Opening in just 800 theatres, the comedy concert film Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show--yes, that makes three concert films in theatres right now--might have difficulty getting into the Top 10 based on past performances, although the Vince Vaughn stamp of approval (and his name in the title) should help bring in the curious looking for something different than the other two movies. Still, that's a lot of comedies this weekend and if anything is going to give, it will probably be this.

This Week's Predictions -

1. Fool's Gold (Warner Bros.) - $23.3 million N/A

2. Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (Universal) - $18.4 million N/A

3. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds… (Disney) - $15.0 million -52%

4. The Eye (Lionsgate) - $6.5 million -48%

5. 27 Dresses (20th Century Fox) - $5.1 million -40%

6. Juno (Fox Searchlight) - $4.5 million -35%

7. The Bucket List (Warner Bros.) - $4.1 million -39%

8. Rambo (Lionsgate) - $3.7 million - 48%

9. Meet the Spartans (20th Century Fox) - $3.5 million -52%

10. (or 11.) Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show (Picturehouse) $2.8 million N/A

Last year, Eddie Murphy's comedy Norbit (DreamWorks) topped the box office with $34.2 million, Murphy's second biggest opening since The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, although many felt that the movie may have killed his Oscar hopes for Dreamgirls. (That movie was quickly approaching $100 million this time last year, even without an Oscar Best Picture nomination.) The "Silence of the Lambs" pre-prequel Hannibal Rising (Weinstein Company) didn't fare quite as well, opening with just $13 million in 3,000 theatres for a distant second place, proving that you can't make a Hannibal Lecter movie without Anthony Hopkins, even with a screenplay by Thomas Harris. The top 10 grossed $87 million, which might be slightly higher than this week's offerings unless one of the two new movies exceeds our prediction.

Fool's Gold (Warner Bros.)
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Ewen Bremner, Alexis Dziena, Kevin Hart, Ray Winstone
Directed by Andy Tennant (Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama); Written by John Claflin and Daniel Zelman (Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, They Nest), Andy Tennant
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Action, Adventure
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "This February True Love Takes a Dive"
Plot Summary: Treasure hunter Ben "Finn" Finnegan (Matthew McConaughey) is close to finding the legendary 18th Century treasure thought to be lost in the Bahamas, but he needs to call upon his recent ex-wife Tess (Kate Hudson) for help, since she has access to the unlimited resources of billionaire Nigel Honeycutt (Donald Sutherland) who agrees to help in order to bond with his spoiled daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena). Meanwhile, others trying to find the treasure including Finn's main competitor (Ray Winstone) and the ruthless gangster who runs the island (Kevin Hart).

Mini-Review: Reviewing "Fool's Gold" is one of those times when being a critic serves little purpose, because however stupid this whole thing is, and it's very stupid, there will be an audience who will flock to see it merely to catch a glimpse of Matthew McConaughey sans shirt, which seems to be a good portion of the movie. From the obvious friction between the two main characters to the unbelievably bad accents taken on by the likes of Don Sutherland (British), Ewan Bremmer (Ukrainian) and Ray Winstone (Creole!?), it's all fairly predictable, even though it tries to mix it up by combining different movie formulas to try to create something, but not in a particularly clever way. McConaughey's character is likable and charming enough, not requiring too much effort, though Hudson just can't seem to get out of the sub-Meg Ryan trench she's dug for herself by playing a similar character who has to resort to pratfalls and slapstick to try to get any laughs. (And there really are very few if any to be found here.) The funniest thing in the movie tends to be a couple of gay chefs who work on Sutherland's boat, but even that joke is overused until it's worn thin. Overall, there are far too many characters and subplots, so even the nice sentiment of the wealthy industrialist (Sutherland) trying to connect with his Paris Hilton inspired daughter (Alexis Dziena, the naked Lolita from "Broken Flowers") gets lost, since it has little to offer the main story. When it does come time to explain the origins of the gold everyone is looking for, it's so long-winded, convoluted and dull that it'll probably lose everyone until the last half hour, when things kick into overdrive as the various characters and subplots converge into an action-filled conclusion. Although it does start getting entertaining then, it's so substandard before that even though Andy ("Hitch") Tennant has made a really good-looking movie that takes full advantage of its Bahama setting, which almost makes up for the lack of strong laughs or a solid plot, but not quite. Either way, it's obvious from the offset that this has nothing to offer that we haven't seen before, making it one of those winter offerings that will be long forgotten by the summer. Rating: 5.5/10

While it's not uncommon for early February to offer a romantic offering or two, it's not often where that romance is put into the context of an action-adventure-comedy that includes elements of quest movies like National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code. That's the case with this Warner Bros. comedy which wisely reteams box office superstars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson for their second movie following the breakout rom-com hit How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which opened this same weekend five years ago and went onto make over $100 million, greatly helped by Valentine and President's Day. For the most part, this romantic adventure is being sold based more on the chemistry between McConaughey and Hudson, which has already worked once before, so why not put them together again? Similar thoughts were used with movies like You've Got Mail, The Lake House and War of the Roses, all of which tried to find audiences by reteaming romantic pairings from previous hit movies.

McConaughey has proven to be very popular with the ladies, maybe due to the amount of time he spends shirtless in his movies, but he also does well among guys, as seen by Sahara, almost as if he does one movie for the ladies and then another for the guys. Fool's Gold is a little different in that it's a movie that could be for either group or for both due to the mix of romance and action, although it probably will still be weighed more towards women, since Kate Hudson has many female fans due to movies like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and her 2006 comedy You, Me and Dupree with Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon, which took over $75 million that summer. Although both actors have had a couple flops along the way or movies that didn't find an audience, they've both gotten to the point where they're being more selective so when they have a movie, they can do the talk show rounds and get their fans excited to see their latest.

Director Andy Tennant has done well in the romantic comedy genre with movies like Reese Witherspoon's Sweet Home Alabama, a huge September hit, and Will Smith's Hitch, which was one of his bigger non-action hits as well. He's pulled together an impressive supporting cast for McConaughey and Hudson in the form of Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone and others, who'll just add to the mix in terms of an overall experience rather than any of them being a draw.

Fool's Gold is a different beast from the typical female-targeting February romantic comedy, because it's more of an action-comedy that follows a similar formula as McConaughey's 2005 film Sahara or the Nicolas Cage blockbuster National Treasure with a plot involving the search for lost gold that will appeal to a wide range of audiences, but it will also be an option for guys due to the amount of action, which one usually can't say about romantic comedies around this time of year. The squabbling chemistry between the two leads, combined with the setting, might remind some of the Harrison Ford vehicle Six Days and Seven Nights or the classic romantic adventure Romancing the Stone, but other recent movies that took advantage of Caribbean locations, including Bret Ratner's comedy bomb After the Sunset and the Jessica Alba thriller Into the Blue, failed to garner much interest from moviegoers.

Warner Bros. has done their usual amount of marketing with a commercial onslaught, some which deal with the romance by advertising it as a Valentine's Day option, and others focusing on the action and comedy. The movie looks pretty dumb (and it is) and reviews will most likely be primarily negative, although it's also fairly review-proof because moviegoers looking for something fun, mindless entertainment will flock to this one, and it should offer enough laughs to generate word-of-mouth.

Either way, this is going to be the best date movie for the weekend, and the film's simple and easy to remember title might play a factor in getting casual moviegoers to see it. Though it probably won't get many African-American moviegoers, not with the competition from Martin Lawrence, it should bring in a large enough audience of white men over 30 and women of all ages, that it will be #1 this weekend, and despite next weekend's competition for all audiences with next week's offerings, this is still one of the few movies that couples will be able to see together.

Why I Should See It: If you want to see Hudson and McConaughey reunited after How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, this is your chance!
Why Not: Because unfortunately, we only get to see McConaughey shirtless, and even though Hudson wears a tiny bikini, it's just not the same.
Projections: $21 to 24 million opening weekend and $75 to 80 million total.

COMPARISONS

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (Universal)
Starring Martin Lawrence, Margaret Avery, Joy Bryant, Michael Clarke Duncan, Louis C.K., Mike Epps, Mo'Nique, Nicole Ari Parker, Cedric the Entertainer, James Earl Jones
Written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee (Roll Bounce, Undercover Brother, The Best Man)
Genre: Comedy
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "Going home is no vacation."
Plot Summary: Wealthy self-help guru R. J. Stevens (Lawrence) has left his Southern upbringing and family behind him to find huge success, but when he's asked to come home for his parents' 50th Anniversary, he heads back to Georgia with his son and reality TV star fiancé to try to prove that he's not the awkward kid they remember.

Martin Lawrence is back with his first of two movies coming out in the next few months, this one using a similar high concept premise as the 1991 Michael J. Fox vehicle Doc Hollywood, which was also recycled into the New Line comedy Just Friends starring Ryan Reynolds, which bombed over the holidays a couple years back.

Fortunately, Martin Lawrence has a bit more box office clout than either of them, especially after the Big Momma's House and Bad Boys movies, and he has a certain built-in audience who'll go to see any movie he appears in within reason. (Even Lawrence's fans were smart enough to avoid Rebound.) Last year, Lawrence starred as part of the group of actors who helped make Wild Hogs a big hit for Disney's Touchstone Pictures, grossing $168 million and being Lawrence's biggest movie since Bad Boys II with Will Smith, plus it also helped to expand his audience beyond the African-American audience he's had since his days on the FOX sitcom "Martin" during the '90s. Over the years, he's appeared in enough strong comedies and created enough of an identity for himself that he's definitely up there with African-American actors like Smith, Denzel and Eddie Murphy in terms of being a draw.

Even though this is Martin Lawrence's latest joint, it's being marketed more like an ensemble comedy with a great cast of comic stars, many of whom have headlined their own movies, including Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps, who've developed their own African-American audiences from the "Friday" and "Barbershop" movies. Epps also has built a solid amount of male fans from his appearances in the last two "Resident Evil" movies, though Cedric hasn't much luck crossing over, as appearances in movies like Johnson Family Vacation have found an audience while his previous teaming with Epps, a remake of The Honeymooners, and last year's Codename: The Cleaner, bombed. The duo are joined by Mo'Nique, the former host of "Showtime at the Apollo", who has had even less luck in movies, headlining bombs like Phat Girlz and Hair Show and making appearances in lesser comedy fare like Soul Plane. It also features Louis C.K., who has worked closely with Chris Rock, most recently on his comedy I Think I Love My Wife, and had his own raunchy sitcom on HBO—he's kind of the token white guy in the group—while Joy Bryant, Michael Clarke Duncan and James Earl Jones offer the movie some "real actor" credibility.

This impressive ensemble was brought together by Malcolm Lee, who had an early hit with The Best Man, followed by the likes of Undercover Brother and Roll Bounce, neither which has shown him to be able to draw African-American audiences in the same was Tyler Perry, which is why the movie relies on the known stars like Lawrence and Epps more than anything else.

Lawrence hasn't done a movie with Universal since Life back in 1999, but the studio, while they're good at a lot of things, have not had much luck with urban movies with the exception of Ridley Scott's American Gangster last year, a movie that transcended racial boundaries by being such a strong guys' movie across the board. Comedies targeting African-American or "urban" audiences have done well in the past few years, particularly the work of Tyler Perry and as recently as last month with Ice Cube's First Sunday, and while Roscoe Jenkins certainly fits into that mold, it's being marketed more as a screwball high concept comedy—also not Universal's strong point. With a long and unwieldy title that will mean very little to anyone seeing it on a marquee or ticket sign ("Roscoe Jenkins? Who is that?"), it might be hard for the movie to find a casual audience that doesn't realize this is the new Martin Lawrence movie, but Lawrence's audience should be out in force, which should help the movie do well, possibly even giving Warner Bros.' Fool's Gold a run for the top spot, even if it's not one of Lawrence's biggest opening movies.

Why I Should See It: If you're wondering what "Doc Hollywood" might look like with Martin Lawrence in the lead, here ya go.
Why Not: This looks like it offers nothing new to the "urban comedy" genre as everyone involved is doing their usual routine. Yawn.
Projections: $17 to 20 million opening weekend and $45 to 50 million total.

COMPARISONS

Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show (Picturehouse)
Starring Vince Vaughn, Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, Sebastian Maniscalco, Justin Long, Jon Favreau, Peter Billingsley, Keir O'Donnell, Dwight Yoakam
Directed by Ari Sandel (debut)
Genre: Comedy, Documentary
Rated R
Tagline: "He's taking this show on the road and you're riding shotgun."
Plot Summary: Actor Vince Vaughn took four actors on the road across the country to play 30 shows in 30 nights, with a number of well-known special guests joining them along the way

Interview with Executive Producer Peter Billingsley

Review

With all the concert films being released in the last few weeks—yes, folks, it's official that newcomer Miley Cyrus is bigger than U2 going by the respective box office of the movies—the comedy concert movie has been a regular staple, going back to the days of Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. For most part, it's been a phenomenon among African-American audiences with movies like Original Kings of Comedy and Martin Lawrence's Run Tel Dat doing far better theatrically than anyone expects, while comedy docs or concert movies featuring popular comics including Jerry Seinfeld (Comedian) and Sarah Silverman (Jesus is Magic), have mainly been given small limited releases with neither them finding the success of their other work. In the same vein, the successful Blue Collar Comedy Tour, which paired the likes of Jeff Foxworthy, Ron White, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy, barely made a dent when the first movie played theatrically but it and its sequels have done well when they've aired on Comedy Central.

So here comes this new movie spearheaded by actor Vince Vaughn, whose Q-rating certainly has risen greatly in the last five years with back-to-back hits like Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers and The Break-Up, which has him taking four comics on the road for a month, playing 30 shows, and filming it for posterity. The comics include the scrappy John Caparulo, Jersey Boy Bret Ernst, the Arab-American Ahmed Ahmed and ladies' man Sebastian Maniscalco, and while it is a comedy concert film, it's more about what happens to the group when they go on the road, trying to do 30 shows in 30 nights throughout the South and Midwest, plans that are waylaid by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

Certainly, there's a sizeable audience who enjoy going to comedy clubs, though that group isn't likely to be the same who might go see a movie about stand-up comedy, because it's just not the same experience. Maybe that's why this kind of movie usually would open in a couple bigger cities and create some sort of grassroots campaign based on word-of-mouth to help it bring in more business as it expanded and New Line affiliate Picturehouse has released a lot of their movies in this way, but with this one, they're going wide right out of the gate, opening it in 800 theatres nationwide with hopes that the presence of Vaughn in the movie and its title will bring in curious moviegoers and his fans, even if the majority of the movie is about the four stand-up comics who are almost completely unknown outside L.A. comedy circles. Even with other known actors like Justin Long, who starred in last week's comedy bomb Strange Wilderness, it might not be enough to make much of an impact, especially with two stronger comedies being a draw for audiences. The best chances for Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show is the fact that young white males and college age women aren't being targeted by the other two movies, which could make this a fun movie for young people to see as a group. Sad fact is that Picturehouse hasn't done much to promote it beyond the ubiquitous HBO previews, so the movie is looking like a bigger underdog than Vaughn's Dodgeball movie, and it'll be pretty amazing if gets into the Top 10 despite a wide release.

Why I Should See It: Vaughn is very funny in his own right but surrounded by four very talented comics and his friends, he's created a very funny concert film.
Why Not: Moviegoers might expect more Vince Vaughn in the movie and be disappointed when it's more about the others.
Projections: $1.5 to 3 million opening weekend and $5 to 6 million total.

COMPARISONS

THE CHOSEN ONE:

In Bruges (Focus Features)
Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Cléménce Posey
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh (The Oscar-winning short film "Six Shooter" and the Tony-nominated play "The Pillowman")
Genre: Crime, Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "Shoot first. Sightsee later."
Plot Summary: Two hired assassins Ken and Ray (Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell) hole up in the historic Belgian city of Bruges to recover after a botched hit by order of their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes), but Ray gets into all sorts of trouble when he meets the beautiful Chloë (Clémence Poésy from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), and tries to make the most out of the miserable place.

My Review from Sundance

Interview with Martin McDonagh

One of the highlights of this year's Sundance Film Festival and also the festival's Opening Night Gala, was the feature debut by noted Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who won an Oscar for his short film "Six Shooters" last year, and continues to prove himself to be a force to be reckoned with, regardless of the format or media for his work. This one is pretty amazing, similar to the British gangster movies we've seen so much, but given more than a few twists, the first one being its transplant into the gorgeously scenic location of Bruges, Belgium, which is the catalyst for much of the film's humor. More than anything, it's a showcase for McDonagh's writing and the performances by three reputable actors, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and mostly Colin Farrell, who gives one of his best performances in a long time, playing a character that offers more resonance to his troubled life in the limelight. Unfortunately, some people might avoid the movie if they'd been burnt by some of Farrell's movies in recent years. After all, it's been a good four or five years before we saw him in mainstream Hollywood films like Phone Booth, Steven Spielberg's Minority Report and The Recruit and money-making dogs like Daredevil and S.W.A.T, his choices in recent years having been more eclectic including Oliver Stone's mega-bomb Alexander and Terrence Malick's eclectic The New World. Sadly, his teaming with Woody Allen for the recent Cassandra's Dream wasn't much better, but with the role of Ray, Farrell has finally found something special. Hopefully, whether moviegoers love or loathe Farrell, they'll give McDonagh's movie a chance, because it's a really funny well-made film that's sure to be a much-talked about sleeper as more people discover it and tell their friends. Personally, it was one of my favorite movies at Sundance and I'm dying to see it again, since it was so surprising what McDonagh has done with the somewhat overused premise of two very different hitmen trying to get along. It will open in select cities on Friday, and hopefully enough people will find it to warrant an expansion into more cities.

Honorable Mention:

The Band's Visit (Sony Classics)
Starring Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai, Uri Gavriel, Imad Jabarin, Ahuva Keren, Rubi Moskovitz, Khalifa Natour, Hilla Sarjon, Eyad Sheety
Written and directed by Eran Kolirin (debut)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rated PG-13
Tagline: "Once-not long ago-a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this...It wasn't that important."
Plot Summary: The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, a group of Egyptians coming to Israel to play a concert, get lost and stranded in a small Israeli town where the group and their leader Tewfiq (Sasson Gabai) must try to get along with the locals as they spend a night there, the guests of Dina (Ronit Elkabetz), the beautiful and friendly proprietor of a local café.
Of Note: This fun and charming Israeli film was snubbed by the Oscars because much of the film was in English, something that's angered the many fans the film has found at various film festivals including Cannes and Toronto. (The movie is currently 100% at Rotten Tomatoes, which also says a lot about how many people love this film.) It will open in New York and L.A. after a one-week awards run last December.

Interview with Eran Kolirin

Mini-Review: You sometimes have to remember that you're watching a film set in Israel because Eran Kolirin's debut is so reminiscent of the work of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, particularly Leningrad Cowboys Go America, maybe because it's a similarly charming fish out of water tale of a group of well-dressed musicians who find themselves in a strange situation when stranded in the middle of nowhere. The film quickly sets itself apart from the grim politically minded films that often come from the region to how this dysfunctional band of misfits and their stiff, stodgy bandleader deal with their surroundings in the small Israeli town as spend one night making new friends and exchanging ideas with the locals, despite an obvious language gap. (Much of the film ends up being in sub-titled English as the two camps try to find common ground in which to communicate.) Most of the film's best scenes involve the interaction between noted character actor Sasson Gabai as General Tewfiq and the town's sexy hot-to-trot restaurant owner played by Ronit Elkabetz ("Late Marriage"), as the duo go on an awkward date on the town, but it's equally amusing to watch the band's resident Casanova (Saleh Bakri) teach a local misanthrope how to talk to and make advances on his date. Kolirin really has a knack for creating humor in a subtle way within very believable situations, and with just one film, he has created a niche within the oeuvre of world cinema, because "The Band's Visit" is a genuinely touching crowd-pleaser and a real treat. Rating: 8.5/10

Also in Limited Release:

The Hottie & the Nottie (Regent Releasing) - Tom Putnam's comedy stars former jailbird Paris Hilton as Cristabel Abbot, the object of affection since youth for a poor guy named Nate (Joel David Moore, whose directorial debut Spiral is also released this week--see below), but when Nate chases Cristabel to L.A., he finds that she's still friends with the ugly girl June (Christine Lakin), and in order for Nate to get with Cristabel, he needs to find June a date. The high concept comedy opens in 100 theatres in select cities on Friday.

Mini-Review: Maybe it's just that the premise for this raunchy gross out comedy sounds so deplorable on paper that when the movie isn't quite as awful as you might expect, you're left surprised, bemused and even somewhat charmed. With a plot that's halfway between "There's Something about Mary" and Ryan Reynolds' "Just Friends," there's actually a sweet and romantic message once it gets all the disgusting gross-out jokes out of its system, and follows a similar path as some of the better Farrelly Brothers' movies. To get there, you'll have to force yourself to believe firstly that Paris Hilton might be the hottest woman in L.A., and secondly, that said "hottie" would not be getting any action. Once that's out of the way, you can continue to suspend your disbelief while a Swedish dentist named Johann falls for the "nottie" June Phigg and prepares to make her over into a swan. It's fairly easy to figure out where things will go from there, but for the most part, the writing is solid, and Joel David Moore ("Art School Confidential") isn't bad as Nate Cooper, the loser trying to win over his 1st grade crush. Even more impressive is Christine Lakin as June, wearing tons of make-up and prosthetics to appear hideous, but who still puts off an air of confidence that makes her immediately likable despite her horrific features. As some might expect, Paris Hilton doesn't have to do a lot of heavy lifting in this , but she certainly isn't the worst part of the movie, even as she spends a lot of time showing skin and other body parts. The worst part would have to be Nate's best friend Arno, played by The Greg Wilson (that's how he's credited!), which is pretty much the Jack Black, Dan Fogler disgusting friend character that always seems to be present in these comedies. While there aren't too many solid laughs, there are enough charming and amusing moments that it's hard to fault the filmmakers, because given the premise, it could have been much MUCH worse. Rating: 6.5/10

How to Rob a Bank (IFC First Take) - Nick Stahl and Erika Christensen star in Andrew Jenkins' debut, a heist thriller in which the two of them are trapped in a bank vault during a botched bank robbery, and have to find ways to evade the real bank robber (Gavin Rossdale) and the police who have them surrounded. It's playing at midnight on Friday and Saturday at the IFC Center in New York.

Mini-Review: While I'm hesitant to trash on first-time indie filmmakers, Andrew Jenkins' low budget "Inside Man" is so in love with its "clever camera shots" and non-stop twists that it fails to create characters that the viewer might care about let alone watch for 80 minutes, as the film is plagued by awful writing, even worse acting and sloppy production values. Nick Stahl just doesn't have enough charisma to pull off this kind of anti-hero role, and though Christensen is sexy enough to be convincing as the femme fatale in dark wig and glasses, she acts so loopy in the movie, flitting around with Stahl in their stark bank vault set trying to act cute that she gets annoying very quickly. Even worse is former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, who rants and screams as if he's auditioning for Guy Ritchie's next movie and Terry Crews ("Balls of Fury") is wasted as the police detective trying to make sense of it all, a role that doesn't allow him to use his best assets and knack for comedy. Essentially, these four characters and a disembodied voice on a cell phone provided by David Carradine spend the movie playing mind games with each other as the plot gets overly complicated and ludicrous. To say the movie gets better as it goes along would not be saying very much, since it takes forever to get anywhere and Jenkins' overly clever and stylish but ultimately shoddy and boring debut is mostly an awful waste of time. Rating: 2.5/10

London to Brighton (Outsider Pictures) - Paul Andrew Williams' heavily-praised dramatic thriller about a street hooker and a 12-year-old runaway trying to stay alive for 24 hours while being chased by the former's pimp opens in New York and L.A. on Friday.

Mini-Review (Coming Soon!)

A Walk to Beautiful (Engel Entertainment) - Five Ethiopian women suffering from devastating childbirth injuries who've been ostracized by their husbands and communities try to find solace in this documentary that follows their journey as their lives begin to change. It opens in New York on Friday and in L.A. on February 29.

Spiral (Anchor Bay Entertainment) - Actor Joel David Moore (also the star of The Hottie & the Nottie) co-wrote and co-directed this thriller in which he plays a neurotic artist living in isolation and working at a dead-end bank job until he meets an outgoing co-worker (Amber Tamblyn) who agrees to pose for him, but there's more to both of them than meets the eye, making any chances of romance difficult. Also starring Zachary Levi aka "Chuck" as their boss, this will open in select cities on Friday.

Next week, it's Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day weekend as four new movies will compete for business including the sci-fi action-adventure Jumper (20th Century Fox), the fantasy film The Spiderwick Chronicles (Paramount/Nickelodeon) based on the popular children's series, Step Up 2 the Streets (Touchstone), a sequel to the hit dance movie and the holiday's ubiquitous romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe starring Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin.

Copyright 2008 Edward Douglas