By Chris Kavan - 12/09/11 at 11:18 AM CT
After a week off from any new wide releases, Hollywood gets back into the swing of things by offering a trio of divergent new movies. Whether any can knock Twilight off its perch remains to be seen.
1) Even though TInker Tailor Soldier Spy is only opening to a limited audience over the weekend, it's getting by far the best reviews, and it's too bad more people won't be able to enjoy this spy thriller. With some pretty big names thrown in: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, John Hurt and Ciarán Hinds, just to name a few, the pedigree for the film is high. With a compelling story to go along with the acting, it may even have a chance to impress enough come awards season.
2) If slapstick, crude humor is more your thing, you can watch Jonah Hill bid adieu to his old, rotund self (before he went all Jared on us) in The Sitter. While when I first heard of this I immediately thought of Adventures in Babysitting - but it looks like this one delves into more of the Apatow school of comedy. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your choice of comedy. I think this looks like it would be a good, solid rental, but nothing more.
3) There is a built-in audience for New Year's Day - but I will say I want no part of it. Ensemble cast work for me in action films or some big-budget spectacle, but when they're brought together for pithy rom-coms, pardon me why I gag in the corner. I don't care how many A to C list stars you can line up, nothing would make me want to watch this movie. Critics aren't being too kind to this either, but I guarantee this will open much higher than it should - and next year we'll probably be seeing 4th of July - "Let the sparks fly!"
See you back Sunday when we'll learn if anything can dethrone Twilight from the top spot or if the vampires still have fangs after four weeks.
