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Eight wide theatrical releases, ranging from disappointments to flops with the exception of one MTV-fueled independent comedy, arrive on DVD this Christmas week. Jonathan DemmeDenzel WashingtonMeryl StreepJerry BruckheimerBen Affleck

'Tis the season for awards hopefuls to start or stoke their campaigns with platform releases, and this weekend saw a whole mess of them, including major contenders The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby. Martin ScorseseLeonardo DiCaprioClint EastwoodZiyi ZhangBill MurrayJohnny Depp

Misery loved company over the weekend as Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events drew $30.1 million on over 4,400 screens at 3,620 theaters. Jim CarreyMeryl StreepJames L. BrooksAdam Sandler

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The adaptation of the first three of Lemony Snicket's books about unlucky orphans Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam Aiken), and Sunny (Kara and Selby Hoffman) Baudelaire, A Series of Unfortunate Events, is an empty, if stylish exercise.

If there were a set of immutable commandments provided by the cinema gods, the first and foremost would be Thou Shalt Not Remake Classic Movies. Unfortunately, such a list does not exist and the result is that classic movies like The Flight of the Phoenix (1966) get remade into watered-down goulashes of cliche and hackneyed plotting.

Clint Eastwood's boxing picture, Million Dollar Baby, is more welterweight than heavyweight in its depiction of the redemptive power of sports. That said, it wins by a technicality due to Eastwood's assured direction and fantastic performances by him and Hilary Swank as a desperate, dirt-poor boxer.

With lyricism and motion, and with life as the point of reference, Alejandro Amenabar's subtitled Spanish movie about a man fighting for the right to die, The Sea Inside, stimulates the senses and the mind. Opening with the sound of deep breathing, which becomes the swish of waves coming ashore, Amenabar's follow-up to The Others is subtle and powerful.

Writer, director and lead actor Kevin Spacey's vanity picture Beyond the Sea, an uneven mix of anticlimax and musical surrealism, should be one of the dogs of the season. Yet, in spite of the fact that the writing is often weak, the pacing is uneven, and supporting actors are miscast, the movie delivers on its promise as a musical celebration of the late and largely forgotten singing sensation Bobby Darin.

Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the seven films being considered for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 77th Academy Awards®.

Martin Scorsese's The Aviator is big, loud, audacious and totally disinteresting to those (including me) who are fed up with so-called biopics, whatever that term's supposed to mean. Fans of Mr. Scorsese's work—and, except for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, this writer is not among them—will probably worship watching flyboy Howard Hughes as he gets his wings clipped.

Beverly Hills, CA—The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has selected Sunday, March 5, as the date for the 78th Academy Awards® in 2006, Academy President Frank Pierson announced today. The show will fall a week later in the calendar than in 2004 and 2005.

Roger Mayer to Receive Hersholt Humanitarian Award at 77th Academy Awards®

Making an uplifting movie about a man who wants to die was a challenge Alejandro Amenabar couldn't resist. After the thrillers Open Your Eyes, which was remade with Tom Cruise (Vanilla Sky), and The Others starring Nicole Kidman, the 32-year-old writer, director and composer chose a more intimate—and controversial—subject for his latest picture, The Sea Inside. He started with the basics. Steven Spielberg

The weekend was full of initial international stops for many movies, including Ocean's Twelve, Blade: Trinity, The Phantom of the Opera and Closer, but all that division left The Incredibles in command of pole position for the third straight week. With a $32.1 million weekend gross overseas from 6,343 screens (off only 12%), The Incredibles skyrocketed to $152.1 million and will easily pass $200 million by Sunday. Jerry BruckheimerNicolas Cage

Beverly Hills, CA—Director Sidney Lumet has been voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Director Michael Mann's Collateral, starring hit maker Tom Cruise as a hit man who takes cab driver Jamie Foxx hostage, arrives on DVD this week. DreamWorks' taut urban thriller fared well in theaters, logging $101 million since its August release—relatively mild for Cruise but on the high end for a crime picture. Will SmithJulie AndrewsJeff BridgesKim BasingerJack Nicholson

Ocean's Twelve lifted $39.2 million from over 6,000 screens at 3,290 theaters. Warner Bros.' $110 million sequel to the 2001 Rat Pack remake Ocean's Eleven did comparable business to that picture's $38.1 million opening at 3,075 venues in December 2001, and the demographics were similar, with 53% of moviegoers under age 25 and 54% female, according to studio exit polling.

Beverly Hills, CA—Oscar®-winning composer Bill Conti will return to the Oscar podium as musical director for the 77th Academy Awards®, telecast producer Gil Cates announced today. This will be the 17th time that Conti has conducted the Academy Awards Orchestra.