THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores week of Dec. 2

DVDS
  “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” (PG): Narnia doesn’t seem quite so magical anymore, but the Penvensie siblings — stalwart Peter (William Moseley), practical Susan (Anna Popplewell), mischievous Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and little Lucy (Georgie Henley) — return nonetheless, helping the title character (dashing Ben Barnes) to reclaim his realm in a rousing, occasionally ponderous, sequel to 2005’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
  From family-friendly Narnia we move to the far fiercer realm of “Wanted” (R), where Angelina Jolie plays a kick-butt killer training a mild-mannered Chicago office drone (“Atonement’s” James McAvoy) to take his place in a clandestine society of assassins.
  “Talladega Nights” teammates Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, meanwhile, reunite in the raucous comedy “Step Brothers” (R), playing two overgrown cases of arrested development forced together when one’s mother (Mary Steenburgen) marries the other’s dad (Richard Jenkins).
  And speaking of reunions, “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” (PG-13) serves up a sequel to 1998’s first “X-Files” movie (not to mention the cult-fave TV series that left the airwaves in 2002). Reclusive ex-FBI agent Fox “Spooky” Mulder (David Duchovny) and partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), now a surgeon, join FBI agents (Amanda Peet, Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner) to investigate a defrocked priest (Billy Connolly) who claims psychic powers.
  Returning to family-friendly territory, “The Longshots” (PG) focuses on a Pop Warner football coach (Ice Cube) who finds a secret weapon: an 11-year-old female quarterback (“Akeelah and the Bee’s” Keke Palmer). And three houseflies stow away aboard Apollo 11 to stop a conniving Soviet spy fly from sabotaging the moon shot in the animated “Fly Me to the Moon” (G).
  To prepare for two big holiday movies coming soon to a theater near you, check out the special edition of the 1951 sci-fi classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (not rated) and the real-life inspiration for “Frost/Nixon” (not rated): the 1977 TV conversations between David Frost and disgraced ex-president Richard Nixon.
  In today’s foreign-language file, the award-winning Israeli drama “My Father My Lord” (not rated) returns to Las Vegas following its January debut at the Jewish Film Festival, focusing on the ideological rift between an ultra-Orthodox rabbi and his pre-teen son. And in embattled Serbia, a desperate man ponders a murder-for-hire scheme to save his critically ill son in another festival award-winner, “The Trap” (not rated).
  Tuning in to TV transfers, the 1978-79 “Saturday Night Live: The Complete Fourth Season” (not rated) revives such wonderful folks as Blues Brothers Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi (who also join Steve Martin as those “wild and crazy guys,” the Festrunk Brothers), Bill Murray’s lounge-singing Nick and Gilda Radner as nerdy teen Lisa Loopner, along with musical guests including the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, James Taylor and future Vegas headliner Bette Midler. And in the what-if Canadian miniseries “Trojan Horse” (R), Canada joins the U.S. — and a former prime minister schemes to subvert American politics by running for president. Paul Gross (“Due South,” “Slings and Arrows”), Tom Skerritt and Greta Scacchi star.
  Other TV titles arriving on DVD (all unrated) include “Best of Dr. Katz,” “Law and Order: The Sixth Year,”  “Metalocalypse: Season 2,” “Perry Mason: The Third Season, Vol. 2” and a double dose of William Conrad in “Cannon: Season 1, Vol. 2” and “Jake and the Fatman: Season 1, Vol. 2.”

CDS
  Britney Spears, “Circus”: She looks a lot like Farrah Fawcett on the cover of her latest disc, her blow-dried blond locks feathier than a duck’s butt.
  And Britney Spears’ life is unfolding with just as much tumult as that former “Charlie’s Angels” star, though Spears seems like she may turned the page since an awful showing here last year in the form of an embarrassing gig at the House of Blues and a much-ridiculed performance at the 2007 “MTV Video Music Awards.”
  But the album that followed in the wake of all that, “Blackout,” was terrific, a nonstop dance floor heart attack without the maudlin, overwrought ballads and pop pabulum that have gummed up some of her other discs.
  The first single from Spears’ new album, “Womanizer,” is another sweat-drenched raver that portends good things.
  Seriously, it may have once seemed hard to believe, but we’re surprisingly glad to see this “Circus” coming to town.
  Also in stores: Akon, “Freedom”; Panic at the Disco, “Live in Chicago (CD/DVD)”; Scarface, “Emeritus”; Various Artists, “Cadillac Records (film soundtrack)” (the story of Chess Records, starring Beyoncé as Etta James and Mos Def as Chuck Berry); and Various Artists, “NOW That’s What I Call Music! 71.”

BOOKS
  “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” by J.K. Rowling: “Harry Potter” readers can learn more about the wizard world with J.K. Rowling’s “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.”
  The compilation, first mentioned in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is the product of Hermione Granger’s new translation from ancient runes and is filled with magical tales such as “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”
  Rowling includes drawings throughout the edition as well as commentary from Albus Dumbledore, written before his death, where he shares his wisdom and humor. 
   Also hitting shelves: “Body With Soul: Steady Your Sugar, Cut Your Cholesterol, and Get a Jump on Your Best Health” by Randy Jackson; “Charlemagne Pursuit: A Novel” by Steve Berry; “Cruel Intent (Ali Reynolds Series No. 4)” by J.A. Jance; “One False Note (The 39 Clues Series No. 2)” by Gordon Korman; “Scarpetta” by Patricia Cornwell; “Disguise” by Hugo Hamilton; “Blue Moon (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 8)” by Laurell K. Hamilton; and “Wishful Drinking” by Carrie Fisher.