The List: Latest DVDs, CDs, books, April 23
A look at some of the DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores this week:
DVDs
“The Impossible” (PG-13): Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star as parents vacationing in Thailand with their three young boys, who become separated by the 2004 tsunami in this harrowing, fact-based drama.
Elsewhere, a secret LAPD detail (led by Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling) sets out to take down mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) in 1949 Los Angeles in “Gangster Squad” (R). Matt Damon and Frances McDormand travel the country convincing impoverished rural homeowners to sell their natural gas rights despite knowing full well the dangers of the extraction process, known as fracking, in “Promised Land” (R). Marlon Wayans and Cedric The Entertainer star in “A Haunted House” (R), a spoof of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise and other found-footage horror movies. And, fresh off its theatrical run, “Jurassic Park in 3D” (PG-13) debuts.
Topping today’s TV transfers: “Masterpiece Classic: Mr. Selfridge,” “Ken Burns: The Central Park Five,” “Touched by an Angel: The Seventh Season” and “Maverick: The Complete Second Season.”
CDs
Michael Buble, “To Be Loved”: So, just whom did your mom’s favorite crooner, Michael Buble, enlist to produce his new record?
None other than Bob Rock, the guy behind such headbanger favorites as Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood” and Metallica’s black album.
So, what does this mean for Buble?
Lots of strippers and mosh pits, dudes.
Also in stores: Paula Cole, “Raven”; Fantasia, “Side Effects of You”; Har Mar Superstar, “Bye Bye 17”; Tom Jones, “Spirit in the Room”; Steve Martin & Edie Brickell, “Love Has Come For You”; Phoenix, “Bankrupt!”; Queensryche, “Frequency Unknown”; Snoop Lion, “Reincarnation”; will.i.am, “#willpower”; and Rob Zombie, “Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor.”
BOOKS
“The Hit” by David Baldacci: Hit man Will Robie is who the U.S. government goes to when it has a problem, and this time the problem is fellow assassin Jessica Reel, a rogue agent Robie is instructed to eliminate.
In nonfiction, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre shares his story, from being a bullied child to his rise in mixed martial arts, in “The Way of the Fight.”
Also hitting shelves: “Austerity” by Mark Blyth; “Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation” by Michael Pollan; “Fly Away” by Kristin Hannah; “Frozen in Time: An Epic Story” by Mitchell Zuckoff; “The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker; “Helga’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Account of Life in a Concentration Camp” by Helga Weiss; “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” by David Sedaris; “Paris: The Novel” by Edward Rutherfurd; “Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV” by Brian Stelter; “Unnatural Creatures: Stories” by Neil Gaiman; and “Wedding Night: A Novel” by Sophie Kinsella.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
