Well, it’s January; it’s not like the best movies are slugging it out for the top slot.

The weekend’s numbers are in, and Kevin James’ “Paul Blart, Mall Cop” has placed first with an estimated $33.8 million gross, knocking Clint Eastwood’s still-chugging “Gran Torino” down to second and, like, totally facing “My Bloody Valentine 3D”, “Notorious” and “Hotel for Dogs”.

You wanna know something weird? This is the first weekend I can remember where I’ve seen none of the big new releases — and I can’t say I regret it. January movies tend to blow goats, as a rule, and it’s actually quite marvelous that, for the first time in a decade, I don’t have to kill myself racing from one screening to the next to catch absolutely everything that’s opening in a packed week.

I mean, I’m not being derelict in my duties here. I caught four of the nine films that opened this week; it just so happened that none of them placed at the box-office. I’ll inevitably catch up to the rest on disc, and I might even break down and see “My Bloody Valentine” theatrically, just to check on the ongoing evolution of digital 3D.

But I don’t have to. That’s the beauty of it.