New In Theaters - March 30, 2012

WRATH OF THE TITANS

Starring: Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Edgar Ramírez,

Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, Ralph Fiennes & Liam Neeson

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman for distribution by Warner Brothers

The Plot: Following his epic defeat of the mythical Kraken, the son of Zeus is forced out of retirement when a battle for power breaks out among his celestial family and threatens civilization.

The Final Word: Despite being critically savaged for its poor use of 3D, the original “Clash Of The Titans” reboot did quite well for itself during its 2010 run. Now the sequel reunites most of the original cast to take another shot at box office supremacy, bad 3D and all! Expect this one to do just as well.

MIRROR MIRROR

Starring: Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer, Nathan Lane,

Mare Winningham, Danny Woodburn & Sean Bean

Directed by Tarsem Singhfor distribution by Relativity Media

The Plot: A new live-action lighter take on the classic fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

The Final Word: A few years ago an internal studio battle broke out between Relativity Media and Universal over competing “Snow White” projects. While each company was jockeying to have their film out first, each ironically lost the fight when ABC’s “Once Upon A Time,” debuted this year and seemingly stole the thunder of both films. Still both projects will see the light of day with the Julia Roberts led “Mirror, Mirror,” ultimately going first and the darker Kristen Stewart starring “Snow White and the Huntstman,” slotted in June. While the jury’s still out on which will do better, history has shown in most cases both films underperform.

New In Theaters - March 23, 2012

THE HUNGER GAMES

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, 
Woody Harrelson,Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Wes Bentley,
 Toby Jones, Alexander Ludwig,Isabelle Fuhrman, Amandla Stenberg, 
Stanley Tucci & Donald Sutherland

Directed by Gary Ross for distribution by Lionsgate

The Plot: In a state-run futuristic society, one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to square off against each other in a deadly battle where there can only be one victor.

The Final Word: Based on the massively successful trilogy “The Hunger Games,” the movie has been circled on calendars across the country for months. Featuring Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence and rising stars Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, the film could be the first live action smash of 2012, with some estimates reaching over $100 million in projected earnings.

New In Theaters - March 16, 2012

21 JUMP STREET

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Brie Larson, Rob Riggle,

Dave Franco, DeRay Davis, Jake Johnson & Ellie Kemper

Directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller for distribution by Columbia  (Sony)

The Plot: Two rookie police officers are shipped off to the undercover “Jump Street” division where they are forced to back to high school in an attempt to stop violent drug ring.

The Final Word: Based on the Johnny Depp headlined TV series, the movie couldn’t have come out at a better time for lead actor Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. With Tatum coming off the highly-successful “The Vow” and Hill coming off his Oscar nomination for “Moneyball,” both are firmly in the public’s eye. This will also be the first of two straight weeks where one tentpole have the entire opening weekend to themselves.


Previewed next week: The Hunger Games

New In Theaters - March 9, 2012

JOHN CARTER

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong,

Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara,

Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church & Willem Dafoe

Directed by Andrew Stanton for distribution by Disney

The Plot: A former military captain finds himself suddenly transported to a foreign planet where he becomes the inhabitant’s last chance for survival.

The Final Word: On paper you have to admit this sounds pretty interesting. You have Taylor Kitsch from “Friday Night Lights” in a 3D action film directed by Pixar mainstay Alexander Stanton in his live-action film debut. Granted looks can be deceiving as this film has gotten ravaged by critics and is already being written off by insiders. Stanton, known more for his animated directorial prowess, tried to make a movie whose mystery was preserved until audiences came to the theater. While that’s an honorable idea (and one J.J. Abrams has had equally varying degrees of success with), audiences are not a patient bunch and after seeing the trailer have just walked away confused. You just have to hope this isn’t anything like last year’s mega-flop “Mars Needs Moms” which will be continue to be a sore spot with studio executives for a long time to come.

A THOUSAND WORDS

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Clark Duke, Kerry Washington & Justina Machado

Directed by Brian Robbins for distribution by Paramount Pictures

The Plot: A literary agent with a gift for gab sets his sights too high while trying to sign a New Age guru and as a result falls under a curse where he literally has to make every word count.

The Final Word: Back when Eddie Murphy was slated to host the Oscars, this was the project that he was hoping to gain some added promotion for in the process. While that of course never happened, the movie itself is still slated to be released on scheduled. Following a series of high-profile busts, Murphy looked to be getting his career back on track, but between the Oscar fiasco and “Tower Heist” under-performing, he’s really going to need “Words” to flourish. Luckily he’s up against Disney’s “John Carter” which has run into its own set of problems.

SILENT HOUSE

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens,

Julia Taylor Ross, Haley Murphy, Adam Barnett

Directed by Chris Kentis, Laura Lau for distribution by Open Range Films

The Plot: Trapped inside her family’s lake house, a young woman begins to experience unimaginable terror.

The Final Word: Elizabeth Olsen who broke through in last year’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” returns for this horror thriller that is based on the Oscar nominated short foreign film “La Case Muda.” Fans of the genre should be prepared to be sufficiently freaked out as in a cool twist the entire tension-filled, real time journey, will be film using a single uninterrupted shot.

Previewed: 21 Jump Street