There’s really only one new release this weekend that is looking any good, so it’s a bit of a “between the mountain tops” sort of week in my book. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Opening This Weekend

42 - PG-13
Jackie Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player. It also means he was the focus of much scorn, criticism, and racism. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s racism. So while I’m not a big fan of sports at all, I am going to go see this film. And this film will also be the subject of The MovieByte Podcast next week.

“42” tells the story of two men—the great…

This week looks like a bit of a dud for new, fresh releases, but there are still some things in theaters we might like to see so don’t give up all hope.

Opening this Weekend

Evil Dead - R
I have zero interest in this film. I can’t find much to recommend it, it looks like all creepy horror with no really good plot or story and I’m just not interested in such.

In the much anticipated remake of the 1981 cult-hit horror film, five twenty-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the…

G.I. Joe: Retaliation has already paid the bills, so Paramount is readying the next installment.

Variety is reporting that Paramount is quite pleased with how G.I. JOE: RETALIATION has performed so far and are planning on adding another film to the franchise. Although many of us questioned Paramount’s decision to push back G.I. JOE: RETALIATION in order to tweak the film, it looks like in the end they may have made the right call (at least financially) and they must feel at least a little vindicated after taking a beating from most people about the film’s delayed release.

Keep in mind…

I promise you the following is no joke.

In honor of April Fool’s Day, Paramount released G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The flick easily earned $41,200,000, stealing the lead from The Host, the movie many Twi-Hards went to see out of loyalty to Stephenie Meyer.

In all likelihood, Host will gain on Retaliation in ticket sales over the course of its wide release. I think G.I. Joe will fizzle out in the box office when fewer and fewer fools are left to watch it. Stephenie’s followers are exceptionally loyal.

But this past weekend’s surprise was the blockbuster of The Croods coming in at first in…

Hey peeps, we got some movies lined up for you to see this weekend. The light at the end of the winter tunnel is getting brighter, we’re walking toward it, it’s almost here. It’s not quite summer yet, but we do have some good options at least now. Let’s take a gander.

New Films

G.I. Joe: Retaliation - PG-13
This film is not going to be anything like Shakespeare. It’s not even going to be as good as a really good action film like The Avengers. And yet I expect it to be fun. It has Bruce Willis in it for crying out loud (and we’re pretending like that last Die Hard film he made doesn’t…

Getting a jump on Easter weekend, filmmaker Jon M. Chu‘s action bonanza G.I. Joe: Retaliation began rolling out late Wednesday night in North America, grossing a solid $2.2 million.

Tracking suggests the sequel—with a cast led by franchise newcomers Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis —will post a four-day domestic debut in the $40 million to $45 million range, although Paramount believes there’s a chance of hitting $50 million.

Retaliation also is opening in most international markets (75 percent) and is anticipating a global opening in the $100 million range.

As I’ve said before,…

The Croods may have taken home more money, but the ratio of gross to budget was much higher for Olympus has Fallen. Still, they are hard to compare since they are in such different categories.

The Croods

The Croods brought home $44.7 Million this past weekend. I don’t know if that’s really a surprise given what’s at the box office right now. I haven’t quite been captured by the marketing of this film but I must admit that it does look funny at least. I don’t know if I’ll have time to see it in theaters but I’m not completely opposed to the idea. However, at a budget of $135 Million, it…

We’ve got what looks like one decent new option this weekend (I’ll be able to tell you for sure after tonight), and a couple still in theaters that are great options as well. I look forward to writing this feature every week because I love seeing what’s new and still in theaters and kind of seeing where things are at.

Topping my list of “want to see” and the one I will be seeing this weekend is:

Olympus Has Fallen - R
This film has Morgan Freeman, need I say more? But seriously this film looks to be fantastic to me. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a good action/thriller in the white…

Oz

Still in the lead at the box office, falling only 46.6% from it’s opening weekend is Oz the Great and Powerful. It’s a decent film, certainly one of the more decent films to come out this year, and so it seems deserved (even if I’m irritated that it’s doing so much better than Jack the Giant Slayer). Domestically it raked in $42 million. Not bad for it’s second weekend. Currently, the film has brought in a worldwide total of $281,826,000 so the return is officially over the production budget. [source: Box Office Mojo]

The Call

In second place was Halle Berry’s film, The Call doing…