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Presumably all other movie studios are afraid of a fight, because there is only one movie with a wide opening this weekend, from box office powerhouse Marvel. Limited releases offer a bit more variety, thankfully, because your at-home options are lacking.
In Theaters
Welp, if you were looking for a bit of choice in your movie selection this weekend, you're S.O.L. because there is precisely one movie opening wide Friday, and everyone in the world is going to see it: Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
The Cap'n sequel is the latest in Marvel's "Phase Two" series of films, sandwiched between the second Thor and the next Avengers movie (there's Guardians of the Galaxy in there too, but it seems only tangential to the rest), and promises to be yet another superhero-fueled romp in the studio's money making streak. Everyone is familiar with the Marvel brand by now, and so you might think The Winer Soldier isn't likely to bring any new converts to the comic book movie phenomenon, but as The Wire's David Sims writes, the movie seems to operate as more than just "a cog in a larger machine. Someone with very little knowledge of the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' could sit down and enjoy what is a largely rollicking action thriller without feeling too lost." Early reviews have been positive, and if you ignore the superhero-y stuff, The Winer Soldier could be an old fashioned government espionage thriller. So if you're brining along a superhero skeptic, or you yourself are one being dragged to the theater this weekend, the movie has a broader appeal than just setting up next summer's blockbusters. There are certainly worse movies to be forced into seeing. Captain America would be our official recommendation for this weekend, if any of us had any choice.