5 Things You Should Know About

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MUSIC

Brian Wilson That Lucky Old Sun; available now He's 66 now, too old to be chasing the high notes, but the miles on Wilson's voice make his eternal innocence seem that much sweeter. The songs are slight ruminations on '60s L.A., some barely memorable, but as delivery devices for an optimistic soul, they do just fine. B

DVDS

Moontide and Road House, both starring Ida Lupino; Fox Film Noir series; out now The B-movie Bette Davis, Ida Lupino could play waifs or wantons, but she always gave her characters the wit and glamour required to wrestle with their fates. In Moontide (1942), she's the last hope for French icon Jean Gabin; in Road House (1948), she's the torch singer hired by punk Richard Widmark: two solid noirs starring one classy dame. B+

Baby Mama Directed by Michael McCullers; rated PG 13; out Sept. 9 Tina Fey's put-upon charm bounces so winningly off Amy Poehler's antic humor that this tale of a career woman and the surrogate she engages becomes less chick flick and more buddy movie with babies. Plus, the alternate ending is way cuter than the original. A-

Then She Found Me Directed by Helen Hunt; rated R; out now This movie has something to teach all women: Colin Firth is not always going to be there for you. Hunt directs herself in a story of yearning, from a book by Elinor Lipman, but can't quite juggle the funny and the touching, so ends up with neither. B-

BOOKS

The First Billion Is the Hardest By T. Boone Pickens; out now The latest memoir from the Texas oilman turned alternative-energy promoter is heavier on life lessons than behind-the-scenes anecdotes, though Pickens' sauciness--"Booneism #5: The higher a monkey climbs a tree, the more people can see his ass"--does entertain. C