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For people who never had a Sports Illustrated subscription and haven’t seen Brooklyn Decker in a bikini: Just Go with It

As you know by now, the early 2011 box office campaign was a disaster. Hits were few and far between as consumers chose to stay home rather than watch lackluster films. Just Go with It was the first major exception of the year, becoming the first 2011 title to earn $100 million domestically. And its appeal is simple. The movie stars Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston and its advertising focuses heavily on a dripping wet Brooklyn Decker exiting the ocean to walk on a sandy beach. In other words, it’s a Sandler comedy that throws in a sex fantasy for his loyal viewers. There is a reason why most of the comedian’s films gross $100+ million. He knows his target audience. Opinions on the movie itself are split, but the reality is that odds are good that you will give it a chance since his vanilla brand of humor is easily consumed by the masses. Plus, Brooklyn Decker is really hot.

Pick of the Week
For people who want to see The Dude with an eye patch: True Grit

Fifteen films into their career, the Coens have delivered their masterpiece. North American audiences agree with me on the point, too. The combined box office of the five most recent Coen Brothers projects prior to True Grit is $188.5 million. True Grit on its own earned $171.1 million. There isn’t much else that needs to be said about the heralded remake of the John Wayne classic. It was nominated for 10 Oscars and had the Coens not recently dominated with No Country for Old Men, True Grit would have been a strong competitor to win Best Picture. I’m not going to give away the plot if you have avoided it thus far nor will I offer further superlatives beyond the obvious. True Grit is a legitimately great movie (I had it in my top five for the year) that you either have watched or will watch. If it’s the latter, now is the time to do so. And I am saying this as someone who doesn’t even like westerns. It’s just that good.

For people who are threatened by the color yellow: Green Lantern Emerald Knights

In case you are confused, yes, there was another Green Lantern animated movie released last year. With the impending debut of Green Lantern as a live action blockbuster (?), DC Comics made the determination that a second animated title would help establish the characters even better. They have taken the Gotham Knights strategy, offering a series of vignettes rather than one overriding story. This was also a tactic used with a DC release from the end of 2010, Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam. Given that there are multiple Green Lantern comic book titles in existence, it’s probably not a bad idea to indoctrinate the masses as much as possible. Still, I wasn’t a fan of Gotham Knights and actively disliked Superman/Shazam! As such, I’m less than enthusiastic about the Emerald Knights. If you have a Sinestro tattoo (Pete Kilmer), your mileage will vary.

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