Is it just me, or does Steve Carell seem to be everywhere these days? Not only did he have Evan Almighty this summer, in the past month alone, we’ve also seen two new trailers for movies that he’s starring in (Get Smart and this one). Ever since he popped his leading-man cherry with The 40 Year Old Virgin, Carell has definitely become the new Hollywood IT guy, taking the reigns from Will Ferrell, who not too long ago took the reigns from Jim Carey.

The thing about Carell, though, is it feels like his induction into the upper echelon of Hollywood has been somewhat accelerated compared to Farrell and Carey. Jim Carey, for example, had a brilliant run. After Ace Ventura, he did about a movie a year, and they were all highly anticipated. And when he played his first semi-dramatic role in The Truman Show, everyone was on the edge of their seats. Will Farrell’s rise to the top was a bit more saturating, but even his was tasteful. He was smart enough to play some supporting role here and there, so that we didn’t get Will Ferrell overload. And he waited as long as one can expect him to wait before his first semi-dramatic role in Stranger Than Fiction.

But it seems like Steve Carell is doing it all in fast-forward. It’s as though he read the manual written by Carey and Farell and just decided to skip right to the good parts. I mean, 40 Year Old Virgin was great, but for his next comedic role to be the summer blockbuster Evan Almighty is astounding. And the fact that he jumped right into the semi-dramatic thing with Little Miss Sunshine is almost unfair. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I like an actor to tease me a little bit, to make me beg for it. Doesn’t Carell know that if he gives it away too easily, we won’t respect him in the morning?

Steve Carell is a great actor, so I can’t fault him there. But I’m definitely worried that we’re going to be sick of him long before we should be. For example, this Dan in Real Life movie doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I’ll RENT IT I suppose, but if he’d done it right; if he’d taken his time and put out a movie a year (instead of three), maybe by the time this one came out, I would be craving some Carell so badly that I would have had no choice but to see it in the theaters. But alas, he’s ruined it now. It was good while it lasted, but I doubt I’ll even call him again.

Dan in Real Life is rated PG-13 and opens October 26. (Official Site)

I’ve always been pretty critical of Hollyweird, but I’m beginning to think that there may be some method to their madness. As you may have noticed over the past month or so, I’ve been rather annoyed by the slate of horrible movies that we’ve been bombarded with lately (Alpha Dog, Norbit, etc…). But it suddenly occurs to me that there might be a reason why Hollywood’s been slinging so much shit at us recently. Perhaps it’s because we’ve all been so busy catching up on all of the great Oscar-nominated films that we probably wouldn’t have been spending our money on new movies even if they weren’t complete crap.

Indeed, this is probably the exact reason why on the first weekend after the Oscars, we get two of the most interesting movies that have come out since, well, before the Oscar nominations. I just love that on the on the first week that I find myself craving some fresh, non oscar-related, blood, I find none other than Zodiac and Wild Hogs waiting for me to bite into.

Now, I understand that not everyone will agree with my including Wild Hogs in the same category as Zodiac, but let me explain my reasoning.

There was a time in the movie biz when successfully “packaging” a film meant simply putting together a huge Hollywood star with a huge Hollywood director. But more and more, it seems like a really good movie has to have three or four great actors all working side-by-side (this year’s best picture winner is a perfect example). I’m not sure how these movies are able to pull this off financially, but I don’t really care. I think it’s a wonderful trend, and I hope it continues.

Which brings me to Zodiac and Wild Hogs. To be honest, I would have seen Zodiac no matter who was starring in it, because I love David Fincher and I’d watch his home movies if he let me. But the fact that this film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo…hell, I’d sell my first born child to see that.

And as for Wild Hogs, I realize that the whole roadtrip thing has been done to death (as has the mid-life crisis thing), but I’m too focused on this odd collection of actors to really care. I mean, John Travolta, William H. Macy, Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence?? Are you serious? Normally, I would say that a studio should fire any casting director who makes decisions while under the influence of narcotics, but in this case, it’s so ridiculous that it works…perfectly. While the actors in Zodiac are the perfect collection for the seriousness and intensity of that movie, the collection of actors in Wild Hogs is absolutely perfect for the ridiculousness of a movie about four middle-aged guys who become bikers.

As you may have guessed, I’m going to say SEE IT for both Zodiac and Wild Hogs. I’m so happy we’ve finally got some good movies coming our way, and I think that these two films were the perfect choices to lead the pack. Good job, Hollywood. You’re not as dumb as I thought.

Zodiac (rated R) and Wild Hogs (rated PG-13) both open on March 2. (Official Sites: Zodiac, Wild Hogs)