Holiday Releases
In the upcoming weeks, hundreds of new products will hit store shelves, hoping to attract holiday shoppers.
Here are a few of the most anticipated movies, DVDs, CDs and video games coming to stores – and theaters – this holiday season.
Movies
In theaters now: “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny,” starring Jack Black and bandmate Kyle Gass, along with Hugh Jackman’s fantasy flick “The Fountain” and “Déjà Vu,” which stars Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer.
Holiday film “Deck the Halls” also opened to poor reviews. Tonight “The Rise of Taj” — the sequel to 2002’s “Van Wilder” — will be shown for the first time.
Dec. 8: Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto,” a directing project that’s been talked about for more than a year, winds up in theaters next week. The film uses subtitles and is spoken entirely in Yucatek Maya, a language spoken only by natives of the Yucatán Peninsula. “The Holiday,” starring Jude Law and Cameron Diaz, will open next week as well.
Dec. 15: Will Smith stars with his son Jaden – in real life and in film – in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” the story of a jobless man fighting for survival in the big city. “Dreamgirls,” starring Beyoncé and Jamie Foxx, and “Charlotte’s Web” will also open the same week.
Dec. 22: Robert Di Niro’s “The Good Shepherd,” his first time directing in 13 years, looks promising with Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon. Ben Stiller stars as a night watchman in “Night at the Museum,” a comedy about exhibits coming to life when nobody else is around. Also opening that night are Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky Balboa” and “We are Marshall,” the true story of the Marshall College football team after the tragic 1970 plane crash that killed 75 players and the coaches.
DVDs
Available now: The Man of Steel cashes in on his newfound fame with the release of the “Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition,” which contains 14 discs worth of Superman material including all four Christopher Reeves flicks, “Supergirl,” this summer’s “Superman Returns” and tons of never-before-seen footage. “The Ant Bully” – featuring the voices of Julia Roberts, Nicholas Cage and Meryl Streep – was also released on DVD this week.
Tuesday: America’s favorite sketch show finally gets released on DVD, starting with “Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season.” The eight-disc set includes every episode in its entirety from the 1975-1976 season, which included cast members Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner, along with hosts George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Anthony Perkins. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” will also land in stores this week.
Dec. 12: Three of this summer’s biggest movies – “Talladega Nights,” “The Devil Wears Prada” and Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center” – will be released on DVD this week. Bond fans can complete their collections with volumes three and four of the “James Bond Ultimate Collection.” Each volume contains five of the 20 total Bond films released since 1962’s “Dr. No.”
Dec. 19: “The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season” will hit stores just before Christmas, along with DVD releases of “Invincible,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Lady in the Water.”
CDs
Available now: The last two weeks have seen the release of some of hip-hop’s hottest albums, including Snoop Dogg’s eighth studio album, The Blue Carpet Treatment, Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come and the Ying Yang Twins’ Chemically Imbalanced. Incubus’ Light Grenades was also released this past week.
Tuesday: Gwen Stefani’s second solo album The Sweet Escape, which contains her new single “Wind It Up,” will be in stores this week. Stefani’s debut album reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts in 2004. The soundtrack to “Dreamgirls,” featuring songs by Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy will be released, along with Ciara’s sophomore album, Evolution.
Dec. 12: Rapper Young Jeezy is releasing The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102, a sequel to last year’s Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, his Def Jam debut album that reached No. 1 on the hip-hop charts. American Idol winners Taylor Hicks and Fantasia Barrino both have self-titled albums coming out as well.
Dec. 19: American Idol season five runner-up Katharine McPhee will release her debut album right before Christmas, a week after winner Taylor Hick’s. Rapper Nas’ Hip-Hop is Dead and Bow Wow’s The Price of Fame will hit stores that same day.
Video Games
Available now: With the Wii and the PlayStation 3 finally out, there are plenty of new games hitting store shelves. Unfortunately, few original titles have been released as of now. Last week Nintendo released “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess” for the Wii, and made many old-school classics – including “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “F-Zero” and “Mario 64” – available for their new system. The highly publicized “Superman Returns” was greeted with less-than-satisfactory reviews.
This week: The developers at Ubisoft must be getting bored. Their latest addition to their Rayman series, “Rayman Raving Rabbids,” features the limbless hero facing off against the deadliest foe: bunny rabbits. Trekkies should have fun with “Star Trek: Legacy,” a starship combat game for the PC and Xbox 360 which spans the era of every “Star Trek” television show. “Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin” is being released for the Nintendo DS.
Week of Dec. 10: “Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII” and racer “Full Auto 2: Battlelines” are a few of the first games coming out for the PlayStation 3. 2K Sports is releasing “College Hoops 2K7” just in time for the college basketball season.
Upcoming weeks: Sega is delivering a brand new “Sonic the Hedgehog” game right before Christmas. The game will be available for the PlayStation 3, and later the Xbox 360. “Snoopy the Red Baron,” a flying game featuring Snoopy and all the characters from Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts” comic strip.