Welcome to The CoF Weekend Preview, here is a look at what’s opening this weekend for wide and limited releases.  Check back Monday for a new City Strip.  There are a lot of great movies coming out this year, so we all picked Our Top 5 Movies To See In 2012 and listed other notable releases for you.

The Woman in Black – RT (64%) – Trailer

Daniel Radcliffe is in a movie that isn’t Harry Potter, it’s about time.  Of course this means that people will be looking at the box office take and comparing it to the Potter franchise openings, as if they are even in the same league.  Poor guy has a lot of that ahead of him.  The movie itself looks like a sound effects jump-a-thon, doesn’t interest me but fill your boots in your into that.  If you liked The Others, there is a good chance you will like this.

Chronicle – RT (85%) – Trailer

This movie is making heads turn due to the decent story and fresh new faces showing off their acting chops.  Great reviews aside, the found footage genre seems tired to me, but if this can rejuvenate it to something worth watching I’m all for it.  Also, I liked Misfits, so there’s a chance I’ll like this.  Having said that, there will most definitely be a TV series based on this in 3..2..

Big Miracle – RT (68%) – Trailer

Dolphin Tale was a big hit, so why not?  If you liked that movie, there is a good chance you will like the story of saving gray whales too.  If you’re looking for that heartwarming fuzzy feeling, Free Willy is probably on this weekend too.

OTHER:

Puppy Bowl VIII – (Sunday 3pm e/p Animal Planet, or check your local listings) – Some other game is on this weekend, but I can’t find any information about it.  The puppies featured in the Puppy Bowl are from shelters, and the show contains information on how viewers can adopt rescued puppies and help their local shelter.

Do you think they will die one by one?

In the new horror movie 7500, passengers aboard a flight to Japan are not alone, and by the looks of things in the image above, all very well groomed.  Directed by Takashi Shimizu, the director of The Grudge, 7500 hits theaters on August 31, 2012.

Watch the teaser trailer below to see the odd happenings on this plane.

During my annual viewing of Groundhog Day this year I actually noticed something new, this movie is so layered it scares me.

During the party scene, where Murray is wooing his way into bed with Andie MacDowell, he is approached by a newly married couple.  It’s Michael Shannon as Fred the groom; a much younger Shannon with a seldom seen smile on his mug.  God he loves Wrestlemania.  Watch:

I’ve heard from several reviews that there is more to this movie than what is presented here in the trailer.  They try and sell it as a supernatural thriller, but apparently there is more elementsto this movie. I guess we will find out when the movie opens March 2nd.  Watch the trailer below:

RED LIGHTS starts out from the experiences of two rationalist scientists who dissect phenomena from the metapsychic world, and the clash of forces with a world famous psychic they bring about. The past and the present of each the protagonists contain still unrevealed shadows, setting in train a dark story of growing tension, full of unexpected twists and turns.

The actual plot is as follows: Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) goes to Spain for a week long sailing vacation with his family but his whole world turns upside down when the family is kidnapped by intelligence agents hell-bent on recovering a mysterious briefcase and Will suddenly finds himself on the run.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, Cold Light of Day opens April 6th.

Yesterday we showed you the trailer for Mel Gibson’s latest Get the Gringo which he co-wrote and starred in.  Deadline also had a little news about the long talked about Viking epic Gibson has been planning for years.  The good news is that the movie is still alive.

[Gibson's] Icon label is developing an epic period Viking film that Gibson will direct, and which his Braveheart writer Randall Wallace has just turned in a second script draft. And Gibson and Joe Eszterhas are writing for Warner Bros an epic drama about Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee, who teamed with his father and four brothers to lead the Jewish revolt against the Greek-Syrian armies that had conquered Judea in the second century B.C. Gibson will likely direct that film as well, which is also being produced through Icon. [Deadline]

People are more focused on the Judah Maccabee film obviously as Mel Gibson has some people thinking he’s an anti-Semite.  But let’s put that all aside for one moment and remember how great Mel Gibson is behind the camera, especially when it comes to epics like Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto.  I want this movie to happen.

Leonardo DiCaprio was once attached to the Viking film, but who knows what’s going on now with casting options.  Stay tuned.

There’s something for everyone on HBO if you ask me.  Take a look at the latest trailers for two of their best shows, very different.  Get ready for an all new season of Eastbound & Down, premiering Sunday, February 19.  Game of Thrones begins season 2 on April 1st, and HBO has released the new season’s most explicit trailer to date.

Enjoy both below:

It’s Bond.. with stubble! I am not sure whether he just had a long night of sipping martinis and seducing women, or if it’s the new rugged look for our favorite British secret agent. Either way, he is holding his trademark Walter PPK which makes this photo awesome. All I can say is I am glad he is not sporting the gangly beard that Pierce Brosnan was rocking in the Madonna infused Die Another Day.

Photo courtesy of 007.com