Staying in? New DVD releases to choose from

Starring: Jason Lee, Kathryn Joosten, Zachary Levi, David Cross, Wendie Malick, and the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, Anna Faris.

Singing chipmunks Alvin (voiced by Long), Simon (Gubler) and Theodore (McCartney) continue to thrive in the cutthroat music business. When the boys' surrogate father Dave (Lee) is consigned to a hospital bed, the youngsters stay with Aunt Jackie (Joosten) and nephew Toby (Levi), who enrolls the chipmunks at high school where the pop stars secure a nomination to represent their classmates at a battle of the bands.

Aggrieved former manager Ian Hawke (Cross) enrolls the Chipettes - aka Britney (Applegate), Eleanor (Poehler) and Jeanette (Faris) - at the very same school, then petitions headmistress Dr Rubin (Malick). The battle of the rodent sexes, Chipmunks versus Chipettes, tests friendships to the limit. Opening with a high-pitched "We're back!" over the credits, Alvin And The Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel treads a familiar path, driving a wedge between the tiny heroes then reuniting them for a foot-stomping finale to the strains of We Are Family by Sister Sledge and Shake Your Groove Thing by Peaches & Herb.

The simplistic, linear plot holds no surprises, incorporating a boo-hiss, high school jock villain (who naturally gets his comeuppance), wholesome lessons about friendship and self-sacrifice, and chaste romance that nervously approaches the kissing stage. Young viewers will love the silliness of it all - the chipmunks whooping You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) by Dead Or Alive as they take a high-speed turn in a food mixer - with the odd concession to older viewers, like the opening musical gambit, You Really Got Me by The Kinks.

Rating: ***

Law Abiding Citizen (Cert 18, 104 mins)

Starring: Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Viola Davis, Regina Hall, Emerald-Angel Young, Brooke Mills, Ksenia Hulayev.

Brilliant inventor Clyde Shelton (Butler) is the victim of a home invasion, which results in the murder of his wife (Mills) and young daughter (Hulayev). Police catch the killers but then to add insult to unbearable injury, lead prosecutor Nick Rice (Foxx) cuts a deal with one of the perpetrators, agreeing a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony against the accomplice.