Your choice of new movies this weekend can be based on your mood, as sci-fi action and a comedy are offered alongside smaller, films which explore themes of family tragedy and the life and loves of a young artist.

The most anticipated and buzzed about movie opening this weekend is undoubtedly Star Trek. J.J. Abrams (Felicity, Lost) directs and produces the film, which, like last weekend’s big winner, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is a prequel of a popular film franchise. The film, which is the eleventh installment in the Star Trek series, revisits the franchise’s original characters with young up-and-coming stars filling the now iconic roles. Star Trek explores the back stories of Captain James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine (The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Just My Luck) and Spock, portrayed by Zachary Quinto (Heroes), before they meet aboard the USS Enterprise and become one of the best-known duos in science-fiction history. Abrams has a loyal following and the special effects used in the film, which also opens in IMAX, have been much-hyped, but many critics have worried about the response from die-hard Trekkies. The film’s creators, however, have assured movie-goers that this origins story is one which will appeal to the most devoted of fans and those who have never seen a Star Trek film or any of the television series. For a second opinion, read See It or Skip It on Gossip Sauce.

This weekend’s other wide release is the comedy Next Day Air. The film follows buddies Brody, played by Mike Epps (Resident Evil: Extinction, Soul Men), and Guch, portrayed by Wood Harris (Not Easily Broken, Southland Tales), who accidentally receive a package containing 10 kilos of cocaine intended for their neighbors. As they go about trying to sell the drugs, the neighbors realize the package is missing and try to recover it before their drug-dealing boss finds out its gone. While the premise may not appeal to everyone, Next Day Air injects some much-needed comedy into a weekend schedule which is otherwise dominated by more serious fare.

Speaking of serious fare, the indie film Adoration also opens this weekend. The story follows Simon, an orphaned boy, played by Devon Bostick (Degrassi: The Next Generation, Citizen Duane), who is living with his uncle, played by Scott Speedman (Felicity, Underworld). When Simon is asked by his French teacher to translate a news story about a terrorist plot, he writes himself and his parents, who died in a car crash when he was young, into the story and publishes it online. The movie then follows the different reactions online readers have to the article and Simon’s own attempts at dealing with his family’s tragedy, thereby simultaneously addressing themes of life in the digital age and how one learns to reconcile his or her past and present life. Adoration is directed by Canadian film maker Atom Egoyan who is well-known for tackling heavy issues in his critically-acclaimed independent films. For more about the making of this film, be sure to check out our Inside Indiewood interview with Speedman.

This weekend’s final offering features a blockbuster star in a small, complex role. Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson stars in Little Ashes, a film about the young life of famed surrealist painter Salvador Dali. The film follows Dali as he attends university in Spain in the 1920s and falls in love with the poet Federico García Lorca, played by newcomer Javier Beltran, much to the chagrin of aspiring filmmaker Luis Buñuel, portrayed by Matthew McNulty (Control, Mark of Cain), who becomes jealous of his mutual friends’ relationship. Teenage fans of the Twilight series expecting to find the Pattinson they love as Edward Cullen will be surprised to see the actor in a role which has him playing a temperamental artist and performing in same-sex love scenes, but those who enjoy Dali’s art will most likely appreciate this glimpse into the youth of one of the history’s most intriguing painters.

—John Bavoso