Move Along, Folks, Nothing to See Here

Also opening in limited release: Michael Moore's just-about-average new screed Capitalism: A Love Story (it blows up wide next week); Audrey Tautou's tasteful quasi-fashion biopic Coco Before Chanel; Clive Owen's moody, tear-jerking Oscar bait The Boys are Back; Tucker Max's polarizing gross-out sex comedy I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell; and in New York only, John Krasinski's directorial debut Brief Interviews With Hideous Men and Stanley Tucci's Theo Van Gogh remake Blind Date.

THE BIG LOSER: Overture's sci-fi thriller Pandorum isn't necessarily going to bomb this weekend, but as the 129th R-rated pseudohorror entry of the last two months, I doubt it can coax weary audiences with either its stars (Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet) or its plot (amnesiac astronauts awake from a long hypersleep, only to find their ship is beset with aliens). And what the hell is a "pandorum," anyway? I'm getting tired just writing this... must... finish... $7.5 million... zzzzzz...

THE UNDERDOG: So Paramount begins its Paranormal Activity experiment today, unveiling the $12,000 ghost-surveillance indie in college markets from Austin to Boulder to Columbus and about 10 others. Even facing competition from football (Lincoln, Nebraska? Really, Paramount?), I like its chances to harness a bit of buzz and a healthy per-screen average around $10,000. Moreover, I'm just encouraged to see a studio try anything relatively different in a total bloodbath era of distribution; I can definitely wait to see it if it means someone tried something new-ish that actually works.

FOR SHUT-INS: New DVD releases this week include Seth Rogen's underachiever Observe and Report, Matthew McConaughey's overachiever Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, the notable animated failure Battle For Terra, Paul Schrader's drama Adam Resurrected, and complete-season sets of 30 Rock, Ugly Betty, Castle, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and, finally, Taxi.

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