THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores week of Dec. 14

DVDS
  “The Other Guys” (PG-13): In this buddy-cop romp, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star as mismatched New York City detectives — one a by-the-book desk jockey, the other a street guy itching for action — who stumble onto Wall Street chicanery.
  Another action romp, “The A-Team” (PG-13) delivers a slam-bang update of the ’80s TV fave, as framed ex-Army Rangers (Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) try to clear their names — with Army captain Jessica Biel in hot pursuit. The action gets more serious Friday in “The Town” (R), co-written, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, about a blue-collar Boston heist crew targeted by a hard-charging FBI agent (“Mad Men’s” Jon Hamm); Rebecca Hall and “Hurt Locker’s” Jeremy Renner co-star. From there, it’s family time with the animated “Despicable Me” (PG), in which the villainous Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) plots the world’s most dastardly crime — until a trio of adorable orphans transforms him from bad to dad. In the sequel “Nanny McPhee Returns” (PG), the magical title character (Emma Thompson, who also scripted) rescues a harried mom (Maggie Gyllenhaal) trying to run, not ruin, the family farm. And the animated “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole” (PG), due Friday, follows a kidnapped owlet (voiced by Jim Sturgess) caught up in an epic good-vs.-evil clash.
  In our art-house file, a recently divorced guy (John C. Reilly) meets the woman of his dreams (Marisa Tomei), then must compete for her attention with her pathologically dependent son (Jonah Hill) in “Cyrus” (R). In “Mother and Child” (R), a 50-year-old (Annette Bening), the daughter she gave up for adoption 35 years earlier (Naomi Watts) and a woman hoping to adopt a child of her own (Kerry Washington) headline this drama featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits. Leading the documentary list: “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” (R); “Exit Through the Gift Shop” (R), in which graffiti artist Banksy turns the tables on an amateur filmmaker; and “Gasland” (not rated), about the dirty side of America’s “clean-burning natural gas” industry. And on the foreign-language front, France’s “Micmacs” (R) focuses on a mild-mannered video store clerk (“The Valet’s” Danny Boon) who’s hit by a stray bullet from a nearby munitions factory and recruits a crew of misfit junk collectors to help him get revenge.
  Today’s Blu-ray Disc debuts range from John Wayne’s Oscar-winning portrait of one-eyed lawman Rooster Cogburn in 1969’s “True Grit” (G) — just in time for the big-screen remake with Jeff Bridges — to Douglas Fairbanks as 1926’s swashbuckling “The Black Pirate” (not rated) and Chow Yun-Fat in director John Woo’s 1992 “Hard Boiled” (not rated). Also (finally) hitting DVD: director Alan Rudolph’s moody 1985 thriller “Trouble in Mind” (R), with Kris Kristofferson, Keith Carradine, Genevieve Bujold, Lori Singer and, in a rare nondrag role, the late great Divine.
  Riding the TV-to-DVD range, Las Vegas’ Helldorado-era past comes to life in 1956’s “State Trooper” (not rated), a series supposedly “based on true cases from the files of the Nevada State Police,” with Rod Cameron — and, in guest roles, future TV stalwarts Michael Landon, Carolyn Jones, Mike Connors and Amanda Blake. Other series hitting DVD (all unrated unless otherwise noted): “Army Wives: Complete Fourth Season” (PG), “It Crowd: Complete Fourth Season,” “Gunsmoke: Season Four, Volume Two,” “Leave It to Beaver: Season Five,” “24: The Complete Eighth Season” and “Hawaii Five-O: 10th Season.”

CDS
  The Damned Things, “Ironiclast”: It’s a new group of familiar faces.
  Consisting of members of Anthrax, Fall Out Boy and Every Time I Die, The Damned Things may make for unlikely bedfellows.
  Who thought a couple of thrash pioneers would be jamming with emo and metalcore poster boys?
  As odd it may seem on paper, though, “Ironiclast” hits hard with groove and grit to spare, expectations be Damned.
  Also in stores: Crystal Bowersox, “Farmer’s Daughter”; Greyson Chance, “Waiting Outside the Lines”; Ciara, “Basic Instinct”; Diddy-Dirty Money, “Last Train to Paris”; Michael Jackson, “Michael”; Kandi, “Kandi Koated”; R. Kelly, “Love Letter”; Leona Lewis, “The Labyrinth Tour: Live From The O2 (CD/DVD)”; Tank, “Now or Never”; and Volbeat, “Beyond Hell/Above Heaven.”

BOOKS
  “The Gift” by James Patterson: The second installment in the “Witch and Wizard Series” finds Whit and Wisty leading the Resistance as they try to save other kids imprisoned by the New Order.
  For sports fans, the “Sports Illustrated Almanac 2011” features essays by Sports Illustrated writers, stats and records, as well as ticketing and venue information for baseball, basketball, football and hockey games.
  Also hitting shelves this week: “A Childhood, al Confino: The True Story of a Jewish Boy and His Mother in War-Torn Italy” by Eric Lamet; “Entice” by Carrie Jones; “The 4-Hour Body” by Timothy Ferriss; “George Gershwin” by Larry Starr; “Railroads of the Civil War: An Illustrated History” by Michael Leavy; “Songs of the Orange Moons” by Lori Ann Stephens; “They Were Still Born: Personal Stories about Stillbirth” by Janel Atlas; “Tutored” by Allison Whittenberg; and “Vixen” by Jillian Larkin.