Perusing the 126 titles listed by online retailer DVD Empire, The Lives of Others is so obviously the pick of the week that I hesitate to write any more about it. It's an engrossing, all-too-relevant drama that sneaked under my natural defenses and was quietly devastating. Martha Fischer reviewed it for Cinematical last fall and felt that both the film and actor Ulrich Mühe were "unforgettable"; Kim Voynar saw it in February and wrote: "At it's core .. this is really just a simple story told and acted extraordinarily well." The Sony DVD features an interview with and commentary by director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, deleted scenes and a "making of" feature. This drama about spying in East Germany in the 1980s is made even more poignant by the news that Mühe died just a few weeks ago.

Broken English divided audiences and critics. Parkey Posey stars as a woman dealing with aging, loneliness and romance; Zoe Cassavetes wrote and directed. Our own Ryan Stewart was especially bothered by what he felt was an ending that was strongly reminiscent of another recent movie, while Kim Voynar was more positive overall in her review. Personally, I felt the positives outweighed the negatives. Now that Magnolia has released it on DVD, I hope more people will give it a shot.

Sometimes you see a familiar name on a DVD and you make an impulse decision to buy or rent the movie. Sometimes you must restrain yourself. From all reports, The Ex is the kind of romantic comedy that gives independent movies a bad name -- and I use the term "independent" only because this was released by The Weinstein Co. Scott Weinberg called it "resoundingly wretched"; read his review for all the gory details and make sure to pass by the pretty (?) faces of Zach Braff and Amanda Peet on the cover.

Unless you've been cooped up David Blaine-like in a box somewhere, you know that last week Spider-Man 3 finished first, shattering the box-office record with a $151 million opening. Given the inevitability of No. 1, you'd think all our predictors would knock this one out of the park -- but no one ended up with a perfect prediction. Here's how the box office top five shook down:

1. Spider-Man 3 - $151 million
2. Disturbia - $5.7 million
3. Fracture - $3.4 million
4. The Invisible - $3.1 million
5. Next - $2.8 million

bubba8193 finished first -- again! -- with evilone1414 nipping at his heels. Aaaand I finished last ... again. (Full list of results after the jump.) Of course, I threw the whole thing to make you guys look good; as a wise man once said, everything I do, I do it for you. But seriously, since there's nothing I can say about Spidey that hasn't already been said, I'll put this out there instead: What ... is the deal ... with Disturbia? Have that many people never heard of Rear Window? Does Shia LaBeouf really have that many fans? Or is everything else out there just that unappealing? OK. Letting it go now. I promise.

28 Weeks Later
What It's About: In this follow-up to Danny Boyle's zombie thriller 28 Days Later, survivors return to London only to face the aftermath of the rage virus: paranoia, betrayal, cowardice, people eating each other. Good times.
Why It Might Do Well: 28 Days Later was a sleeper hit, earning $45 million domestically, and reviews for this one have generally been positive. C'mon, who doesn't love zombies?
Why It Might Not Do Well: Most of its target audience will be seeing Spider-Man 3 this weekend, and this feels like the umpteenth horror movie to come out in 2007.
Prediction: $15 million

Here is a list of actors who appear in Jesse Peretz's The Ex: Jason Bateman, Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Amy Adams, Donal Logue, Josh Charles and Paul Rudd. Every single one of 'em is a very talented actor who can really deliver the laughs -- given the right material.

Here is a list of actors who appear in Jesse Peretz's The Ex without delivering one single laugh over the course of 81 resoundingly wretched minutes: Jason Bateman, Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Amy Adams, Donal Logue, Josh Charles and Paul Rudd. It's almost like a world's record: How long can a movie stocked with really funny people go on without doling out, at minimum, one mild chuckle? Comedy experts may one day look at The Ex with a scientific eye. Aspiring filmmakers should check it out as a lesson plan from Bizarro World: Make a movie that's the exact opposite of The Ex and it could be the funniest film ever made.

Since humor and "what's funny" are entirely subjective things (meaning that you might find "cripple humor" the pinnacle of all things hilarious whereas I can't help but see such material as obvious, desperate and witless), I'll leave my "zero laughs" opinion at the door and just explain how terribly-made The Ex is. (Basically picture the lamest, longest sitcom pilot you can possibly imagine.) You may have heard of this movie under its original title (Fast Track) or knew a little something about its three or four previous release dates, but it's now limping into theaters with no fanfare whatsoever, desperately hoping to dupe a few fans of Scrubs and Arrested Development into buying a ticket.

Good news, Zach Braff fans: We're unveiling the poster for his new romantic comedy The Ex below. Those of you who possess the infinite wisdom and impeccable taste to be loyal devotees of Braff's TV show Scrubs will be glad to know that, if The Ex trailer is any indication, the film appears to have a very similar comedic sensibility to the wacky medical sitcom. Braff stars as a big-time underachiever who's forced to become the breadwinner for his family when his successful lawyer of a wife (Amanda Peet) gets pregnant. But when his new job pits him against his wife's wheelchair-bound ex-boyfriend (Jason Bateman), he realizes that "nothing burns like an old flame" ... and that it really sucks to get beat up by a guy in a wheelchair. Get an exclusive first look at the poster below (Click on the image for a larger version).

Get more about The Ex | Watch The Ex trailer | See Zach Braff photos

As I mentioned when I talked about the trailer for Fast Track in Trailer Park awhile ago, I'm very much looking forward to Open Hearts, Zach Braff's next directorial effort. He's a funny guy, as one might glean from the following quote regarding The Golden Globes: "Didn't win, but I met P. Diddy, so who u calling a loser?" In the meantime, Fast Track looked like a decent enough helping of Braff-ness to tide me over until he's back in the director's chair. Last I heard the film was to open on January 19, so why haven't I been seeing TV spots for it?

Well, according to Braff's blog, the film's release has been postponed because Braff, Jason Bateman and Amanda Peet are all too busy at the moment to hit the promotional trail. "It was supposed to come out this week," Braff blogged bodaciously, "but between promoting the Scrubs musical and shooting Scrubs and sleeping and doing all my other projects, it became impossible to get out there and plug it. And you can't release a movie without the stars of it going out and telling the world about it."

Perhaps even more interesting, though, is that the film is undergoing a last minute title change. According to Braff, the studio has always hated the title Fast Track because it does little or nothing to describe the actual film. Since the film is about the ex-boyfriend (Bateman) of Braff's character's girlfriend (Peet) making life hell for Braff, it's been decided that The Ex is a more appropriate title, and the film's premiere has been pushed back to mid-March. The trailer has been in circulation for awhile now with the Fast Track title, which I can see confusing the public. I can't say for certain whether this sort of thing has a precedent. Can anyone out there name a film whose title was changed after the release of the trailer?

[Via Moviehole]