clark Gregg ("The New Adventures of Old Christine"), former "American Idol" contestant Ace Young and actress Christine Woods ("Flash Forward"). Like I said -- but it's for a good cause. Bidding closes Feb. 10.
RANDY A. SALAS
GADGET
Maybe we're taking the new iPad too personally Apple caused quite a stir last week when it introduced the iPad, a slick tablet computer that will be available in a few months for $499 to $829. With its 9.7-inch touch-screen and apps-focused setup, it does seem like an iPod Touch on steroids. But few observers seem to be concerned with something that struck me as soon as I saw it: In seeking to bridge the gap between palm-sized devices and traditional laptops, I wonder if the iPad threatens to lessen the "personal" of personal technology because of its screen size. If you're watching a movie, reading e-mail or viewing pictures on your iPad, whoever is near you can pretty much do the same because it's right there on its relatively big screen for onlookers to see. To be sure, laptops pose the same problem. But the work being done on them involves largely text-based tasks, usually for the office. So people don't care. But the whole point of an iPad is to do more personally oriented tasks, and the device virtually screams for people to look at it -- whether you want them to do so or not.
RANDY A. SALAS