THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores week of March 10

DVDS
  “Milk” (R): Sean Penn delivers an Oscar-winning performance as Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a major political office — until Dan White (Josh Brolin) guns him down in 1978. This timely introduction to a pivotal public figure who still inspires, three decades after his death, also captured an Academy Award for best original screenplay.
  Two other Oscar-nominated titles also arrive, led by best actress nominee Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (R), about a troubled young woman, sprung from rehab to attend her sister’s wedding, who can’t help stealing the spotlight from the bride (Rosemarie DeWitt). Bill Irwin and Debra Winger co-star in this dysfunctional family portrait from Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme.
  And writer-director Mike Leigh scored an original screenplay nomination for “Happy-Go-Lucky” (R), about an irrepressible teacher (the wonderful Sally Hawkins), who responds to life’s challenges — including a dour driving teacher (Eddie Marsan) — with a breezy optimism that challenges others to share her hopeful outlook.
  Standout performances also dominate “Cadillac Records” (R), the rockin’, raucous story of Chess Records, the house that Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Chuck Berry (Mos Def) and Etta James (Beyoncé Knowles) built. Oscar-winner Adrien Brody co-stars as label owner Leonard Chess.
  Another Oscar-winner, Philip Seymour Hoffman, plays an obscure director who wins a MacArthur “genius” grant and spends the windfall on a vast avant-garde theater piece in “Synecdoche, New York” (R), the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.
  Also on the dramatic front, activists take to the streets to try and shut down the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in “Battle in Seattle” (R). Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta and Connie Nielsen star for actor-turned-writer/director Stuart Townsend. And in “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (PG-13), the 8-year-old son (Asa Butterfield) of a Nazi official (David Thewlis) befriends the title character (Jack Scanlon), imprisoned in a concentration camp.
  Speaking of kids, “Role Models” (R) finds a pair of wild ’n’ crazy energy drink reps (Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott) serving time as Big Brother-type mentors to a pair of misfit youngsters (Bobb’e J. Thompson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, alias “Superbad’s” McLovin).
  And unstoppable Jason Statham returns as human FedEx Frank Martin in “Transporter 3” (PG-13). This time, he’s shackled — literally — to the kidnapped daughter of a Ukrainian environmental official targeted by shady eco-villains (led by “Prison Break’s” Rob Knepper).
  And in the chilling yet heartwarming Swedish import “Let the Right One In” (R), a 12-year-old outcast (Kåre Hedebrant) finds an unexpected friend in a strange new neighbor (Lina Leandersson) who happens to be a vampire.
  While we’re on the subject of kids, some all-time family favorites arrive — or return — to DVD, including a two-disc Platinum Edition of Disney’s 1940 masterpiece, “Pinocchio” (G), while another animated classic, Max Fleischer’s 1939 “Gulliver’s Travels” (not rated), goes the digital-restoration route. And, just in time for the theatrical release of the made-in-Vegas “Race to Witch Mountain,” Disney unleashes new editions of 1975’s “Escape to Witch Mountain” and its 1978 sequel, “Return From Witch Mountain” (both rated G).
  Also from the vintage vault: master filmmaker Luchino Visconti’s 1976 farewell, “L’Innocente” (not rated), with Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli and Jennifer O’Neill in a tale of infidelity and betrayal among 19th-century Italian aristocrats.
  Shifting to titles that never made it to Las Vegas theaters, the locally produced “The Casino Job” (R) focuses on a heist-for-vengeance scheme, while Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick play a dysfunctional married couple in the comedy-drama “Marie and Bruce” (R).
  Tuning in to TV transfers, Patty Duke (who won an Oscar for her “Miracle Worker” portrayal of Helen Keller) takes on the role of Keller’s teacher, Annie Sullivan, in a 1979 made-for-TV version (rated G) featuring Melissa Gilbert as Keller. And, from the folks who brought you “The Saint,” along comes another globe-trotting ’60s British adventure, “The Baron: The Complete Series” (not rated), with Steve Forrest as an art and antiques dealer tracking stolen treasures.
  Other series making the jump to DVD (all unrated) include “The Best Years: The Complete First Season,” “The Starter Wife: Season One,” “Caroline in the City: The Second Season,” “Family Ties: The Fifth Season” and “South Park: The Complete 12th Season.”

CDS
  Kelly Clarkson, “All I Ever Wanted” and Taylor Hicks, “The Distance”: It’s like two angry grizzly bears, warring for turf.
  Either that, or a couple of Girl Scouts pulling each other’s hair.
  Come to think of it, any head-to-head battle between former “American Idol” champs Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Hicks more closely resembles the latter.
  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
  Clarkson’s career took a nosedive with the poor sales and subsequent canceled arena tour in the wake of her last album, 2007’s “My December.” She’s out to recapture her lost mojo with “All I Ever Wanted,” whose initial single, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” is clearly not a sentiment that the American public shares when it comes to Clarkson.
  As for Hicks, he was a dubious choice for top “Idol” honors to begin with, and his career — or lack thereof — ever since emphasizes as much.
  After but one major label album, Hicks has already been dropped from Arista Records after his self-titled debut was the lowest-selling album from any of the “Idol” victors.
  And so now, he’s back in the independent ranks.
  Let’s hope Hicks was really nice to everybody on the way up, ’cause he’s surely getting reacquainted with them real quick like on his way back down.
  Also in stores: Corbin Bleu, “Speed of Light”; Sarah Brightman, “Symphony — Live in Vienna”; Chris Cornell, “Scream”; The-Dream, “Love vs. Money”; J. Holiday, “Round 2”; New Found Glory, “Not Without a Fight”; and Riverboat Gamblers, “Underneath the Owl.”

BOOKS
  “Corsair (Oregon Files Series No. 6)” by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul: With “Corsair,” Clive Cussler returns readers to the Oregon ship and its crew, including one-legged Capt. Juan Cabrillo.
  This time around, Cabrillo is hired to search for the U.S. secretary of state, whose plane crashes en route to a meeting in Libya. Cabrillo finds himself pitted against Libya’s new foreign minister and engaged in a battle on the sea in this novel populated by pirates and history.
  Also hitting shelves: “Cheever: A Life” by Blake Bailey; “Dead Silence (Doc Ford Series No. 16)” by Randy Wayne White; “Fault Line: A Novel” by Barry Eisler; “Hunted (House of Night Series No. 5)” by PC Cast; “Life Sentences” by Laura Lippman; “A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion” by John Rendall; “My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs, and Stand-Up” by Russell Brand; “The Forest of Hands and Teeth” by Carrie Ryan; “Brutal” by Michael Harmon; and “My Abandonment” by Peter Rock.