Stop the presses! Despite the presence of the (almost) always awesome Paul Gross in the title role, the Canuckified comedy/western Gunless pretty much took it on the chin critically when it was released earlier this year.

Indeed, film ratings aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes files the film squarely under "rotten" based on negative reviews from the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, eye Weekly and others. But sometimes films that fall flat on the big screen gain traction in DVD format.

That seems to be the case with Gunless, just released on DVD and Blu-ray. Bruce Kirkland, writing breathlessly about the film for the Toronto Sun last Friday, is positively effusive about the thing, calling it "joyously Canadian," praising its cinematography as "gorgeous," adding that "the real genius [of the film] rests in the tone and the effortless delivery," and even conjuring the great Clint Eastwood.

Personally, on the subject of Gunless, I fall somewhere between Kirkland's knock-kneed love and, say, Globe columnist Rick Groen's pithy assertion that "Gunless is harmless, the sort of pop entertainment that sets its sights low and doesn't underachieve."

No question that it's worth a rental for fans of Gross, comedic westerns or, uh, Bruce Kirkland. Trailer below.

Some other odds and ends worth reporting:

Hollywood North will feature an interview with Going the Distance director Nanette Burstein to coincide with the opening of the film on September 3. Though originally slated to open August 27, web scuttlebutt suggest marketers behind the Drew Barrymore/Justin Long rom-com wanted to create some distance between their film and the Jennifer Aniston flick, The Switch. They needn't have bothered - The Switch struggled to secure eighth place this past weekend, miles behind The Expendables, Eat Pray Love and bloodsucker spoof Vampires Suck among others.

The much-anticpated (only?) hockey musical, inventively titled Score: A Hockey Musical - starring Olivia Newton-John, Noah Reid, half of Canadian media in cameo roles and debuting this fall at TIFF - is confirmed for wide release October 22. Could be great or could be awful - you decide. Trailer below.

Finally, in anticipation of the DVD release of the Ridley Scott film, Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe, Canadian actor Kevin Durand (Little John) and Great Big Sea leader Alan Doyle (who also has a role in the film) sat down last week with Hollywood North to discuss this most interesting of movies. Ever wonder what an "aging department" does on a film set? Find out when we publish our interview with Doyle and Durand next month.