The Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

There was no chill in weekend movie going as the Arctic adventure Eight Below led the frame with an estimated $25.2 million. Close behind was the teen spoof Date Movie with $22.3 million and the remarkably resilient The Pink Panther at $21.5 million. The session’s other national debut Freedomland posted an unimpressive $6.9 million to rank seventh. Among the new niche entries, the Russian blockbuster Night Watch posted a dizzying $36,100 average from three venues.
Weekend Estimates (Full List)
Domestic Market Share

3-Day Estimates	Weekend	% Change	Cume
Eight Below	25.2	-	25.2
Date Movie	22.3	-	22.3
The Pink Panther	21.5	-14%	47.2
Curious George	15.3	-21%	33.5
Final Destination 3	11.9	-48%	37.6
Firewall	10.3	-35%	28.6
Freedomland	6.9	-	6.9
When a Stranger Calls	5.9	-44%	42.2
Big Momma's House 2	5.5	-38%	62.4
Nanny McPhee	5.0	-23%	39.2

The Gurus Look At Oscar's Closest Races This Year, And Clooney Moves A Little Further Out In Front The Close Races The Big Eight First Impressions: All Categories

20 Weeks To Oscar
Looking For Purpose In The Oscar World
by David Poland

It's looking like The Bookend Oscars this year... tune into see who gets Best Supporting Actor, take a three hour nap, then wake up to check out Best Picture. Nothing else seems terribly interesting... with due respect to the many whose hearts will be leaping out of their chests all day on Oscar day, regardless of how locked in many of the winners seem to be.

The Oscar Chart Quiz
A. A great small performance... truly worthy...
B. A nice prize for one of the most beautifully made films of the year.
C. Will look great, will charm... A Major Career Is Born
D. Genius work... will look even better in retrospect.. but even Werner Herzog might have a hard time saving this campaign.

______________________

It's Oscartown, Jake
Endurance
by Kristopher Tapley

Much has been written about Crash's position as a socially conscious piece of filmmaking. The film uses race relations to ignite a spark that details civilization's wariness of itself and suspicion of one another, as the urban sprawl of Los Angeles plays host.

"Everyone can identity with the characters on the screen, whether they admit it or not. We're living in difficult times now, obviously. So I think Crash, although it's a topic that hasn't been entirely ignored, it's not something that was being talked about."

The Ultimate DVD Geek
Cinderella Man
by Doug Pratt

It's a great story. Martin Scorsese has probably poisoned boxing movies forever with the revelation that most boxers are violent, pig-headed lugs, but Braddock was genuinely good-natured and emotionally stable. As a result, however, Howard may have replicated the family scenes as accurately as if he'd found film from a camera hidden in the walls of the original Braddock apartment, and yet the movie can't shake the sense that the scenes away from the boxing ring are somehow false or artificial, because everyone is so nice. But the fights are thrilling—most viewers will duck and bob right along with the fighters—and the film is as honorable in its intentions as it is rousing in its dramatic arc.
MCN Review
Dretzka's DVD Review
The Hot Button

Five short documentaries about the number 12… What did you want to be when you were 12? Did you ever see a 12-toed cat? People—and animals—will always surprise you.

MCN DVD Wrap-Up
Elizabethtown

Copies of the Elizabethtown DVD should come with a special sticker, warning diabetics that the contents could be dangerous to their health. It would be difficult to find another big-budget Hollywood production that wore its heart so openly on its sleeve. More >

MCN Review: The film misfires in virtually every way. It opens with a faux Jerry Maguire section that feels like we’ve seen it before – complete with company girlfriend who leaves when things go bad

Plus: Bambi II, The Batman, The Best of the Electric Company, Demon Hunter, Doom, Dungeons and Dragons 2 - Wrath of the Dragon God, Elizabethtown, Extreme Dating, The Cary Grant Box Set, Grounded for Life, Growing Pains, Live Freaky! Die Freaky!, Oktober, Pizza, Beer and Smokes, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Ryan's Daughter, A Slightly Pregnant Man, Teen Titans, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, You Stupid Man, When a Stranger Calls

Updated throughout the day
Updated: 3:10 pm

Disney's Latest Direct-To-Video Sequel, Bambi II (aka Fiery Nemo) Beats Wallace, Gromit, The Rock & Reese

Where The Skeleton Key & Zathura Fight For Top Awards... The Saturn Award Nominations

The Paper Of Record Continues Its Slow And ShockingShocking Discovery Of The Decades Old Direct-To-Video Business

The Case Of The Lazy Sunday Short From Saturday Night Live Sheds Light On The Locked Down Future Of Every Piece Of Entertainment Being Monetized

C-3PO & R2D2 In Brokeback Star Wars

Forbes' Latest List... Top Ten Movies About Money

ACE Awards Eddies To Editors Of Crash & Walk The Line

The BAFTAs Love Brokeback Mountain .. Winning Four, (Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supp Actor) While Losing Five... Crash Surprises With Supp Actress & Original Screenplay...Memoirs Of A Geisha Wins 3, Walk The Line 2, And Constant Gardener Surprises By Winning Only For Editing

From Herbie: Reloaded To An Oscar Nomination In The Same Year

Richard Bright (The Godfathers' Al Neri) Hit By Bus In NYC At 68

Here Are Box Office Mojo's Numbers Until We Get Len's Holiday Weekend Numbers...
Sunday Estimates
1. Eight Below - $19.9 milllion
2. Date Movie - $18.9 milllion
3. The Pink Panther - $16.5 milllion - off 18%
4. Curious George - $11.3 milllion - off 24%
5. Final Destination 3 - $10.1 milllion - off 47%
*7 Freedomland - $6 milllion -
*Night Watch - $83,500 on 3 screens

The World Tour...Of Movie Locations

And Now, After Showing Excellent Second Weekend Legs, This Story Has A Lot Of Legitimate Merit
Earlier - Claudia Eller On The Long Road To The Pink Panther Release... Which Will Actually Mean Something If The Film Has Legs, But Is, For Now, Just The First Not-Unkind Piece About Sony In A While After A Job Well Done By The Studio In Getting The Film Out There And Sold To Kids

Stacey Snider Rumors, Reported First Here At MCN, Turn Into Claudia Eller-Written Snider-Driven Detail... ParaWorks Strategic Positioning Aside, The Snider Era At Universal Is Over
Anne Thompson On Same

Michael London Gets $50 Million And $50 Million Credit To Self-Greenlight, Succeeding Strongly Via The Rule Of Three (Thirteen/ Sideways/ Family Stone) And Before The Stench Of The Illusionist Or The Turmoil At Paramount Can Slow Him

Tyler Perry, The Empire Builder

And The Top Movie Location Draw Is...
See The Film, Visit The Country - How Movies Have Done As Tourism Lures

Ken Turan Celebrates The Enigma Of Lon Chaney

Understanding Robert Altman

Life In The Movies Is Very Different Than Life On The Outside

Berlin Announces Its Winners
"We have found ways to choose what we feel reflect, in the most profound way, the mood of the world today,"

The Rise, Fall And Now, Hopefully, The Comeback Of Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Trailer du Jour
Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly

A Critical Analysis Of The Weinstein's Fashionable New Look

Anne Thompson On The Wooing Of Stacy Snider

Icahn And Time Warner Come To An Agreement And Make Peace
And - The Time Warner Statement

Nightwatch - The Entire Movie In 150 Seconds

The Wondercon Posters
Six XMen Take A Stand

"I will not make Catwoman II"
Halle Berry Receives An Award And Makes A Solemn Promise

Are People Who Want To See The DVD Really Interested In Reading The Book Too?

Ah, The Westerns .. Where Aging Male Stars Could "Grow Old With Grace And Virility Intact"

Film Snobs, White Sheets And, Of Course, Gossips

Sorry Beyonce, Songwriters Are Singing Their Own Songs At Oscar This Year

Lesson: Never Brag About Stealing An Academy Screener In An Internet Chat Room

The Foreign Language Category Has Its Own Urgency, And Five Films Worth Seeing At A Theatre Near You

Big Changes At Cinematical

Sizing Up Lebowski Mutiny Style (quicktime)