THE LIST: DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores week of Sept. 30

DVDS
  “Iron Man” (PG-13): A magnetic Robert Downey Jr. rocketed back to the top of Hollywood’s A-list in this fast, funny retooling of the superhero genre, complete with Vegas intro. Downey stars as jet-setting zillionaire arms merchant Tony Stark, who’s captured by terrorists — and devises a flying metal suit and weapons system, transforming himself from war profiteer to hero-with-a-conscience. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard round out the starring cast.
  And the latest from the Judd Apatow comedy factory, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (R), focuses on a struggling musician (Jason Segel) dumped by his TV-star girlfriend (Kristen Bell), who winds up in the same Hawaiian hotel as his beloved and her new Brit-rocker boyfriend.
  On the documentary front, the Oscar-winning “Taxi to the Dark Side” (R) takes a scalding look at the U.S. military’s treatment of terrorist suspects imprisoned in Afghanistan, Iraq and at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay. America’s love affair with steroids, meanwhile, inspires “Bigger Stronger Faster*” (PG-13), which explores the chemical underbelly of sports — and the all-American emphasis on winning at any cost.
  In our foreign-language file, the smash French satire “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” focuses on a bumbling secret agent (Jean Dujardin), in the tradition of Maxwell Smart and Inspector Clouseau, who investigates a fellow agent’s death — and, while he’s at it, brokers a Middle East peace deal.
  And speaking of the Middle East, the Israeli award-winner “Jellyfish” (not rated) follows a struggling waitress, a newlywed and a Filipino migrant worker in contemporary Tel Aviv. Also from Israel, the last soldiers defending an ancient crusader stronghold in occupied Lebanon receive orders to abandon their post in the Oscar-nominated war drama “Beaufort” (not rated).
  Turning to titles that never made it to local theaters, “Chapter 27” (R) casts Jared Leto as the disturbed drifter Mark David Chapman, who fatally shot John Lennon. And infidelity, and madness, tear apart a married couple (Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill) in “Possession” (not rated).
  A legendary miniseries celebrating its 25th anniversary leads today’s TV lineup: “The Jewel in the Crown” (unrated), the Emmy-winning epic adaptation of Paul Scott’s “Raj Quartet” novels about the final years of British rule in India.
  Also on the TV transfer list: Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman in “Beauty and the Beast: The Complete Series,” Fred MacMurray in “My Three Sons: The First Season, Vol. 1,” George Peppard in “Banacek: The Complete Series Box Set” and Burt Reynolds in “B.L. Stryker: The Complete Series,” plus “Numb3rs: The Complete Fourth Season,” “My Name is Earl: Season Three,” “ Adam-12: Season Two” and “Laredo: Season Two — Part One.”

CDS
  T.I., “Paper Chase”: He went from royalty to royal disappointment, all in the span of one tumultuous year.
  Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but after crowning himself “King” with his excellent 2006 disc of the same name, Southern rapper T.I. disappointed with a lukewarm follow-up, last year’s “T.I. vs. T.I.P.,” a by-the-numbers performance that saw the young MC sleep walking through his street dreams.
  But having readied his third album in as many years, this time while under house arrest on gun charges, T.I. and his distinctive drawl are back, packing more heat than July in his native Atlanta. 
  Also in stores: Bleeding Through, “Declaration”; Dem Franchize Boyz, “Our World, Our Way”; Ani DiFranco, “Red Letter Year”; Ben Folds, “Way to Normal”; Jennifer Hudson, “Jennifer Hudson”; In This Moment, “The Dream”; Jack’s Mannequin, “The Glass Passenger"; Mercury Rev, “Snowflake Midnight”; Kellie Pickler, “Kellie Pickler”; Todd Rundgren, “Arena”; Pete Seeger, “At 89”; Stack$, “CraZee And ConfuZed”; James Taylor, “Covers”; Robin Thicke, “Something Else”; and Trivium, “Shogun.”

BOOKS
  “The Lucky One” by Nicholas Sparks: Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks addresses love and destiny in his 14th book, “The Lucky One.”
  U.S. Marine Logan Thibault discovers a photograph of a smiling woman in the dirt in Iraq. He puts it in his pocket and soon finds himself surviving a brush with death and begins to think of the photo as his lucky charm.
  Once back on U.S. soil, Thibault decides to track down the woman in the photograph, a woman he believes holds the key to his destiny.
  Also hitting shelves this week: “Snowball” by Alice Schroeder; “21 Nights” by Prince; “Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur” by Richard Branson; “Charlie Bone and The Shadow (Children of the Red King No. 7)” by Jenny Nimmo; “Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites” by Giada de Laurentiis; “Hounded to Death: A Novel” by Rita Mae Brown; “The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, Mothering, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way” by Diahann Carroll; and “Nation” by Terry Pratchett.