THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores week of May 5

DVDS
  “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (PG-13): Brad Pitt reunites with “Se7en” director David Fincher (and “Babel” co-star Cate Blanchett) for the ambitious, Oscar-winning saga of the title character, who’s born in post-World War I New Orleans with the face and ailments of an 80-year-old man — and ages in reverse.
  Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, meanwhile, strike sparks in “Last Chance Harvey” (PG-13), a romantic charmer about the hapless title character, whose trip to London for his daughter’s wedding turns disastrous — until he meets a quiet loner who just might be his perfect match.
  Rounding out the week’s recent-release lineup: “Look” (R), a provocative, award-winning drama about our surveillance-laden “Big Brother” world, which played the 2007 CineVegas film festival (and won that year’s Grand Jury Award); and “Chandni Chowk to China” (PG-13), billed as the first Bollywood kung-fu comedy, about a lowly vegetable cutter (Akshay Kumar) mistakenly identified as the reincarnation of an ancient Chinese martial-arts warrior.
  Leading today’s “Welcome to Las Vegas” contingent: the acclaimed indie “Wendy and Lucy” (R), about an idealistic drifter (Michelle Williams wandering the Pacific Northwest with her faithful canine companion.
  Williams also turns up in “Incendiary” (R), a British drama about a terrorist bombing’s impact on a young wife and mother. Ewan McGregor and Matthew MacFadyen (“Frost/Nixon”) co-star. Thora Birch and Keith Carradine, meanwhile, headline the fact-based thriller “Winter of Frozen Dreams” (R).
  Other titles that never played local theaters range from “A Plumm Summer” (PG), a family comedy featuring Jeff Daniels, Henry Winkler and William Baldwin, to “Smother” (PG-13), with Diane Keaton as (surprise!) a smothering mother. Dax Shepherd and Liv Tyler co-star.
  It’s a big week for Blu-Ray Disc debuts, from “Twilight” (PG-13) to such vintage faves as “Grease” (PG), “Saturday Night Fever” (R), “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (PG-13) and “Roxanne” (PG).
  Speaking of vintage winners, TCM launches boxed sets devoted to various genres, from musicals (including such all-singing, all-dancing, all-unrated classics as “The Band Wagon” and “Singin’ in the Rain”) to Westerns (from the unrated “The Searchers” to the R-rated “The Wild Bunch”).
  And, at long last, the delightful 1992 comedy-drama “Enchanted April” (PG) arrives on DVD (at least on these shores), as four British women (Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker, Joan Plowright) share a magical holiday in 1920s Italy. Michael Kitchen and Alfred Molina co-star.
  A host of British dramas (all unrated), meanwhile, lead today’s TV transfers, including the current “Masterpiece Theatre” adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “The Old Curiosity Shop” with Derek Jacobi and a stirring 1982 version of Sir Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe” featuring Anthony Andrews, Olivia Hussey, Sam Neill and James Mason.
  Other notable TV-movies arriving on DVD today (all unrated) include Harry Connick Jr. as a cancer researcher in the fact-based “Living Proof,” Jaclyn Smith as “Florence Nightingale,” Heather Locklear in “Flirting With 40” and Genie Francis and Ted McGinley in “The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love.”
  Among the series making the jump to DVD (all unrated): “Crusoe: The Complete Series,” “Earth: Final Conflict: Season One,” “Gavin and Stacey: Season One,” “Lipstick Jungle: Season Two,” “Jake & The Fatman: Second Season,” “October Road: The Complete Second Season,” “Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht: Season 4 — The Wedding, Volume 1,” “Boston Legal: Season Five” and “McLeod’s Daughters: The Complete Eighth Season,” along with the G-rated (what else?) “That Girl: Season Five.”

CDS
  Ciara, “Fantasy Ride”: Before Rihanna raced to the top of the charts like Jesse Owens in a skirt, Ciara was the singularly titled R&B darling du jour.
  Now, she’s out to reclaim her stolen thunder with “Fantasy Ride,” which lives up to its title with such big name guest stars as Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Missy Elliot, Ludacris and others.
  She initially wowed you with “Goodies,” and now she’s back with a few more treats.
  Buy a ticket, take the “Ride.”
  Also in stores: Buckwheat Zydeco, “Lay Your Burden Down”; Toni Childs, “Keep the Faith”; The Devil Wears Prada, “With Roots Above And Branches Below”; Fischerspooner, “Entertainment”; Ben Harper and Relentless7, “White Lies for Dark Times”; Hatebreed, “For the Lions”; The Horrors, “Primary Colours”; Isis, “Wavering Radiant”; Jewel, “Lullaby”; Ziggy Marley, “Family Time”; New York Dolls, “Cause I Sez So”; Peaches, “I Feel Cream”; Rusted Root, “Stereo Rodeo”; and The Smithereens, “The Smithereens Do Tommy.”

BOOKS
  “Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series No. 9)” by Charlaine Harris: Fans of Sookie Stackhouse have something to get excited about this week as the ninth book in the series, “Dead and Gone,” by Charlaine Harris hits stores.
  This time around, the werewolves and shapeshifters have decide to go public, following in the vampires’ footsteps. All’s well at first, until a werepanther if found dead in a bar parking lot. Sookie tries to find the killer, but what she doesn’t know is there is a greater danger facing Bon Temps, La.: A race of unhuman beings stronger than vampires or werewolves is preparing for war.
  Also expected out this week is “Pygmy,” the latest from Chuck Palahniuk. The title character is a young killer who hates the United States. Disguised as an exchange student, he is sent to live with an American family while at the same time planning a major terrorist attack.
  Also hitting shelves: “Brimstone (Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch Series No. 3)” by Robert B. Parker; “The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series No. 5)” by Rick Riordan; “Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn; “Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan” by Doug Stanton; “The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun” by J.R.R. Tolkien; “Paul Newman: A Life” by Shawn Levy; “Pretty in Plaid” by Jen Lancaster; “The Plague” by Joanne Dahme; “Being Nikki (Airhead, Book 2)” by Meg Cabot; and “Sunnyside” by Glen David Gold.