These days romantic comedies have to be “not your normal romantic comedy” to be interesting at all. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Judd Apatow’s efforts, etc. may follow the same inherent structure of a Katherine Heigl or Kate Hudson film, but it’s the difference between a gourmet burger and McDonalds. And with those Heigl and Hudson efforts, the end result is usually the same, an hour and forty five minutes or so of high concept ridiculousness. Anna Faris has been smart about her work, but What’s Your Number? is a by-the-numbers rom-com. It’s also not very good, but it’s hard to get worked up over such blandness. Chris Evans and a host of supporting comics co-star in this tepid affair. Our review of What’s Your Number? on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Every year, I wonder why I feel the need to call out five films that were the worst of the worst.  No studio exec is going to read this article think, “Matt Goldberg, that voice of sage wisdom, has spoken, and now we must cease production on all of our banal romantic comedies.”  But I make myself sit through a lot of junk every year because I have the idiotic policy of finishing every movie I start.  And these movies were not only a trial, but they managed to waste a potentially good aspect and be shockingly offensive at the same time.  Don’t look for The Zookeeper or Jack and Jill on this list; I prefer not to shove toxic waste into my eye sockets.  The five movies on this list had at least one enticing aspect: the talent involved, the premise, the success of previous entries in the franchise.  And then that lure brought me into a grueling slog where my only solace was knowing the film’s running time and having a wristwatch.  These films punched me for no reason.  This is me hitting back with good cause.

Hit the jump to check out my picks for the worst five films of 2011.

With three new releases plus three strong holdovers, this weekend turned out to be one of the most difficult to predict in terms of box office numbers.  In the end, it was the week-old Dolphin Tale that emerged victorious: leaping over Friday’s champ Moneyball, the still-ferocious Lion King 3D and the critically-acclaimed newcomer 50/50.

Moneyball won the pot on its second Friday with an estimated $3.9 million, though there is a good chance that either of September’s family hits, Dolphin Tale or The Lion King 3D will end up the weekend winner.  With Friday numbers, I usually like to give some indication of what Sunday’s top ten will look like but, today, I’m not sure that will be possible.  On top of the very close estimates between the holdover titles, there are four new releases in the mix: three of which are running well below their pre-release projections.  So far, What’s Your Number? is lagging 85% behind Anna Farris’ last comedy hit The House Bunny.  50/50 is doing half the business of 2009’s cancer comedy Funny People and the Universal thriller Dream House looks like a winner by sticking to its projected three-day opening of $8 million!  That leaves Courageous.  Haven’t heard of it?  The Christian drama has come out strong, with a debut of $3.1 million and a projected weekend that should nearly double its studio’s expectations of $5 million.  Details tomorrow.

In the raunchy comedy What’s Your Number?, Ally Darling (Anna Faris) has a bit of a crisis moment, when she reads a magazine article warning that people who have had 20 or more relationships have missed their chance at true love. At a point in her life when she doesn’t have the husband, job or life she thought she’d have, she sets out on a quest to find the best ex on her list. Reconnecting with the colorful and sometimes bizarre assortment of lovers from her past, hoping that one of them will be marriage material, leads to some hilariously wacky moments, all of which she shares with her partner in crime, her neighbor Colin (Chris Evans).

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, writing partners Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden talked about what makes their collaboration work so well, sharing the same sense of humor about things, the desire to write an edgy female comedy, that the key to making raunchy acceptable for audiences is having likable characters you can invest in, and how they hope audiences will take away the message not to worry about your number, when they see the film. They also talked about the idea they’re currently developing for a TV show about an attempted comeback for an all-girl band from the ‘90s, and how they hope to direct in the future. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

I had nothing to do with the making of What’s Your Number? and yet I feel compelled to apologize to women everywhere for its existence.  The movie is the shameful philosophy of women’s magazines slapped onto the big screen as a moral lesson that feels painfully outdated in the 21st century or really anytime after 1960s.  It is a cruel, thoughtless picture that wants women to feel ashamed if they’ve slept with more than arbitrary number of men while casting no blame on guys who have racked up countless notches on their bedposts.  I can’t fathom why talented comic actors like Anna Faris and Chris Evans would decide to lead such a despicable picture, and not only are they wasted in this movie, only a handful of jokes get through.  But nothing can make up for the film’s awful subtext.

With director Mark Mylod’s (Ali G Indahouse, Entourage and United States of Tara) comedy What’s Your Number? hitting theaters soon, we’ve been provided with six clips. Starring Chris Evans, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Martin Freeman, Zachary Quinto and Andy Samberg, the pic centers on Ally (Faris), a woman who, for fear of ending up alone, embarks on a mission to deduce the best ex she has ever had.  Hit the jump to check out the clips.  What’s Your Number? opens on September 30th.

New images have gone online from the Hammer Films gothic-thriller The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radcliffe, and the insipid-looking romantic comedy What’s Your Number? starring Anna Faris and Chris Evans.  In The Woman in Black, Radcliffe plays a young lawyer who travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.  And they don’t teach you how to deal with that in law school.  As for What’s Your Number?, Faris plays a woman who thinks that because she’s slept with 20 different guys, she already passed by Mr. Right and so she has to revisit all of her exes with the help of her handsome neighbor (Evans).  The movie’s message is apparently “Women, if you sleep with a bunch of guys, then you have probably missed out on a committed relationship, you giant slut.”  If the movie was about a guy who had slept with 20 different women, there would be no movie because watching a dude get high-fives for 90 minutes has no narrative momentum.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The Woman in Black opens February 3, 2012.  What’s Your Number? opens September 30th.

New posters have been released for the Sundance films Buck, The Art of Getting By (formerly titled Homework), and The Ledge.  There’s also a new poster for the Anna Faris romantic comedy What’s Your Number?  Hit the jump to check out the posters along with a synopsis for each film and its release date.

An international trailer for the comedy What’s Your Number?.  Anna Faris stars as a woman  who realizes upon sleeping with her 20th guy that she may have missed Mr. Right along the way.  Chris Evans, Zachary Quinto, Matthew Bomer, Chris Pratt, Andy Samberg, Joel McHale, and Thomas Lennon had all been previously announced as being in the cast, but this new trailer shows that Martin Freeman (BBC’s Sherlock) and Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau) are also in the mix.  As for the trailer itself, it looks it could be a solid comic showcase for the talented Faris as long as the script doesn’t fall into too many rom-com cliches.

Mark Mylod (Entourage) directed the script by Jennifer Crittenden (The New Adventures of Old Christine) and Gabrielle Allan (Scrubs).  Hit the jump to check out the international trailer.  What’s Your Number? opens September 30.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

We’ve got some release date changes for you regarding a number of 20^th Century Fox properties courtesy of Box Office Mojo. First up, the Planet of the Apes reboot Rise of the Apes starring James Franco and Andy Serkis has been moved from a summer release in June to November 23^rd where it will take advantage of the holiday season (as well as give the visual effects teams more time to fine-tune said CGI’d apes). Andrew Niccol’s Now starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried has moved back a month from September 30^th to October 28^th.

The Jim Carrey starred family film Mr. Popper’s Penguins has also been moved up, from August 12^th to the prime summer date of June 17^th where it will square off against The Green Lantern and the Cameron Diaz/Justin Timberlake comedy Bad Teacher. The David Gordon Green-directed comedy The Sitter starring Jonah Hill moves from July 17^th to August 5^th. The Anna Faris/Chris Evans comedy What’s Your Number? moves from April 29^th to September 30^th, while Monte Carlo starring Leighton Meester and Selena Gomez moves from July 1^st to August 11^th.

In addition to the shuffles, Fox announced the release dates of the former Alien prequel Prometheus (March 9, 2012) and the bird watching comedy The Big Year starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson (October 14^th, 2011).

Last week I got to talk to Thomas Lennon during a break from shooting A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas 3D in Michigan.  We spoke on the phone for around 30 minutes and he gave me a great update on who he plays in the third Harold & Kumar movie and what the films about.  He also gave me a huge update on the part-scripted/part-improvised science fiction comedy pilot called Alabama that he’s getting ready to shoot with Ben Garant (which sounds very cool).

But before we got off the phone, we also talked about what’s up with the 3rd Night at the Museum movie, Cedar Rapids, Bad Teacher, What’s Your Number?, How to Survive a Robot Uprising, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what he said:

We have two pieces of casting news for you tonight.  First up, Deadline reports that Jeremy Irons has signed on to J.C. Chandor’s financial thriller Margin Call.  The story is about the lead-up to the financial collapse in fall 2008 and centers on eight individuals at a prominent investment bank during a tumultuous 24-hour period.  Irons is a great addition to an already impressive cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci and Mary McDonnell.

Hit the jump for news about Reno 911! star Thomas Lennon coming on board the comedies A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas and What’s Your Number?

Joel McHale has signed on to co-star in the Anna Faris comedy What’s Your Number? According to THR, McHale will play “Faris’ mildly charming boss, whom she accidentally sleeps with, causing her to begin a wild goose chase to find the one that got away.”  I think this could be huge miscasting.  I can’t imagine McHale as anyone who isn’t ridiculously charming.  I probably wouldn’t watch The Soup if he wasn’t the host and he’s part of the amazing cast that has helped to make Community one of the funniest shows on television.  The actor/host has also joined the cast of the Owen Wilson-Jack Black-Steve Martin comedy The Big Year, which we reported on yesterday.  McHale will play Martin’s boss (I guess McHale’s got a look that screams “management”?)

What’s Your Number? is based on the book by Karyn Bosnak.  Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan wrote the script and Mark Mylod will direct.  The cast also includes Chris Evans, Zachary Quinto, and Matt Bomer.  Shooting is set to begin at the end of the month.

Andy Samberg is attached and offer is out to Zachary Quinto to star in the upcoming R-rated Anna Faris comedy What’s Your Number? EW reports that the two would play a couple of Faris’ ex-boyfriends as she digs through her past to find true love.  The film is based on the book 20 Times a Lady and follows a woman (Faris) who realizes upon sleeping with her 20^th guy that she may have missed Mr. Right along the way.  Mmmm…I can already taste the conflict at the end of the second act.

Chris Evans is already attached to play her womanizing next door neighbor.  But fret not, Captain America fans.  Shooting is scheduled to begin in May, which leaves plenty of time for the already-buff Evans to practice his shield-throwing skills.