Cinematical

It's been crazy this past week, what with Sundance (where I chatted with Ginnifer Goodwin about high school reunions and salad on a stick) and Oscar nominations (I wasn't shocked at the Dreamgirls snub, but the exclusion of Guillermo del Toro for Best Director broke my heart). On top of all that, there are a few medium-size movies opening this weekend, making for one of the toughest box office predictions yet.

Epic Movie: From the writers of the Scary Movie series and Date Movie comes another spoof, this one tackling such sacred cows as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Chronicles of Narnia. Let's see, the Scary Movie films have made a gazillion dollars (yes, that's a real number), and Date Movie earned $19 million over last year's three-day President's Day weekend, finishing second to Disney's Eight Below. Clearly audiences have a taste for this kind of movie, and it should do pretty well. Hey, mindless entertainment makes the world go 'round. I've logged countless hours slack-jawed in front of my TV to prove it.
Watch the trailer | Get showtimes & tix | Read synopsis | See photos

Catch and Release: Jennifer Garner stars as a woman whose fiancé dies on the eve of their wedding; Timothy Olyphant (Seth Bullock on HBO's Deadwood) is the hottie who heals her pain. All hail the chick flick! This marks the solo directorial debut of Susannah Grant, who co-directed Charlotte's Web and wrote Erin Brockovich and In Her Shoes. Reviews are middling (49 out of 100 is pretty much exactly in the middle, no?), but this sort of film, like Epic Movie, is review-proof. I still want to see it, and I'll probably wind up watching it 15 times on cable, just like I get sucked in whenever Garner's 13 Going on 30 airs. Hmm, I may be revealing a bit too much about my TV-watching habits in this post ...
Watch the trailer | Get showtimes & tix | See photos | See rising TV stars

Smokin' Aces: Forget what I said about hailing the chick flick. All hail The Piven is what I really meant. That would be Jeremy Piven, aka Ari Gold on HBO's (again with the HB and O!) Entourage. Piven stars as a two-bit hustler in Vegas who pisses off the wrong mobster and finds himself on the run when the kingpin takes out a contract on his life. We've got violence, we've got yooge stars (Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Common, and Alicia Keys in her big-screen debut), we've got a flick that appeals to young men and has little competition. Could go either way, but never forget the appeal of violence and Vegas, baby! Vegas!
Watch the trailer | Get showtimes & tix | See Piven & Common chat

Also opening wide: Werewolf flick Blood and Chocolate, The Departed (studio is re-releasing)

Anything could happen this week, folks; may as well post the movies up on a wall and throw a dart at it. Go on and take your best shot -- by noon Saturday, please. My picks:

1. Epic Movie
2. Smokin' Aces
3. Dreamgirls
4. Catch and Release
5. Night at the Museum

POST: What's your weekend top five prediction?

POST: What do you think of these movies?