VIDEO RELEASES 5/26/09

[SoundwavesTV]

KILLSHOT (2009)
Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke, Thomas Jane, Rosario Dawson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
SCR: Hossein Amini
DIR: John Madden
R / RELEASE: 1/23/09
BOX: $18,643
http://www.weinsteinco.com/#/film/killshot
Criminally under-seen crime flick was completed in 2006 (!) and had languished on the shelf, before being dumped onto DVD after a lame 5-screen release. Lane and Jane are a freshly separated couple who cross paths with a notorious mobster (Rourke) when he joins an unstable new partner (Levitt, outstanding) on an extortion outing. You know where the story is going from the top, but what makes this special are the character nuances and details (from an Elmore Leonard novel, natch). Taut from start to finish, with smart performances, clever dialogue and handsome production values, it simply boggles the mind why the Weinstein Company would not have embraced this film. Rourke’s outstanding performance could have been a profitable follow-up while The Wrestler was the darling of the award circuit. That’s like printing money! (Weinstein Company)

NEW IN TOWN (2009)
Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick, Jr., Siobhan Fallon, J.K. Simmons
SCR: C. Jay Cox, Ken Rance
DIR: Jonas Elmer
PG / 1:37 / RELEASE: 1/30/09
BOX: $16,734,283
www.newintownmovie.com
Renee Zelwegger is a big city girl who travels to Minnesota and gosh darn, wouldn’cha know it? She learns what she's been missin' in life! This is one of those movies that paint by numbers but only uses three colors. Every Midwestern stereotype is present and accounted for. Zelwegger spends half the movie falling down as a fish out of water and the rest of the time hittin' her earthly stride. Large portions of the film unfold in montages, which points to either lazy writing, or desperate editing. We've seen this movie before -- and done much better. (Lionsgate)

ALSO OUT:

THE LEGEND OF FONG SAI-YUK
Jet Li

POWDER BLUE
Forest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta, Patrick Swayze, Eddie Redmayne, Kris Kristofferson

FALLING DOWN (1993 Re-Issue)
Michael Douglas

TV ON DVD:
THE CLOSER: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON
DESIGNING WOMEN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
LAND OF THE LOST: THE COMPLETE SERIES