Box Office. Office Box.

I had many opportunities to get myself to a theater this weekend and yet every time I thought about it, I was not inspired to see anything. Perhaps it was the poor marketing decision of distribution companies to put out TWO sci-fi flicks- "Pandorum" and "Surrogates"- at the same time. Not only am I presented with two science fiction choices, I am left confused by their advertising campaigns because I have no idea what these films are actually about. This got me thinking about all of the times that this happens at theaters- the double booking. I really do not like this because I only want one option, I do not want to have to decide. In most recent memory this happened when studios released "The Illusionist" and "The Prestige" at the same time. Two films about magicians, both with stellar casts, both hard to tell apart. They were each good in their own respects, but why confuse the public? There is only a certain amount of information that can be given away in a trailer and it's not enough to tell films like this apart. What about when "Antz" and "A Bug's Life" went head to head? I know that it has happened more than this. As for the recent sci-fi releases I was just left confused by poor marketing. I know that they are very much different stories, but to make me decide between the two makes me have to pull favorites. Honestly, Bruce Willis is usually the immediate choice (star of "Surrogates"), but I wanted to give Ben Foster a chance in "Pandorum", but those were my only choices this weekend. This dilemma along with lack of excitement for either of the titles left me skipping the theater to catch up on the pile of DVDs that I have at home.

This week, I get "Zombieland", the Cohen brother's new film "A Serious Man" and Drew Barrymore's directorial debut "Whip It". If I get to the theater on Thursday night for zombies, I think I can squeeze in a quirky drama, a cute rollerskating film or maybe one of the sci-fi titles by the latter end of the weekend. Now that is a stellar weekend at the movies. Different films for different moods and different people. What film will you go to?