Latest DVDs, CDs, books: April 26, 2011

A look at some of the DVDs, CDs and books hitting stores this week:

DVDS

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (R): The Criterion Collection delivers a Blu-ray edition of director Terry Gilliam's 1998 version of Hunter S. Thompson's psychedelic odyssey "to the heart of the American dream," aka 1971 Las Vegas -- the destination for journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and his unhinged attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro).

That's only one of several Blu-ray arrivals, which include the Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men" (R), "The Queen" (PG-13) and the multiply-nominated "Gangs of New York" (R), plus the Brian DePalma-directed "Blow Out" (R), the trippy "El Topo" and "Holy Mountain" (both unrated), the documentary "Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back" (PG) and the foreign-language favorites "The Scent of Green Papaya" and "Betty Blue" (both unrated). And making its DVD debut: Gene Kelly's 1958 ballet experiment "Invitation to the Dance" (not rated).

Returning to the foreign front, the Indian comedy "Three Idiots" (PG-13) follows two pals on a quest for a long-lost buddy. In "Opa!" (PG-13), an American archaeologist (Matthew Modine) explores romance with a Greek widow (Agni Scott).

Turning to movies that never played local theaters, Dermot Mulroney and Chazz Palminteri headline the E.L. Doctorow adaptation "Jolene" (R), while Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Val Kilmer star in the thriller "Blood Out" (R).

Topping today's TV-to-DVD transfers (all unrated): the new "Upstairs Downstairs," the BBC's "Human Planet" series, the TCM documentary "Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood," plus "Growing Pains: The Complete Second Season," "The Lucy Show: The Official Fourth Season" and "South Park: The Complete 14th Season."

CDS

Explosions in the Sky, "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care": They say more than a lot of bands without saying anything at all.

This instrumental post-rock troupe continues to sketch vivid sonic landscapes with their equally mesmeric and concussive tunes on "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care."

Now, go get it, go get it, go get it.

Also in stores: The Airborne Toxic Event, "All At Once"; An Horse, "Walls"; Augustana, "Augustana"; Bowling For Soup, "Fishin' For Woos"; Dirty Vegas, "Electric Love"; Steve Earle, "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive"; Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, "No Help Coming"; Emmylou Harris, "Hard Bargain"; Of Montreal, "thecontrollersphere"; Silverstein, "Rescue"; and Todd Rundgren, "Todd Rundgren's Johnson."

BOOKS

"Bel-Air Dead" by Stuart Woods: The latest series installment featuring Stone Barrington finds the attorney representing ex-girlfriend and recent widow Arrington Calder, whose much older husband leaves her a fortune in movie studio stock, making her, and Stone, the targets of Hollywood's rich and powerful.

Carrie Bradshaw returns this week in the standalone sequel to Candace Bushnell's "The Carrie Diaries," "Summer and the City," in which young Carrie meets Samantha and Miranda.

Also in stores: "Abandon" by Meg Cabot; "Born of Shadows" by Sherrilyn Kenyon; "Fire World" by Chris d'Lacey; "The Great Night" by Chris Adrian; "In Zanesville" by Jo Ann Beard; "Knockdown" by Sarah Graves; "The Preacher" by Camilla Lackberg; "Southern Comfort" by Fern Michaels; "Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography" by Rob Lowe; "This Is a Book" by Demetri Martin; "A Turn in the Road" by Debbie Macomber; and "We'll Always Have Summer" by Jenny Han.