THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores week of May 12

DVDS
  “Taken” (PG-13): Liam Neeson kicks major butt as a former CIA agent out to rescue his kidnapped daughter (Maggie Grace) from human traffickers in a no-nonsense rescue thriller featuring slam-bang chase scenes, bone-snapping martial arts, a scenic Paris setting — and, of course, Neeson’s gravitas.
  Speaking of kicking butt, Rhona Mitra takes over for Kate Beckinsale in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” (R), a prequel that explores the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between aristocratic vampires and their one-time slaves. Bill Nighy and “Frost/Nixon’s” Michael Sheen co-star.
  Turning to titles that never played local theaters, “Personal Effects” (R) casts Kathy Bates, Michelle Pfeiffer and Ashton Kutcher in a drama about violent deaths — and their impacts on the living. John Malkovich and Vera Farmiga headline “In Tranzit” (not rated), which takes place in a post-World War II Soviet prison camp. A long weekend, meanwhile, brings together virtual strangers in “Lying” (not rated), featuring Chloe Sevigny, Jena Malone and Leelee Sobieski.
  Elsewhere among the unseen and unknown, Vivica A. Fox, Clifton Powell, Tamika Scott, Angell Conwell and R&B singer Sam Salter star in “There’s a Stranger in My House” (not rated), a musical comedy-drama about a naive young woman duped by her smooth-talking new boss. And “O Jerusalem” (R) finds two New York City friends —  one Jewish (JJ Feild), one Muslim (Saïd  Taghmaoui) — on opposite sides in the 1946 battle for Jerusalem.
  New Blu-Ray arrivals range from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (R) to the Oscar-winning “Fargo” (R), along with “Big” (PG), “Wayne’s World” (PG-13), “Licence to Kill” (PG-13) and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture Trilogy” (PG), leading a veritable Starfleet of “Trek” tie-ins keyed to the new movie’s release.
  Vintage big-screen titles (all unrated) making the jump to DVD include the taut courtroom thriller “Time Limit” (1957), featuring Richard Widmark, and the rousing adventure “North West Frontier” (1959), better known as “Flame Over India,” with Lauren Bacall.
And director John Huston’s strange, brilliant 1979 adaptation of Flannery O’Connor’s Southern Gothic “Wise Blood” (PG), with Brad Dourif, Harry Dean Stanton and Ned Beatty, also makes an at-long-last DVD debut — at least in the U.S.
  Leading the parade of TV-to-DVD transfers: the fact-based “Taking Chance” (not rated), with Kevin Bacon as a Marine escorting the body of a fallen comrade from Iraq to Wyoming. And PBS’ “We Shall Remain” (not rated) spans 300 years of U.S. history, recounting pivotal moments from a Native American perspective.
  From Britain, “A Village Affair” (not rated) recounts a scandalous romance in an adaptation of Joanna Trollope’s best-seller featuring Sophie Ward, Kerry Fox, Nathaniel Parker, Jeremy Northam, Michael Gough Claire Bloom — and, in one of her first screen roles, a young Keira Knightley. Also from Britain, “Kingdom” (not rated) stars Stephen Fry as a lawyer trying to maintain his sanity despite his eccentric clients.
  Las Vegas’ own bad boys of magic return with “Penn & Teller: Bullshit! — The Complete Sixth Season” (not rated). Other series titles (all unrated) making the jump to DVD: “The Dana Carvey Show,” “The Jeff Foxworthy Show: The Complete Second Season,” “Two and a Half Men: The Complete Fifth Season” and “Lovejoy: The Complete Season Five.”

CDS
  Green Day, “21st Century Breakdown”: “My generation is zero, I never made it as a working class hero,” Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong yelps, though that doesn’t keep him from trying to live up to as much.
  The line comes from the title track to his band’s latest disc, “21st Century Breakdown,” a sweeping, starry-eyed record very much aware of its own self-perceived import. 
  The album, which comes out this Friday instead of the customary Tuesday, is divided into three acts: “Heroes and Cons,” “Charlatans and Saints,” and “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” and strives to be an even bigger statement than its predecessor, 2004’s epic rock opera “American Idiot.”
  It’s a huge-sounding disc, overstuffed with strings and piano, bursting apart at the seams with calls for change. Sure they’re trying too hard — WAY too hard — but at least they’re trying to begin with. 
  Also in stores: Afroman, “Frobama (Head of State)”; Cam’ron, “Crime Pays”; Children, “Hard Times Hanging at the End of the World”; The Crystal Method, “Divided By Night”; The Datsuns, “Headstunts”; Steve Earle, “Townes”; Meat Puppets, “Sewn Together”; and Paul Wall, “Fast Life.”

BOOKS
  “Cemetery Dance” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child: FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast returns to investigate a murderous cult in the latest thriller from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, who kick off “Cemetery Dance” by killing off a longtime character.
  Also expected out this week is Elmore Leonard’s “Road Dogs,” where the author brings back some favorite characters, including bank robber Jack Foley from “Out of Sight” and killer Cundo Rey from “La Brava.”
  Also hitting shelves: “The Last Child” by John Hart; “Love and Obstacles” by Aleksandar Hemon; “The Soldiers of Halla (Pendragon Series No. 10)" by D.J. MacHale; “Wicked Prey (Lucas Davenport Series No. 19)” by John Sandford;
“Down Home with the Neelys: The Neely Family Cookbook” by Gina Neely; “Even” by Andrew Grant; “The Way Home” by George Pelecanos; “Breathless” by Lurlene McDaniel; “Generation Dead” by Daniel Waters; “The Uninvited” by Tim Wynne-Jones; “Worst Nightmares” by Shane Briant; “Where It Lies” by K.J. Egan; “Beach Trip” by Cathy Holton; “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate” by Jacqueline Kelly; and “Punkzilla” by Adam Rapp.