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This week's new releases, available Tuesday, are rated by Jay Bobbin of Zap2it on a scale of one to four, with H equivalent to a poor rating and HHHH meaning excellent.

ICE AGE:

DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS

***

The third comedy-adventure in the animated series returns Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo to the voice cast as prehistoric animal friends. Sid needs more than a little help from his friends when his actions incur the wrath of a tyrannosaurus rex, but they have concerns of their own, some of which involve matters of the heart. Queen Latifah also supplies a character voice again.

DVD extras: seven "making-of" documentaries; audio commentary by cast and crew members; music video; games; two "Scrat Shorts."

WHATEVER WORKS

***

Woody Allen, who knows something about older-man/younger-woman romances, makes such a relationship the principal theme of his latest comedy as writer-director.

Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") plays the elder half of the equation, a New York crank whose involvement with a young runaway (Evan Rachel Wood) yields surprising results for all concerned -- including her mother (Patricia Clarkson).

Ed Begley Jr. and Michael McKean also appear.

ORPHAN

***

Damien of "The Omen" and the children of "Village of the Damned" have new company in the creepy-kids category, thanks to Isabelle Fuhrman's unsettling performance in this melodrama.

Her character is a youngster, adopted by a couple (Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard), whose behaviour quickly becomes alarming -- but not in time for her new parents to prevent an onslaught of physical and psychological terror.

CCH Pounder ("The Shield") also stars.

NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS

***

Christmas doesn't go smoothly for the family at the heart of this comedy-drama set in Chicago.

The clan's holiday reunion marks the first time everyone is together in several years, but the eldest son's (John Leguizamo) wife (Debra Messing) resists suggestions that she become a mom, and his returned-from-Iraq sibling (Freddy Rodriguez) struggles with being a civilian again.

Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Pena play the heads of the household.

THE GUARDIAN:

THE FIRST SEASON

***

Simon Baker hit television ratings gold last season with "The Mentalist," but he also had a substantial run on CBS with this somewhat darker drama series, casting him as a Pittsburgh lawyer whose own legal troubles put a cramp in his fast-track career.

While working with his father (Dabney Coleman), a fellow attorney, he also represents youngsters to fulfill his community-service sentence. Alan Rosenberg, Erica Leerhsen and Raphael Sbarge co-star.

Coming soon:

ALIENS IN THE ATTIC

Nov. 3

While on vacation, several youngsters discover their temporary residence also houses extraterrestrials planning to conquer Earth. Ashley Tisdale and Doris Roberts star.

* Little Screen appears in Life & Times each Friday.