The main competition? The Rock’s action flick, Mysterious Island 2; a 3D version of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; and the Denzel Washington-Ryan Reynolds action-thriller, Safe House.

Given the nature of the weekend, my bet’s on The Vow to surprise a lot of people. The most romantic film, on the most romantic weekend of the year, will prevail.

Then there’s Joyful Noise, a Queen Latifah-Dolly Parton church-based thing. Doesn’t seem like something that’ll catch on, especially since I’ve yet to spot a single trailer for it.

Finally there’s Contraband, a Mark Wahlberg drug war thriller that has him wearing a Scorpion EXO or something. I don’t know. Who pays attention to these things? Anti-War On Drugs movies happen four or five times a year as part of the Hollywood propaganda machine and all that changes is the cast, really. Yawn.

And again, it’s getting no push from the studios; I’ve seen zero trailers.

So, it looks like another ho-hum weekend. At least Underworld Awakening isn’t that far off.

I suppose out of pure desperation some of these movies will do okay, but flicks like John Carter and a movie version of 21 Jump Street don’t do much for me. The next major release that raises my interest at all comes out in late March, when The Hunger Games jumps from print to the silver screen. And I’m not even sure about that one.

Sure, by May the summer blockbuster season starts and then things get interesting again. The Joss Whedon-directed Avengers movie, to start, looks promising. Dark Shadows might be fun. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter holds potential. And July should be huge, with the relaunched Amazing Spider-Man movie franchise, the final Dark Knight movie, and Ice Age: Continental Drift, since I can’t ever get enough of Scritch. That trio could spawn a lot of gifts for a man’s office in secondary marketing alone.

But until July, it’s a fairly dismal list. Even some of the sequels scheduled look boring.

First comes The Adventures of Tintin, a Steven Spielberg production that’s part Indiana Jones and part Toy Story. About the only thing I like about it, however, is that the script duties were handled by Steven Moffatt, current showrunner of Doctor Who.

Then there’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the first US movie made from the Steig Larssen yawner of a trilogy. Sure, everyone’s bought it, but how many people have actually read this boring police procedural? It’s one of the least thrilling thrillers I’ve ever attempted to read. So, no, the film doesn’t excite me.

Finally, there’s the predictable liberal Animal Planet-friendly family comedy, We Bought a Zoo. Yeah, great. And instead of anyone actually funny, it stars Matt Damon. Whatever.

None of these are sequels and they are still epic fails.

It’s been quite a while since Murphy has been relevant on the comedy front, however. Between choosing bad projects like BOWFINGER and lots of innocuous family films that were good for what they were, but were not laugh-out-loud funny, Murphy’s appearance in TOWER HEIST looks like it could be part of a major comeback for him, a return that makes him relevant as Hollywood’s erstwhile King of Comedy.

Frankly, I’d welcome it. Too many comic actors have come and gone, ripping off Murphy’s basic act. But no one does Murphy like Murphy himself. It’s time for the master to best his students

Now, am I saying I want him to return to having every other word coming out of his mouth being a profanity? Or that he should wear cool t-shirts from foulmouthshirts.com?

No, not necessarily.

But he’s also been perhaps a bit too cautious in that area of late. If he can capture the witty anger of his youth, without necessarily all of the foul language, that’d be a great mix.

But am I ready for Murphy to return to being a king of comedy? You bet. Long live the king!

Green Lantern, which badly needs to win a second consecutive weekend, will have to outperform the 38-year-old sex appeal of Diaz, and the youthful kid-appeal of Pixar’s latest animated masterpiece; the studio is coming off its biggest box office success ever in last summer’s Toy Story 3.

Can the 34-year-old Reynolds make Bad Teacher and Cars 2 “beware the power” of his light? We’ll know in a couple days.

Certainly, there are reasons to be optimistic. Both Brand and co-star Jennifer Garner skew considerably younger than Moore and Arthur co-star Liza Manilli did thirty years ago, and casting Helen Mirren in Sir John Gielgud’s role ought to provide a fresh take. While based on the same frame story, word is Brand’s Arthur varies widely from the 1981 original.

Still, the question of the necessity for a remake has crossed many minds. Moore passed just under 10 years ago, and many in Hollywood, as well as filmgoers, don’t feel as though the film has aged enough to demand a remake. Could the new version, which inspired a sequel, be an example of jumping the gun? Or will the fresher sense of humor and younger-skewing cast bring the Arthur franchise new life? One thing’s certain: it wouldn’t have been the worst idea in the world to convince Brand’s new wife, Katy Perry, to make a cameo appearance.

We’ll find out next weekend.

The footage has a terrific feel and could leave audience members in need of creatine products in the wake of seeing it. It’s a nice, fresh twist on a familiar film genre. And after seeing the preview on YouTube, it’s now my most anticipated film of the spring.

Apollo 18. Look for it.

Still, I must admit that the latest trailer from Paramount and Marvel Studios makes the flick seem pretty interesting. And while many have ripped Marvel for casting a virtual unknown, Chris Hemsdale, in the role, he comes across well in the trailer and it could be star-in-the-making time.

Well done. I’ll stay tuned. For now.

Screenwriter Shane Black, who has only directed a small number of movies prior to this but is a prolific action screenwriter, has been tapped as Favreau’s replacement. Word is, Black and Downey Jr. are tight, so don’t expect the shift to cause many problems. And that’s good news for the golden Avenger.

Also coming out is a film about a muppet. No, I don’t mean Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and other Sesame Street characters. I mean the new Justin Beiber documentary, Never Say Never. Yawner, but the pre-teen set will probably insist on seeing it. Oh well.

Only two major releases are on the docket. The first, The Situation, is a plain-brown-wrapper sit-com featuring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James. Seen too many like that one. Not interested.

Then there’s the 3D superhero movie, The Green Hornet. As interesting as it might be on some levels, it’s hard to imagine the flick being huge. Could it take down a month-old True Grit? Maybe. But it’s not going to be huge, and it doesn’t require an online IT degree to figure that out.

Then again, if I had an online IT degree, I doubt I’d be wasting my time blogging about Hollywood’s upcoming film release schedule. I’d be fixing computers and drawing a much fatter paycheck than I currently do!