Cinematical

Hello box office gamers. Another Monday morning, which means it's Sandie here, bringing you the results of the weekend box office. Let's get started with a little reminder of Patricia's picks. Last Thursday, Patricia predicted the following movies would land in the top five:

1. Apocalypto
2. The Holiday
3. Blood Diamond
4. Happy Feet
5. Casino Royale

And while all those movies did indeed land in the top five, 'Blood Diamond' finished 5th:

1. Apocalypto, $14.2 million
2. The Holiday, $13.5 million
3. Happy Feet, $12.7 million
4. Casino Royale, $8.8 million
5. Blood Diamond, $8.5 million

This week, if my second-grade math skills are up to par, it looks like no one correctly guessed the exact lineup, but five of you did earn 12 points, including bubba8193, who we were beginning to think was a professional box office analyst. The other four top guesses came from nocare4ua, quealynyc, tangoeco and zsxxx03. Congrats to all five of you. And welcome back, dylsan. We hadn't heard from you in a while. Here's where everyone is in the weekly standings:

1. Patricia -- this week: 10 points/total: 96 points (after 9 weeks)
2. zsxxx03 -- 12 points/91 points (8 weeks)
3. chrisnbn -- 10/85 points (8 weeks)
4. crzydcguy84 -- 6 points/75 points (9 weeks)
5. mrheenster -- 7 points/64 points (8 weeks)
6. tangoeco -- 12 points/46 points (5 weeks)
7. bubba8193 -- 12 points/44 points (3 weeks)
8. laraeruiz -- 6 points/38 points (5 weeks)
9. drurd2006 -- no entry/27 points (3 weeks); bostonsleppard -- 9 points/27 points (3 weeks)
10. ajdear -- 5 points/25 points (3 weeks)
11. jecmen24 -- 10 points/17 points (2 weeks)
12. dylsan -- 8 points/14 points (2 weeks)
13. liesse00 -- 10 points/14 points (2 weeks)
14. ardentheater -- no entry/13 points (1 week)
    
15. quealynyc -- 12 points (1 week)
16. brldisteach -- no entry/12 points (1 week)
17. filmman36 -- no entry/12 points (1 week)
18. malc004 -- no entry/12 points (1 week)
19. aargabrite -- no entry/11 points (1 week)
20. ssitalionstallion -- 11 points (1 week)
21. tennesseehearts1 -- 10 points (1 week)
22. zippylizardhead --no entry/10 points (1 week)
23. ethandavid26 -- no entry/ 9 points (1 week)
24. kandaegurl -- no entry/9 points (1 week)
25. linc68503 --- no entry/9 points(1 week)
26. mamasitalinda520 -- no entry/9 points (1 week)
27. sleezye396 -- no entry/9 points (1 week)
28. taltarzac -- no entry/9 points (1 week)
29. pmentslenchanted -- 8 points (1 week)
30. bnfan08 -- no entry/8 points (1 week)
31. epr1202 -- no entry/8 points (1 week)
32. horsegenius88 -- no entry/8 points (1 week)
33. slowriter57 -- no entry/8 points (1 week)
34. swsfamily -- no entry/8 points (1 week)
35. lisalr1 -- 7 points (1 week)
36. reverbzz -- no entry/7 points (1 week)
37. golfman -- no entry/7 points (1 week)
38. cali1184 -- no entry/6 points (1 week)
39. mastermike612 -- no entry/6 points (1 week)
40. ideswe2 -- 5 points (1 week)
41. bonaldduck -- no entry/5 points (1 week)
42. evilone1414 -- no entry/4 points (1 week)
43. lovelymsbond007 -- no entry/4 points (1 week)
44. polyt2ari -- no entry/4 points (1 week)

Most of you just knew that despite his drunken, anti-Semitic tirade, Mel Gibson knows how to please blood thirsty action-adventure lovers. 'Apocalypto' finished No. 1 with a less than remarkable $14.2 million opening, but still, No. 1 is No. 1, and just enough to confirm that Gibson does in fact still have a thriving career in Hollywood. Given that the Maya epic has received mostly positive reviews and reportedly cost $40 million, it looks more than likely that Gibson will recoup his personal investment and Disney won't rue the day it signed on to distribute it. As the Washington Post critic Stephen Hunter sums up in his review, "Gibson may not be much of a deep thinker, but he's a heck of a storyteller." True, true, true.

'The Holiday,' which definitely does not feature any scenes of human sacrifice or ritual decap, opened with a decent $13.5 million. I don't know about you, but I sure would love to be a character in a Nancy Meyers romantic comedy. These folks are all gorgeous (well, OK, maybe not Jack Black, but he's sweet and funny and rich) and live in amazing dwellings (remember Diane Keaton's beach house in 'Something's Gotta Give'?) and "meet-cute" in a way that you just know is gonna work out... in a movie.

As for Leo's second big drama of the season, the African-set political thriller 'Blood Diamond' landed a disappointing No. 5. It's not all that surprising, considering it's a male-skewing film, and apparently most movie-going men were checking out Jaguar Paw's race home in 'Apocalypto.' Overall, it seems, people just stayed home in anticipation of next week's blockbuster-palooza: 'Eragon,' 'Charlotte's Web' and Will Smith, I mean, 'The Pursuit of Happyness.'

And with that, I bid you all farewell and wish you a great week of Christmas parties and holiday shopping! Don't forget to check out our Holiday Gift Guide if you're still not sure what to buy your friends, kids' teachers, Secret-Santa pick, etc.