DVDs, CDs and Books, July 26, 2011
A look at some of the DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores this week:
DVDS
“Source Code” (PG-13): In this ticking-clock thriller, an understandably overwhelmed helicopter pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds himself zapped aboard a Chicago-bound commuter train in someone else’s body — as part of an experimental secret military program — so he can find, and stop, a terrorist bomber. Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright and Michelle Monaghan co-star for “Moon” director Duncan Jones.
In “Trust” (R), another thriller, an online sexual predator (Chris Henry Coffey) targets a 14-year-old girl (Liana Liberato), shattering her suburban parents (Clive Owen, Catherine Keener); former “Friends” regular David Schwimmer directs. Erstwhile Superman Brandon Routh takes on a new role in “Dylan Dog” (PG-13), playing a supernatural private eye who prowls the Louisiana bayou in search of vampires, zombies, werewolves and other creatures of the night. The fact-based “Mao’s Last Dancer” (PG) follows a Chinese dancer who defects to the U.S., while the Dutch coming-of-age drama “Winter in Wartime” (R) focuses on a teenage resistance fighter in the waning days of World War II.
From the vintage vault, John Garfield stars in the DVD debuts of “Tortilla Flat” and “Breaking Point” (both unrated); “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers” (both rated R) make their Blu-ray Disc debuts. Topping the TV-transfer list (all unrated): “Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis: The Colgate Comedy Hour,” “Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe,” “Dennis The Menace: Season Two,” “Jersey Shore: Season Three,” and the fourth and fifth seasons of “McMillan & Wife.”
CDS
Frank Ocean, “Nostalgia, Lite”: Hey, it worked for Ne-Yo.
Like that R&B hit maker, 23-year-old Frank Ocean first developed a name for himself as a songwriter for other singers, in his case, such big names as Justin Bieber, Beyonce and John Legend.
He’s also a member of white-hot hip-hop collective OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All).
Will he become a star on his own?
Well, he pretty much already is.
Also in stores: America, “Back Pages”; BoDeans, “Indigo Dreams”; Brandy & Ray J, “Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business”; Vanessa Carlton, “Rabbits on the Run”; Eric Church, “Chief”; Indestructible Noise Command, “Heaven Sent, Hellbound”; Iwrestledabearonce, “Ruining It For Everybody”; Dex Romweber Duo, “Is That You in the Blue?”; Kelly Rowland, “Here I Am”; Joss Stone, “LP1”; and Toxic Holocaust, “Conjure and Command.”
BOOKS
“Ghost Story” by Jim Butcher: The latest in this series finds wizard detective Harry Dresden right where the last book left him: dead. Now Harry will have to face some dark spirits as he tries to help his friends and save his own soul.
On the thriller front, operative Scot Harvath must infiltrate a terrorist network to save the United States in “Full Black” by Brad Thor.
Also hitting shelves: “Dick Francis’ Gamble” by Felix Francis; “Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut’s Journey to the Moon” by Al Worden; “Killing Kate” by Julie Kramer; “Merciless” by Diana Palmer; “The Night Train” by Clyde Edgerton; “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles; “Spell Bound” by Kelley Armstrong; “Supernaturally” by Kiersten White; “Thick as Thieves” by Peter Spiegelman; and “Wolfsbane” by Andrea Cremer.
