March 19th, 2003

"House" Party 2, Oscar Picks

You just can't bring a good house down. For the second week in a row, Bringing Down The House claimed the top spot (benefiting from good worth of mouth I suppose). What's so amazing though is that the film performed very strongly in its second weekend, taking in 22.1 million. The film has now passed the 60 million mark, and chances are good it might pass the 100 million mark. Do you smell a sequel?

In second was the kiddie action flick Agent Cody Banks. Debuting with a strong 14.1 million, the film should benefit from repeat business and probably good word of mouth from families. Expect this one to stay steady. Actually, MGM was so pleased with the film's performance that they have already greenlit a sequel which is due to start shooting in May.

The new thriller The Hunted boasted strong actors which probably attracted an audience, since the film's mainly poor reviews probably didn't (I don't think people really care for reviews anymore actually). Taking in a decent 13.5 million, it should be interesting to see how this one holds up in the coming weeks. Tears Of The Sun took a somewhat steep drop with 8.7 million over the weekend, but Chicago went up slightly over last weekend, this time taking in 7.1 million.

Old School passed the 60 million dollar mark with 6.7 million over the weekend, while How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is starting to fall with 4.7 million. The horror remake Willard starring Crispin Glover (got to love the Glove man) took in a disappointing 4 million for eight place, but it did boast some overall positive reviews. Finally, tying for last place are two action films on the way out: Daredevil and Cradle 2 The Grave, each taking in 3 more million. "Daredevil" should probably pass 100 million by next weekend. Quite nice, but the film is no "Spider-Man."

And now without further Apu (heheh...heh), here are my Oscar predictions and thoughts for the major awards (let's hope I'm right... and let's hope the ceremony is still a go this weekend with war on the horizon). So, enjoy the Oscars and see you back here next week! Same DVD uh... time and same DVD chan---website.

Category	Will Win	Who Should Win	Who Should Have Been Nominated
Best Picture	Chicago	Gangs Of New York	Spirited Away
Best Director	Rob Marshall	Martin Scorsese	Tim Blake Nelson (The Grey Zone)
Best Actor	Adrien Brody	Daniel Day Lewis	Kevin Kline (The Emperor's Club)
Best Actress	Nicole Kidman	Julianne Moore	Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding)
Best Supporting Actor	Chris Cooper	Chris Cooper	Dennis Quaid (Far From Heaven)
Best Supporting Actress	Catherine Zeta-Jones	Catherine Zeta-Jones	Susan Sarandon (Moonlight Mile)

-Zach B.