DVDS
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (R): There will be blood. Rivers of it. Ah, but there's also so much more in this soaring, Academy Award-winning adaptation of composer Stephen Sondheim's landmark Broadway musical, which marks actor Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton's sixth -- and arguably best -- collaboration.
Depp earned a well-deserved best actor Oscar nomination for his haunting portrayal of a falsely imprisoned barber who returns to Victorian London after years in exile -- and launches a bloody quest for vengeance against the judge (Alan Rickman) who stole his wife and daughter.
Also out today: "Alvin and the Chipmunks" (PG); "The Osmonds: Live in Las Vegas 50th Anniversary Reunion Concert" (Unrated); "Blue Man Group: How to Be a Megastar -- Live" (Unrated); "The Bette Davis Collection, Vols. 1, 2 and 3" (Unrated); "The Night of the Shooting Stars" (Unrated); "The Good Night" (R); "What Love Is" (R); and "Father Knows Best: Season One" (Unrated).
CDS
The Black Keys, "Attack and Release": The Black Keys' dirty blues has always been as lean and mean as an underfed Rottweiler.
But on their fifth record, the Akron, Ohio, duo flesh their sound out a bit with banjo, bongos, organ and flute.
Working with producer Danger Mouse and recording outside of their hometown for the first time, the Keys are no longer as monochromatic as their handle implies.
Also in stores: Diamanda Galas, "Guilty Guilty Guilty"; Josh Gracin, "We Weren't Crazy"; Moby, "Last Night"; Van Morrison, "Keep It Simple"; R.E.M., "Accelerate"; Rolling Stones, "Shine a Light: Original Soundtrack"; George Strait, "Troubadour"; Sun Kil Moon, "April"; Trina, "Still da Baddest"; Various Artists, "In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2."
BOOKS
"Armageddon in Retrospect" by Kurt Vonnegut: A posthumous collection includes previously unpublished fiction and nonfiction on war, peace, good and evil from the author who died in April 2007. The book includes an introduction by Vonnegut's son Mark.
Also hitting shelves: "Second Plane: September 11: Terror and Boredom" by Martin Amis; "Home: A Memoir of My Early Years" by Julie Andrews; "Winter Study" by Nevada Barr; "Small Favor" by Jim Butcher; "A Remarkable Mother" by Jimmy Carter; "Winding Ways Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel" by Jennifer Chiaverini; "Belong to Me" by Marisa De Los Santos; "Wit's End" by Karen Joy Fowler; "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri; "Sepulchre" by Kate Mosse; and "Wild Nights! Stories about the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James, and Hemingway" by Joyce Carol Oates.
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