'Man of Steel' Sacrifices Superman's Origin Story for Cynical CGI-Fest

General Zod (Michael Shannon) vows revenge Jor-El and his son Kal-El, later known on Earth as the Man of Steel, Superman.

Superman, we hardly knew you. After enduring a pretentious two-and-a-half hour origin story, Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, Man of Steel forces the iconic epithet into the plot for one random instance. Snyder's iteration doesn't stand for truth, justice or the American way, rather assuming the role of an alien refugee attempting to remain off the grid except for the occasional phantom heroism.

Man of Steel goes through the same expected motions Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie did back in 1978. Still a carbon copy origin story, the alien planet Krypton is dying and in a last-ditch effort, scientists Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Ayelet Zurer) send their newborn son to Earth for a chance to live and grow up to become humanity's savior.

Greater Perils Face Bilbo and Company in 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' Teaser

Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and his company of dwarves close in on The Lonely Mountain.

After teasing audiences nearly six months ago with just an eye bursting out mountains of gold, director Peter Jackson briefly reveals a bit more of the dragon Smaug in the teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which was released online Tuesday. 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the journey across Middle-earth from last Christmas as Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman from BBC Sherlock fame) and thirteen dwarves set out to take back a mountain stronghold from a gold-hoarding fire breathing dragon.

BLU-RAY TUESDAY: Disney's 'Oz' Sees Green, 'Hansel & Gretel' Battle Fairy-Tale Witches on Blu-Ray

The first major blockbuster of 2013 makes its way on Blu-Ray this Tuesday, roughly three months after its theatrical release in early March. Oz the Great and Powerful, starring James Franco, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis, is set before the 1939 classic when Dorothy arrives in the world of wizards, witches and singing Munchkins exploring how the Wizard of Oz became the mysterious floating head ruling from the confines of Emerald City.

Oz the Great and Powerful is released in multiple formats on Blu-Ray including a Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital Copy combo pack, a Blu-Ray, Digital Copy combo pack and a Blu-Ray 3D, Digital Copy combo pack.

'Frances Ha' Explores a Clever Comedic Approach to Late Millennial Maturity

Best friends Frances (Greta Gerwig) and Sophie (Mickey Summer) have their ups and down in Frances Ha.

For any twenty-something millennial wavering between clinging to the freedoms of adolescence and assuming the duties of being a responsible adult, Noah Baumbach's (The Squid and the Whale) Frances Ha paves a modern-day odyssey that rides the fine line of being too close for comfort.

Frances (Greta Gerwig) is a 27-year-old dance apprentice, who like many her age haven't accomplished much in her life, let alone catapulted her career as a professional choreographer and dancer. Bouncing from one house to another, Frances is heavily dependent on her friends' charity, but still desires to prove her worth as an independent adult.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Purge' Terrorizes Charts at #1, Places 'Internship' on Lockdown

Google might be one of the largest players online, but audiences were turned off by The Internship, an Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn comedy where two become interns at the online juggernaut. Instead the top spot at the box office weekend this past weekend went to the micro-marketed thriller, The Purge. 

Last week's top pair, Fast & Furious 6 and Now You See Me continue to hold despite growing competition at the box office. Both films are still gunning for $250 million and $100 million runs respectively, which were predicted to be highly unlikely a month ago.

With the highly anticipated Superman reboot, Man of Steel being released this Friday and Monsters University the Friday after, the current slew of releases are racking up the numbers now before two potentially large week-to-week declines. 

BLU-RAY TUESDAY: 'Warm Bodies' Professes Zombie Love, 'Identity Thief' Continues to Steal on Blu-Ray

The first Tuesday of June is fully loaded with several new choices to check out this week. Four theatrical releases include Warm Bodies, A Good Day to Die Hard, Identity Thief and Escape From Planet Earth, while the latest seasons of Breaking Bad and Falling Skies also street for television audiences.

First up is Warm Bodies, a zombie apocalypse comedy that twists the Shakespeare's classic love story, Romeo & Juliet. "R" (a zombie iteration of Romeo) played by Nicholas Hoult falls in love with human Julie (Teresa Palmer). Together, the two are forced to hide their forbidden love from the humans and zombies, who are at war with one another.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Fast & Furious' Rides Again, 'Now You See Me' Outplays 'After Earth'

After a record-setting Memorial Day weekend, all of the key holdovers fell over 50 percent over the weekend. Despite a hefty 64 percent drop, Fast & Furious 6 rode to the top spot once again for the second weekend in a row.

The real upset of the weekend was Now You See Me outperforming its new release competition After Earth. With household names like Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan attached to the sci-fi survival flick, After Earth was a shoe-in for the runner-up spot. After a string of panned releases including The Happening and The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan certainly has his detractors, many of whom seemed to have abandoned the director.

Other May holdovers, Star Trek Into Darkness and Epic continued to battle it out for the final two spots of this weekend's Top 5. Comedy sequel The Hangover Part III quickly plummeted down the chart in its second week, sending the Wolfpack out with a whimper.