After she's (mis)diagnosed with a fatal illness, shy New Orleans department store clerk Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) decides to live it up before it's too late, cleaning out her savings account and bidding a fond farewell to her friend Sean (LL Cool J) to embark on a dream "Last Holiday" at a luxurious European resort. Paul Newman and Shirley Knight star in Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth."

Holidays -- happy and otherwise -- inspire recent comedies on ...

The big screen scene: Queen Latifah reigns in "Last Holiday" (Paramount), a you-go-girl remake of the 1950 Alec Guinness original, about a shy wallflower who discovers her days are numbered -- and decides to spend the time she has left living it up on a luxurious European spree.

An all-star ensemble, meanwhile, celebrates a dysfunctional yule in "The Family Stone" (Fox), as the eldest son (Dermot Mulroney) of the title clan brings his uptight girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker) home for the holidays. Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams and Luke Wilson round out the cast.

The fractured fairy tale "Hoodwinked" (Weinstein) rounds out the recent-release roundup, giving a contemporary, computer-animated twist to "Little Red Riding Hood," complete with a karate-kicking Red, a sarcastic wolf who's an investigative reporter, an oafish woodsman who's a wannabe actor -- and a Granny who prefers extreme sports to knitting.

Critic's choice: Unseen unknowns making their Las Vegas debuts on DVD and Hollywood classics dominate.

Leading the "Welcome to Las Vegas" contingent, the mob comedy "Plan B" (Warner) casts "Family Stone" standout Diane Keaton as a bookkeeper turned hit woman. A nurse (Annabeth Gish) discovers "Life on Liberty Street" (Good Times) while working with brain-injured patients. And Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Woods headline the assassination thriller "End Game" (Sony).

Meanwhile, direct from the Hollywood vault, "The Tennessee Williams Film Collection" (Warner) spotlights a two-disc special edition of "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), complete with an early Marlon Brando screen test. Also featured: a deluxe edition of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, plus the DVD debuts of "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962) with Newman and Geraldine Page, "Baby Doll" (1956), "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" (1961) and "Night of the Iguana" (1964).

On the foreign-language front, India's "The Warrior" (Miramax) focuses on a hired assassin whose spiritual awakening inspires him to renounce his deadly ways. And the French cult classic "Delicatessen" (Miramax), from "Amélie" director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, presents a biting comic portrait of the post-apocalyptic title eatery, where man is on the menu.

Hot docs: Notable figures, from Whoopi Goldberg to Oprah Winfrey, trace their roots with the help of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, genealogy -- and DNA testing -- in "African American Lives" (PBS).

Also from PBS, the three-volume "Broadway's Lost Treasures Collection" (Acorn) spotlights Tony Award performances by stage legends from James Earl Jones to Ethel Merman. And National Geographic explores life "In the Womb" while "Life in the Undergrowth" (Warner) focuses on the miniature world inhabited by insects.

TV transfers: The same fateful flight that inspired the big screen's "United 93" provides the backdrop for "Flight 93" (MTI/Sterling). Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland, meanwhile, investigate "Human Trafficking" (Echo Bridge).

Also on the made-for-TV front, BBC adaptations of the Charles Dickens classics "David Copperfield," "Nicholas Nickleby" and "The Old Curiosity Shop" comprise "The Charles Dickens Collection" (Koch International). Koch also delivers a trio of Dick Francis mysteries: "In the Frame," "Blood Sport" and "Twice Shy," all of which star "Deadwood's Ian McShane.

On the sitcom front, "Kate & Allie: Season One" (Universal) joins such golden-age classics as "I Love Lucy: The Complete Sixth Season" (Paramount) and "Leave It to Beaver -- The Complete Second Season" (Universal).

Other series DVDs on tap: "Andromeda -- Season 5, Collection 5" (ADV), "Dinosaurs: The Complete First and Second Seasons" (Buena Vista), "Have Gun Will Travel: The First Three Seasons" (Paramount), "King of the Hill: Complete Season 6" (Fox), "The Nanny: The Complete Second Season" (Sony) and "3rd Rock From the Sun -- Season 4" (Anchor Bay).

Vintage vault: If all you know of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz is "I Love Lucy," Warner's "Lucy & Desi Collection" showcases their big-screen teamings: the musical "Too Many Girls" (1940), which brought the couple together, plus the 1954 slapstick vehicle "The Long, Long Trailer" and the ironically titled 1956 comedy "Forever, Darling."