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Burbank, California—Anna Nicole Smith's sudden death at 39 continues the long line of lost souls seeking stardom that crashed and burned. At her best, the big, busty blonde displayed an endearing, playful quality. Robert Zemeckis

Night at the Museum's five week reign ended as The Pursuit of Happyness topped the foreign box office over the weekend, grossing $16.3 million for a $71.1 million total. Among the movie's openings, Spain led the way with $2.5 million followed by France's $2.4 million and Brazil's $1.1 million. Each was good though below Hitch's debuts. Will SmithAdam Sandler

Super Bowl weekend showed no surprises as a teen horror and a romantic comedy topped the box office. The two genres tend to be demographically compatible with the big game, which generally scares off most other pictures with its over 60 percent blow to Sunday business. After three years of new Super Bowl milestones, though, neither The Messengers nor Because I Said So came close to previous highs and overall business was down 13 percent from the same frame last year. Clint Eastwood

Burbank, California—The furor over 12-year-old child actress Dakota Fanning's festival-screened movie, Hounddog, has so far stalled gaining a distributor for the picture. Whether her parents made an error by allowing her to play in a rape scene, the movie's status signals spreading religious influence in Hollywood.

With a big opening in Spain, Night at the Museum stayed on top of the foreign box office for the fifth consecutive weekend, grossing $14.6 million from 48 markets. Spain contributed $5.6 million from 483 screens, which was the fourth biggest launch ever for a non-sequel, topping the first installments of the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean series. The family comedy reigned in other Spanish-language markets as well, including Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay, slipped up in Brazil with a third place $977,000 from 461 screens. Museum's other debuts included an impressive $800,000 in the Philippines. Overall, its total climbed to $193.7 million with France and China on the horizon.

Two lowbrow pictures, Epic Movie and Smokin' Aces, topped the weekend box office, overshadowing the highfalutin ones nominated for Academy Awards. Overall business dipped six percent from the same frame last year when Big Momma's House 2 dominated.

Burbank, California—A fancier two-disc version of the movie that was passed over in last year's Best Picture Oscar race, Brokeback Mountain, premieres on DVD this week. Handsome packaging, eight collectible postcards—including the pivotal one from the movie—and new stuff make it an all-around better deal than the sparse first edition. Heath LedgerAng Lee

A Jennifer Garner vehicle called Catch and Release sinks straight to the bottom. Garner mugs and poses and stars as a Boulder, Colorado, woman who tries to recover from the loss of her fiancé by sloughing off with his friends for a few weeks. Susannah GrantKevin Smith

Night at the Museum cooled to $14.4 million from 35 markets, but still led the foreign weekend again. The family comedy's sole new territory was Uruguay, where it posted the fifth-best opening ever at $38,000 from 13 screens. The overall total stands at $173.2 million with nearly all of Europe and Latin America complete. Denzel WashingtonLeonardo DiCaprio

It was slow-going at the weekend box office with one minor new wide release (The Hitcher) and the expansion of several Oscar hopefuls. Stomp the Yard and Night at the Museum repeated atop the chart and holdovers generally saw modest declines, but overall business was down 18 percent from the same frame last year when Underworld: Evolution debuted.

Burbank, California—With various annual awards upon us, it's time to look at the movies released last year—including those that may have been missed for review—and take stock of the year in motion pictures. Frank MarshallEdward NortonLeonardo DiCaprioStephen FrearsAdam SandlerM. Night ShyamalanJohn Lasseter

Night at the Museum led the foreign box office for the third consecutive weekend with a $20 million from 38 markets. The sole family event in the world right now, Night surged past the $150 million mark. The movie's weekend was highlighted by Brazil's $2.8 million opening from 502 screens, which was distributor 20th Century Fox's third highest launch of all time there. Elsewhere, Night stayed on top in Germany ($2.6 million weekend) and remained potent in the United Kingdom ($3.9 million), Russia ($983,000) and Mexico ($1.5 million). Will Smith

The latest hip-hopped up dance drama, Stomp the Yard, took center stage over the four-day Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, six years to the date (Jan. 12-15) after Save the Last Dance jump-started the sub-genre. Like that movie, Step Up, You Got Served, Honey and others, Stomp exceeded expectations, and it ended the reign of three-week champ Night at the Museum.

Burbank, California—Director 's visually distinctive Children of Men, adapted from the P.D. James novel, putters along at a nice clip. Clive Owen plays an everyman who can save the world with Julianne Moore as a rebel leader, and they both strive to survive in fascist Britain. MadonnaLuc Besson

Writer and director Nick Cassavetes' revolting Alpha Dog is salivating with problems—besides the legal problems that have plagued this based-on-a-true-story—yet it sinks its teeth into some serious cultural commentary. Bruce WillisSharon Stone

Night at the Museum remained the weekend champion overseas with a $29.8 million haul from 38 markets. The family comedy was powered by strong second weekends in the United Kingdom ($5.9 million), Germany ($5.5 million) and Russia ($3.7 million), but more impressive was the movie's third weekend in South Korea ($2.5 million for a $20.2 million total). Among openings, Museum recorded the eighth-highest of all time in Peru with $471,000 from 82 screens and led Greece with $900,000 from 66 screens. Nancy MeyersMel Gibson

Night at the Museum and The Pursuit of Happyness repeated in the top two spots for the third consecutive time as holdovers drove the first weekend of the new year, following the historical norm.

Burbank, California—Judi Dench and Peter O'Toole power a couple of movies about conniving geriatrics and both of them elevate the material. Miss Dench stars as a wicked old spinster in Notes on a Scandal, the better of the two, and Mr. O'Toole plays an 80-something stage actor with the morals of a Golden Retriever in Venus. Cate BlanchettPeter ChelsomRichard GereSusan SarandonJennifer LopezStanley TucciJoel SchumacherJamie Foxx

The foreign box office was buoyant over the holidays, driven by strong holds for older pictures and big business for the period's sole new wide release, Night at the Museum. Denzel Washington

Despite a schedule lacking a blockbuster franchise or event picture, business bustled over the holidays, led by better-than-expected results for Night at the Museum and The Pursuit of Happyness among other pictures. As a whole, this past December ended up out-grossing 2005's Narnia-and-King Kong-fueled December. Will SmithRobert De Niro