Movies Opening This Week: Two Zoes. No Deschanel.

One of the things to note about this week is Jennifer Lopez's return to the movies, and while she never really got to make any iconic movies (unless you count Gigli which is more notorious than iconic), I feel like she can actually use a bit of that newfound maturity to pick better scripts.

The Back-up Plan
Or... maybe not.

In a comeback, an actor/actress can only do so much. Maybe he/she can star in a serious movie and gain back some cred like Mariah Carey in Precious, maybe he/she can star in a little indie flick that suddenly gets picked up by the press, or maybe... he/she can just do the genre he/she got comfortable with prior to their fall from stardom- which Jennifer Lopez did.

Now, now, the fates of those who come back to their favorite genres don't necessarily fail again- a prime example of that is Sandra Bullock, who made a stirring comeback as a demon boss in The Proposal. But even that movie was quite formulaic despite her charms, and this one doesn't look any different.

The premise is just baffling TV-sitcom material: girl named Zoe can't find man but wants baby, gets inseminated, ironically finds perfect man. Truth be told, no matter how unoriginal a premise can be, it's the gags that matter, and I find it hard to see anything funny in the trailer (which, for the most part, spoils the whole film).

Hmm, anything's better than Gigli though. And at least her age fits the premise to a T.

Also kind of fitting for Jeffrey Dean Morgan's "aura" is this next film...

The Losers
Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been starring in a few comic adaptations lately. He played the bad guy (well... no, no, I don't even want to bother explaining) in Watchmen and now he plays the fugitive fighting against a traitorous government agency.

Oh, and he gets a little Na'vi lovin' from Zoe Saldana on the side.

Aside from the toned actress, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of a distinct style in this adaptation, but all in all, it does look quite fun. I especially like the sniper sequence in the trailer, but it doesn't really get me pumped too much.

Looks basic, looks entertaining, looks decent. That's all I can really say.

But wouldn't the trip to the movies be even more worth it if most of the revenue were directed to a cause?

Oceans
Well, Disney Nature is giving you a reason to pay for that ticket because, like last year's Earth, the company is going to donate much revenue into protecting coral reefs. Hey, it wouldn't hurt to see some real live animal actors instead of humans for a change.

All the drama will be organic, and the footage is bound to look absurdly vivid and gorgeous. It's actually quite a bit of a missed opportunity for Disney though... they could've squeezed more revenue out of shooting in 3D. Come on, underwater 3D is so much more compelling to watch than underwater 2D.

That aside, I can't really say much about Oceans, because it gives your hard-earned money to a cause, and the movie is probably gonna be a very inoffensive, entertaining underwater "drama".

And in case you were wondering, yes, I am aware that one of the Deschanel sisters is named Zooey.