The Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

There was a Spike in the box office both literally and figuratively as Inside Man ascended to an estimated $29.2 million to lead weekend movie going. The frame also provided surprises for other national debuts with the teen thriller Stay Alive having more utz than expected and the big screen incarnation for Larry the Cable Guy not as well connected as had been anticipated. Overall it was still more than enough to register double-digit boosts from 2005 and bring box office revenues on par with last year.
Weekend Estimates (Full List)
Top Domestic Grosses
Domestic Market Share

3-Day Estimates	Weekend	% Change	Cume
Inside Man	29.2	-	30.2
V for Vendetta	12.6	-51%	46.4
Failure to Launch	10.9	-30%	63.9
Stay Alive	11.3	-	11.3
The Shaggy Dog	9.2	-32%	48.0
She's the Man	7.4	-31%	20.4
Larry the Cable Guy	6.7	-	6.7
The Hills Have Eyes	4.3	-46%	35.6
Eight Below	2.8	-32%	77.2
16 Blocks	2.2	-53%	34.1

Digital Nation
Stoned
by Gary Dretzka

“If ever a man genuinely lived the rock and roll life and naturally characterized the Rolling Stones in every way -- long before the five of us assumed a style -- it was Brian Jones,” wrote Stones’ bassist Bill Wyman, in his book, “Stone Alone.” “The band would not have existed without him … many attitudes and sounds of the ’60 were developed from Brian's style and determination. … He was the archetypal middle-class kid screaming to break away from his background, bumming around in dead-end jobs before finally finding his niche.

________________________

The Ultimate DVD Geek
History of Violence
by Doug Pratt

The gore is heavy, the sex is fantastic and for once, Cronenberg delivers such pleasures without getting weird on the viewer. The sequences involving the hero's children don't always ring true (the school bully is played by an actor who is clearly in his twenties), and there is that nagging feeling that the Canadian locations aren't Indiana, but otherwise the film is an outstanding accomplishment. It delivers the entertainment of a well-made thriller, but reaches for and achieves more, primarily through the editing, using the film as a reflection upon the violent undercurrent of American society, and human nature, without spoiling the rhythm of the suspense.

________________________

Voices
Is V For Vendetta A Drag?
by Larry Gross

V is about the gayest superhero of all time.

I mean, he makes Batman look like Tarzan by comparison. An outcast who cannot be himself in the ultimate ways, he is at the same time a dedicated gourmand, lover of 40's torch songs, a great dancer, an unrepentant high culture aesthete, an exceptional interior decorator and an enthusiast of 1930s black-and-white period-costume tear-jerking swash bucklers - and maybe he's just tomorrow's with-it metro sexual, but given his lack of nostalgia for nuclear family or lost love, and given that he can only warm up physically to Natalie when she's bald, it would seem to me that, well ... you get where this is going.

Discuss It On The Blog
______________________

MCN DVD Wrap-Up
Chicken Little

This time, the world's most famous alarmist is joined by pals Ugly Duckling (Joan Cusack), Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn) and Fish Out of Water. The CGI feature isn't up to usual Disney standards, but younger children should find it enjoyable, as will the interactive bonus features.

The Chicken Rap
The Trading Cards

Plus: The Busby Berkeley Collection, Buster Keaton: 65th Anniversary Collection, Bukowski: Born Into This, Capote, Chicken Little, David and Bathsheba, A History of Violence, Huff, A League of Ordinary Gentlemen, Loggerheads,Over There, Paul Mooney's Analyzing White America, Remember the Titans, Show Me, South Park, Stalag 17, The Ten Commandments, The Thing Called Love, Through the Fire, Townes Van Zandt, The White Shadow, The Year of the Yao, The Young Riders

Gross Behavior
Admission Slips ..
by Leonard Klady

Just as movies in the age of television offers a manifestly sharp contrast in eras without that particular box, the fact that one has considerable revenue potential from such areas as DVD and Pay-cable exploitation alters the perspective of movies released prior to those elements. And it's not simply new technologies that alter the landscape. The manner in which films are released and advertised has undergone significant change that makes side-by-side comparisons of current releases with films that opened in 1989 or 1995 of limited value.

___________________________

Digital Dretzka
ShoWest Wraps It Up
by Gary Dretzka

ShoWest 2006 threw itself a wrap party Thursday night, but not before Warner Bros. availed itself of the opportunity to brag on its upcoming slate of “event” movies. The company, which once was known for sponsoring the most star-studded of all ShoWest banquets, has been a no-show for the last few years. Instead, the “new” MGM – a company with more lives than a pride of big cats – paid for the luncheon, while WB honcho Alan Horn chipped in for dessert. It arrived in the form of extended clips from Poseidon, Superman Returns, Lady in the Water and Happy Feet.
A Prairie Home Companion Preview
Skip The Butter, Add The Floss
Cars Hits The ShoWest Track In Gary Dretzka's New MCN Blog, Digital Dretzka
ShoWest & The Ghost Of Cinema Future

Updated throughout the day
Updated: 6:38 pm

Sarah Jessica Parker Stays Grounded

Jack Mathews Takes Back His 1982 Prediction That Animation Is An Endangered Species

Peter Bogdanovich On Why Seeing Movies On The Big Screen Is Something That Should Never Go Away

Chocano On Holofcener, And Paying Attention To The Small Stuff

Welcome to Teen Noir

Vin Diesel, A Romantic Comedy Waiting To Happen

Geoff Pevere On Hate Mail, Movie Critics And The New Era Of Coarsened Discourse
"It's the age of full digital democratization, which might also be called The Real Planet of the Apes."

Play the Movie Marketing Hack Match Game

Andrew Sarris, Master Of The Press Notes

Another Must-See From Worth1000... Unleashing 2006 On Middle Earth

Katzenberg Drops DWAnimation Bonuses For Two Years... Coincidentally (Or Not) The Length Of DW Employment Contracts With New Pseudo-Owner Paramount... Hmmmm...

"Defendents Have Enriched Themselves... On The Backs On Actors"
Randy Quaid Sues Focus, In An Act Of What Might Be Career Suicide, Over Brokeback Mountain... Says He Effectively "Donated His Time" Because He Was Told The Film Was "A Low Budget Art Film," Which He Defines As Being Budgeted Under $7 Million (Don't Tell The Indie Spirits)
And - AOL's Story On It

NYT's Ben Brantley Arrives At Middle Earth Later Than The Others, But Arrives, Golluming, Not Smeagoling The Show
Earlier - Lord Of The Rings: The 3 Hour Musical Opens In Toronto... Toronto Sun.... The Globe & Mail... The Telegraph Sends A Critic... So Does The LA Times... But NYT Does Not

The Tribeca Film Fest Is Heading Uptown Too

Xan Brooks Asks "What Makes A Man Remake A Movie?"

Anne Thompson Looks At The Risky Talent Agency Game Circa 2006

Antony Sher's Personal Look At Gay Cinema On The Eve Of London's Gay Fest, Wearing A Condon On His Sleeve

Turturro Talks Movies

Hidden (Cache) Passes The Million $ Mark In England... How'd It Happen?

Stephen Fry Makes A Joke About How V For Vendetta Got Its Location Permits... Parliament Erupts

And You Thought Woodstock Was Muddy... Try Julian Temple's Glastonbury

The Bagger Returns, In His Clark Kent Get Up, To Talk With Steve Buscemi

New From Germany (And You Know How Precise They Are)... Criticker, The Personalized Film Reccomendation Engine

Universal In The UK Takes A Home Entertainment Step That May Well Become The Trend Of The Future... A DVD & Two Downloads For One Price

Ross Johnson On The Latest Pellicano Accusation... Is The FBI's Lead Investigator Out To Take Pellicano's Place As Hollywood's Hot Private Investigator?

Snakes On A Plane Adds More R Rated Material So As Not To Shortchange The Geeks

Politics Are Politics Everywhere
"The departments I dealt with - the Ministry of Defence, the Metropolitan police, etc - it would not have helped if I said that Euan Blair was working on the film."

Xan Brooks Can't Help Dipping A Toe Into The Tom Cruise Waters

Spike Lee Is Almost Mellow These Days

MTV's Top Ten Bank-Heist Movies

A Dose Of McSweeney's
"The End Of My Marriage Rendered In The Elegant Phraseology Of Celebrities"

The New Studio Habit Of Not Screening Films That Marketers Feel Can Only Be Hurt By Critics Hits England

Movies & Nazis & Commies... Oh My!

Goldstein On Netflix... A Business The Studios Would Prefer To Go Away In Favor Of DVD Sales... Underscoring The Importance Of The Hype Of Theatrical Reaction, Which Intermission Got Via Festivals And Critics, To DVD Rentals

The Man Looks At New Directors Series In NYC... Touts The Easily Broken Half Nelson... Shorts The Far More Truthful, If Roughly Made, The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

Winterbottom's Controversial Road To Guantanamo Falls To Roadside, Where They Will Care For It, But Have A Fight For Screens.... Expect A Sony DVD To Follow, As Per Habit

Ir's Springtime, With A Hint Of Villains In The Air

Move Over Robert Wagner And Fred Astaire
Will Smith Updates It Takes A Thief

Hong Kong Gossips Sharpen Their Knives On Mainlander Zhang Ziyi

Maybe They'd Sell More Tickets If They Renamed It "Hate Story"
Perhaps The Most Successful Dogma95 Film, Festen (aka The Celebration) To Hit Broadway... But All Anyone Seems To Want To Talk About Is Ali "Sexy At 67" McGraw

South Park Apparently Will Return Fire Against Alleged Scientology-Driven Censorship

The Chicago 10
Marty Richards Says He Had It Coming... Sues The Weinsteins/Miramax/Disney For $10 Million

Sharon Stone, 14 Years Later

Cinema Scope 26: David Bordwell And Something Worthy Of The Art We Love

The Cannes Schedule Is Starting To Take Form

They Aren't Sure How Much Chicago Has Made, But They're Pretty Sure Miramax Owes Them $10 Million Of It

Ebert's Overlooked Lineup For 2006