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While High School Musical 3: Senior Year and Saw V buoyed overall weekend business to a near October high, holdovers packed a modest punch. Oliver StoneLeonardo DiCaprioRussell CroweRidley Scott

After weeks of largely tepid business, the debuts of High School Musical 3: Senior Year and Saw V greased the way to one of the highest-grossing October weekends on record. Overall box office was up more than 30 percent from the previous weekend and from the same timeframe last year.

Tropic Thunder and The Dark Knight could only do so much. A weak slate of pictures in recent weeks caused Summer 2008 to end with a whimper over the four-day Labor Day weekend. It was the lowest attendance the holiday timeframe has seen in a decade. Vin DieselJason StathamWoody Allen

The Dark Knight's reign atop the current box office charts ended this week, but it was by no means a sign of weakness for the super blockbuster. It was merely a function of age as the picture was in its fifth week and the high profile Tropic Thunder entered the fray. While the latter was solid, the new movies as a whole were modest, leading to another down week compared to last year.

The Dark Knight spent its fourth consecutive week at No. 1, though overall business was down from the same timeframe last year due to a lack of new blockbusters. It's the first time this decade that a summer movie has reigned that long, a feat achieved through a combination of massive grosses and a relatively modest slate of pictures beneath it. Seth RogenJudd Apatow

On its 18th day of release, The Dark Knight sprinted past the $400 million mark, shattering yet another record in its amazing run. Shrek 2 was previously the fastest to the milestone, hitting the mark in 43 days. By day 19, the Batman juggernaut tallied $405.7 million and eclipsed the final gross of the vaunted Spider-Man, though it's still a ways off in admissions. Will Ferrell

After Batman Begins healed the franchise, The Dark Knight restored Batman's former record-breaking glory and then some. Warner Bros.' $185 million sequel blazed its name atop numerous all time charts in its monumental $203.8 million five-day start, which nearly matched the entire run of its predecessor. Christopher NolanHeath LedgerWill Smith

Two unpolished superheroes, Hellboy and Hancock, were neck-and-neck for the top spot over the weekend. Without a new release with blockbuster potential, though, overall attendance lulled to the lowest level the post-Independence Day weekend has seen since 2001, but business is poised to roar back next weekend with the arrival of The Dark Knight. Eddie MurphyWill Smith

With a strong cast, plot and action, The Incredible Hulk is another resounding Marvel Studios success. There is not much to mine here—a scientist is poisoned in an experiment and he's triggered by anger to become a raging green hunk of muscle—but what's there to be made is simple and well done. Edward NortonLiv TylerSam ElliottAng Lee

Never having subscribed to Home Box Office (HBO) let alone watched the HBO show about what looked like a bunch of bitches, my expectations for Sex and the City, a movie based on the cable program, were low. Sarah Jessica Parker

After 19 years of anticipation, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn't one for the record books but it was exceptionally popular in its Memorial Day weekend debut. Overall Memorial attendance, though, was the lowest of the decade, due to Indy being the sole new nationwide release and the disappointing holdovers from the past two weeks. Harrison FordJohn Williams

Go see the thoroughly pleasurable popcorn picture, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Do not expect it to be better than its predecessors—it isn't and this is not great art—and be sure to take stock of what this mammoth-sized movie really means. Steven SpielbergFrank MarshallCate BlanchettHarrison FordShia LaBeouf

The second coming of Narnia had a less passionate opening reception than its predecessor and, being the sole new nationwide release of the weekend, led to one of the softest mid-May periods of the decade in terms of overall foot traffic at the movies.

The four Narnia children are back in the next installment of Disney's and Walden Media's Christian-themed series, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, based on the C.S. Lewis novels. I hated the first movie, which I thought was a boring slice of propaganda. I expected to hate this one, too. Liam Neeson

With a sturdy second outing for Iron Man and two new major releases, it was an up weekend at the box office compared to last year when Spider-Man 3 plummeted with no significant openings to pick up the slack. Overall business was on the high end for the time of year, but the news wasn't sunny all around. Romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas edged out family action picture Speed Racer, but neither high profile affair set checkered flags aflutter. Cameron DiazAshton Kutcher

Take the family to see the exciting Speed Racer, which starts slow, idles, then builds momentum. Like a sports car, beneath the flashy exterior is a well-built vehicle with a purring motor that powers a smooth ride, courtesy of writer-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski. To paraphrase the theme song, Speed's a demon on wheels. Susan Sarandon

What a difference a single movie can make. After weeks of humdrum pictures dragging it down, business came roaring back with the sensational debut of Iron Man, the first salvo of the summer movie season. While the weekend as a whole was down from last year when Spider-Man 3 hit a new opening milestone, it was the fourth best on record for the early May timeframe.

Last weekend at the foreign box office, The Forbidden Kingdom dominated China and led the overall chart with $19.7 million from nine markets, pushing its early total to $24.1 million. In China, the Oriental fantasy's $2.3 million opening day was the largest in the market's history and that grew to a monstrous $11.4 million weekend, which was bigger than 2008's highest grossing movie there, CJ7, and just below Transformers. Additionally, Forbidden Kingdom led both Russia and South Korea with $1.3 million and $3.6 million, respectively. In Hong Kong, it made a massive $754,595 from 48 screens but saw a moderate $828,965 in Taiwan. In its initial four markets, it had average drops by genre standards. Judd Apatow

Released in black and white 60 years ago, Howard Hawks' 1948 Western, Red River, starring John Wayne at his best, is a masterpiece. Based on a piece of fiction in the Saturday Evening Post by Borden Chase, who also wrote the screenplay, Red River captures the American spirit. It is an epic about earning respect, love and money.

With the broad, essentially American theme that man is self-made, director Jon Favreau's Iron Man is made of solid, durable stuff. Light, humorous, and entertaining, Robert Downey, Jr. gets the Marvel Studios comic book adaptation up and running and he doesn't let up in the year's best action movie so far. Gwyneth PaltrowJeff Bridges