With a strong chance of not even getting into the Top 10, (Sony/Screen Gems), starring Wills Forte and Arnett, is trying to capitalize on the recent success of R-rated comedies like Knocked Up with its humor, but it's the type of comedy that's made cheaply and then dumped if it doesn't turn out as well as expected. Although Will Forte has been making a name for himself on "Saturday Night Live", that did little to help his castmate Andy Samberg's recent movie Hot Rod (also starring Arnett) do much business, and even bringing on his pal Kristen Wiig (who was very memorable in Knocked Up) might not help. Neither will Arnett, who's been funny in comedy hits like Will Ferrell's Blades of Glory but hasn't really been able to make a mark on his own. Directed by Bob Odenkirk, whose last live action comedy Let's Go to Prison (also starring Arnett!!) bombed, The Brothers Solomon might find a fringe comedy audience but with most guys picking one of the other two new movies, and two other strong comedies already in theatres, this will likely end up near the bottom or outside the Top 10, unless Sony is able to get it into more than the planned 650 theatres its opening weekend.

Unfortunately, all three movies are opening in a weekend that's notorious for bombs with only three movies opening in the first weekend after Labor Day with more than $15 million, those being the horror-thriller The Exorcism of Emily Rose in 2005, which opened with an astounding $30 million, Resident Evil: Apocalypse with $23 million in 2003 and Stigmata with $18 million in 1999. Otherwise, this weekend is famous for the number of low-grossing #1 movies, as many people are back at work and school after the official end of summer with the extended Labor Day weekend. Even so, expect most of the movies to do poor business on Friday but pick up business over the weekend.

This Week's Predictions -

1. 3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) - $13.4 million N/A

2. Halloween (Dimension Films) - $9.9 million -63%

3. Shoot 'Em Up (New Line) - $9.2 million N/A

4. Superbad (Sony) - $6.3 million -50%

5. Balls of Fury (Rogue Pictures) - $5.7 million -51%

6. The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) - $5.4 million -48%

7. Rush Hour 3 (New Line) - $4.3 million -50%

8. Mr. Bean's Holiday (Universal) - $3.2 million -47%

9. The Nanny Diaries (Weinstein Co.) - $2.6 million -48%

10. The Brothers Solomon (Sony/Tristar) - $2.0 million N/A

Last year, the weekend box office was so pathetic that it was topped by Renny Harlin's action-thriller The Covenant (Screen Gems) with just $8.8 million in 2,681 theatres, making it the lowest #1 opening in three years when David Spade's Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star was #1 with $6.66 million on the same weekend. Opening in second place in a thousand fewer theatres was the George Reeves biopic Hollywoodland (Focus) with just under $6 million, while Ong Bak star Tony Jaa's second movie The Protector (Weinstein Co.) opened with $5 million, also in around 1,500 theatres. The unbelievably lame $49 million for the top 10 should be bested again this weekend thanks to the two strong movies, but don't expect the Top 10 to make much more than $60 million.

3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate)
Starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Gretchen Mol, Logan Lerman, Luce Rains, Vinessa Shaw
Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line, Copland, Identity); Written by Derek Haas, Michael Brandt (2 Fast 2 Furious, Catch That Kid, upcoming Wanted)
Genre: Western, Action
Rated R
Tagline: "Time Waits for One Man."
Plot Summary: When Dan Evans (Christian Bale), a family man with financial problems, sees the robbing of a stage coach by the outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), he volunteers to join the group of men hired to take Wade to catch the prison train in Contention, while Wade's men will do anything to get their boss back.
Why I Should See It: James Mangold takes on the Western genre and knocks one out of the park.
Why Not: If you're morally opposed to the concept of Westerns, then you're not going to be happy with how reverential this is to the genre.

Projections: $11 to 13 million opening weekend and $38 million total.
COMPARISONS

Interview with writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas

Shoot 'Em Up (New Line)
Starring Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci, Stephen McHattie, Chris Jericho, Daniel Pilon, Greg Bryk, Jane McLean,
Written and directed by Michael Davis (Eight Days a Week, 100 Girls, Monster Man)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "Just another family man making a living."
Plot Summary: A man (Clive Owen) sees a pregnant woman being chased by a group of killers and when he steps in to try and save her, he winds up delivering the baby and having to protect the kid from a mob of assassins led by a ruthless individual (Paul Giamatti) who wants the baby dead for very specific reasons.
Why I Should See It: Michael Davis pulls a fun balls-to-the-wall action flick out of his hat unlike anything since last year's Crank
Why Not: Not everyone will be able to understand or appreciate Davis' dark sense of humor.

Projections: $9 to 11 million opening weekend and $28 million total
COMPARISONS

Interview with Michael Davis

Interviews with Clive Owen & Paul Giamatti (Coming Soon!)

The Brothers Solomon (Sony/Screen Gems)
Starring Will Arnett, Will Forte, Chi McBride, Kristen Wiig, Malin Akerman
Directed by Bob Odenkirk (Let's Go To Prison, writer for "SNL", "Mr. Show" and "Tenacious D"); Written by Will Forte
Genre: Comedy
Rated R
Tagline: "They want to put a baby in you." (And then Clive Owen can protect it from hitmen!)
Plot Summary: Two idiotic, socially-inept brothers (Wills Forte and Arnett) seek to find a woman to have their baby so they can provide their dying father with a grandchild.
Why I Should See It: Will Arnett can be pretty damn funny.
Why Not: Will Forte? Not so much.

Projections: $2 to 3 million opening weekend and less than $5 million total.
COMPARISONS

Mini-Review: Attempting to capitalize on the success of "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" with a premise that incorporates elements from both without being as strong as either, it doesn't take more than a few minutes for Will Forte and Will Arnett's constantly perky brothers to get annoying. Arnett wearing ridiculous looking shorts for no apparent reason is clearly the funnier of the duo, but the material written by Forte tends to drag him down, because most of it isn't particularly funny. Kristen Wiig is mostly wasted as their surrogate straight person while Malin Ackerman works as Arnett's love interest but seems as bored with the role as her character is with his antics. There are a few funny bits and one great gag involving a flown banner ad that goes on way too long, but otherwise, most of the even remotely funny jokes are in the trailer and there's little reason to shell out money to see it in theatre rather than waiting for the DVD. Maybe Forte saw this as his way to update the classic Martin/Aykroyd "Wild 'n' Crazy" guys bit from SNL, but instead, it only succeeds in the same way as the recent "Hot Rod" in showing how far SNL has fallen in its attempt to create original comedy. Most of the time, "The Brothers Solomon" is more mean or dumb than funny, and other times, it makes the Farrelly Brothers seem tasteful. Rating: 4.5/10

Next week, Jodie Foster takes on the bad guys in Neil Jordan's revenge thriller The Brave One, while Seann William Scott takes on Billy Bob Thornton as the high school gym teacher known as Mr. Woodcock.

In the Shadow of the Moon (THINKFilm)
Starring Alan Bean, Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke, Dave Scott, Edgar Mitchell, Gene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, Jim Lovell, John Young, Mike Collins
Written and directed by David Sington (a former producer and writer of the PBS show "Nova")
Genre: Documentary
Rated PG
Plot Summary: This documentary takes a comprehensive look at NASA's attempts and successes at putting a man on the moon through rare never before seen footage and interviews with some of the astronauts who made the eventful journey.

I don't feel like giving away my age but I was quite young when the United States first landed a man on the moon, and I wasn't even living in the country, which may be why I've never had as much nostalgia towards the U.S. space program during that era. Sure, I remember sitting at the TV, watching the Apollo spaceships taking off or landing and my one trip to the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. was something that really stuck with me. That visit is nothing compared to watching this brilliant documentary by David Sington, a veteran of the space-faring PBS series "Nova," who is able to convey into the viewer what it felt like to have been on those moon launches, as well as recreating the feeling of excitement among those who watched it. This is done through comprehensive interviews with the astronauts including Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins, two of the three men who took part in the first moon landing. (The eclectic Neil Armstrong was too shy to participate apparently.) They tell us what it felt like to see the earth from space with their own eyes, something that's only been seen by the two-dozen men who traveled to the moon, and not surprisingly, the movie spends a lot of its time focusing on Apollo 11. After taking us step-by-step from the time leading up to the launch through their amazing journey to the moon, it goes off on a tangent to talk about Apollo 13, the failed moon launch that was well-covered in the film by Ron Howard (who not surprisingly came on board to "present" the movie.) The footage is amazing, completely unprecedented and watching it, you can understand why there was so much excitement about the Apollo program and why putting a man on the moon had such a huge effect on the world at the time. It's also fascinating to watch a mournful speech by President Richard Nixon that was taped just in case the astronauts in the first moon landing were unable to get off the moon and were left stranded there.

This is a gorgeous, powerful and moving film, not only the best documentary of the year, but possibly one of the best films period. I can't recommend it enough, whether you're a "spacephile" or just someone who would like to know more about the effects of space travel. It will open in limited release and hopefully there are still enough space enthusiasts out there or those who want to relive the events to make sure this movie gets seen by a large audience, especially the younger generation who takes things like space travel for granted.

Also in Limited Release:

I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (IFC) - Comedian Jeff Garlin of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" wrote, directed and stars in this romantic comedy as an obese Chicago comedian who lives with his mother and has a hard time finding the right woman until he meets the semi-psychotic nymphomaniac Beth (played by Sarah Silverman), who enters his life and turns it upside down. It opens on Wednesday at the IFC Center in New York.

Mini-Review: Fans of Jeff Garlin's appearances on Larry David's show should be able to enjoy this reflexive, self-deprecating tale of an overweight man trying to find love who gets involved with the wrong woman. Garlin combines a bunch of disparate comedy bits with esoteric movie references, but not all of them work in the context of telling this story nor are all of them particularly funny. On the other hand, Garlin does have the ingenuity and forethought to cast Sarah Silverman and Bonnie Hunt, two of the funnier women comics, as his love interests, and both of them bring more to this movie than Garlin himself. Silverman's fans will definitely appreciate what she brings to the table (including one semi-nude scene for the sake of Mr. Skin) and Bonnie Hunt is also very funny, though the movie ends abruptly before it can really explore that relationship. One can't help but think that this is little more than a vanity project for Garlin, since it's not too believable that either woman would be interested in his wishy-washy character, but there's something poignant in his quest for love, and when all else fails, there's a few fun cameos by TV personalities like Amy Sedaris and Richard Kind who also add a lot to the mix in their brief scenes. Rating: 6/10

Fierce People (After Dark Films) - In this long-delayed dark coming-of-age comedy from Griffin Dunne (star of Martin Scorsese's After Hours and John Landis' An American Werewolf in London), Anton Yelchin plays Finn Earl, the son of a drug-addicted masseuse (Diane Lane), who move to the New Jersey estate of a wealthy mogul (Donald Sutherland) where they learn more about class struggles when Finn falls for his granddaughter (Kristen Stewart). After being dumped to After Dark from its previous distributor Lionsgate, Dunne's film will open in select cities Friday.

Mini-Review: What starts out as a quirky coming-of-age comedy in the vein of "Rushmore" or "Igby Goes Down" quickly gets bogged down in Anton Yelchin's tendency to be whiny and annoying in his attempts to be clever or cute. It's too bad, because this isn't a terrible movie and Dunne is clearly a strong filmmaker with a clear vision, but in this case, it seems mostly misguided in its attempt to do comedy when it's rarely even remotely funny. Even once one starts to adjust to the tone and the overabundance of odd characters, the movie starts to get very dark when Yelchin's character is brutally attacked and it never fully recovers after that. Donald Sutherland and Diane Lane both give solid performances in their roles, but the movie doesn't spend enough time focusing on their relationship before its back to Yelchin and his relationships. This is a generally well-made film, but its plot is all over the place and in the end, that proves to be its undoing. Rating: 5.5/10

The Bubble (Strand Releasing) - Eytan Fox, the Israeli-American director of Walk on Water, returns with a dramedy about three young Israelis (two guys and a girl) sharing a Tel Aviv apartment and what happens when one of the guys falls in love with a Palestinian man and they band together to try to rally for peace despite the harsh realities of the region.

Hatchet (Anchor Bay) - Adam Green's bloody thriller about a group of tourists in New Orleans who find themselves stranded in the swamp and at the mercy of a ruthless killer opens in select cities this week after debuting at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

The Hunting Party (The Weinstein Co.) - Richard Shepard (The Matador) returns with a dark comedy set in Sarajevo based on a true story about war correspondents, in this case played by Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg, who decide to try to find and capture the notorious war criminal responsible for the country's worst genocide. It will open in New York and L.A. on Friday and then wide next weekend.

Mini-Review: If you're a fan of the irreverent dark humor of Shepard's "The Matador," you're apt to be the best candidate to enjoy this follow-up, which brings a similar tone and sense of visual style to world politics. In this case, it might be harder to adjust to the humor within the country's tragedy, and that makes it somewhat difficult to sustain its light tone throughout. Fortunately, it has a trio of strong performances from Howard, Gere and Eisenberg who bring a lot to the story in terms of the camaraderie of these journalists, and their interaction with the odd characters they meet on their journey to find the country's deadliest war criminal. Even with the earlier disclaimer that "only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true" and the clarification of facts before the end credits, little of this movie is particularly believable, but it's a fun movie nonetheless, and Shepard's talent and sensibilities as a storyteller and filmmaker keeps things light and entertaining. Rating: 7.5/10

Interview with Terrence Howard

Interview with Richard Shepard (Coming Soon!)

The Inner Life of Martin Frost (New Yorker Films) - The latest film from Paul Auster ("The New York Trilogy") stars David Thewlis as a troubled novelist who borrows a country house from friends to finish his latest book, only to become involved with the mysterious Claire (Irène Jacob) who becomes his muse of sorts. It will open at the IFC Center on Friday.

Milarepa: Magician, Murderer, Saint (Luminous Velocity Releasing) - Neten Chokling's directorial debut tells the story of one of Tibet's greatest mystics who learned magic to get revenge on the treatment of his family leading to his father's death. He travels far away to learn great magics, which he ends up using for his revenge, causing great death and destruction on the village. It opens at the CInema Village.

Mini-Review: What starts as a slow, subdued slice of life look at a poor Tibetan family slowly evolves into this historic epic filled with computer visual FX to represent the lead character's magic, and frankly, it's a bit of a strange turn that's hard to adjust to when it happens. Certainly, things only really start to get interesting when the lead character—played by a not particularly charismatic actor—starts to learn how to use magic, but ultimately, the computer FX do little to counter the generally poor production values, as for the most part, the movie is poorly lit and shot. It may be interesting for Westerners to learn more about this important person in Tibetan history, but there's something bothersome and more than a little frustrating about sitting through this entire movie, watching him learn magic and get his misbegotten revenge on the villagers, only to not see him find redemption as the movie abruptly ends with a tease for a second movie, scheduled for release in two years. Yes, like the best Hollywood FX movies, "Milarepa" already has a sequel in the works, but in this case, since we never really see Milarepa as the "saint" deemed in the title, the movie is incomplete at best since we're deprived of an important resolution to the story. (Note: The film's musical score is quite gorgeous but since it was written and produced by a close personal friend, I can't fairly factor that into this review.) Rating: 6/10

Romance & Cigarettes (self-distributed) - John Turturro's long-delayed Queens musical stars James Gandolfini as an unhappy family man whose been cheating with a saucy British woman (Kate Winslet), leading to more problems in his life. Featuring actors like Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken singing along to '60s pop classics, Turturro's eccentric musical opens at New York's Film Forum on Friday.

Mini-Review: It doesn't take very long for Turturro's movie to reveal why it's had such a hard time getting released. While its cheesy campiness is somewhat amusing and endearing in the same ways as the work of John Waters or David Lynch, it's also a mess of a movie with terrible writing and the most embarrassing performances by talented actors since the last Uwe Boll movie. When Turturro decided to make his movie a musical, he might have started by picking actors who could actually sing, because it's painful to watch Gandolfini, Sarandon and others screeching over the top of various '60s pop tunes. Mandy Moore has made so many bad movies in the last few years, and yet, being the only one who actually can sing, she actually doesn't come across quite so bad. The same can be said for Kate Winslet as a foul-mouthed woman who might have been a precursor for her appearance on "Extras." Her catfight with fellow Oscar recipient Sarandon is somewhat amusing. Christopher Walken basically does his usual schtick, a bit more exaggerated than normal, while Bobby Cannavale may want to put this movie behind him and leave it off his bio completely. It also boggles the mind how someone might think that having Aida Turturro and Marie-Louise Parker play Gandolfini's teen daughters was a good idea. The last act of the movie features an overly dramatic sentimental finale that's so different in tone from the rest of the movie that you wonder whether Turturro realized things had spiraled out of control and tried to pull things back, albeit too late to save the movie. Maybe someday this movie will find a cult audience like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" but mostly, this is just an appallingly bad, mostly unwatchable embarrassment to everyone involved. Rating: 3/10

The Unknown Soldier (First Run Features) - Michael (The Nasty Girl) Verhoeven's documentary explores the Wehrmacht-Exhibition, a touring display that showed ordinary German soldiers torturing and executing Eastern front citizens during the war, creating controversy and protests in Germany where many claimed the evidence was manufactured. Verhoeven interviews historians and experts to try to confirm or deny the allegations in this movie that opens in New York at the Quad Cinema.