Movie City Indie by Ray Pride Welsh like a pepper mill: mapping its movie locations (April 3, 6:30a) “North Wales has played host to a wonderfully eclectic mix of films and the Hollywood stardust has been sprinkled generously throughout the region... We’ve had a bit of everything, from Hollywood classics to masterpieces of slapstick."

The Reeler by S.T. Vanairsdale 'Baseball and American Culture: Opening Day at MoMA (April 3, 10:18a) MoMA's Baseball and American Culture film series, which starts today and runs through April 30. The program includes a dozen selections dating back to 1920.

The Hot Blog by David Poland Why The Digital Download Thing Means Nothing Yet… (April 3, 12:06p) The quality of the download, at about 1gb, is sub-quality, so even if pirate types did break the code, the image would still be below standard. So what’s the point?

Digital Drezka by Gary Dretzka The Oscars of Journalism (March 31, 8:30p) As far as I know, Pulitzer Prize-winners and presenters aren’t awarded gift baskets for showing up at the annual banquet saluting the best in the business of journalism … not yet, anyway.

The Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

There's nothing quite like a hot movie to reinvigorate movie going and Ice Age: The Meltdown needn't have worried about a chilly reception. The very animated sequel arrived with an estimated $69.3 million that sent revenues and attendance airborne. The film also added $43 million from international bows. The competition was pallid using the Ice Age 2 yardstick but the urban drama ATL had a very good $12.2 million debut to rank third while the horror yarn Slither eked by with $3.8 million and Basic Instinct 2 undressed a flimsy $3.2 million. There was also an impressive two-screen opening for the American indie Brick.
Weekend Estimates (Full List)
Canadian Top Grosses
Domestic Market Share
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The Ultimate DVD Geek
Welcome To The Monkey House
by Doug Pratt

A good hour of King Kong, and maybe even more, does not belong in the theatrical release of what should have been a brisk, spectacular romp. Even some of the elaborate special effects sequences, such as the dinosaur stampede, could go and not be missed, and there are entire subplots involving secondary characters that could easily be excised. But that was the theatrical release. The King Kong DVD, on the other hand, is a thrilling achievement, and with the ability to hit the 'Pause' button whenever you wish, in order to take an intermission or move from the couch to the recliner, the 2005 production is a gripping, pulse-pounding way to lose an afternoon.

Gross Behavior
The Audience Is Listning...
by Leonard Klady

In theory at least there's an ideal, hip crowd out there that shares the same cinematic sensibility that have informed your likes and peeves on the big screen.

Of course the reality is generally quite different. Though composed of a not necessarily homogeneous quilt of individuals, the crowd experience can turn us into a single voice. It can also be an entirely surreal experience as the peripheral sounds of hysterical laughter or a sea of sobs leaves you with the somewhat perplexing question about why you aren't sharing the prevailing emotions in the theater.

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Digital Drezka
If The Seat Fits ...
by Gary Dretzka

Apparently, the shift toward larger seats began at approximately the same time that exhibitors finally acknowledged – duh — that their shoebox-sized auditoriums, with small screens, paper-thin walls, sticky floors, pre-fab popcorn and crappy sightlines, actually were a major factor in the abandonment of multiplexes by discerning viewers. By the late-’80s and early-’90s, the downturn had reached crisis proportions. Something drastic had to be done.

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The Return Of The Hot Button
Cache
by David Poland

Michael Haneke is full of s**t.

Let me try again. Michael Haneke seems to have offered the press a rather clear explanation of the emotional text of his film and the critics, in particular, seem to have taken it way, way, way beyond the simple offering he made.

Cache (Hidden) is well made, well acted, and well worthy of a viewing. But it is also the most overpraised, underanalyzed movie of 2005.

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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

Updated throughout the day
Updated: 6:55 pm

The Pellicano Case Drags In John McTiernan

Via GreenCine - Relaxing From Grind House, Robert Rodriguez Paints Salma Hayek As An Aztec Goddess

Extra! Extra!! Universal Does Business As Usual!
The Paper Of Wreckord Hypes One Incident Of A Compaint About The United 93 Trailer in NYC Into A Serious Corporate Dilemma

Mo'Nique Gets Phat In Philly

The Paper Of Record Finally Reduced To Writing About Old Films With Topless Scenes

A New Site For The Film & Faith Critics Circle

David Thomson Does Ava Gardner And Neil Norman Does Timothy Spall

Didn't They See The Squid & The Whale?
Brokeback Mania Lives On As Dave Cullen & His Merry Men Start A DVD-To-Library Drive

35 And You're Flippin' "Ass To Mouth" Jokes And Featuring Rosario Bouncin' In A Tank Top?
Clerks 2 Has A No Band Trailer Up On The Web

Ebert On The Great Night Moves

Which Is Least Likely?
A. A 900-Word USA Today Story On A Short Film
B. A $100,000 Budget For A Short Film
C. A Short Film Being Pulled From Its Premiere At The Philadelphia Film Fest Because It Isn't Factually Accurate
D. All Of The Above

Variety On Simpsons Movie Teaser Trailer Launch... And Unlike This Web Wonks, They Would Rather Credit Ain't It Cool News For Breaking News Of The Teaser Being On Ice Age 2 Instead Of Sheigh Crabtree At The Competitor, Hollywood Reporter
Earlier - Our Ms Crabtree May Be Pulling Our Legs A Day Early With This The Simpsons: The Movie Trailer Report, Dated April 1

The Studios Announce An Insanely Overpriced Experiment In Below-DVD Standard Movie Downloading Which Already Has Proven to Be Of Little, If Any, Interest To Consumers
Here Too (Free)

Last Century's Story Of Studios Investing In Overseas Films And Infrastructure Finally Reaches The Paper Of Record

Emily Yoffe Tries To Shoot Celebs

The Woz Surveys CGnamation

Patrick Dollard Goes To Iraq

You've Got Your Natalie Portman In My Video Game... You've Got Your First Person Shooter In My Jedi Council Meeting!
Lucas Companies Integrates Movies & Games

Ron Grover Joins The Crowd Wondering How The DreamWorks Library, Minus Animation & Various Rights, Is Worth $900 Million

The Da Vinci Code Already A Big Preseller Down Under

Budget Battle Bumps Baz But Beautiful Battler Blows Bugle

"I wanted to take the blond out of my career, kill the direction it was going... I got to the point where it worked: nobody wanted to work with me. I'd finally - whether consciously or unconsciously - perfectly sabotaged any studio interest in working with me."

Bettie Page, Mary Harron & El(le) Durbin

The Ligher Side Of Denzel Washington

Jane, Lily And Dolly Reminisce About Working 9 To 5

A Breakthrough For Getting Endless Publicity For A Movie That Wouldn't Have Gotten A New York Times Review Six Months Ago And Will Likely Be Forgotten Six Minutes From... Now!

Do Not Ask For Whom The Bong Tolls...
Playboy Mansion Benefit For Pot Legalization Warns That Pot Smoking Won't Be Tolerated In The Grotto Or Any Other Orifice

Don't They Have Enough Cells For Holding People Uncharged For Free Speech?
Chinese Government Releases AIDS Activist Who Was Held Without Charges, Jails Filmmaker Who Was Held Without Charges

Slither Director James Gunn Offers A Top Five On Why His Movie Is Different Than Sharon Stone
5) SLITHER is well-groomed “down there.”

Peter Howell On The Mounting Difficulties Of Being A Film Snob

Timothy Spall Gives Life To Britain's Most Prolific Executioner

The Lioness (Vanessa Redgrave) In Winter

Queer As Clownfolks?
South Korea's Brokeback Mountain

An Interesting DVR Development As Cable Providers Offer Remote DVR, Which Would Allow The Cable Subscriber A Virtually Unlimited DVR Capacity On The Cable Co's Server... The Question Is, Might A Remote DVR Lead To More Control Instead Of Less?

The Softer Side Of Johnny Depp Writes About The Softer Side Of Tim Burton And Willy Wonka, Too

In The Ongoing Effort By Universal To Do The Right Thing And To Not Be Accused Of Capitalizing Financially On A Recent Domestic Tragedy, 10% Of The First Weekend Gross Of United 93 To Go To Family Organized Memorial To The Passengers
More Thoughts On, And A Discussion Of, The Situation

SAG First Organization To Set 2007 Awards Date

A Bit Of A Bitch Fest Ensues
The Man Pushed By NYT For Pulitzer... Brilliant Alt Media Crossover Queen Up For Old Media's Most Valued Prize, Critics Not Published In The Top 12 Newspapers Need Not Apply (Note: The Story Incorrectly Denies Stephen Hunter His Pulitzer Win.)

An Important World Documentarian Who You Probably Have Never Heard Of Before

Chris Kelly Argues The Genius Of Short Attention Span Horror Porn
"The teenagers are getting it -- and embracing perhaps the only movies around that dare to speak to larger social concerns and anxieties, especially about the often-faceless, unfathomably evil villains we must contend with in the aftermath of Sept. 11."

Will The LA Times (And The Internet) End Up Pushing The Tribune Company Out Of The Newspaper Business?

Headline Is "Harrison Ford Hates Internet," But Story Is How The Internet Has Changed The Realities Of Stardom

Corporate Censorship, America's Dominant Mode Of Censorship, Hits Magazine Printing The Riotous Mohammed Cartoons

The Question Isn't Whether The Case Is A Winner, The Question Is Why Paramount Would Let A Guy With Burns On 60% Of His Body Take Them To Court Over MI:3 A Month Before Release Instead of Settling

John Hurt, Shooting Dogs
"There were outbreaks of hysteria on set on a daily basis. People we were working with would break down, it was often too much."

Whipp-ing Sequels That Suck

Gregg Goldstein On Alternative Distribution Models

Buy Black Hawk Down On DVD ... Again, For The Fourth Time

United 93 Will Open The Film Festival Founded To Help The 9/11 Recovery

Remember 1963?
Charlie Babbit Is Born, Mike Myers Kills His Sister, Henry Hill Buries Billy Batts, And Jack & Ennis Del Mar Meet

Phil Hall Looks At Cutting Room Floor Performances, From Costner To Reagan

Erick Schonfeld Says Time-Warner Can Be Fixed
1. Dump Cable
2. De-Emphasize Borders Between Products
3. Build For Niches
4. Don't Sweat Copyright
5. Let The Audience Into Your Library

Regal CEO Says The Idea That Studios Will Shorten The Window Further Is "Hype"