Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming biblical flood epic based on the Genesis account of Noah, which he has described as a dream project, will star none other than Russell Crowe of Gladiator fame. The move from fighting lions to fighting the elements may not seem a natural one, and Crowe’s abs seem out of place for the ancient follower of God’s instructions, and he may skew a bit young; but at least the guy can act.

Kind of.

Well, with Aronofsky at the helm, at least someone was cast who can, at minimum, take direction.

Err…

Let’s wait and see on that score, too.

I’m specifically distressed by the sudden profusion of AutoTuner on the show. Some of the strongest performances of Season 1 were made without the electronica-tinged, sing-in-tune tool that so many producers are using these days to make sure their artists hit the right notes.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not anti-music technology at all. In fact, Propellerhead makes plenty of nice tools, just as an example.

But the main use of AutoTuner is supposed to be keeping slightly off-key artists on-key. Since it adds and electronic twang to voices, however, it’s grown in use even by artists who know how to sing on-key. It’s annoying at best, insulting at worst.

Yet GLEE, from Season 2 on, has been using AutoTuner on almost every song. That’s a big shift from the first season, where some of the best moments of the show came from underproduced numbers where the actors were singing in their natural voices.

This might be forgivable if the show featured primarily actors who were mediocre singers; but most of the cast are far better than that. We know because we’ve heard them sing in Season 1.

It’s also disruptive to the narrative. I’m willing to accept the show’s conceit that kids will break into songs, most of which turn into music videos. It’s about a glee club. I can deal. I can even look past the show’s insistence that none of these kids need real practice and sound great on every song, all the time, unless specifically scripted not to.

But what really annoys is when the characters aren’t even using microphones in the glee club environment, but are suddenly belting out tunes riddled and overweighted with vocal filters and that dang AutoTuner.

C’mon, Ryan Murphy, get back to your Season 1 roots. Let your Glee kids actually sing. Outlaw AutoTuner on Glee!

The movie opening on the most screens is a kids animated flick called The Pirates Band of Misfits. That should stir the box office pot quite a bit.

Also opening is the Judd Apatow-Jason Segel comedy, The Five Year Engagement, which opens on 2,800 screens.

A nice dark-horse movie is the moody John Cusack take on The Raven, a period mystery that casts the gothic horror author, Edgar Allen Poe, as an accidental detective when he’s drawn into solving a series of murders based off his tales of terror.

Finally, there’s SAFE, the latest Jason Strathern actioner that will blend into all his other releases.

It’s an odd mix that sticks out like outdoor research hats in a sea of Mariners baseball caps. Yet it’s an appropriate mish-mash to close out the month of April, considering the first two weeks of May will bring us Joss Whedon’s take on Marvel’s Avengers and the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp take on Dark Shadows, a 1970s soap opera turned vampire comedy.

Think Like A Man, a rom-com focusing on black couples, surprised some with its broad appeal, pulling in $33 million against a modest, $12 million budget. Produced by comedy vet Steve Harvey, the flick tapped into a relationship comedy style much in need after a long run of violence via The Hunger Games.

In fact, while spring fever romance was in the air, it was Steve Harvey’s comedy that won the weekend, as opposed to the earnest melodrama of the latest Nicholas Sparks-based movie, The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling. That flick brought in a mere $22.8 million, almost a third less than Think Like a Man.

Hunger Games posted a strong fifth weekend, though, gaining $14.5 million to its total, which has earned $356.9 million domestically along, and when foreign receipts are added in, has reached $572.7 million already. Not shabby for a flick that cost $78 million to make.

Disney’s nature documentary, Chimpanzee, rounded out the weekend, earning just over $10.2 million. Nothing else broke the $10 million weekend mark.

Following hot on the heels of the announcement that no less than Steven Spielberg was working on a new film based on the life of Moses, apparently to be called GODS AND KINGS (the plural of the first word may not go down so well with the monotheistic audience he intends it for). While the potential of Spielberg going into DeMille territory is thrilling, no less interesting is word of another Bible epic set to start shooting soon.

Now, auteur director Darren Aronofsky of Pi fame is apparently set to direct Noah, based on the tale of a global deluge. Aronofsky sounds like a great choice and someone who will have respect for the biblical source material, given this quote:

”Since I was a kid, I have been moved and inspired by the story of Noah and his family’s journey. The imaginations of countless generations have sparked to this epic story of faith. It’s my hope that I can present a window into Noah’s passion and perseverance for the silver screen.”

While the project is bigger than any Aronofsky has taken on previously, he has described the Noah film as a dream project, and dropped out of directing The Wolverine for Marvel-Disney to latch onto the opportunity. We’re interested! I’m not saying I’d undergo a discectomy to see it, but interested? You bet.

The show, based in Seattle, has shown a great atmospheric spotlight on the Pacific Northwest, and the drama was one of last spring’s most satisfying, right up until the season one finale, which angered fans by swerving away from the show’s original promise of revealing Rosie’s killer at the end of Season One.

With Jenkins at the helm, hopefully Season 2 will deliver a much more satisfying conclusion.

But not all is well with Community’s community. Arguably the show’s biggest star, SNL alum Chevy Chase, got into a fiery spat with show creator Dan Harmon on the last day of shooting, and walked off the set without finishing his final scene. Whether this will roller coaster into a Charlie Sheen-like parting of the ways or not is still to be seen.

Will Chase be out of a role, even if Community is renewed? Maybe everyone really needs the summer break off to let cooler heads prevail on that decision.

Thanks in large part to Steven Spielberg’s involvement, Smash has been pitch-perfect, primarily by smartly casting American Idol alumnus Katherine McPhee in one of the key starring roles. While the show has its weaknesses (as does Glee), Smash has taken the general “television musical” concept and given it an adult-appeal twist that delivers more often than it disappoints.

While there’s no over-the-top Sue Sylvester-type villain to hate on the show, Smash earns its audience through subtler shades and tones. There are times when Ivy can be a total witch, and then they show her vulnerable side and you almost end up rooting for her to overcome, despite the presence of Karen.

It’s a fun show, and a welcomed renewal that’s doing better in its timeslot than anything NBC has offered in recent years. Including, and perhaps especially, Leno.

Why?

Because the only major release out next week is American Reunion, the hard-R-rated comedy reuniting the original American Pie cast. While the film is expected to do well, it would be a major upset if it unseated Hunger Games. And the only other thing opening wide next week is a 3D re-release of Titanic.

By the time Hunger Games reaches week four, another film could upset it, but only because of waning business for Hunger Games. The action flick Lockout has no major stars, The Cabin in the Woods will likely only strongly appeal to the Joss Whedon cult, and The Three Stooges has “box office bomb” written all over it.

Still, one of those movies could unseat Hunger Games simply by attrition.

By April 20, the romance flick The Lucky One could do enough business to topple Hunger Games simply by being something fresh. But really, nothing blockbuster-y huge comes out now until the first weekend in May, when Whedon goes Marvel with the much-anticipated Avengers movie. And after that, the really competitive blockbuster season starts in earnest. By then, stick a fork truck in Hunger Games until the Mockingjay sequel is released in a couple years. Or whenever it’s due.

The new flick Wrath of the Titans opened Friday to a comparatively modest $12 million and is expected to end up somewhere around $30 million for the weekend, about half of The Hunger Games’ anticipated total. Nothing else is remotely close.

However, executive producer Ryan Murphy confirmed recently that Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe will also be back for another go-round. That’s good news for those who loved the first-season cast. And while all will be playing new characters, each adds to the star power of AHS’s second season.

Unlike the characters they play, none of these actors will have to pass a criminal background check to appear in American Horror Story. They’re vetted, ready, and eager to offer up some all-new creepiness starting next fall.

Kinneman’s an interesting choice who was fascinating last spring in his work on The Killing. Whether the reboot will surpass the original, however, is anyone’s guess at this point.