News

Suave Antonio Banderas and sassy Alfre Woodard boost the clichéd inner-city dance movie Take the Lead, but this one barely cuts the rug. Choppy direction and too many subplots scratch this otherwise appealing showcase. As far as the music and dancing are concerned, don't expect much; good pop standards are deployed sparingly, it's sad to say, and, dancing is suggested more than it's depicted.

Ice Age: The Meltdown was no letdown, amassing $47.4 million in foreign box office over the weekend. The computer-animated sequel topped its predecessor in all 29 markets and set industry records in many of them. Jim Carrey

Thank You for Smoking's Marlboro Man, Sam Elliott, has played a range of characters—Cher's lover in Mask, Jennifer Connelly's father in Hulk, Farrah Fawcett's murderer in Texas—but, on Sunday, April 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, he goes solo as Turner Network Television's Avenger, which is based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File). Nicolas CageMel GibsonJoan AllenSam ElliottSam Elliott

Ice Age: The Meltdown inspired a mass migration to multiplexes in its opening weekend, hatching 2006's first blockbuster. On the lower end of the food chain, ATL racked up a solid debut, while Slither and Basic Instinct 2 suffered decidedly chilly receptions. Sharon Stone

Not as exciting as its title suggests and sagging in the middle, Ice Age: The Meltdown meets its modest demands to match the original's light humor and theme of emotional bonding. Director Carlos Saldanha, working solo this time out, serves more of the same formula. John LeguizamoQueen Latifah

Box Office Mojo recently caught up with the voice of Ice Age: The Meltdown's sloth, Sid, John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge!), who created the character for 20th Century Fox's original 2002 computer animated feature.

Re-issued on DVD, 20th Century Fox's computer animated Ice Age expands on its cute theatrical trailer featuring a non-verbal, Looney Tunes-like creature, Scrat, sprinkling his adventures throughout the picture. Skipping along at a steady clip, the tale of an improvised family tosses in comedian John Leguizamo's quirky humor and stretches into a piece of peppy entertainment.

Though Inside Man snared some promising debuts over the weekend, The Pink Panther was at the helm of the foreign box office again, boasting a $10.6 million weekend for a $61 million total.

As Clive Owen's character planned the perfect bank robbery in Inside Man, distributor Universal Pictures plotted the perfect marketing and release campaign for the talky, twisty thriller, bolstered by genre stalwarts Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster and a paucity of other viable adult movies in the market. Spike LeeLarry the Cable Guy

Though he hasn't struck box office gold yet, director Dan Ireland is happily working away with a definite knack for spotting fresh talent. Whether breaking in Emmy Rossum, Renée Zellweger or Thomas Jane—or Pride and Prejudice's Rupert Friend, who debuted in Ireland's Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont—the ex-studio executive favors an old-fashioned, character-driven approach. Hans ZimmerTom CruiseCameron Crowe

Steer clear of the latest movie about nothing, Inside Man, which is more of that pretentious Crash and Closer formula, where characters speak in random, barely audible, incoherent rants. This is trash with a flashy cast, a jerky camera and a pace that feels like The English Patient on Valium. Spike LeeDenzel WashingtonClive OwenJodie FosterWillem DafoeBrian Grazer

V for Vendetta surprisingly stumbled out of the gate with The Pink Panther picking up the pieces. Comedy reigned again as Pink Panther grossed $12.3 million over the weekend for a $47.3 million total.

Effeminate writer Truman Capote sashaying half-loaded onto various 1970s talk shows was not pretty. His acid tongue predated today's vile entertainment press, with their endless verbal assaults (and, lately, physical ones), in a biting style that has become widely accepted. Capote, a compelling cultural time capsule, goes to the source of the writer's demise.

V for Vendetta governed the weekend with a forceful $25.6 million at 3,365 locations, including about $1.4 million from 56 IMAX venues. Vin DieselMatthew McConaughey

Set 20 years in the future, the flamboyant V for Vendetta is less science fiction than social commentary done in comic book style, though this exhaustive movie is not easily described. With several odd-sized pieces, it is one strange puzzle—and an allegorical warning against tyranny. Natalie Portman

The surprisingly funny She's the Man bops onto screens in an update of William Shakespeare's cross-dressing Twelfth Night and, while no one will mistake it for the original, the wispy little picture is a hoot. Credit a pint-sized leading lady named Amanda Bynes (Robots), who has the perfect face for the part—sweet, innocent and a button nose.

Inundated by serious and award-winning pictures, moviegoers embraced entertainment last weekend, crowning The Pink Panther champion and handing second place to The Chronicles of Narnia. Steve Martin's detective comedy snatched $9.2 million from 38 markets. Reese Witherspoon

Failure to Launch's title was no self-fulfilling prophecy as the picture claimed the weekend top spot with $24.4 million at 3,057 sites, a start similar to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Matthew McConaugheySarah Jessica ParkerKate HudsonTim AllenWes CravenJohnny Depp

Technically proficient in depicting an intersection in the careers of Senator Joseph McCarthy, (R, WI), and CBS News anchor Edward R. Murrow, the black and white Good Night, and Good Luck is George Clooney's stylish take on a certain episode from the 1950s. It puts some pizzazz in its message that journalists were once admirable.

With Turner Classic Movies' premiere of The Essentials, host Robert Osborne takes over for director Sydney Pollack (The Interpreter) and, paired with co-host Molly Haskell, will present this season's classic motion pictures, beginning with The Hustler starring Paul Newman, on Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET (repeated Sundays at 6 p.m. ET). Rob ReinerAng Lee