This Weekend, Watch This
A comparison of the new releases for January 20, 2012
By Curt David
January 20, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Curt, Gina would like you to reconsider this week's scoring....
New movies are released into theaters every weekend. How do you decide which movie to watch? Some people could pick a movie based on the title (Surprisingly, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, What Happens in Vegas, and Sin City all have different genres). Some people watch trailers (misleading), some people listen to their friends (friends can be idiots), and some people only go to the movies if their Hollywood crush is on the screen (nine weeks until my book-crush The Hunger Games comes to theatres!).

More likely than not, each weekend there is a movie that you have never heard of in the theaters. I'll save you the hassle of researching every movie, by comparing the new releases for each weekend in this column. Then, I'll tell you which movie to watch.

For the weekend of January 20th, the movies in wide release are Haywire, Red Tails, Underworld: Awakening, and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close



Haywire Red Tails Underworld: Awakening Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close WINNER (1 point per category)
Clearest TitleThis movie is either about baling hay or a situation that gets kind of crazy Perhaps the nickname of WWII airmen. Another movie of the Underworld franchise?! This is a long title, not sure of the plot. Underworld wins the point for having a recognizable title.
Best Genre
and Rating		Action/Thriller:

Rated R for some violence. 		Action/War:

Rated PG-13 for some sequences of war violence. 		Action/Horror:

Rated R for strong violence and gore and some language. 		Drama:

Rated PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images, and language. 		Extremely Loud wins the point for being the only option without any action.
Cleverest Tagline
(out of 5 stars)		"They left her no choice." Sounds intriguing.

2/5 		N/A

Booo.

0/5 		"Vengeance Returns"

Now we're getting better

3/5 		N/A

Booo.

0/5 		Underworld regains the lead in the column for having the best tagline.
Best Part of TrailerSexy CIA girl kicks some butt. Reminds me of Alias! Seems historic, action-y, and inspirational. Kate Beckinsale is back and it seems more epic. Whew. My goodness. That was a tear-jerker. Extremely Loud ties the point total back up by having the best trailer.
Coolest Lead ActorGina Carano is actually a real MMA fighter! Terrence Howard from Iron Man, Hustle & Flow, and Crash. Kate Beckinsale from Underworld, Click, and The Aviator. Tom Hanks from Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, and The Da Vinci Code. Tom Hanks is the definition of the coolest actor. Automatic Point.
Best CastMichael Douglas (Basic Instinct), Channing Tatum (Step Up), Antonio Banderas (Zorro), Ewan McGregor (Star Wars), and Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class) Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire), artists Ne-Yo and Method Man, and Elijah Kelley (Hairspray) Michael Ealy (Barbershop), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), John Goodman (Roseanne), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist), and Viola Davis (The Help) Impressive five guys from Haywire. Impressive two girls from Extremely Loud. Each movie with split the point.
Best Street Cred
For the Production		Director Steven Soderbergh has also directed Contagion, Ocean's 11, Traffic, and Erin Brokovich. Director Anthony Hemingway has also directed a ton of TV shows (The Wire, Fringe, CSI) Directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein also directed Shelter. Director Stephen Daldry The Reader, The Hours, and Billy Elliot. Wow, Stephen and Steven were each nominated for three Best Director Oscars. They'll each earn half a point for this round!


So out of a maximum of 7 points per movie, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close scores 4 points, Underworld: Awakening scores 2 points, Haywire scores 1 point, and Red Tails scores 0 points.

You may interpret this column for your own movie preferences. For example, if you know what a Lycan is, feel free to watch Underworld: Awakening However, if you are still on the fence, please read the following conclusions from the scientific data gathered in this column.

Conclusion 1: On paper, the best movie to watch this weekend is Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (but in maybe a This Weekend, Watch This column first, all four movies look good enough to spend money on!)
Conclusion 2: Thomas Horn, the main character from Extremely Loud, won on "Jeopardy" during Kids Week.
Conclusion 3: Soderbergh won an Oscar for Best Directing Traffic in 2001. That same year he was nominated for Best Director for Erin Brokovich, and previously Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1990). Daldry was also nominated in 2001 (Billy Elliot) and again in 2003 (The Hours) and 2009 (The Reader).