Breaking Down the 2013 Best Actress Race

This Oscar season has been one of the most exciting and unpredictable races in recent history. While it seems that Argo, Daniel Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway now look like sure things in their respective categories, there are a few races that remain a serious horse race. The two biggest question marks are the Best Supporting Actor race where a different contender has won in each of the precursors (Tommy Lee Jones, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Christoph Waltz) and the Best Actress Race which has been a serious catfight between Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence. Today, I will take a look at the latter race which could end up with a truly surprising winner.
When the race began in earnest last fall, the word was that Jennifer Lawrence would win hands down for her wonderful, emotionally naked work in Silver Linings Playbook. However, that was before the very secretive Zero Dark Thirty finally began screening and Jessica Chastain’s fierce, intelligent and controlled performance wowed critics and audiences. Both women have won a number of pre-cursors that have put them squarely in a duel for the Oscar win. Among the biggest wins, Lawrence took home the Golden Globe (Musical/Comedy), Critic’s Choice (Actress in a Comedy Film) and the all-important SAG Award while Chastain grabbed a Golden Globe (Drama) and the overall Critic’s Choice Award for Best Actress.
They are both up for the BAFTA Award this evening as well. I’d say Chastain has the edge there as her film received more nominations from the British Academy and they tend to honor more “important” films and performances. For example, last year Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) took home the Best Actress BAFTA over Viola Davis (The Help) after Davis had just won the SAG Award… I could see the same turnover happen here for Chastain. If that happens, then Chastain could follow Streep’s path to an Oscar victory.
Both Chastain and Lawrence have several factors working in their favor. Both women are attractive young actresses with a “babe factor” that the Academy loves, reaching a peak in their careers which has helped actresses like Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Kidman to take home the big prize in the past. Both are also previous nominees. Chastain was nominated last year for Supporting Actress for The Help while Lawrence was nominated for Best Actress two years ago for Winter’s Bone. Plus, both have worked the awards circuit like a pro this season.
Where they differ is in their “industry status”. While Lawrence is now a bona-fide box office star with The Hunger Games franchise, Chastain is seen as the more serious actress with a bigger body of lauded work. She could’ve received Oscar noms for practically all of her seven films released in 2011 and Chastain is also building box office clout with hits ZD30, The Help and Mama. It just seems like it may be too “early” in Lawrence’s career to give her Hollywood’s highest honor while Chastain seems to have “earned” it more. So, with all of that said, I’m going out on a limb and giving the edge to Chastain for the win.
However there remains one big obstacle in their way. They both will have to fend off another critical favorite, French icon Emmanuelle Riva for her harrowing and physically demanding work as a woman suffering from Dementia at the end of her life in Amour. This performance could be the real key to this Oscar race. Riva could easily usurp both of them at the BAFTAs and set the stage for a crazy three-way fight on Oscar night.
As for the final two nominees, Quevanzhane Wallis should be thrilled she got a nomination in the first place for her debut performance in Beasts of the Southern Wild over more deserving heavy weights like Marion Cotillard (Rust & Bone) and Helen Mirren (Hitchcock), and while she was amazing in The Impossible, and I’d love to see her win, Naomi Watts will probably be an also ran. (No worries though Naomi, you should be back in the race next year for playing Princess Diana!)
To sum up, it’s a serious race this year. Lawrence and Chastain are in the best position to win with Riva as a potential spoiler. And if there is crazy vote splitting, maybe Watts can sneak in. Yet, I’m still betting on Chastain. See if I’m right Sunday night February 24th when the Oscars air on ABC.

My Take on the Best of the Movies in 2012 and my Top 30 Films!

2012 was a pretty good year for films. Despite a wonky start with dreadful fare like The Grey and what seemed like 400 Channing Tatum movies, we got a bunch of box office hits that were actually good movies too like The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. As the year wore on, we were also treated to the return of the great studio drama with Lincoln, Flight and Argo plus one tremendous and transcendent musical, the exquisite emotional and brilliant Les Miserables... Independent films also offered us some great cinema with the likes of the fantastic teen dramedy The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the inventive Beasts of the Southern Wild.... So, just what movies did I love the best? Well, after seeing over 100 plus movies this year, I’ve got my top 30 for you below. I’ve also listed my favorite performances and the five worst films I saw this year. Check it out below and then let me know your favorites in the comments section…. Then enjoy your holiday and get ready for one crazy unpredictable Oscar season.

Top 30 Movies of the Year:
1. Les Miserables
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. The Impossible
5. Any Day Now
6. Argo
7. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
8. Flight
9. Lincoln
10. Skyfall
11. The Dark Knight Rises
12. The Intouchables
13. Hitchcock
14. Beasts of the Southern Wild
15. The Avengers
16. The Hobbit
17. Arbitrage
18. Pitch Perfect
19. Gayby
20. Hope Springs
21. The Amazing Spiderman
22. The Hunger Games
23. Smashed
24. End of Watch                                            
25. The Silver Linings Playbook
26. Django Unchained
27. The Bourne Legacy
28. Life of Pi
29. Quartet
30. The Sessions

Best Male Lead Performance: Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Runner up: Tie: Denzel Washington (Flight) & Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Female Lead Performance: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Runner up: Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Best Male Supporting Performance: Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables)
Runner Up: Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Best Female Supporting Performance: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Runner Up: Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)

Best Debut Performance: Tom Holland (The Impossible)
Runner Up: Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)
3rd place: Quvanzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Best Ensemble: Les Miserables
Runner Up: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Best Comedy: Pitch Perfect
Runner Up: Gayby

Best Action Film: Skyfall
Runner Up: The Dark Knight Rises

Biggest Tearjerker: Les Miserables
Runner Up: The Impossible

Best Foreign Film: The Intouchables
Runner Up: Rust & Bone

Best Comedic Performance: Rebel Wison (Pitch Perfect)         

Most Award-Worthy Performance No One is Talking About: Tommy Lee Jones (Hope Springs)
Runner Up: Alan Cumming (Any Day Now)

Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Runner Up: Vito

Movie that Got a Bad Rap but was Really Entertaining: Rock of Ages

Best Villain: Javier Bardem (Skyfall)

~And now for the bad news….

Worst Movies of the Year:
1. Killer Joe
2. The Grey
3. The Master
4. This is 40
5. John Carter

My Movie Grades for the first half of 2012!

So far, 2012 has not been the best year for movies. Much like the first half of 2011, there has been a whole lot of crap forced on moviegoers, and it seems the movie going public is responding according as box office grosses are way down this year. In fact this summer has seen a host of big movies bomb with only one massive success in The Avengers. Granted, that movie is simply fantastic and exactly what a fun entertaining summer film should be… With all that said, let’s take a look at the grades I’ve given to the movies I’ve seen so far. My list is below. Atop it alongside The Avengers are three wonderful independent films, the hilarious and inspiring The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the hysterical and moving French film The Intouchables and the fascinating and bold Beasts of the Southern Wild. More on the latter film after my list… Take a look and let me know what you’re thoughts on the films of 2012 are so far…

My 2012 Movie Grades (ranked by grade and in order of my faves):

Beasts of the Southern Wild: A
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: A
The Intouchables: A
The Avengers: A
The Hunger Games: A-

Rock of Ages: B+
People Like Us: B
Safe House: B
Dark Shadows: B
Men in Black 3: B-
The Vow: B-
Friends with Kids: C+
This Means War: C
W.E.: C
21 Jump Street: C-
The Five Year Engagement: C-
John Carter: D

Film Festival Movies~

Gayby: A
The Skinny: B

Getting back to the independent films I loved so much earlier this year, all of them could factor into the year-end Awards races. Hotel is a surefire Golden Globe contender and The Intouchables should do well there and likely at the Oscars. Of the three however, Beasts of the Southern Wild, may have the best Oscar odds. It’s a critic’s darling and it’s one of the most unique films I’ve ever seen. The picture follows a young six-year-old girl who must search for her mother after her father becomes ill on their isolated bayou island home. Beasts incorporates Spanish realism, big concepts and questions about the human spirit and what home and family mean alongside the story of a young girl forced to grow up and face the elements. Newcomer Quevenzhane Wallis is astounding as the girl, Hushpuppy, and her father is played by another novice, Dwight Henry in an equally wonderful debut. I highly recommend it. The movie which gets a limited release this weekend will expand over the summer. For more on the film which was a smash at Sundance and Cannes, head here and check out the trailer below…
Also watch for Beasts to contend in the following categories come Awards season~
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Dwight Henry)
Best Actress (Quevenzhane Wallis)
Best Screenplay
Best Score
Best Cinematography
Best Sound
Best Editing

Beasts of the Southern Wild trailer

The Hunger Games wins Big at a Boring MTV Movie Awards

I almost forgot the MTV Movie Awards were on tonight as I really don’t watch anything on MTV anymore. Add that to the fact that the show is always ridiculously predictable (hello, the winners are notified before hand) and it has become the annual Twilight awards for the past few years. Luckily these fan-voted awards mixed it up a bit giving the far superior film The Hunger Games several awards. However, the awful latest Twilight installment still won Best Movie and the most annoying and terrible actress on Earth Kristen Stewart was there to accept the award and make me want to jump off a cliff…. She was only one bad part of this boring and not particularly funny show hosted by a lazy Russell Brand… The two saviors were the preview of the awesome The Dark Knight Rises and the welcome presence of the always lovely, funny, and gracious Emma Stone who won the “Trailblazer” award… For all the deets on the show, head to MTV here and check out the winners below…

2012 MTV Movie Award Winners:

Movie of the Year

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1

Best Male Performance
Josh Hutcherson (as Peeta Mellark) – The Hunger Games

Best Female Performance
Jennifer Lawrence (as Katniss Everdeen) – The Hunger Games

Breakthrough Performance
Shailene Woodley (as Alex King) – The Descendants

Best On-Screen Transformation
Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games

Best Kiss
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1

Best Fight
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig – The Hunger Games

Best Cast
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Tom Felton)

Best On-Screen Dirt Bag
Jennifer Aniston – Horrible Bosses

Best Hero
Daniel Radcliffe (as Harry Potter) – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2

Best Music
“Party Rock Anthem” – LMFAO (21 Jump Street)

MTV Generation Award
Johnny Depp

MTV Trailblazer Award
Emma Stone

It’s Katniss vs. Kristin as The Hunger Games and Bridesmaids lead the MTV Movie Award Nominations

There was some serious girl power on display with yesterday’s announcement of this year’s contenders for the MTV Movie Awards. While the usual competitor Twilight entry is in the race again as Breaking Dawn got a nod for Best Movie, the shocker was that it only got 2 nods. Instead, the female centric movies The Hunger Games and Bridesmaids each towered over the competition with 8 nods while The Help grabbed 4 and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo grabbed 3. The other big nominee was the final Harry Potter film which landed in 6 races. Take a look at all the nominees below and I have to say MTV has picked a much better crop with these contenders than in most of the past decade. For more on the show which takes place on June 3 and to vote, head to MTV.com here.

2012 MTV Movie Award Nominees

Movie of the Year
“Bridesmaids”
“The Hunger Games”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″
“The Help”
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″

Best Male Performance
Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″
Ryan Gosling, “Drive”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “50/50″
Josh Hutcherson, “The Hunger Games”
Channing Tatum, “The Vow”

Best Female Performance
Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games”
Kristin Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
Emma Stone, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

Best Comedic Performance
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
Zach Galifianakis, “The Hangover Part II”
Jonah Hill, “21 Jump Street”
Oliver Cooper, “Project X”

Breakthrough Performance
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Liam Hemsworth, “The Hunger Games”
Elle Fanning, “Super 8″
Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants”

Best Cast
“Bridesmaids”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″
“The Hunger Games”
“21 Jump Street”
“The Help”

Best On-Screen Transformation
Elizabeth Banks, “The Hunger Games”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Johnny Depp, “21 Jump Street”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”
Colin Farrell, “Horrible Bosses”

Best Fight
Daniel Radcliffe vs. Ralph Fiennes, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig, “The Hunger Games”
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill vs. Kid Gang, “21 Jump Street”
Tom Hardy vs. Joel Edgerton, “Warrior”
Tom Cruise vs. Michelle Nyqvist, “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”

Best Kiss
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2″
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, “The Hunger Games”
Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, “The Vow”
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″

Best Gut-Wrenching Performance
“Bridesmaids” (Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McClendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper)
“The Help” (Bryce Dallas Howard)
“21 Jump Street” (Jonah Hill and Rob Riggle)
“Drive” (Ryan Gosling)
“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (Tom Cruise)

Best On-Screen Dirt Bag
Bryce Dallas Howard, “The Help”
Jon Hamm, “Bridesmaids”
Jennifer Aniston, “Horrible Bosses”
Colin Farrell, “Horrible Bosses”
Oliver Cooper, “Project X”

Best Music
“Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO (“21 Jump Street”)
“A Real Hero,” College with Electric Youth (“Drive”)
“The Devil Is in the Details,” Chemical Brothers (“Hanna”)
“Impossible,” Figurine (“Like Crazy”)
“Pursuit of Happiness,” Kid Cudi (Steve Aoki remix) (“Project X”)

“Think Like A Man” opens Big at the Box Office

Looks like moviegoers were finally hungry for something besides The Hunger Games, as the new ensemble comedy Think Like A Man opened way above expectations to hit the top of the box office. Man took in $33 million almost tripling its production budget. The film starring Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Megan Good, Regina Hall, Michael Ealy, Romany Malco, Gabrielle Union and Steve Harvey based on his book of the same name hit its target of African-American audiences but looks like it may be able to crossover with numbers like that…. One other movie was lucky enough to beat out the Games at the turnstiles too as Zac Efron’s new romance The Lucky One opened well with $22.8 million on par with most of the film adaptations of Nicholas Sparks’ books…. The final new entry, Disney’s documentary Chimpanzee also fared well taking in over $10 million for fourth place. Those are all good signs for the business as it gets ready for the start of the summer season in two weeks. For more on this weekend’s numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Think Like a Man SGem $33,000,000 – 2,015 – $16,377 $33,000,000 $12 1
2 N The Lucky One WB $22,805,000 – 3,155 – $7,228 $22,805,000 – 1
3 1 The Hunger Games LGF $14,500,000 -31.3% 3,752 -164 $3,865 $356,900,000 $78 5
4 N Chimpanzee BV $10,205,000 – 1,563 – $6,529 $10,205,000 – 1
5 2 The Three Stooges Fox $9,200,000 -45.9% 3,482 +5 $2,642 $29,355,000 $30 2
6 3 The Cabin in the Woods LGF $7,750,000 -47.4% 2,811 – $2,757 $26,980,000 – 2
7 5 American Reunion Uni. $5,200,000 -50.4% 3,033 -170 $1,714 $48,300,000 $50 3
8 4 Titanic 3D Par. $5,000,000 -58.1% 2,515 -182 $1,988 $52,828,000 $18 3
9 8 21 Jump Street Sony $4,600,000 -29.9% 2,427 -308 $1,895 $127,066,000 $42 6
10 7 Mirror Mirror Rela. $4,114,000 -39.9% 2,938 -268 $1,400 $55,206,000 $85 4

Slapstick Stooges and Horror Houses can’t stop Audiences Hunger for “The Hunger Games”

Three new films attempted to take out the first massive blockbuster of 2012, The Hunger Games, but they were no match for that juggernaut. Games landed in first for the 4th week in a row pulling in $21.5 million for a giant total of $337 million. Faring best of the newbies was the latest comedy from The Farrelly Brothers, The Three Stooges update starring Chris Diamantopoulus, Will Sasso and Emmy winner Sean Hayes which took in a decent $ 17 million. That beat out the long on the shelf horror film The Cabin in the Woods which terrorized to the tune of $ 14.8 million. The final film attempting a Hunger coup was the sci-fi action film Lockout starring Guy Pearce which tanked out of the gate with just $6.2 million. We’ll see if anyone can stop the Games next week, but for now take a look at the new top ten below. And for more on these numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 1 The Hunger Games LGF $21,500,000 -35.1% 3,916 -221 $5,490 $337,070,000 $78 4
2 N The Three Stooges Fox $17,100,000 – 3,477 – $4,918 $17,100,000 $30 1
3 N The Cabin in the Woods LGF $14,850,000 – 2,811 – $5,283 $14,850,000 – 1
4 3 Titanic 3D Par. $11,625,000 -32.7% 2,697 +23 $4,310 $44,419,000 $18 2
5 2 American Reunion Uni. $10,700,000 -50.3% 3,203 +11 $3,341 $39,900,000 $50 2
6 5 Mirror Mirror Rela. $7,000,000 -36.9% 3,206 -412 $2,183 $49,468,000 $85 3
7 4 Wrath of the Titans WB $6,905,000 -53.1% 3,102 -443 $2,226 $71,251,000 $150 3
8 6 21 Jump Street Sony $6,800,000 -32.0% 2,735 -274 $2,486 $120,565,000 $42 5
9 N Lockout FD $6,250,000 – 2,308 – $2,708 $6,250,000 $20 1
10 7 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Uni. $3,020,000 -40.0% 2,112 -891 $1,430 $204,483,000 $70 7

The Hunger Games Sinks the Titanic and takes a bit out of American Pie

Two big new movies were hoping to end The Hunger Games stranglehold on the top of the box office, but to no avail. The blockbuster Games easily scored a third week on top with $33.5 million for a gargantuan total of $302 million. While audiences still have the hunger for Hunger, a few did want some desert as the fourth theatrical film (and eighth overall) in the American Pie series, American Reunion, opened to a passable $21.5 million. While that’s an ok number, it’s not likely to lead to a new rush of films for this franchise. It was enough to push Titanic 3D underwater a bit as the re-issue took in $17 million for a total of $25 million since its debut on Wednesday. That’s not to bad considering everyone on Earth has probably already seen it a cajillion times…. With Sunday being Easter, the numbers could change a little, so head to Box Office Mojo tomorrow for the final tallies and take a look at the new top ten below.

LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 1 The Hunger Games LGF $33,500,000 -42.8% 4,137 – $8,098 $302,839,000 $78 3
2 N American Reunion Uni. $21,500,000 – 3,192 – $6,736 $21,500,000 $50 1
3 N Titanic 3D Par. $17,350,000 – 2,674 – $6,488 $25,710,000 $18 1
4 2 Wrath of the Titans WB $15,010,000 -55.1% 3,545 – $4,234 $58,899,000 $150 2
5 3 Mirror Mirror Rela. $11,000,000 -39.3% 3,618 +15 $3,040 $36,473,000 $85 2
6 4 21 Jump Street Sony $10,200,000 -31.2% 3,009 -139 $3,390 $109,577,000 $42 4
7 5 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Uni. $5,000,000 -35.8% 3,003 -261 $1,665 $198,200,000 $70 6
8 7 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen CBS $975,000 -23.4% 524 +41 $1,861 $4,639,000 – 5
9 6 John Carter BV $820,000 -59.6% 1,015 -1,382 $808 $67,973,000 $250 5
10 12 Safe House Uni. $581,000 -25.5% 482 -247 $1,205 $124,751,000 $85 9

The Hunger Games are Too Much for the Titans and Julia at the Box Office

2012′s first massive smash film The Hunger Games rolled over the new competition taking in another $61 million for a huge two-week take of $251 million for the new franchise. It’s likely to hold up well throughout April til the summer blockbusters hit us the first week of May. This week Games took on the dreadful action sequel Wrath of the Titans and the family-centric comic take on the Snow White tale, Mirror Mirror starring Julia Roberts as the evil queen. Both opened decently, but will have a tough time making back their big production budgets. Titans took in $34 million which was about half of what its predecessor, Clash of the Titans, opened with while Mirror made off with just $19 million… Better news came for the romantic drama Salmon Fishing in the Yemen starring Ewan MacGregor and Emily Blunt which flew into the top ten in only 483 theaters and the new anti-bullying documentary Bully which had a massive $23,000 per screen average in limited release on 5 screens. (I highly recommend the latter film by the way)… For more on all the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and take a look at the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #

1 1 The Hunger Games LGF $61,100,000 -59.9% 4,137 – $14,769 $251,033,000 $78 2
2 N Wrath of the Titans WB $34,200,000 – 3,545 – $9,647 $34,200,000 $150 1
3 N Mirror Mirror Rela. $19,000,000 – 3,603 – $5,273 $19,000,000 $85 1
4 2 21 Jump Street Sony $15,000,000 -26.7% 3,148 +27 $4,765 $93,100,000 $42 3
5 3 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Uni. $8,000,000 -39.3% 3,264 -413 $2,451 $189,600,000 $70 5
6 4 John Carter BV $2,005,000 -60.5% 2,397 -815 $836 $66,210,000 $250 4
7 16 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen CBS $1,274,000 +81.3% 483 +359 $2,638 $3,171,000 – 4
8 5 Act of Valor Rela. $1,006,000 -50.7% 1,239 -977 $812 $67,750,000 $12 6
9 6 A Thousand Words P/DW $915,000 -53.1% 1,007 -780 $909 $16,520,000 $40 4
10 10 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island WB $835,000 -38.5% 908 -432 $920 $98,480,000 $79 8

Pitbull v. Huey Lewis~ “Back in Time”

Are movie soundtracks about to have a rebirth? Over the past few years, hit soundtracks have been few and far between unless it was a from a film musical (like Mamma Mia) or the tween crap Twilight saga. However, the current # 1 album in the country is The Hunger Games soundtrack and this spring and summer, there are a lot of big movie music collections coming at you like Think Like a Man,  Sparkle, Rock of Ages, and MIB 3. The latter film is the third action packed movie in the Men In Black trilogy starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. This new film has them going back in time to the sixties and, fittingly, the theme song for MIB 3 is entitled “Back in Time” by Pitbull. This Latin infused dance track also features a sample from another hit movie song, the 60′s hit “Love is Strange” by Micky & Sylvia which gained legions of new fans when it appeared in Dirty Dancing…. Now, the title “Back in Time” may be familiar to a lot of 80′s movie fans as it was the title of the Huey Lewis & the News hit song from 1985′s Back to the Future…. So now I pose this question to you~ which song really makes you want to go “Back in Time”? For me, Huey Lewis wins by a mile. What about you? Take a listen to both below and let me know in the comments section and watch for MIB3 to hit cinemas on May 25th.

“Back in Time”- Pitbull

“Back in Time”- Huey Lewis & the News