THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores week of Dec. 1

DVDS
  “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (PG): History repeats itself in this sequel to the 2006 hit, as guard-turned-gadget-guru Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) discovers that the friends who came to life after hours at New York’s Museum of Natural History are destined for mothballs at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., setting the stage for a rescue mission that finds spunky pilot Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) providing an assist.
  Elsewhere on the sequel front, “Terminator Salvation” (PG-13) casts “Dark Knight” Christian Bale as all-grown-up John Connor, leading the charge against an army of Terminators trying to destroy what’s left of humanity following a nuclear holocaust. And the mock documentary “Paper Heart” (PG-13) follows comic/performance artist Charlyne Yi (“Knocked Up”) on a cross-country quest to find, and figure out, love — a journey that, inevitably, includes a stop at a Las Vegas wedding chapel where an imitation Elvis presides. Michael Cera co-stars (in the demanding role of Michael Cera). Turning to movies that never made it to local theaters, Sigourney Weaver and Kate Bosworth headline the missing-child drama “The Girl in the Park” (R). Gerard Depardieu plays a renowned French detective in “Bellamy” (not rated), from legendary director Claude Chabrol. Another French legend, Catherine Deneuve, presides over a troubled family reunion in the Criterion Collection’s “A Christmas Tale” (not rated). The 1999 botched-robbery thriller “Best Laid Plans” (R) stars then-rising stars Alessandro Nivola, Josh Brolin and Reese Witherspoon. And in the mock documentary “Live!” (R), an ambitious TV network executive (Eva Mendes) tries to get a Russian Roulette reality show on the air.
  Topping today’s TV-to-DVD transfers (all unrated): Brendan Gleeson as Winston Churchill in HBO’s “Into the Storm,” the fact-based, heartwarming hockey drama “Sticks and Stones,” “Saturday Night Live: The Complete Fifth Season” (the final season for many original Not Ready for Prime Time players, plus musical guests from Paul McCartney to Paul Simon), “Better Off Ted: Season One,” “Mental: The Complete First Season” and “The Donna Reed Show: Season Three.”

CDS
  R. Kelly, “Untitled”: Untitled, huh? Let’s see if we can help with a few handy suggestions to brand R. Kelly’s latest:
  “I’m Horny.”
  “Still Horny After All These Years.”
  “Someone Say Horny?”
  “A Word That Rhymes With Thorny.”
  You’re welcome, dude.
  Also in stores: Annie, “Don’t Stop”; The Bravery, “Stir the Blood”; Manu Chao, “Baionarena (CD/DVD)”; Green Day, “Last Night on Earth: Live in Tokyo (EP)”; Il Divo, “An Evening With Il Divo: Live In Barcelona (CD/DVD)”; Allison Iraheta, “Just Like You”; Juvenile, “Cocky & Confident”; and Westlife, “Where We Are.”

BOOKS
  “U Is For Undertow (Kinsey Millhone Series No. 21)” by Sue Grafton: Yep, she’s up to the letter U.
  In “U Is For Undertow,” college dropout Michael Sutton asks Kinsey Millhone for help locating the remains of a missing girl and finding the men who murdered her. Kinsey agrees to take on the case, but soon has doubts about Sutton’s story.
  “Trial by Fire,” the latest installment in the popular “Ali Reynolds Series” by J.A. Jance also is expected out this week. This time around Ali Reynolds, working as the media relations consultant for the Yavapai County Police Department, finds herself in the middle of an attempted murder investigation. A fire leaves an unidentified woman horribly burned, and Ali, with the help of Sister Anselm who works as an advocate for unidentified patients, tries to uncover the identity of the woman. Ali soon realizes though, that there is a killer who’s determined to finish the job, and all three women’s lives could be in danger.
  Also hitting shelves: “Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession” by Julie Powell; “Comeback 2.0: Up Close and Personal” by Lance Armstrong; “The Paris Vendetta (Cotton Malone Series No. 5)” by Steve Berry; “Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan” by Greg Mortenson; “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Zane; “The Truth About Psychics: What’s Real, What’s Not, and How to Tell the Difference” by Sylvia Browne; and “YOU: Having a Baby: The Owner’s Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy” by Michael F. Roizen.