This is the week for the movies that didn't, the films that failed to connect at the theater or failed to even make it to the theater.

The first film in this group proved the exception. Everyone who saw "The Illusionist" (Fox) before its initial small release thought the romantic drama was something special.

It stars Edward Norton as a magician in early 20th-century Vienna, and his seemingly doomed love for a royal's fiancee, but when the more heavily marketed "The Prestige," another period-piece magician movie, was released soon after "The Illusionist," it was expected to disappear quickly.

Instead, it remained in theaters long enough to build positive word of mouth and became a surprise success. It will become a bigger success with the release of the DVD, which includes a commentary by director Neil Burger and a short making-of featurette.

When "Crank" (Lions Gate) was released earlier this year, it was understandably marketed to the action-over-intelligence crowd. The plot has rough-edged British actor Jason Statham playing an assassin who is injected with a drug that will kill him if his heart rate slows to less-than-excited level before he finds the antidote — an obvious mash-up of "Speed" and the noir classic "D.O.A."

Yet "Crank" transcended its obviousness. It plays out like the breathless adrenaline rush it seeks to be, but with a human dimension. Statham makes his gritty gangster someone to root for — he's looking to get out of the game, naturally — and Amy Smart gives her most affecting performance yet as the naive girl he loves.

I would love to report that "Bandidas" (Fox), which sneaked into a handful of theaters in September, was overlooked and worthy entertainment, especially since it teams two of my favorite (and extremely easy to look at) actresses, Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek. They play outlaws in 1880s Mexico, out to avenge the deaths of their respective fathers at the hand of an evil Yankee land snatcher (Dwight Yoakam).

There's way too much odd-couple bickering (Salma's refined; Penelope's a hick) and slapstick that doesn't work unless you have a fetish for girls in gook.

ALSO NEW

"Conversations with Other Women" (Hart Sharp) stars Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter. They separately recount the beginning and end of their affair, which has the whole story being told in split screen. Turns out, it's entirely dependent on its gimmick.

"Beavis and Butt-head" creator Mike Judge offers "Idiocracy" (Fox), whose premise certainly sounds ripe and relevant: Average Joe, Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson), a man of extremely average intelligence, is chosen to be a government guinea pig, to test how long humans can survive hibernation. Joe and his carefully selected mate (a hooker played by Maya Rudolph) wake up in 2505 in a society that has become so dumb that Joe is quickly recognized as the smartest guy on Earth and assigned to run things. Alas, this is a great concept in search of a movie with only a few wry observations to sustain it for its 84 minutes.

TV ON DVD

I had a hard time working up much excitement for the cable series "Extras," whose "The Complete First Season" (HBO) makes it to disc this week, just in time to catch up before Season 2 begins. I had no trust in the premise, which has an aspiring actor reduced to signing up for extra work on films and TV shows. And I found it difficult to believe that Ricky Gervais, who plays the extra, and his writing partner Stephen Merchant could create another sitcom as intelligent as the British version of "The Office."

It's helped greatly by the interaction of Gervais' Andy Millman with the stars of the projects for which he provides human wallpaper, a hilarious Kate Winslet and an imposing Samuel L. Jackson.