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As spring rolls on, three more vastly different films boldly enter the marketplace in search of paying customers. Openings should range from strong to moderate to abysmal, yet none looks to have a chance of removing Johnny Depp from the top spot. Once again though, the box office should exceed 2009’s stunning pace.

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Four new releases, each one targeting a different audience, show their way into multiplexes this weekend. None of them, however, have any hopes of dethroning “Alice in Wonderland” from number. Based on the strength of “Alice,” the box office should once again have a comfortable lead over 2009.

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Tim Burton’s new version of “Alice in Wonderland” is indeed filled with wonder. This phrase gets tossed around often, but, like “Avatar,” a whole new world is created here, and each frame is filled with a dozen surprises. Burton has always been a director obsessed with visual invention, and in his creation of Wonderland (or Underland, as the movie calls it), his imagination runs unrestrained. And with Johnny Depp as The mad Hatter, we are reminded that he and Burton form one of the greatest actor-director teams in cinematic history.

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Just as in The Bible, David defeated Goliath. “The Hurt Locker,” a low-budget Iraq War thriller, reined champion at the 82nd Academy Awards, winning six Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. It was the battle of the exes, and Kathryn Bigelow (shown below) topped former hubby James Cameron to become the first woman EVER to win Best Director. It was a night to remember: “Avatar,” the most popular movie of all time, lost the top prizes to an indie film almost no one saw.

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In two days, we’ll know what movie the Academy crowns as THE Best Picture of 2009. Despite ten nominees, everything will come down to one film taking home the golden boy. That film will join a prestigious list that runs from “Wings” (1927) to “Gone with the Wind” (1939) to “On the Waterfront” (1954) to “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) to “Annie Hall” (1977) to “Rain Man” (1988) to “American Beauty” (1999) to “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008).

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As 2010 enters its third month, the North American box office looks to keep its red hot pace going, courtesy of “Alice in Wonderland.” Add in “Brooklyn’s Finest” and some decent holdovers, and the marketplace looks to see a sizable gain over 2009’s one-picture box office.

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How much is an Oscar worth to an actor? There’s no saying, although that 13.5 inch statue has the power to turn people into $20 million-per-movie titans. Newcomers like Cuba Gooding Jr., Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Hudson and Marion Cotillard into stars. Usually, you can predict the winners just by following who’s won the Globes, SAG awards and critics plaques, but Oscar throws curve balls all the time (why hello, “Michael Clayton” (2007)’s Tilda Swinton).

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