New Movies to Crave: Ice Age: Continental Drift Fights for the Family Crown

By Chris Kavan - 07/12/12 at 12:14 PM CT

It's a slow week - in fact the next two weeks are only going to see one major wide release, though this week's Ice Age film is not going to receive near the fanfare of next week's Dark Knight Rises.

1) So, with that being said, what can we expect from the fourth outing for Sid, Diego, Manny and a whole host of new characters, voiced by the likes of Peter Dinklage, Nicki Minaj, Rebel Wilson, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (amongst others)? Well, if the Ice Age series is lucky, it will match the recent success of the Madagascar series, whose third film recently became the highest-grossing movie in its respective franchise. One difference is that when Madagascar 3 came out, it faced no real competition for the family market. Ice Age 3 faces both the Madagascar film and Brave, so it will be interesting to see where it ends up in a now-crowded family market. Chances are it will fight The Amazing Spider-Man for the top spot, but there's no guarantee it will win.

2) I will also mention Woody Allen's latest film, To Rome with Love, which saw a nationwide expansion last week, but should add a few more theaters. After the success of Midnight in Paris last year, Allen seems to have another hit on his hands with To Rome, which cracked the top 10 last weekend. While the numbers, and critical reception, isn't quite up to the same level as Midnight in Paris, it is still a good sign for the director. Once again an ensemble cast, including Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Penélope Cruz, Ellen Page and Roberto Benigni - explore life, love, celebrity and nostalgia set against the backdrop of Rome (which is just as much a character as any actor). Allen really surprised me with Midnight in Paris. I've never been a huge fan of the director, but that film was surprisingly effective. Even though Rome doesn't follow the same set up, I just may give this a chance and see if he can impress me twice in a row.

It will be interesting to see how The Amazing Spider-Man holds up in its second weekend - it really has only one more chance to shine before The Dark Knight Rises steals away everyone's thunder. I'll be back on Sunday with all the details.

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