THE LIST

"The Astronaut Farmer" (PG): Billy Bob Thornton stars in this good-hearted tale about pursuing your bliss — even if it means building a rocket on your farm in hopes of blasting off into space one day. Thornton’s character is a farmer who in his younger days was an aspiring astronaut. A family crisis slammed the door on that career option but didn’t end his dream. Yeah, it’s a tad hokey at times, but it’s a nice little feel-good movie that uses charm and quality performances to connect with the audience.

Also out today: "The Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark" (Unrated); "The Page Turner" (Unrated); "Wild Tigers I Have Known" (Unrated); "After the Wedding" (R); "The Last Stand: The Drama of Comedy" (Unrated); "You’re Gonna Miss Me" (Unrated); "The Contractor" (R); "Sweet Land" (PG); "The Last Mimzy" (PG); "Beauty and the Beast: The Second Season" (Unrated); and "Bewitched: The Complete Fifth Season" (Unrated).

 

CDS

The Smashing Pumpkins, "Zeitgeist" (Reprise): The Smashing Pumpkins are back — sort of.

The band’s first disc since 2000’s "MACHINA/The Machines of God," sees frontman Billy Corgan reconvening the group with iron-fisted drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, but leaving guitarist James Iha and longtime bassist D’Arcy Wretzky out of the fold.

Still, Corgan was known for playing most of the instruments in the studio anyway, and what the band’s latest album lacks in original members, it compensates for with a surplus of guitars that engulf the mix like a swarm of bees.

Also in stores: Aly & AJ, "Insomniatic"; Bad Religion, "New Tapes of Hell"; Buffalo Tom, "Three Easy Pieces"; Crowded House, "Time on Earth"; Danzig, "The Lost Tracks of Danzig"; Nick Drake, "Family Tree"; Interpol, "Our Love to Admire"; Tracy Lawrence, "The Very Best of Tracy Lawrence"; Lez Zeppelin, "Lez Zeppelin"; Kim Richey, "Chinese Boxes"; Boz Scaggs, "Runnin’ Blue"; Soundtrack, "Hairspray"; Soundtrack, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"; Stephen Stills, "Just Roll Tape: April 26, 1968."

 

BOOKS

"High Noon" (Putnam): The latest from prolific Nora Roberts stars police lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara, a hostage negotiator in Savannah, Ga., who is brutally assaulted in her own precinct house. Threatening messages follow and MacNamara has to ferret out her hidden tormentor.

Also on shelves today: "Evil Inc." (Forge) by Glenn Kaplan; "Killer Weekend" (Putnam) by Ridley Pearson; "Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life" (Tyndale) by Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker; "Dark River: Book Two of the Fourth Realm" (Doubleday) by John Twelve Hawks; "Dragonlance: Dragons of the Highlord Skies" (Wizards of the Coast) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman; and "The World Without Us" (Thomas Dunne) by Alan Weisman.