OSCAR 2011: The Winners and Why

Last night's Academy Awards was, to say the least, surprising, but not necessarily in a good way. In fact, I have to admit I would have been a lot happier if we had absolutely no surprises. Realistically, that didn't happen, and we got plenty of shocking moments that simply didn't need to happen. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" took home an Oscar for the absolute worst aspect of the film. "Hugo" took awards for technical aspects that simply didn't support it, all the while I was reminded of how soulless a feature Scorsese's latest was. But if there's a single win that defines the disappointment I feel this morning, it's Meryl Streep winning Best Actress.

From the very start of the evening, we saw Viola Davis absolutely working it on the red carpet, and I couldn't have felt happier for her. This was her night, and the Academy refused to recognize it. If she had taken the stage, last night would have been absolutely perfect in my memory. I don't blame Meryl Streep for winning. You have to blame the Academy for simply making the wrong decision and not voting on what's simply better and more deserving. Meryl Streep didn't need another award, but even more than that, her getting countless awards for performances like this is like giving Adam Sandler an Oscar for "Jack and Jill" because he was great in "Punch-Drunk Love" in the past. For the most part, however, I was pleased with what was predicted to win "The Artist"s wins were extremely heartfelt, and "A Separation" was just a great moment.

OSCAR 2011 PREDICTIONS: Animated Feature

Everyone is still salting their wounds over last year's tumultuous and difficult year for animated films. Between "Gnomeo and Juliet", "Mars Needs Moms", and "Cars 2", the animated group that's always been scrambling for Academy success took a beating in 2011. This year has a steady course of correction to that problem, with "Arrietty", "The Lorax", "The Pirates: Band of Misfits", "Brave", "ParaNorman", "Wreck-It Ralph", and "Rise of the Guardians" all vying for something more than simple entertainment. It's a lot more interesting to talk about the possibilities those film hold than to talk about the competition this year.

It's not going to go any other way than in favor of "Rango", as it well should. The film has the benefits of being cinematically unorthodox, massively entertaining, and the first animated film made by Industrial Light and Magic. It's a solid bet for either substance or craft, and there's no other film I feel deserves to win. I haven't had the pleasure or the enthusiasm to see three of the films on the list, so the only other one I can vouch for is "Kung Fu Panda 2". It's far from the most original film in the world, and indeed works off of the same template from the previous film. Doesn't change the fact that it's an effective formula that offers up plenty memorable action set-pieces.

Quick Takes: "Tomboy", "Rango", "Bridesmaids"

"Tomboy"

Directed by Celine Sciamma

This wasn't too high up on my list of films to catch up on before the year was out, but it landed in my general vicinity, so I figured it couldn't hurt. I didn't expect how much "Tomboy" actually did hurt, in ways both predictable and still shattering. The story is your typical new-kid-in-a-new-place sort of story, with the major exception being that Mikael is not a boy, but a girl named Laure. And the thing is that there's nothing truly dishonest about the way she represents herself. She has no ulterior motive other than to settle in with this group without the prejudices asserted by gender basis, and the honest nature of her deceit is what makes this such a wonderful little tale.

The film elicits this tragic gut-feeling, not just through these sweet moments between Laure and the girl she starts a relationship with, Lisa, but through the inevitability of its collapse. This isn't a brilliant ruse that Laure. It's so easy for it to fall apart, and it doesn't do this in a contained moment with the group of friends. The film draws out Laure's humiliation so as to never speak ill of her or her friends. Director Celine Sciamma passes no judgment, and in fact shows only deep affection for her characters, and it's infectious, like the sporadic pop tune that plays during one of the film's sweeter moments. But it's the innocent performances from the cast, especially the pitch-perfect Zoe Heran working years ahead of her age, that cement this film so strongly in my heart. Show this one to your kids. It's that sweet.

AWARDS 2011: Annual WGA No-Want List

It's that time of year again, when the Writers Guild of America decides to be prissy little bitches and kick out any film that doesn't abide by their numerous and illogical rules. As such, they aren't a truly reliable precursor in the Oscar fray, and they actually serve just to alienate themselves from the rest of the awards season. But it's still worth some interesting conversation on who didn't make the cut this year. The most high profile film is probably "The Artist", which makes sense on the grounds that that might've been a slim screenplay based on the lack of dialogue. But there's also no sense in the numerous other films to be kept out the competition.

In the original screenplay field, "The Artist", "Beginners", "The Iron Lady", "The Lady", "Margin Call", "Martha Marcy May Marlene", "Melancholia", "Rango", and "Take Shelter" were shelved. In the counterpart adapted field, "Albert Nobbs", "Carnage", "Jane Eyre", "My Week with Marilyn", "Sarah's Key", "The Skin I Live In", and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" got the shaft. While it doesn't much shake the latter race, it does make us wonder what's left for the former. The Best Picture contender most likely to make it in for Original Screenplay here would probably just be "Midnight in Paris". Hell, I'd count on that for the win. Adapted Screenplay, it's pretty much the same game as it was before.

Carpet-Bagging: Animated Feature Submissions to 18

The Oscars continue their slow gallop to relevance within conversation, though we're still widely confused about what could and will happen in the races this year. But at least we can start making finite guesses about one particular race, that being the Best Animated Feature category. The list of submitted titles has been announced, and the two pics whose mere presence is worth talking about are "The Adventures of Tintin" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked". Having not seen anything from the latter, and still assuming they're doing what they've always done, I'm kind of surprised, but I won't get too much into it. No way in hell it makes the shortlist. And I'm also curious about "The Smurfs", but that's under the same area as "Alvin".

"Tintin", on the other hand, almost has a guaranteed spot in the nominations. There's been a great deal of positive word after the film's UK opening this past weekend. I'd consider it amongst the frontrunners of this year, as there's even severe doubt that "Cars 2" will even be nominated. If I were to lay my guesses on the nominations here, assuming there's five, I'd say the other four slots would be filled by "Chico and Rita", "A Cat in Paris", "Kung Fu Panda 2", and "Rango" tied for the lead. But that's just a far off guess. Happy to hear any other theories. Comment away!

"The Adventures of Tintin"

"Alois Nebel"
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked"
"Arthur Christmas"
"Cars 2"
"A Cat in Paris"

Weekend Update: Pre-emptive Responses

This weekend seems to be a great deal quieter than most, of no fault to the high buzz comedies infecting the market today. There's just so little to talk about now comparative to last week or next week. With any luck, I'll actually be able to see "J. Edgar" next weekend, though given recent news out of AFI Fest, I wouldn't necessarily go ahead and call that good luck. DiCaprio is getting the most out of the film, as expected after the trailer that debuted weeks ago. I'll maintain my personal tentative feelings until next weekend, but for a more than fine dissection of the performance and the film itself, I hand off to Kris Tapley of In Contention.

Other news of note is that "Shame" finally got slapped with the NC-17 rating, which gave me a moment of rejoice on twitter (#NC17FUCKYEAH). "Young Adult" got a surprise screening to an amazingly positive response, which makes me optimistic at it being more than just a guilty pleasure. Hans Zimmer removed his name from the original score race, which is only a disappointment in regards to "Rango". And 2008 Oscar telecast producer Gil Cates passed away, which is a shame, as we're currently stuck in a sad rut of telecast producers and hosts. Let us never have duel hosts ever again.

And regarding the films releasing this weekend, my money's on "Tower Heist" to be the film to see. I've even had slight intrigue that may win out on me before the weekend is out. You can only spend so much time away from the theaters before it luring you back in. There's a solid cast, and it looks funny enough. For normal people, it would more than suffice. It's got a damn sight better of a chance than "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas" does, indulging in the same obvious and honestly not even funny approach that so many inexplicably are drawn to. But it'll do great this weekend anyway. So what are you seeing this weekend, if anything? Comment below!

Box Office Update: Snuffed at the Source

Fun Fact: The 2011 box office is still failing miserably in comparison to both 2010 and 2009. I get the feeling that once we reach the summer movie season, things will pick up and we'll be on our way to a solid number to end the year on. This weekend does come as something of an upset, because there is a genuinely great film for audiences, but their attention seems to be averted by the typical drivel. Hop came on top, managing a gross that comes close to surpassing Rango. Kids flicks have had the greatest financial success thus far this year, and that trend is continuing here.

Source Code did lure in the majority of the adult audiences this weekend, but such a paltry number as $15 million has to disappoint in some way. Insidious came just behind it, revealing where the other adult crowds decided to go. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules fell to forth place with a massive 57% drop. Even more massive was Sucker Punch's descent of 68%, spelling quick and sudden death for Zack Snyder's only original effort. This weekend constituted a 33% drop from the same weekend last year, when Clash of the Titans opened to a large, but circumstantially disappointing, number.

1. Hop (First Weekend; $38.1 million)
2. Source Code (First Weekend; $15 million)
3. Insidious (First Weekend; $13.5 million)
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Second Weekend; $10.2 million)
5. Limitless (Third Weekend; $9.4 million)
6. The Lincoln Lawyer (Third Weekend; $7 million)
7. Sucker Punch (Second Weekend; $6.1 million)
8. Rango (Fifth Weekend; $4.5 million)
9. Paul (Third Weekend; $4.3 million)
10. Battle: Los Angeles (Fourth Weekend; $3.5 million)

Box Office Update: Felled by a Wimpy Punch

It's kind of hard to believe how pathetic the box office has been this year. There have been films that from afar seemed like definite irrational box office successes, such as Battle: Los Angeles and more recently Sucker Punch, and yet they have come in to less than spectacular numbers. It's kind of sad and depressing that a film made with all the things that guys love (girls, dragons, etc.) ended up drawing such a small opening. Zack Snyder's psychological action film Sucker Punch came in at #2 with a gross that doesn't even head past $20 million. Even more surprising than that low income is what it was surpassed by.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules performed exactly as expected to, drawing in enough excited children to surpass Snyder's under-performer. Kids being kids, you can expect them to return to the film across the following weeks. Talking of which, there were some pretty strong holdovers from last weekend, with Limitless and The Lincoln Lawyer both dropping less than 20%. Mars Needs Moms took the biggest dip of 59%, its target audience being snatched away by the top new release. Interesting enough, the top news of the weekend is probably Rango shooting past the $100 million mark, making it the first film of 2011 to do that. Adam Sandler's Just Go With It came just behind it, edging past the mark by a far more minuscule degree. Surprisingly, this weekend ended up being just 6.8% less than last year, when How to Train Your Dragon came in at the top spot. It did on the other hand come 22.9% lower than two years ago when Monsters vs. Aliens wowed audiences so.

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (First Weekend; $24.4 million)
2. Sucker Punch (First Weekend; $19 million)
3. Limitless (Second Weekend; $15.2 million)
4. The Lincoln Lawyer (Second Weekend; $11 million)
5. Rango (Fourth Weekend; $9,8 million)
6. Battle: Los Angeles (Third Weekend; $7.6 million)
7. Paul (Second Weekend; $7.5 million)
8. Red Riding Hood (Third Weekend; $4.3 million)
9. The Adjustment Bureau (Fourth Weekend; $4.2 million)
10. Mars Needs Moms (Third Weekend; $2.2 million)

Box Office Update: Limited Potential

I think we can now break down how 2011 at the box office is shaping up in comparison to past years. This weekend wasn't exactly a great weekend, but it could've been a lot worse. It did decline from where it was last weekend, but there wasn't really anything major in release to urge people to head out to the theater. Limitless ended up as the #1 film this weekend, but didn't manage to break the $20 million mark. The average income per theater was impressive, but it still lacked something crucial. Rango held onto second place, boosting the animated western to about $92 million. The film should break the $100 million mark next weekend, making it the first film to do so this year.

Battle: Los Angeles took a considerable dive of 59%, landing right behind Rango after opening in the top spot last weekend. The Lincoln Lawyer and Paul both managed decent numbers, but nothing at all spectacular given the hype surrounding them. Surprisingly enough, the wide release that held on most honorably was Mars Needs Moms. I guess 3D still has enough appeal to keep children in the theaters. Overall, this weekend was down 9.9% from last year when Alice in Wonderland held onto the top spot for the third week in a row, but up 7.1% from 2009 when Knowing opened at #1.

1. Limitless (First Weekend; $19 million)
2. Rango (Third Weekend; $15.3 million)
3. Battle: Los Angeles (Second Weekend; $14.6 million)
4. The Lincoln Lawyer (First Weekend; $13.4 million)
5. Paul (First Weekend; $13.2 million)
6. Red Riding Hood (Second Weekend; $7.3 million)
7. The Adjustment Bureau (Third Weekend; $5.9 million)
8. Mars Needs Moms (Second Weekend; $5.3 million)
9. Beastly (Third Weekend; $3.3 million)
10. Hall Pass (Fourth Weekend; $2.6 million)

Box Office Update: Calculated Retreat

This weekend wasn't really a victory, but certainly not a defeat. We're on a course towards revival at the box office, and it wasn't going to come right away. We're still going through the dullest of material to get to the real gold, if it even exists. I personally am pretty excited about the films coming out this Friday, which may not exactly be great, but are still probably good. As for this weekend, there was no bright side to be seen in terms of movies, and you could tell by the nonsensical defenses people gave for Battle: Los Angeles. I have no problem saying that I had a ridiculously fun time with the film, but it didn't really have anything to do with the film. The film was abysmal, but in a way that you could so enjoyably poke fun at.

So it comes as little surprise to me that a film I compare to the works of Michael Bay came on top of the weekend. It wasn't terribly high, and doesn't exceed what Rango turned in last week, but it was above the norm. It's just unusual that films aren't opening above $50 million so far this year. I would've pegged this weekend to do much better than it did, but it turns out the quality kind of mattered to audiences. Red Riding Hood came in third with an opening figure that doesn't even fill up a third of what any of the Twilight films have made opening weekend. Mars Needs Moms, a 3D animated kids flick, came in fifth with a truly sad figure below $10 million.

Rango fell to #2, and I suspect that the lack of 3D caused that dip to be a little lower. It held on more than you would've expected it to, but it was still a bit disappointing. The Adjustment Bureau fell 45.8% to fourth place, and I think audiences have gotten about as much mileage as they're going to get from it. The King's Speech spends what is likely to be its last weekend in the top ten, making it to nearly $130 million. In the limited circuit, Jane Eyre recieved $182,317 at four theaters, which makes for the highest per theater average of this weekend. I wish I was in a position to see it. This weekend was down only 13% from last year, when Alice in Wonderland held on to to #1 for its second weekend.

1. Battle: Los Angeles (First Weekend; $36 million)
2. Rango (Second Weekend; $23.1 million)
3. Red Riding Hood (First Weekend; $14.1 million)
4. The Adjustment Bureau (Second Weekend; $11.5 million)
5. Mars Needs Moms (First Weekend; $6.8 million)
6. Hall Pass (Third Weekend; $5.1 million)
7. Beastly (Second Weekend; $5.1 million)
8. Just Go With It (Fifth Weekend; $4 million)
9. The King's Speech (Sixteenth Weekend; $3.6 million)
10. Gnomeo and Juliet (Fifth Weekend; $3.5 million)

Box Office Update: To Another Day...

Well, 2011 still continues to pale in comparison to 2010, but this weekend could actually be considered a modest success. I'm going to consider 2010 an anomaly, as it started out huger than it had any right to, and then eventually drowned into the doldrums of summer before making it to a decent winter season. This year seems to be moving at a pace that's more agreeable, even if it's seen as a massive failure right now. This weekend was never going to beat out the same weekend last year, mostly because last year ushered in the surprise success of Alice in Wonderland. That film truly robbed the 3D market a month before ticket prices escalated and people began to question the value of 3D.

This weekend, we had Rango, which is a completely new enterprise that's only working off the children's demographic and Johnny Depp's name, even though it's animated. So from that perspective, I'd say it opened pretty spectacularly, especially seeing as it should hold onto those numbers in the following weeks. Gnomeo and Juliet is on its way to $100 million, mostly through promising repeat business, and when the decision props up between seeing Rango and Mars Needs Moms, I think people will pick the former. As for the live action option of this weekend, The Adjustment Bureau underperformed, as expected. I guess the less-than-amazing reviews did take a beating to the morale of moviegoers.

Beastly, surprisingly enough, managed the third spot on the chart, garnering just over $10 million. That's crazy for a film opening at under 2000 sites, but I imagine it won't be doing too well over the next couple weeks, because reviews for the film have been anything but pretty. The only other thing worth commenting on is The King's Speech's post-Oscar weekend, which boosted the undeserving film above Inglourious Basterds to be The Weinstein Company's highest grossing feature. This weekend was a 37.2% drop from last year, but a 17.3% increase from 2009 when Watchmen opened in the top spot.

1. Rango (First Weekend; $38 million)
2. The Adjustment Bureau (First Weekend; $21 million)
3. Beastly (First Weekend; $10.1 million)
4. Hall Pass (Second Weekend; $9 million)
5. Gnomeo and Juliet (Fourth Weekend; $6.9 million)
6. Unknown (Third Weekend; $6.6 million)
7. The King's Speech (Fifteenth Weekend; $6.5 million)
8. Just Go With It (Fourth Weekend; $6.5 million)
9. I Am Number Four (Third Weekend; $5.7 million)
10. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (Fourth Weekend; $4.3 million)

Film Review: Rango

Quentin Tarantino recently announced that his next film is supposed to be a full-fledged western, a genre that Joel & Ethan Coen recently succeeded in. Immediate fears were that Tarantino would suffocate the revived genre in pastiche, but it looks like Gore Verbinski already beat him to the punch. Rango has been slowly receiving praise across the past week, and it's brought into question whether or not this would actually be worth my time. My initial feeling upon gathered trailers and clips was negative, but my inspiration had been piqued by Hans Zimmer's score. So I'm going to get it out of the way that I didn't exactly hate this film, but I find it hard to say it's good.

The film is about a nameless and lonely chameleon who has spent his life in a glass box, and then is thrown into the wild west in a disastrous car accident. Upon stumbling into the town of Dirt, he makes up an identity as the notorious hero Rango, and after accidentally killing the hawk, is crowned sheriff. Then the dwindling water bank is robbed, and Rango sets out with his posse to find the culprit, even though it's kind of his fault. Happenstance lands him upon a world of corruption, power, and control, and he has to decide if he's really the man he's been pretending to be, or nothing at all.

Rango does have a lot of things going for it, and that attributes it to being the most obviously entertaining film of 2011 thus far. It's fitting to bring us into the next part of the year, where we actually get to some real quality. The action in a few scenes is quite sporadic and entertaining, and it's occasionally epic at the level of Avatar. I use that comparison to the fullest way possible, because the two films really go hand in hand for me. Jake Sully and Rango are very much the same character, with my favor heading in the latter's direction. Rango does have an inherent charm to him, because he's basically an actor. He can fashion one hell of a story, and is great at ad-libbing his way out of a sticky situation. That does cause a bit of isolation, because it often feels like he's not his own character. He's just an empty shell.

The western elements of this feature are part of my biggest problem with the feature, because the western genre is a tricky genre to parody. It thrives on authenticity and not the simple trickery that this film relies on so completely. It ultimately just doesn't work in the way it should, and makes me feel sorry for the filmmakers who've put so much effort into reviving this genre. This is a feature more in the vein of Robert Rodriguez than the Coen Brothers, and it fails as a western. There are some nice visuals that look kind of pretty, but the animation of the characters is so off. The mammals look quite honestly fake, including the spirit of the west, even if they're only animated characters. It takes us out of the film, which is the cardinal sin of filmmaking. As for the reptiles, they are just hideous creations and so ultimately unattractive. It's hard to put your faith behind such an unappealing character. Ratatouille had this sort of risk, but it made the rat characters look likable and relatable.

The heart of Rango is missing, if it even exists. There seems to be potential on the start of the film, but it's ultimately drowned in existential musings and meaningless detours. Besides that, this was just completely predictable. At the onset of each respective scene, I could tell that the bottle was empty, he'd cross the road unharmed, and the bullet breaks the glass. Not to mention that this is just an original feature, taking quite obviously from the recently remade True Grit in terms of the character Beans (Isla Fisher). There are also stale allusions to The Village, the only kind of allusion for that particular feature. There are saving graces of this film that make it entertaining, Hans Zimmer's score being the main one. What John Powell did with How to Train Your Dragon a year ago, Zimmer does for Rango, elevating all the proceedings with precision to the material. The mild entertainment of the combination of visuals, music, and easy jokes will get people through to the end, and kids will honestly eat this up. The adults in the audience will find the moral ambiguity of certain scenes the most appealing, and by that I am of course speaking of Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy). He is the most entertaining character of this film. Ultimately, I find myself caught in the middle, not necessarily wanting to like it, but liking it for certain details. It's the most entertaining of the year thus far, and I can say that with confidence.

B

The Weekend Report: You Haven't Seen The Last of Me

So it turns out that in terms of this week's releases, I was totally bass-ackwards about what to expect. Nothing like a heavy dose of reality to bring you down from those delusions. Beastly, my third most anticipated film of the month, has arrived to some pretty atrocious reviews. I don't exactly regret placing it where I did on my list, because much like in Nina Sayers, I thought I saw a flash of something greater. In this case, it appears I was wrong. So getting back to the basics of good and bad, now that that line has been clearly spelled out for us, lets continue with the bad. Tell me how a cliche 80's comedy called Take Me Home Tonight could possibly ever be good, because I can find no answer to that. This weekend, I'd rather be anywhere else.

And now that we have the unabashed drivel out of the way, lets get to what actually has a surprising chance this weekend. I am of course speaking firstly of Rango, the animated western about lizards, lizard-like mammals, and perhaps a creature or two we can't quite define. This film has no real right to succeed, and yet I've read some rave reviews calling it the most beautifully rendered animated film ever. This is a very suspect phrase, especially considering it's concerning an animation company other than Pixar. Then again, to be honest, Pixar doesn't have that great chances with their feature this year, so it's probably a good idea to find a few reasonable alternatives while we have the time.

The film that should be the big ticket item this weekend, and yet somehow hasn't gotten that sort of fame, is The Adjustment Bureau. I guess people might be hoping a little too highly for another Inception, and that's not what this film is, as I've said before. It looks like an inspirational and potentially emotional romance about choosing your path through life. I don't expect something truly great, but I expect something good, which we've had a great deficiency of this year. To have two potentially good films coming out this weekend after we've received two months of settling for less? That's just a miracle in my eyes. In box office respects, I'm certain that this weekend will be a huge step down from the same weekend last year, just because they had the massive boost of Alice in Wonderland.

For Your Anticipation: I Have Vertigo

And then there's Rango. This is one of the few films that I'm completely on the fence about, caught between kinda-anticipating and total-revulsion. It's from the director of Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so that can either mean he's great at creating fantastic action spectacles, or that he sucks at character development, plot, and all that stuff that really matters. I can't yet tell if that's going to be the case with this one, but I get the sort of indication of that. This could turn out to be another Unstoppable, where I don't like it and yet everyone else finds something enjoyable out of it.

Don't Cry for Hans Zimmer

Many are no doubt disappointed that Hans Zimmer didn't walk away with the Oscar on Sunday, but the man has been rewarded already, though it was many years ago for The Lion King. The fact of the matter is, he's almost constantly providing to the film industry. This Friday he turns in a fantastic score for Rango, a film I'm still on the fence about. In spite of whatever the film may be, the score is a work worthy of praise.

Dread Locks: March 2011

I have truly given up at this point on seeing The Roommate, despite my predisposition to see it. I will eventually get around to it on DVD, at which point I will gladly inform you of all its "prowess", but I'd like to be in a position to have money before heading into a position of spending money on such lesser trifles. Hopefully I'll be in that sort of position next month, and it's a pretty good thing too based on the films up for contention in this month's "Dread Locks" poll. I had plenty of likely horrid works to choose from such as Take Me Home Tonight, Mars Needs Moms, and The Lincoln Lawyer. That's not even to mention the films that look good but could turn out to be less than favorable. A film named Elektra Luxx sounds like it's begging to be on a list like this, but actually looks somewhat decent. Am I supposed to condemn a film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt?

The films in contention for this month's poll are mostly mainstream efforts, which is something corporate Hollywood has no problem supplying us with. First up is Rango, the animated western about a pet chameleon who finds himself becoming the sheriff of a miniaturized western neighborhood. The film comes from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, who hasn't really been known for outstanding quality. I don't expect many truly inspired laughs or any heartfelt musings of Pixar proportions. Kids will eat just about anything up, and Nickelodeon hasn't had the greatest track record with kids films in the recent past.

The other two are of live action origins, and the one currently getting the most votes is Red Riding Hood. The much maligned hybridization of The Twilight Saga and the tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" is bound to pull in delirious female audiences, and I can never resist the chance to poke fun at this sort of cinematic manure. The third film on the slate is Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, and if this turns out to be the film I end up seeing, I'll be entering into it without any previous knowledge of the series. I'm obviously going to be instantly lost in the complex mythology. Those are your choices, so be sure to vote before the month is out, and for trailers for the films click on the links provided.