A lot of people were disappointed with the Golden Globe nominations because they failed to include any tracks from Once in the category for Best Original Song. Will the Oscars make the same mistake? We won't know for another month, but we can at least see that the Academy is deeming the film's songs as eligible. Both "Falling Slowly" and "If You Want Me" have been shortlisted along with 57 other song titles written exclusively for their respective movies. The variety of films is quite interesting and includes musicals (Hairspray), action blockbusters (Transformers), documentaries (Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone), foreign films you've never heard of (56 Drops of Blood), domestic films you've never heard of (Badland) and Hollywood comedies you wish you'd never heard of (Good Luck Chuck).

Aside from Once, which the Academy will have to include if they want people to tune into the musical performances, the nominees are likely to include a song from Enchanted -- I'd pick "Happy Working Song" over the Globes' pick of "That's How You Know" -- a song from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story -- I'd pick "Let's Duet" over "Walk Hard" -- the Eddie Vedder song from Into the Wild (for more "guaranteed" viewers), and the song from Hairspray that wasn't in the Broadway version -- "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)". I'm sad to see Kimya Dawson not on the list, as I had hoped she had written at least one original tune for the Juno soundtrack. A few of them certainly felt like they were penned exclusively for the film. I'm not sad but was surprised to see that the Bono and Stevie Wonder duet "Love's In Need of Love Today" from Darfur Now was not eligible. But then I realized that despite it seeming like a song written just for an Oscar the film, it's actually pretty old.

A quick look through the current box office charts reveals that one of the year's absolute worst films, Good Luck Chuck (125 screens), has grossed about $34 million. It's not exactly a blockbuster, but that's still a huge number of suckers who gave up their hard-earned cash in exchange for a ticket, thinking they were in for some entertainment. It's a hateful, stupid concept presented by two non-talented stars, who most likely got as far as they have based on their looks. On the other hand, one of the year's very best films, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (43 screens), has yet to earn even its first half-million; I'm not even sure most critics got the chance to see this amazing crime drama from veteran director Sidney Lumet. It features great performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman (what Oscar curse?), Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei, and -- even more rare -- a great ending.

OK. So Before the Devil Knows You're Dead comes from a small studio, ThinkFilm, with a tiny advertising budget. I have yet to see a TV commercial or even a trailer or a poster. But Good Luck Chuck had weeks of buildup and advertising, and it opened on 2600 screens. Yet it also comes from a comparatively small studio, Lionsgate. It probably doesn't matter either way; these situations could have been completely reversed and Good Luck Chuck would still be the box office winner. It has always been like this. Experts have speculated that it's because most movies are packaged and aimed at male, juvenile audiences (the ones with the most disposable pocket change). Some have talked about the "blockbuster" era that sprung from the American Cinema Renaissance of the 1970s; starting in the early 1980s, profits became bigger and therefore more important than art.

Pictured Above: Cinematical's Erik Davis wakes up in Saw IV.

Oh, how I lurve Lionsgate. Not long ago, I woke up to a package arriving at my door which contained a pair of girl's underwear promoting the film Good Luck Chuck. The underwear were cute, and my wife wears them when we role-play, pretending to be Dane Cook (that's me) and Jessica Alba (that's her). What? Why are you looking at me like that? Anyway, this morning a different kind of package arrived at my door; this time Lionsgate was pimping out a certain horror sequel opening in theaters this weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn't another pair of girl's underwear. Oh no, this time it was a large briefcase. As I removed the briefcase out of the ginormous box it came in, a million different scenarios ran through my head. Maybe they sent me Megan Fox? Could she fit in a briefcase? Perhaps?

No, it wasn't Megan Fox. It was a nifty Saw IV package, consisting of a t-shirt (seen above), a weird pig's mask (now I have a Halloween costume!), a key chain that speaks like Jigsaw when you push a button, a few Saw IV postcards and a bottle of vodka. Combine all of that together, and I can come up with one helluva freaky night for myself. I can only imagine how nutty this film is going to be, and if I drink enough of that vodka, perhaps I'll work up the courage to sit through it. You can check out all the Saw IV treats Lionsgate sent me in the gallery below; Saw IV finally arrives in theaters this Friday.

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The critics might not like it, and also can't agree on whether it's better or worse than its two predecessors, but Variety reports that Resident Evil: Extinction topped the box office this weekend, pulling in an estimated gross of $24 million (from 2,828 runs). While we won't know if the success will continue into next week, this sci-fi horror flick is a perfect example of the sequel syndrome. The first, and often cited as the best, Resident Evil raked in $17 million in 2002 (on its way to $40.1 million), and the second, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, collected $23 million (heading to $50.7 million) in its first weekend. The increase has slowed, but it's still there.

Number two, of course, was another zombie flick, Good Luck Chuck. Okay, so it isn't about the undead, but it might make you one, if a 3% fresh rating is to be believed. A rating at 60, 50, or even 40% can be open for discussion, but it's usually the Justin and Kelly variety of schlock if it drops below 10%. So, we've got already-made zombies in a post-apocalypse Vegas battling an abysmal comedy that might make people into zombies. Oh, and we should mention that moviegoers packed the theaters for Rob Zombie's Halloween. Yup, it's zombie's all around! The question is: can they last? Will viewers not only disagree with the critics again, but continue to visit the flicks in droves, or will this batch bow their heads and agree, leaving next week to be open for new fare as the zombies meet their maker, once again?

One of my fellow film critics breezed into Good Luck Chuck right before it began. "I don't even know what it's about," she noted as she sat. I, charitably, leaned forward with a synopsis: "Dane Cook plays a young man laboring under a curse where every woman he's involved with then goes on to find true love and marriage with the next man she dates. When he meets and falls for Jessica Alba, though, he wants to break the curse." I then added, half-hopingly and half-jokingly, "It may be a whimsical piece of magical realism."

I assure you wholeheartedly, it is not. The problem's not the pitch -- you could probably make a sweet, silly, movie from that premise -- but in the execution, which is so ham-fisted and blunt that you feel like you're being beaten about the head with clubs made out of artificial breasts, sexism, gross-out humor and Dane Cook's naked body. Another friend, after I dismissed Good Luck Chuck as unfunny trash, said "It'll probably be the top of the box office, then" and offered that I was "an elitist." Well, to paraphrase David Rees, if 'elitist' means 'not the dumbest person in the room,' then hell, yes, I'm an elitist. And Good Luck Chuck may make money; so does cocaine, but I don't feel like that alone is a reason to endorse either product.

During a teen game of spin-the-bottle, young Charles draws 'seven minutes in heaven' with a Goth girl who's secretly longed for him; spurning her advances, he brings down her wrath, and a curse. Leaping to the present day, Chuck (Dane Cook) has grown to be a dentist, and his 'lucky charm' status is something of an urban legend. Now, women hurl themselves at Chuck so that, after sleeping with him, they might then find true love. Chuck is willing to take advantage of this, but only up to a point: "What's sex without love?" His boorish plastic surgeon buddy Stu (Dan Fogler) howls an answer: "It's SEX! It's STILL SEX!"

No huge surprises in last weekend's box office returns. Jodie Foster's new thriller took the lead with slithery CGI serpents bringing up the rear at number five. Superbad is definitely getting some McLovin' after being in the top five for five weeks now. Here are the numbers from last weekend:

The Brave One: $13.4 million
3:10 to Yuma: $8.9 million
Mr. Woodcock: $8.7 million
Superbad: $5.1 million
Dragon Wars: $5 million

This weekend we've got three new releases, plus two more flicks going into wider release. Check it out:

Good Luck Chuck
What's It All About: Dane Cook plays a man cursed. Every woman he has ever slept with has found true love with the next person they meet after dumping him. Now that he's in love with a woman played by Jessica Alba he has to find a way to break the curse.
Why It Might Do Well: Judging from the trailer, Ms. Alba spends at least part of the film in her underwear. Not a bad thing.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The plot synopsis and all the pratfalls in the trailer remind me way too much of Three's Company.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $10 million

Resident Evil: Extinction
What's It All About: Milla Jovovich returns as Alice, kicking zombie butt in the Nevada desert and taking on the evil Umbrella Corporation in this third installment of the video game-based franchise.
Why It Might Do Well: Halloween's success at the box office showed that people are up for a good scare, and for my money I'll take a zombie flick over a slasher movie any day of the week. I'm even willing to overlook my lukewarm feelings about Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The list of crappy movies based on video games is a long and sad one.
Number of Theaters: 2,700
Prediction: $22 million

Sydney White
What's It All About: Amanda Bynes stars in this modern take on Snow White, playing a college student who after being rejected by the sorority she hoped to join is taken in by seven dorks.
Why It Might Do Well: Bynes has a great sense of comedic timing. If you thought The Amanda Show was just for kids, you might be surprised at how intelligent the humor was.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's basically a teen comedy, and Superbad is a tough act to follow.
Number of Theaters: 1,900
Prediction: $7 million

And, although these next two opened last weekend, they're both spreading out into a greater number of theaters:

Across the Universe
What's It All About: A musical love story that takes place in the turbulent 1960s set to the music of The Beatles.
Why It MIght Do Well: It looks downright trippy, and it's got Beatles tunes. What's not to love?
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's not a huge release so this won't make the top five.
Number of Theaters: 400
Prediction: $2.5 million

Eastern Promises
What's It All About: David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen, the director and star of A History of Violence, re-team for this thriller. Naomi Watts plays a London midwife who comes into possession of a diary that could be dangerous for Russian mobsters.
Why It MIght Do Well: After their last collaboration, I'm dying to see what Mortensen and Cronenberg come up with.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Oh, don't be so negative.
Number of Theaters: 1,325
Prediction: $8 million


Here's how I'm betting things will go this coming weekend:
1. Resident Evil: Extinction
2. Good Luck Chuck
3. The Brave One
4. Eastern Promises
5. Sydney White

And here's how our little competition went last week:
1. Josh: 13
2. Matt: 11
2. Anna07: 11
2. Porcalina: 11
3. Ness265: 9
3. drklrdbill: 9
4. Lee: 8
4. Max: 8
4. Brad: 8
5. Ray: 7
6. peter: 6
7. ABIRD0006: 4
7. MikeJM79: 4

Here's how the competition works:
Please post your prediction in the comments section below before 5:00PM on Saturday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.

First off, I love free movie products. I have no problem pimping a t-shirt or a hat or a pair of socks because, frankly, it saves me the money from having to go out and buy a wardrobe. Yup, I'm that cheap. And I get this stuff all the time -- in the mail, at junkets, at preview screenings -- wherever. And I smile. Because it's one less shirt I need to purchase for myself. So, this morning I get a package in the mail promoting Good Luck Chuck, that Dane Cook/Jessica Alba comedy opening up this weekend. I'm thinking it will be a hat or a t-shirt, but no -- it was a pair of girl's underwear. I'll say that again -- a pair of girl's underwear. Small. Like the kind Alba wears.

I immediately looked around my apartment to make sure no one was watching me hold up this pair of girl's underwear; I'm sure folks like Perverted Justice would have a field day snapping photos of this dude with a beard checking out his brand new pair of small girly underwear. Needless to say, an email went right out to my wife explaining why a pair of girl's underwear was on my desk. I can see that convo now: "Girl's underwear? And who the f*ck is Chuck? You're on the couch tonight!" I must say though, the underwear is rather cute -- it features a cartoon-ish penguin on the front, and the words 'Good Luck Chuck' on the back. Nice. If you're a girl. Which I'm not. And the folks who sent this to me know who I am -- which kind of freaks me out a little -- but then again, they're just trying to promote their film. Which I completely understand. Anyway, that's how my day started -- now I have to run into the city to start seeing New York Film Festival flicks. Traveling sucks, but more about that later this week. In the meantime, what's the strangest piece of movie merchandise you ever received?

Lionsgate must be very happy with its upcoming comedy Good Luck Chuck. The movie is the directorial debut of Mark Helfrich (unless you count his second-unit work on Critters), who is better known as Brett Ratner's editor of choice. According to Variety, the studio has already signed Helfrich for a follow-up, this time trusting him with an action-thriller titled Five Killers. The movie is yet another hitman story, and it sounds like a lot of other movies we've seen before. You know the plot: a perfect hitman or assassin becomes the target of other hitmen. Let's see, there's The Bourne Identity, Assassins, Grosse Point Blank, Road to Perdition, this weekend's new release Shoot 'em Up and the upcoming Hitman. And there's certainly more indie neo-noirs that I didn't bother to see and so can't cite as examples (feel free to list them in the comments section -- I know I'm forgetting some classics). This one was written by Bob DeRosa, who co-scripted Jieho Lee's The Air I Breathe, which screened earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. DeRosa is currently co-writing Lee's next movie, an adaptation of the video game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.

I have a feeling that Five Killers will be heavily influenced by Ratner, because Helfrich probably has the guy's style imprinted in his brain after editing all three Rush Hour movies, as well as The X-Men: Last Stand, After the Sunset, Red Dragon and others. Actually, Helfrich has worked on a lot of bad action movies, such as I Come in Peace, Striking Distance, Stone Cold and Action Jackson. It would be great if he learned something from John McTiernan back while editing Predator or even from Tony Scott while working on The Last Boy Scout, but it's doubtful. Five Killers will be produced by Christopher Pratt (The Air I Breathe) and Chad Martin. We will get our first chance to see Helfrich's worth when Good Luck Chuck is released September 21. As for The Air I Breathe, with which we can judge DeRosa, the film currently has no release date in the U.S. (it opens in the UK on December 14.

Hey, remember Jason Biggs? Since starring in Woody Allen's Anything Else, he hasn't really appeared in ... anything else. Okay, so he co-starred in Jersey Girl and Eight Below, but he hasn't done anything of notice in years -- except for that hysterical short film, The Glitch, of course. I was beginning to think I might see him in the next American Pie direct-to-video sequel before I see him in a big-screen starring role again. Fortunately, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Biggs just got a new gig playing Dane Cook's best bud in Lionsgate's Bachelor No. 2. In addition to Cook, he joins Kate Hudson, Alec Baldwin and Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls), who just signed on as Hudson's roommate.

As we told you previously, Bachelor follows a guy named Tank (Cook) who makes a living by giving women the worst dates of their lives. Hired by dumped men, Tank's promise is that he'll make the exes come crawling back. However, when his friend (Biggs) is the one broken up with, Tank ends up falling for the dumper (Hudson), making it a tough decision whether to stay loyal to his buddy or follow his heart. Yeah, in some ways it sounds a bit like Cook's upcoming movie Good Luck Chuck -- in which he sleeps with women who then go on to marry their next beau -- with a bit of the competitive love triangle thing from his Employee of the Month thrown in. Bachelor will be directed by Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful's Howard Deutch, but I wouldn't count on anything similar to those John Hughes classics, even with the love triangle storyline. So far this decade, Deutch's most notable work has been The Whole Ten Yards.

Other Biggs movies that could see the light of the projector one day include Michael Ian Black's The Pleasure of Your Company (aka Wedding Daze, aka The Next Girl I See), which MGM has been sitting on in the U.S. for almost a year now. He's also got another movie that seems to have changed names since the last time we wrote about it: Over My Dead Body, which was formerly titled How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancee (phew! good thing they changed it) -- though THR still gives the longer name.

So lately, a lot of these R-rated comedies have been sneaking in red band trailers to accompany your run-of-the-mill "no nudity or foul language included within" trailers. I'm not exactly sure where they come from, but they're available to watch online and contain some of the more raunchier content for whichever film is being advertised. Today, I have for you the red band trailer for Good Luck Chuck -- the latest Dane Cook flick, starring Jessica Alba. I should warn you that this trailer is rated R, so those of you allergic to foul language and/or sexual content should probably stay away.

In the film (which includes what is perhaps the perfect role for a young, hot, horny actor), Cook plays a guy who's cursed. See, every time he sleeps with a girl, she goes on to marry the next guy she happens to date. Once word gets around, Cook's character is bombarded by marriage-hungry women looking to use his private area as a magic wand (so to speak). Problems arise when he meets Alba; the perfect catch, and a girl he can see himself settling down with. But in order to not lose her to the curse, he goes above and beyond the call of duty ... and we get a pretty nasty taste of that in this brand new trailer. Those of you looking for something a bit tamer can find it in this newly-released clip over at Moviefone. In it, Cook and Alba (as their respective characters) meet for the first time at the wedding of a girl Cook used to date. Some cutesy dialogue paves the way for a physical set piece that has Alba using a towel to wipe hot wax off Cook's crotch area. Man, what I'd give to be his stunt double for that scene. Good Luck Chuck hits theaters on September 21.

I'm not usually into the kinds of movies distributed by Lionsgate, but I have to admit that I'm a fan of their marketing department. Even when they're controversial or tasteless, I still have to give them props for having guts. Just to recap on some of their major achievements in boundary breaking: there's the nude, decapitated Bijou Philips poster for Hostel II; there's the controversial torture-depicting billboards for Captivity (though reportedly After Dark Films was responsible, not Lionsgate); and of course those Saw movies always seem to come with some interesting and "unacceptable" ad campaigns. Typically, it's just the horror movies that give us such gross or outrageous posters, but now Lionsgate has some new racy ads for its upcoming comedy Good Luck Chuck.

There are two posters, and I'm sure you won't see either of them hanging up at your local, family-friendly multiplex -- and not just because they are international teasers. The first features Jessica Alba holding a phallic ice cream cone, which is dripping all over her hand. I guess some people might not get the point, but it is more than a little obvious what that cone is supposed to represent. Then there's the second poster, featuring a shirtless Dane Cook with a very pleased look on his face. Oh yeah, and there's also the top of someone's head at the bottom of the poster. Nobody's missing the point with that one.

What's got Dane Cook and Jessica Alba, looks like a dozen other "high-concept" romantic comedies, and really kinda stinks? The answer lies here, within the brand-new trailer for something called Good Luck Chuck. Sort of a cross between 40 Days and 40 Nights, Just My Luck and a particularly lame sitcom, the flick seems to be about a dashing young bachelor who creates brides: Sleep with the guy just once and >boom< you're headed to the altar with your dream husband. But what happens when the bride-maker falls for a girl he actually (yep) likes? Why, he's gotta practice abstinence! No sex, ironically, to keep the girl! How very clever.

And I haven't even gotten into the subplot about how he plans to lose his "good luck mojo" by having sex with an obese (and therefore un-marry-able) woman. I just respect you too much. I'll also spare you the play-by-play of the horny sidekick dentist and his desperately witless rejoinders. Anyway, Good Luck Chuck comes from longtime editor / first-time director Mark Helfrich with a screenplay from the guy who wrote that severely mediocre Kids in America flick. On the other hand, the movie promises to show us Jessica Alba's panties at least once -- which should guarantee at least a $15 million opening weekend. Release date is August 24. Here's the trailer. (And just for the record: I really dig Dane Cook's stand-up material, but that Employee of the Month flick was really freakin' awful, which makes me a little more skeptical of the guy's cinematic output. And trailers like this one sure don't help much.)

On the heels of the largely unexpected success of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Dan Fogler's life has been pretty darn awesome. Not only does he have a Tony statuette to keep on his coffee table, but he's also scored starring roles in a bunch of major(ish) films, including Balls of Fury, School for Scoundrels and Good Luck Chuck -- not bad for a guy whose movie career had previously consisted of a handful of supporting parts in indie projects.

According to this morning's Variety, Fogler has just accepted his biggest (at least in terms of girth and the stature of his character) part yet: He'll star as Alfred Hitchcock in Number Thirteen, an indie drama about "Hitchcock's lost and unfinished first film Number 13." Chase Palmer wrote and will direct the film, the story of which finds Hitch "caught up in a Hitchcockian dilemma when he ends up in a love triangle with two crew members while making the film. When the lead actor turns up dead, the editor suspects the director and tries to uncover the truth." Based on the summary alone, I'd say this one could turn out to be both very odd and very entertaining; throw in the news that Ewan McGregor and Geoffrey Rush are rumored to be in talks to join the cast and you've got something with serious potential. Production is expected to begin in January.

Odds and ends from Friday/Saturday:

• Make-up maven Stan Winston and his production company are now gearing up for their latest: Producing the horror mystery The Deaths of Ian. Pic, which will star Mike Vogel and be directed by Dario Di Piana, has a sort of Groundhog Day feel to it. Well, that's if you replace the silliness of Bill Murray with the scariness of Stan Winston, of course. Story will tell of an all American guy who is murdered, only to wake up again and find that, with each new day, comes a new kind of death.
• Now that the Dane Cook laffer Good Luck Chuck is finally on its way into production courtesy of Lionsgate, Variety reports that Jessica Alba has snagged the lead female role and will star opposite everyone's favorite comedian. Dane Cook and Jessica Alba? In love? Seems like the perfect match -- ya know, if either of them were actually good at acting. Pic will revolve around a serial dater who feels comfortable in the role of next-to-last-boyfriend-before-soulmate. However, when he actually falls in love with one of the girls (Alba), he must do everything to keep her from leaving him for a future husband.
• Since it's the weekend, I figured I would end things off with a funny, yet awfully moronic clip from YouTube. In it, some amateur actors dress up as some of your favorite superheroes to re-create the famous homo-erotic volleyball scene from Top Gun. Seeing as everyone has been obsessed with the notion that Superman may or may not be gay as of late, why not take the topic to a new level and really have fun with it? Enjoy the weekend folks!

Odds and ends from Thursday:

• Have you jumped on the Dane Cook bandwagon yet? No? What are you waiting for -- the guy is totally freaking awesome! Seriously though, his stand-up is spectacular. His acting? Eh, I'm not impressed yet. However, that doesn't stop the man from lining up role after role. His latest pic, Good Luck Chuck, was recently rescued by Lionsgate after New Line left it in development limbo for quite awhile. Story surrounds a self-centered dentist who finds himself in a situation where every girl he meets winds up finding their soul mate after dating him. This lack of commitment thing works out great until he eventually falls in love with one of the women.
• Universal and Imagine Entertainment have tapped Pete Tong director Michael Dowse to helm Kids in America, with Topher Grace attached to star. Brian Grazer will produce the film which is said to be about a college kid pursuing his dream girl while attending a wild and crazy Labor Day bash. Based on the description, it kind of sounds like Can't Hardly Wait: The College Years. In fact, Topher and Ethan Embry sort of look the same. Oh, I know I'm not the only one who sees it -- admit it people! 
• And here you thought Vin Diesel had had enough of the Fast and the Furious. Shame on you for thinking the actor would turn down a chance to appear in a sequel to the film that made him. With Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift attracting decent buzz, word is that Vin Diesel is telling people he'll be returning for a fourth installment. Who is he telling? Well, does Latino singer Dom Omar count? Apparently Diesel attended one of the musician's parties and, while probably drunk and stoned off his face, disclosed he was involved in the Fast sequel and asked Omar to get in on the Furious 4 soundtrack. Seriously Vin, please go away -- you're scaring my future children. Thanks.