Cinematical

Well, I was a tad overly optimistic about Grindhouse last week, wasn't I? Turns out not that many people want to sit through three hours of zombie gore and vehicular manslaughter. Go figger. This week, just in time for Friday the 13th, we've got loads of movies opening, most of them thrillers. It's doubtful any of them will make a top-25 list of best thrillers, but they should provide for an entertaining weekend nonetheless.

Perfect Stranger
What It's About: A journalist (Halle Berry), suspecting a philandering businessman (Bruce Willis) of killing her friend, poses as an office temp and plays a seductive cat-and-mouse game with him to get at the truth.
Why It Might Do Well: Berry and Willis are big, big stars, each capable of headlining a hit movie on his/her own; and Sony has put some major marketing muscle behind this flick. Plus, Halle Berry is the most beautiful person on the planet. That isn't particularly relevant here, but I thought it needed to be said.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The reviews haven't been great, and it's rated R, which will limit its audience to adults and determined teens with cool parents and/or fake IDs.
Prediction: $15 million

Disturbia
What It's About: Shia LaBeouf stars as a troubled kid who's sentenced to house arrest for acting out in class. Having nothing better to do than spy on his neighbors, he and his friends start to think one of them may be a serial killer. It's kind of like Rear Window, except the protagonist's younger, not in a wheelchair, and, um, under arrest.
Why It Might Do Well: Going head-to-head with Perfect Stranger in the battle of the weekend thrillers, Disturbia has one crucial weapon in its corner: It's rated a teen-friendly PG-13. And LaBeouf's star is on the rise: Not only will he star in two big animated movies this year (Transformers and Surf's Up), but he's also just been tapped to co-star with Harrison Ford in the fourth Indiana Jones movie.
Why It Might Not Do Well: While he's certainly an up-and-comer, Shia's still no Bruce Willis. The biggest names besides LaBeouf are Carrie-Anne Moss (as his mom -- I don't know why this depresses me, but it does) and David Morse as the maybe-murderous neighbor.
Prediction: $15 million

Also Opening Wide: Redline (poor man's Fast and the Furious, starring Eddie Griffin), Pathfinder (Viking flick based on a graphic novel, starring Karl Urban), Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (big-screen version of the cultish Adult Swim show about talking fast-food items; opens on only 877 screens, and apparently you will either not get this movie at all or think it's the greatest thing since McDonald's fries), and Slow Burn (Ray Liotta and LL Cool J in a thriller-type crime drama).

Last week, two of our kickass readers tied for the top spot: Gilbert Davis and Bubba8193, both of whom correctly thought Grindhouse would underperform -- but even they didn't predict that it would finish as low as fourth. All you guys who put it way up in the top spot, hey, I was right there with you.

Get picks in by 5pm Saturday, everyone. And then do your taxes. Priorities, people!

My Weekend Prediction
1. Disturbia
2. Perfect Stranger
3. Blades of Glory
4. Meet the Robinsons
5. Are We Done Yet?

Last Week's Prediction Results
1. Gilbert Davis: 12
1. Bubba8193: 12
3. Patricia:9
3. Evilone1414: 9
5. Sarah: 8
6. Stuart: 7
6. Chris: 7
6. Mario: 7
9. MikeVGB: 5
10. Thad: 4
10. MrPKI: 4
10. Trish: 4

Edited because Transformers is not, in fact, an animated movie.