The weekend warriors for November 30, 2012 includes Killing Them Softly and a limited release, The Collection. Box Office Battlefield is a recurring rundown of all the movie releases for the weekend. Every week, movie studios select candidates to enter the glorious battlefield for your hard earned dollars, but not everyone can afford to see each one. Box Office Battlefield is here to help you decide which movie(s) will take priority over the others.

Last Thanksgiving weekend, Breaking Dawn Part 2 was able to hold off Skyfallagain, while Lincoln’s box office ticket sales increased 22% raking in $25 million. None of the films released last weekend (Life of Pi, Rise of the Guardians, and Red Dawn) were capable of penetrating the top 3 spots.

Will Brad Pitt, with his vampire slaying history, be able to take a stake into the box office and dethrone the sparkly tween heartthrobs? Or will a small limited release horror sequel, three years after the first movie, be able to scare audiences back into the theaters this weekend? This is the Box Office Battlefield:

Killing Them Softly (Rated: R) – Directed by Andrew Dominik. Starring Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, and Scoot McNairy

Synopsis: Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.

I think a few people got bored and needed a paycheck. The Director, Andrew Dominik, has not done a movie since 2007 with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which also starred Brad Pitt. We’ve also got Ray Liotta, and both actors look like they are sleepwalking in the trailer. The premise sounds fine, but the film looks bland and uninteresting. I don’t feel like Killing them Softly has a personality for it to stand out from typical modern mob movies. RENT IT!

The Collection [Limited Release] (Rated: R) – Directed by Marcus Dunstan. Starring Josh Stewart, Emma Fitzpatrick, Christopher McDonald, and Randall Archer

Synopsis: A man who escapes from the vicious grips of the serial killer known as “The Collector” is blackmailed to rescue an innocent girl from the killer’s booby-trapped warehouse.

For anyone who loves the torture porn subgenre of horror, this sequel to 2009’s The Collector might be right up your alley. The first movie had some interesting ideas, traps (writers from the Saw franchise), and fun kills. But other than that, the film had little depth that it wanted to explore. The Collection won’t expand the mythology to make it the next big franchise, but as most horror franchises go, the bar has been raised from a house of horrors to a warehouse of terror. NETFLIX IT!

Make the most out of your weekend’s dollar and go see Wreck-it Ralph, Skyfall, Lincoln, or Life of Pi while you still can. If limited releases are what you seek, try and find Hitchcock as soon as possible – Anthony Hopkins is incredible as Alfred Hitchcock.

Movie synopses courtesy of IMDb.com

Box Office Battlefield is an ongoing column providing analysis of whether you should see, rent, or pass on movies that are about to release. All of my opinions are based on what I have or have not seen from previews, various marketing materials, or have heard via word of mouth.