The Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

Despite a sharp 50% decline, Ice Age: The Meltdown remained the top draw in the marketplace with an estimated $34.2 million. Still there was unexpected heat from debuting fare including a potent second place finish for The Benchwarmers and a strong limited launch for Friends with Money. Overall it translated into a significant viewing increase from 2005.
Weekend Estimates (Full List)

3-Day Estimates	Weekend	% Change	Cume
Ice Age: The Meltdown	34.2	-50%	116.1
The Benchwarmers	20.1	-	20.1
Take the Lead	12.4	-	12.4
Inside Man	9.3	-40%	66.2
Lucky Number Slevin	6.8	-	6.8
Failure to Launch	4.0	-38%	79.0
ATL	3.7	-68%	17.3
V for Vendetta	3.3	-47%	62.2
Phat Girlz	2.9	-	2.9
Thank You for Smoking	2.3	40%	6.2

Movie City Indie by Ray Pride Shameless cricket: I also appreciate Schneider's supporting work in the Adam Sandler canon (April 8, 8:46p) Carla Meyers thinks she would've liked Phat Girlz and Benchwarmers, "the kind of breezy films I always look forward to seeing—as opposed to some gritty independent films that might be of quality but feel like medicine."

The Hot Blog by David Poland Like A Bad Nightmare Can anyone defend six stories in the last two days about Page Six in The Paper of Record? And as the hysteria over this story continues to build, one of the key questions must remain, “Who wanted this story in The New York Daily News and why?’ (April 9, 12:35a)

Digital Drezka by Gary Dretzka Making Sense Of Wireless... LAS VEGAS – Just took a quick stroll around the exhibition floor of CTIA Wireless 2006, one those conventions that couldn’t draw flies a decade ago, yet today attracts nearly 1,000 exhibitors and more than 35,000 attendees from 90 countries.(April 6, 10:45p)

The Reeler by S.T. Vanairsdale 'Lucky Number Slevin': Noir Goes Cute (April 7, 11:49a) Slevin's redemption is rich, rewarding viewers with gambits tidy enough to recall the rush of films like The Third Man and The Usual Suspects.

MCN DVD Wrap-Up
Brokeback Mountain

DVD Review: Now that the Sturm und Drang over Ang Lee’s critically lauded New Age western has finally died down, all the defenders of Hollywood virtue and genre purity – especially those academy members paralyzed by the thought of pansy cowpokes lassoing a Best Picture nod-- now can get a copy of the DVD mailed to their homes in a plain red Netflix envelope.

Plus: The Anniversary, Bee Season, Brokeback Mountain, The Chronicles of Narnia, Films of Faith Collection, Free Enterprise, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Left Behind DVD Collection, Love Me Tender, Nine to Five: Sexist, Egotistical, Lying Hypocritical Bigot Edition, Stalin's Bride, Thank God It's Friday, TV to DVD, Ushpizin

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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.

Updated throughout the day
Updated: 4:21 pm

Kirsten Sheridan Follows Up Disco Pigs (Which Should Still Be Distributed In The US) And In America With Another Piece of Filmmaking Heavy On Magical Thinking

Disney Continues To Dig To China

Bettie Paging NY's Post & Daily News

Sellling Arabic Films In America

Conspiracy: The Movies

Kris Tapley On Message Movies

Putting The Bjork In Barney

Proud Moments Sunday
The Paper Of Record Follows Up 3 Saturday Stories On Page Six With One, Two, Three More Stories & A Big Graphic Piece On Sunday... There Is Not Even An Indictment Yet, But This Is Now The Most Covered (And Thus, The Most Important) Story This Week In The Paper
Saturday - The New New York Times... 1324 Words On The Lead Story, A Sucide Bomb In Iraq... 3454 Words In One, Two, Three Stories On Page Six Allegations

It's Not The Size Of The Discipline...
A Prison Showing Of Brokeback Mountain Gets The Programmer In Trouble... It's Not The Gay Sex... It's Any Sex At All... Crash Unlikley To Be Shown Either... But The Benchwarmers...

MCN's QT/IPod Moments Of The Week
Paul Newman Eats Dogfood (6 mg)
Wonder Showzen's Back On MTV2 (10mg)
Lord Of The Rings: The Musical, Starring Nathan Lane (14mg)

John Patterson On Problem With Movies About Painters

A Free WSJ Story
Finally, The Real Issue... Are We Ready for The 9/11 Movies?

Lab Results A Little Like The Fly
Sam & The Lipp Reeeeeeeeeach For A Summer Movie Formula

A Geek Student Plagiarizes Web Critics... Web Critics Are Offended And Honored In Equal Measure

The Top 100 From The WGA
Earlier - The WGA Picks Favorites

Maybe The Deepest Piece On The Hot Young Star Seen In A Major Paper
USA Today Don't Heder The Player, Dont't Even Heder The Game

MCN Protection Plan: Don't Do Dumb Things And You Won't Get Embarrassed
Page Six Eternal Freelancer Reportedly Caught In Sting Offering Protection Against Page Six

Geoff Pevere On Buck Owens Via Wim Wenders

Lisa Kudrow's Happy Endings

Spielberg Gets Real... Survivor: Hollywood

Is There Anything Written By A New York Celebrity That TPOR Won't Publish?
Apparently Nora Ephron's Wacky Little Night At The Movies Ended Up E-Mailed To The NYT Instead Of The New Yorker

John Patterson On The "Strange - And Very, Very Bloody - Things" Happening In Horror

Trailers du Jour
Andy Garcia's Lost City
Victor Salva's Peaceful Warrior

The Brits Declare The Death Of A Brit Filmmaker In Israel To Be A Murder Based On A Lack Of Cooperation By The Israeli Government

Eventually, Paramount Classics Will Release The PsuedoSequel To March Of The Penguins... But The French Are Already Watching And You Can Watch The Trailer

Australian Screen Directors Association Honors Noyce

Australia's Favorite Home Town Twig Turns Producer

Take The Lead Takes Some Chances In Its Marketing

South Park Gets A Peabody... Tom Cruise Rooting For Sherman To March

Union Members Interrupt Crash Day Event In L.A... For No Apparent Reason Relating To The Film

John Lithgow Is A Little Curdled Cream In The Dreamgirls Coffee

It May Be "Indie," But It's Still About Maximized Revenues & Not About Movies
Mark Cuban Blocks IFC's Day-n-Date Product Because IFC's Day-n-Date Outlet, Comcast, Is Competing With Cuban's HDNet And Not Running His Channels
And - The Filmmaker Involved Offers A Series Of E-Mail Exchanges On His Blog

Madonna & Whore
Paris Hilton As Mutha Theresa

McGurk's Back!
IDT To Snap At Lionsgates Tail

IMAX Continues To Build Out Variations On Its Original Business Model

John Turturro On Federico Fellini And Nights Of Cabiria

Test Marketing Lord Of The Rings: The Musical, $5 At A Time

Disney To Offer A New Kids' Cellphone Product... Which Is Actually A Concept That Has Been Available, Unbranded, At Cingular For Months

A French Writer Claims 15-20 Scenes Of Syriana Came From Her Spec Script

AOL's Daily Pulse Suggests That At Least Webheads Are Ready For U93

Jack Black Is Not Hairy Enough For His Chest & Belly Waxing To Be Virgin Funny...Or Really, Very Funny At All... But Seeing Him This Uncomfortable On Camera Is Unique

Fox News Bumps American Dreamz... Too Much Bush Bashing Or Simon Says "No?"

"But can anybody be certain of anything but life and death?"
Redstone & Freston Back Their Grey In Black & White Via Claudia Eller

Patrick Goldstein's The Big Picture Column... On Sunday And On Books

Mel "There's No Such Thing As A Dead Language" Gibson On Apocalypto
""The fearmongering we depict in this film reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."

Meirelles & Lund's Brazilian Series, City Of Men Premieres On Sundance Channel Tuesday Night

Awards That Matter... "Justin Timberlake beat Hugh Jackman in the burping contest."