Gross Behavior
by Leonard Klady

In a couple of days, the start of the summer movie season will begin with the launch of Van Helsing. A week later Troy will join the fray, followed by Shrek 2 and The Day After Tomorrow. For the literally inclined, May 7 is about six weeks in advance of the true calendar summer. It's also well ahead of the end of the school term when the core of avid movie goers find they have an increasing amount of leisure time.

From early May through to mid-August - roughly 15 weeks - it's summer because the Hollywood majors have staked out the span as the most fertile period to sell movie tickets. It's not merely a cavalier notion nor has it occurred by happenstance.

Pride, Unprejudiced
by Ray Pride

Despite resemblances to many, many movies that have come before, I still like Gary Winick’s studio debut. Are Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo sublimely dorky together? Or am I just a sucker for photogenic dorkiness on screen?

And - With less than a day to digest Tony Scott’s Man on Fire, I still not sure if it’s a terrific portrait of disorientation or a genuinely good movie and an inventive work of brutal grace.

And - Jim “Our Lord and Savior” Caviezel follows his role in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ with another role that calls upon him to excel as a gape-mouthed gawper. Plus it’s about golf!

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Digital Nation
by Gary Dretzka

Van Helsing could turn out to be every bit as entertaining as, say, Spider-Man or X-Men, but judging from the available evidence, the creators of the trailers would then have to be withholding even better material. Sadly, that almost never happens anymore.

Now that the scent of wolfbane is in the air – at least until Troy opens, on May 14 – it’s worth throwing a few solid props in the direction of Universal City. Someone there wisely decided to re-package the studio’s “crown jewels” – its library of classic horror pictures -- and release them on DVD, almost simultaneously with the launch of Van Helsing.

The Ultimate DVD Geek
Panic Room Special Edition
by Douglas Pratt

With all the hundreds of special editions that have come out, you'd think the process of moviemaking would be fairly well documented by now, but every so often another really great DVD appears and it is filled with material that has never been shown before. One of the reasons for this is that DVDs aren't just documenting the filmmaking process, they're also witnessing the history of technological development in film. As new methods of digitizing the craft are conceived and adapted, the DVD crews are there, to record the moments. Every movie is different, of course, and this, too, makes each special edition DVD intriguing, as each movie has a different set of challenges and situations. Still, it is surprising when a DVD like Panic Room Special Edition comes along, because of how thoroughly fresh and fascinating it is.

Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

Mean Girls strutted their stuff and it was considerable as the hip, teen comedy led the weekend with an estimated $24.6 million. However, an additional quartet of national debutants took poor seconds in a generally tepid marketplace bracing for the onslaught of summer releases that begins next weekend with Van Helsing.

The new teen fave also took a large bite out of last weekened's frosh entry 13 Going on 30 but the second frame of the psychological thriller Man on Fire held well, ranking second with an estimated $15 million.
Weekend Finals

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Updated throughout the day
Updated: 7:34 am

"We need to engage them in meaningful and relevant ways."
Spider-Man Logos On The Bases Are Really Just MLB's Reach Out To The Kids

Time For A Doc Quiz!

Cannes: Love It Or Loathe It

The Corporation As Villain In The Corporation

Orwall Adds Discussion Of Issue With Dinsey Board To Moore Story

Bates & Eller On Terms Of Sony/MGM Deal That Hiltzik Mocked Last Week

Brownfield & Dutka Add More on Moore & Disney

Waxman Gets Unusual Access As MGM Tries To Market A Religious Satire To The Religious

Gay Filmmaker/Gay Marriage

The Catwoman Trailer Is Here

David Thomson On The Disasters We Love To Watch

Homer Wrote "The Ancestor Of All Stories In Western Culture"

The Passion's Influence On Hollywood

WGA, Producers Hit Wall Of DVDs
Also - Scribes Push For 1-Year-Deal Instead Of 3 As Talks Break Down

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Gets Sucked Into Michael Moore's Con Job...Embarrasses Self
Earlier - Reuters "Corrects" Story To Include Eisner & Studio Quotes
Earlier - Disney Responds Concisely To Michael Moore's Attack: "In May 2003, The Walt Disney Company communicated to Miramax and Mr. Moore’s representatives that Miramax would not be the distributor of his film. Contrary to his assertions, Mr. Moore has had and continues to have every opportunity to either find another distributor or distribute the film himself. "
Earlier - Michael Moore Blogs An Answer
Even Earlier - Disney Blocks Miramax Distribution Of Bush-Bashing Moore Doc Fahrenheit 911
Commentary - The Two Big Stories Of The Day: Michael Moore v. Disney And Spider-Man Steals Second

Who's Behind WhoRepresents.com?

Beckinsale & Brody Career Trouble By Selling Diet Cola

Finally, An Idea Wackier Than Mel Gibson Himself? (P.S. What Eurpoean Group Has $60 Billion To Spend On A Media Company? Perrier? Tag-Heuer?)

A Really Unpleasant Sequel To Mean Girls?

What's Playing At The IFP/LA Film Festival? Searchlight Opens & Closes Fest... Tarnation Makes L.A. Debut, In Competition... Warner Indie Up Twice... Hero Debuts Outdoors... Harold & Kumar Eat... Z Channel Feted... Lions Gates Doesn't Show Open Water (Gonna Have To Wait)

Quelle Surprise!
Angry Frenchmen At Cannes!!!

Will MGM Beat Spider-Man To The Altar?
MGM Delays Shareholders Meeting In Effort To Have Sale Settled Before They Meet

How Very Animatrix ..
Van Helsing: The Animated Prequel On DVD Next Week

Shrek Can't Wait - Moves Up Two Days To May 19

A Look At Warner Independent Before Sunset

A Face They Hope Will Launch 3000 Screens

Retailers Fight For Space In The Terminal

Logo Au Go-Go
Spider-Man De-Bases Major League Baseball (For Those Without WSJ... 1st Through 3rd Base Will Be Covered With Spidey Logo)

How One 56-Year-Old Tribeca Premiere Came To Pass

Tribeca Tries To Find Its Bearings
Earlier - Tribeca Hasn't Found Its Bearings (2nd half of the column)

The Subjects Of UA's Chris Smith Doc, The Yes Men, Do A Little (Funny) Dirty Work Off Camera

Van Helsing Sucks... Literally
(It's a blood drive, silly!)

Harold & Kumar: The Movie Site Videogame

Bill Keller's Memo To The Troops re: Elvis' Exit (thanks to Gawker/Defamer)
Earlier - Gawker, Spreader Of Elvis Mitchell Rumors, True & False, Gets The In-House Memo Announcing Scott's Promotion

Caro Takes Revenge On The Revenge Movies

Newsweek's Sean Smith Writes About Van Helsing Gossip By Spreading Van Helsing Gossip - Speculates On "Failure" But Fails To Point Out That Just $300m in Worldwide Theatrical Should Mean Profit

NASA, Bush, Kerry And Environmentalists Everywhere Help Fox Market The Day After Tomorrow
Earlier It's Not Just A Movie - It's A $125m Ad For The Democratic Party

Toronto Fest's New Co-Director Has A Goal: "Not To Screw Up What's Already Been Done."

Jane & J-Lo: So What's The Budget For Retouching?

Trailers
New Day After Tomorrow
New Chronicles Of Riddick

What If Kate Beckinsale Was A Giant? Claire Danes? Others?

New Gossip Site, Defamer, Premieres

Elvis' 15 Minutes Speeding To End
Daily News Prints Six Month Old Elvis-To-Sony Rumor (Item 3)

Cruise Controlled By German Rule

Ambassadors To The Nicole Nation

We Don't Need No Stinkin' History Lessons!

Tribeca Fest Sells First Film... To Lions Gate, As Expected

The Pitt Expectationss