The top two movies this week showed a huge disconnect between critical reviews and audience satisfaction.  Case in point, Hop. The Easter tale about an adorable rabbit who is the heir to the Easter Bunny empire was soundly denounced by most critics, earning a measly 24% on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, that didn’t scare audiences away from the film, which handily won the weekend box office, earning about $38.1 million.  Considering the fact that Easter is still several weeks away, and audiences loved the film (those polled by Cinemascore gave it an A-), this film could end up earning quite a bit of money. This is the second film from new studio Illumination Entertainment. They released Despicable Me in 2010.

The feat is also impressive because there is not a lot of star power behind the film, which is a mix of live action and animation.  James Marsden is not exactly a household name, and kids don’t know or care who Russell Brand is.

A big surprise to a lot of box office prognosticators was the under-performance of Source Code. Many of us thought it was a shoo-in for first place, particularly since it is one of the most well-reviewed films of the year. However, audiences didn’t agree, and gave the film a B on Cinemascore. When it was all said and done, Source Code made about $15.1 million, just under half the cost of its budget.

This may be the biggest year for the Academy Awards, as some major Hollywood players are going up against some fresh newcomers. Eyeballs everywhere will be glued to ABC on Sunday, February 27th at 8PM E/5PM P when the awards show goes live. But before that, we decided to do some picking of our own with the staff’s predictions for each award.

For a full list of the nominees, check out our previous article on the subject. Now, on to the predictions.

Best Picture

Shannon Hood-The Social Network. It had early and consistent momentum all year, and the Academy appears to be trying to shake up their stodgy image. This would be the perfect film to put their money where their mouth is.

Matt Raub – True Grit. Not only are the Coens a regular in the “I Have an Oscar” club, but this testament to classic western films is definitely one for record books, between its all-star cast and gritty (no pun intended) visual style, this one definitely deserves the golden statue.

Chris Ullrich – True Grit. Even though this was a pretty great year for movies and there are many excellent choices in this category, True Grit stands on its own as my pick. As an example of pure movie storytelling, this Coen Brothers masterpiece excels on every level and delivers a pure entertainment experience you will want to revisit many more times in the future.

Cortney Zamm – The Social Network. There’s a lot of great films in this category, some of them from my favorite directors and starring my favorite people. But the one that combined all of the essential elements of filmmaking into a truly gorgeous, compelling, and memorable film was The Social Network.

Possibly one of the most critically praised films of the year, and potentially a heavy hitter at this year’s Academy Awards, The King’s Speech has already made plenty of headlines as of late. Well you can add one more, as the film’s DVD and Blu-Ray details have been announced courtesy of a press release from Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Co.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company announced today the highly anticipated Blu-ray™ and DVD release of THE KING’S SPEECH, the first release under the two companies’ new agreement.  Heading to retail on April 19^th, 2011, THE KING’S SPEECH has dominated the nomination lists for the Oscars^®, Golden Globes^®, Critics Choice Awards and BAFTA awards, earning widespread critical acclaim and grossing over $73 million at the North American box office thus far.

Its 2011 honors to date include two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Colin Firth); the PGA Award for Outstanding Producer of a Theatrical Motion Picture; the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film (Tom Hooper); and the Golden Globe^® for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama (Colin Firth).

Despite some pretty scathing reviews, the exorcism film The Rite won the weekend box office with $15 M. Although the film won, that is a pretty disappointing total for a weekend box office winner. This is one of those films where there was a wide disconnect between critics and audiences. The people who were polled by Cinemascore after seeing the movie  gave it a satisfactory “B” average rating. Compare that to the 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. Huge disparity.

No Strings Attached held pretty strong in its second weekend.  The romantic comedy starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher came in at number two. The film only dropped a modest 30%, making about $13.6 M.  It has been a bit of a surprise hit, mostly due to a tight $25 M budget.  The two week total stands at $39 M.

The weekend’s other new release was The Mechanic, and it came in closely behind No Strings Attached with $11.5 M. It had a fairly average per/screen average of about $4,300. According to Sunday’s estimates, this puts The Mechanic in a tie with holdover The Green Hornet, which also made $11.5 M. After three weeks, Hornet has made over $78 M.

The big story this week is The King’s Speech, which upstaged The Social Network at the DGA awards and the SAG awards over the weekend.  The film is getting a serious bounce from all the awards talk, but The Weinstein Company also increased the theater count for the film by over $40% this weekend. Smart.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the  nominees for the 83rd annual award ceremony this morning. The King’s Speech was the front-runner with 12 nominations. Overall, there weren’t too many surprises.

Many were disappointed  that Christopher Nolan did not receive a best director nod, but as a consolation prize, Inception was nominated as a contender for best picture.
True Grit did quite well, with Hailee Steinfeld nabbing a best supporting actress nod, and nominations for best picture, best director(s), best actor, and best adapted screenplay. Winter’s Bone was recognized for best actress, best picture, and best adapted screenplay. Dogtooth, Jackie Weaver, and Javier Bardem were nice surprises.

Here are the nominees in the order that they were announced.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld True Grit
Jackie Weaver Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale The Fighter
John Hawkes Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner The Town
Mark Ruffalo The Kids Are All Right
Jeffrey Rush The King’s Speech