Latest DVDs, CDs, books: Feb. 15, 2011

A look at some of the DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores this week:

DVDS

"Unstoppable" (PG-13): A runaway freight train filled with toxic chemicals rumbles toward derailment — unless a veteran engineer (Denzel Washington) and a rookie conductor (Chris Pine) can figure out a way to avert disaster in a fact-based action thriller from director Tony Scott.

On a lighter note, writer-director Woody Allen returns to London for the droll "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" (R), featuring Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Antonio Banderas and Josh Brolin. The documentary "Waiting for ‘Superman’ " (PG) explores America’s public education crisis. And the made-in-Vegas Bollywood drama "Kites" (not rated) focuses on the doomed romance between a hustler (Hrithik Roshan) and a fiery immigrant (Barbara Mori) who’s engaged to a mobster’s violent son; the DVD release includes an edgier English-language version, "Kites: The Remix."

Among today’s titles that never reached local theaters: "Game of Death" (R), "Glorious 39" (R) and "White Lion" (PG). All-time favorites debuting on Blu-ray Disc today include such Oscar-winners as "All the President’s Men" (PG), "Network" (R), "Moonstruck" (PG), "Rain Man" (R) and the landmark "Last Tango in Paris" (NC-17). And leading today’s TV-to-DVD transfers (all unrated): "Spin City: Season Four," "The Fugitive: The Fourth and Final Season, Vol. Two," "Dr Who: A Christmas Carol" and the miniseries version of Jules Verne’s "Around the World in 80 Days," with Pierce Brosnan as globe-trotting Phileas Fogg.

CDS

Bright Eyes, "The People’s Key": Is this it?

Bright Eyes main man Conor Oberst has hinted that this could be the band’s final disc.

Let’s hope not, as this rootsy Omaha collective sounds particularly invigorated here, coming with perhaps their most rockin’ record, all catchy caterwaul and sharp-elbowed jams.

And so while this may be the end for Bright Eyes, really, it sounds more like a new beginning.

Also in stores: Asobi Seksu, "Fluorescence"; Justin Bieber, "Never Say Never: The Remixes" (musical counterpart to his 3-D documentary film "Never Say Never"); The Dears, "Degeneration Street"; Drive-By Truckers, "Go-Go Boots"; Marianne Faithfull, "Horses and High Heels"; PJ Harvey, "Let England Shake"; Mogwai, "Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will"; and The Twilight Singers, "Dynamite Steps."

BOOKS

"Angel" by James Patterson: The latest in the Maximum Ride teen series finds Max and Fang fighting to prevent demonic scientists and a doomsday cult from taking control of the future.

On the nonfiction front, Joyce Carol Oates gives voice to her own grief and desperation after the unexpected death of her husband of 46 years in "A Widow’s Story: A Memoir."

Also in stores: "And Furthermore" by Judi Dench; "Angelfire" by Courtney Allison Moulton; "Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree" by Nancy Atherton; "Fire the Sky: Book Two of Contact: The Battle for America" by W. Michael Gear; "A Heartbeat Away" by Michael Palmer; "Lucky Stiff" by Deborah Coonts; "Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution" by Michelle Moran; "On Borrowed Time" by David Rosenfelt; "One Rough Man" by Brad Taylor; "Osama Bin Laden" by Michael Scheuer; "True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself" by Janet Jackson and David Ritz; and "Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps" by Chris Jericho with Peter Thomas Fortunale.