THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores this week

DVDS

"Under the Same Moon" (PG-13): A bright 9-year-old (adorable Adrian Alonso), living with his grandmother in their native Mexico while his mother (Kate del Castillo) toils as a Los Angeles maid, stows away in a U.S.-bound minivan driven by two students (Jesse Garcia and "Ugly Betty's" America Ferrera), launching a dauntless quest to reconnect with his mama. This Sundance film festival hit (in English and Spanish with English subtitles) piles on the melodrama, but its heartfelt themes and even more heartfelt performances ultimately save the day.

Also out today: "Fool's Gold" (PG-13); "Be Kind Rewind" (PG-13); "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" (PG-13); "Rails and Ties" (PG-13); "Love and Other Disasters" (Unrated); "Just Add Water" (R); "Caramel" (PG); "Chaos Theory" (PG-13); "The Carmen Miranda Collection" (Unrated); and "Fanny" (Unrated).

CDS

Coldplay, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends": Brian Eno was blunt, and Coldplay listened.

"He goes, 'Your songs are too long,' " Coldplay frontman Chris Martin recently told Rolling Stone of the producer's assessment of his band. " 'And you're too repetitive, and you use the same tricks too much, and big things aren't necessarily good things, and you use the same sounds too much, and your lyrics are not good enough.' "

And so Coldplay enlisted Eno to help guide them on their fourth disc, "Viva La Vida," a predictably more off-kilter, varied affair than its predecessors.

While the band has become masters of the rousing, Bic-in-the-air power ballad and dramatic arena rock statements, the group loosens up a bit here while still delivering their most progressive, challenging disc.

"We were bigger than we were good," Martin told Rolling Stone. "We were very hungry to improve on a basic level."

And that they have. (See for yourself when the band plays the MGM Grand Garden July 19.)

Also in stores: Chicago, "Stone of Sisyphus (XXXII)"; Mick Hucknall, "Tribute to Bobby"; Judas Priest, "Nostradamus"; The Notwist, "The Devil, You + Me"; The Offspring, "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace"; Katy Perry, "One of the Boys"; Trevor Rabin, "Get Smart -- Soundtrack"; Julieta Venegas, "MTV Unplugged"; and Wolf Parade, "At Mount Zoomer."

BOOKS

"Fearless Fourteen" (Stephanie Plum Mystery Series No. 14) by Janet Evanovich: A bank robbery gone bad has bounty hunter Stephanie Plum embroiled in an adventure peppered with breaking and entering, kidnapping and murder.

Also hitting shelves: "The Sister" by Poppy Adams; "More than It Hurts You" by Darin Strauss; "The Beach House" by Jane Green; "This Charming Man" by Marian Keyes; "No Choice but Seduction" by Johanna Lindsey; "The Secret Plot to Make Ted Kennedy President: Inside the Real Watergate Conspiracy" by Geoff Shepard; "Stealing Athena" by Karen Essex; and "Made in the U.S.A." by Billie Letts.