OK, OK. I'm kidding, it's not Shrykespeare, it's me, Mr. Informative. (Had you April Fool-ed, didn't I? Bwahaha ... ) The latest Tip of the Week follows a format we've all seen before, but I've tweaked my subject matter a bit to account for seasonal whimsy. Instead of a weekend-by-weekend breakdown of April's Studs and Duds, we'll call it a listing of, um, April's Jewels and Fools. (And Wild Cards, too. Can't forget those!) Let's get crackin'!

April 4-6

Jewel: Leatherheads — If nothing else, 2008 has been proof that a good marketing campaign can make all the difference in a film's success. Jumper, Vantage Point, and even the recent 21 have all benefitted from a saturation of ads and a relatively weak field of competition. Leatherheads falls into the same boat, having to deal only with the dump horror film The Ruins (more on that later) and the iffy prospects of another 20th Century Fox/Walden Media collaboration, Nim's Island. Like Vantage Point (and, to an extent, 21), Leatherheads was pushed back from an earlier release date (December of last year, where it would have opened against The Golden Compass). Although that often spells trouble, I don't think trouble will be had in this case. Ads have been everywhere for a good few weeks now, whether online or on TV, so awareness numbers have to be pretty high. Also, consider the drawing power that director and star George Clooney has, and the fact that Universal appears to have lined up more than 2,700 theaters for this baby, and the performance of Leatherheads should be about as good as you can expect from the generally sparse offerings of April.

Fool: The Ruins — Strike one: Yes, Shutter exceeded expectations, but there's just no way two horror films in a row can accomplish that. Strike two: It comes out in April. Early April, admittedly, but still a graveyard of sorts, where second- or third-tier studio offerings go to die. Paramount has liberally shuffled around the rest of their upcoming lineup. Why not push this one back to, say, August or September? Halloween made a respectable amount of money then, although that was, in all fairness, largely due to the fact that it fell into the canon of an established franchise. Strike three, ring 'em up, manager comes out to argue and ends up getting tossed: An R rating. Honestly, this smells a lot like the disappointment of Turistas ($7 million total). The Ruins may make slightly more money by virtue of a higher theater count, but R-rated horror is an iffy proposition. This will be no exception; only take it if you want your slate to be, ahem, Ruin-ed.

Wild Card: Shine a Light — Combine The Rolling Stones and Martin Scorsese, and you've got a possibly very potent PTA machine on your hands. This slips to wild card status, however, because of the theater count. Paramount Vantage plans to roll it out to around 250 theaters this weekend, which, as I discussed in last week's installment of Tip of the Week, seems like an in-between number: too high to earn blistering PTA numbers, but then also too low to make much of a dent at the box office. We can hold out hope, especially given that Under the Same Moon recently grabbed 5 PTA points two weekends ago despite playing at 266 locations, but there are also three other PTA hopefuls with which Shine a Light will compete: The Flight of the Red Balloon, Meet Bill and My Blueberry Nights, each of which has been booked at fewer than 40 locations, in some cases fewer than 10. Thus, a PTA championship for Shine a Light would probably be a little far-fetched. Crazier things have happened though — like Mick Jagger's still being considered a major league sex symbol at 64. Dig in, ladies!

April 9-13

Jewel: Smart People — And boy, does it pain me to say that, though only because of my severe disdain for Sarah Jessica Parker. I thought about putting The Visitor here, but Overture Films doesn't exactly instill a sense of confidence in me. Miramax, on the other hand, could have a small hit on their hands with Smart People. It's not the cheapest pick you could make, but it could end up making a small-but-noteworthy contribution in every category. And, if nothing else, it's more of a sure thing than any other April 11 release. I think Miramax will handle this one somewhat like they did Gone Baby Gone — which opened at around 1,700 theaters, made $6 million on opening weekend and went on to make $20 million total. That one never graced the Top 5, but Smart People has fewer (and weaker) competitors, so I daresay it might pick up a Top 5 point or two. PTA prospects are probably minimal if it opens that wide, but if Miramax takes a "small first, expand later" approach, like with their Oscar-season prestige films, PTA could come pouring in. The IMDb score for Smart People sits at 7.5 with over 300 votes right now, so that shouldn't change too much, and it also has as a wild card the newfound fame of Ellen Page. It's not something you can't win without, but it could be a smart gamble.

Fool: Young@Heart — Mostly because of the price tag. I don't care how endearing it looks, or how much fun it woud be to hear classic rock hits sung by old folks, or how much buzz there is, or that it's handled by Fox Searchlight, peeps who usually know what they're doing when it comes to indie films like this. (Juno, Little Miss Sunshine and Thank You For Smoking are other good examples.) $20 is not worth the CHANCE that it'll earn some PTA points. Fantasy Moguls predicts seven, but it may not even get five, and its box office prospects aren't terribly great either. Even though Wall-E ($21) only has one eligible weekend in the upcoming season, you'd almost certainly be better off going with that film. It could earn five PTA points, AND it will make you a ton more money AND it's pretty much guaranteed of grabbing five Top 5 points. It's just a much safer play. Young@Heart also won't live up to the 8.9 IMDb score that Fantasy Moguls projects —  it's currently at 7.1. Not very many votes have been cast, but I don't see it going up almost a full two points on the scale once it's released. Take Young@Heart if you're a risk taker at heart, but then don't have a, ah, Heart attack when it fails.

Wild Card: Prom Night — If Zac Efron had been cast in it, then whoa, look out, the screaming of teenage girls would never stop. First out of fear, then squeals of joy and delight. Yuck. This movie has been put on the shelf and pushed back so many times that I'd almost swear all the fuss over 22-year-old Brittany Snow unauthentically playing a high school senior is unfounded — it's been "coming soon" for so long that it almost had to be filmed while she was still 18, eh? That's an exaggeration, but the decision to edit this down to a PG-13 was probably a good one, business-wise. It'll make more money that way, because those darn PG-13 frightfests, no matter how crappy they look, always fare pretty well for themselves, all due to the more audience-friendly rating. Of course, the "gimmick" of putting it out right as prom season gets underway for high schools around the country could have a positive effect on business as well. (Riddle me this, though, because that line of the trailer gets me every time: if there's ONE GUY in the hotel, and he locked all the exits, they couldn't just ... get the employees of the hotel to unlock the exits while the assailant was busy chasing whomever? Plot holes, I tell ya.) It'll succeed for all those reasons, but failure could stem from the fact it's been pushed back so many times, or the fact that it's under Sony's Screen Gems label, notorious in my book for their stink bombs of movies, or the possibility that we can't have too many PG-13 horror film overachievers in quick succession. The IMDb score probably won't be much better than 5.0 either, but I suppose you could do a lot worse.

April 18-20

Jewel: Forgetting Sarah Marshall — Even if it only does Drillbit Taylor numbers, that's worth it for $2. It'll grab a couple Top 5 points before Iron Man arrives to crush everything, a decent amount of box office revenue (that $15 million projection is a little low, in my opinion), a serviceable IMDb score. All you need from a $2 pick is for it not to hurt you, and Sarah Marshall will certainly accomplish that. (Unless, of course, we're talking about the character in the film, in which case I gather that, yes, she can be quite hurtful. But oh, revenge is brutal; check out the IHateSarahMarshall viral blog that Universal has put together.) I think Sarah Marshall should capture the top spot on its opening weekend. Depending on whether it really catches on, it might stick around at No. 1 for two weeks or more. (It's certainly at least possible, given April's usual distinct lack of mega-hits; Disturbia accomplished that feat last year.) Such a low price tag for such high potential: definitely jump on this bandwagon.

Fool: Pathology — First it was scheduled for the abyss known as the weekend after Thanksgiving. Then it was moved to February, another dead time for movies. And finally, the kiss of death: pushed back AGAIN to April, thrown under the bus just two weeks before the start of summer, and scaled back to a limited release to boot. Even $3 is far too hefty a price; for that amount of money, you could take Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Deception. Heck, even The Strangers would probably be a better choice. If you're thinking, "Oh, limited release, that means PTA possibility," think again: Morgan Spurlock will likely be the PTA king that weekend with Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? Maybe those who love watching CSI, Law & Order and all the other crime shows on TV, would've been interested in seeing Pathology — in which medical students attempt to commit the perfect, undetectable murder —  but it's been jerked around the release schedule for so long now that it's just stagnant. The distributor (MGM; not the first time they've played musical chairs with their movies' release dates) probably figured, "Eh, what the heck, why not just finally throw it out? Now's as good a time as ever."

Wild Card: 88 Minutes — Overture Films hasn't entirely convinced me that they know what they're doing (for proof, see Mad Money), but I'd say Al Pacino is a better person to hedge your bets on than the three-headed monster of Katie Holmes, Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah. Keep in mind, too, that thrillers can work in April. Last year, Disturbia was the surprise hit and Fracture also performed respectably. Even though it's been done before, I like the real-time countdown aspect of 88 Minutes (although that is a bit short — why not 108 Minutes, or even 128 Minutes?). Also maybe all the fans of 24 who've been pining for that show this year because of the writer's strike can get their ticking-clock fix from this movie. Al Pacino is no Jack Bauer, but he's certainly impressive enough in his own right. 88 Minutes won't make you a boatload of money, but maybe a cool $10 million opening (Fracture opened with $11 million) and a few Top 5 points are in store. Just don't be surprised if the somewhat recycled premise and rookie distributor cause the movie to fall on its face.

April 25-27

Jewel: Deception — I've been hot on the trail of this film for a while now. And yes, I do realize that it comes out on the last weekend before the summer movie season starts, a traditional "dump" weekend, and that it's gone through multiple title changes. Considering the placement on the release schedule, I'll admit, a stud on the last weekend in April pretty much nets you a pyrrhic victory. It's fine for that one week, but isn't so studly once it gets steamrolled by the summer blockbusters. Still, the cheap price tag in both Ultimate and Box Office leagues makes this a very intriguing pickup. It's certainly not lacking for star power, boasting Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman (as well as Michelle Williams and Maggie Q), and it falls in line with the theory that movies aimed toward adult audiences do well at the end of April. Perhaps the older crowd hopes to get out and see one last good film before the megaplexes are teeming with hordes of comic book geeks and children. Deception should crack the Top 5 on its opening weekend, and even if it doesn't stay there for more than one weekend, those few points are a great contribution from a $2 Ultimate pick, and you'll still get the rest of the revenue from the theatrical run. Besides, if you pick both this and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, that'll leave you a lot of room to put some other enticing summer blockbusters on your slate.

Fool: Deal — Not since 2005 has Burt Reynolds made anything worthwhile. (He gave us a two-fer that year, sort of, by appearing in The Longest Yard and The Dukes of Hazzard. I use the term "worthwhile" advisedly in both cases.) This year, he's already graced us with his presence in In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, and his poker film Deal looks like it will fold right out of the gate. Again, you should be wary because the movie is being distributed by MGM. I wouldn't be surprised if they yank it off the April date and push it to August, or October, or even just pull it with the new date TBA. Apparently a multitude of "big name" poker professionals make cameos, but if you like watching poker on TV, do you really want to go watch this movie just to see them? Wouldn't you rather just watch reruns (or even new tournaments) on cable? Even if the film isn't bad, it suffers from a case of placement and timing; it comes out after 21 and The Grand, so moviegoers might be all gambled out. And it's not the strongest of connections to make, but one of the last poker movies to come out was Lucky You. You don't need me to tell you that the performance of that film was anything but lucky.

Wild Card: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo — The first Harold and Kumar film wasn't anything special, nor did it make a whole lot of money. It made enough, however, or at least developed enough of a following, to spawn a sequel. While I at first thought that making the sequel was a terrible idea, the trailers have done enough to convince me that maybe I wouldn't have to be high to find it funny. The Daily Show vets Rob Corddry and Ed Helms lend it some credibility, perhaps, and at least there's a plot beyond the fellas trying to get to a fast food restaurant because they have the munchies. This installment deals with a lot less fearsome competition than Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, so it stands to make more money. Some think it might even take the top spot on its opening weekend. I still won't go that far, but a few Top 5 points and (if the last movie is any indication) a decent IMDb score are probably in order. Just don't expect anything more than that.

And there you have it! Here's hoping this list will be of great help to you as April leagues kick off this week. Until next time, good luck!

Mister Informative's little joke at the start of the column would have been funnier if this Tip of the Week had been published on April 1 as originally scheduled. And also if you could see him do his Samuel L. Jackson face. You can blame the first part on his editor. You'll just have to take our word for it about the Samuel L. face, though. Tell him about your own funny faces at misterinformative@gmail.com.