With fast cars, fairy tale characters, there’s something for everyone

Sometimes it’s hard to predict what film will top the weekend box office. But as the summer movie season heats up, it gets easier and easier. When the last four films in a franchise have made tons of money, for example, it’s a sure bet the fifth will, too. It’s not going out on a limb for me to predict that “Fast Five,” the latest in the street-racing franchise “The Fast and the Furious,” will make the most millions this weekend. Sequels are almost invariably worse than the original, but “Fast Five” is as exciting as a trip around the track in a souped-up Mustang. It’s a little too “Ocean’s Eleven,” with its revenge-heist plot and varied crew whose members can’t stop ribbing one another. But since the sequels to those George Clooney films were so disappointing, an “Ocean’s Eleven” with fast cars is pretty appealing.

“Fast Five” is rated PG-13, yet there’s something for the whole family — muscled guys, beautiful women and cool cars. But if you’re looking for something for the younger crowd, you’ll want to check out “Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil.” This 3-D animated film, itself a sequel to the 2006 film, features the voice of Hayden Panettiere as a version of Red Riding Hood, Patrick Warburton as the wolf, and Glenn Close as Granny. Oh, there’s something here for the grown-ups, too, as least those of a certain age — Cheech and Chong also make voice appearances. “Prom” is also aimed at a young audience. The Disney film is getting much poorer reviews than its “High School Musical” series, though.

There’s some good art house fare this weekend, for those looking for something a little deeper. “The Princess of Montpensier” is a gorgeous but dark French flick set in the 16th century wars between the Catholics and the Huguenots. While the men face bloody battles, women have another sort of brutality to endure, as they’re used as pawns for the aristocracy to boost its fortunes. “The Human Resources Manager” won best picture at the Israeli version of the Oscars, along with another four statues. This moving exploration of life and death follows the put-upon man of the title, as he tries to lay to rest the victim of a suicide bombing whom he employed but never bothered to know. “Le Quattro Volte” is a documentary with comparisons to the stunning “Into Great Silence” in how it almost wordlessly makes us understand a life so foreign to our own. This time, it’s an old goat herder in a small village in Calabria, Italy.

And it wouldn’t be a proper week in Hollywood without at least one film released without the benefit of critics’ screenings. This time, it’s “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night,” a horror film based on an Italian comic book series about a detective specializing in the paranormal — vampires, zombies and the like.

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