The dog days of summer hit the indie box office this weekend, as the top earner was a film in its third week of release. Elegy, directed by Isabel Coixet and starring Ben Kingsley and Penélope Cruz, expanded from six to 92 theaters and grossed $5,546 per screen, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. The adaptation of a novel by Philip Roth has not been universally praised, but maintains a strong 74% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes. I can't help but conclude that Penélope Cruz is the art house crowd's answer to Megan Fox, because . . .

. . . Cruz also stars in Vicky Christina Barcelona (pictured), which made $4,339 per screen in its fairly wide (692 theaters) second week. Woody Allen's latest features other pretty people such as Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson, of course, and has very good reviews behind it, yet it's silly to ignore the current Cruz heat factor.

As Eugene has already noted, Andrew Fleming's Hamlet 2 got a jump start on its wide release by opening on 103 screens, but its average of $4,223 "doesn't inspire confidence for the expansion." Will this slow down star Steve Coogan?

Suspense drama Transsiberian ($4,157 per screen, 38 theaters, 6th week), tense drama Frozen River ($4,048 per screen, 41 theaters, 4th week), and mystery thriller Tell No One ($3,643 per screen, 101 theaters, 8th week, $3.8 million total) continued to draw well, while debuting debt doc I.O.U.S.A. made $3,461 per screen at 18 locations.

Was it good acting, literary source material, or the prospect of a naked beauty that lured people to this weekend's top box office draw? With a $17,000 per-screen average, Isabel Coixet's drama Elegy easily led all comers, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Despite Christopher Campbell's negative review, the combination of Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz, and a Philip Roth novel evidently proved to be irresistible. We'll see what happens when the film expands to 25 markets in two weeks.

Another film that resonated well in New York, Steven Sebring's doc Patti Smith: Dream of Life, took home $8,080 from its sole Gotham engagement, while wine lovers pushed period comedy / drama Bottle Shock to a per-screen average of $6,145 at 48 locations. The presence of Toby Keith did not scare up very many beer drinkers to come see his comedy / adventure Beer for My Horses, which opened at 91 locales to the tune of $2,483 per screen.

Among the holdovers, immigration drama Frozen River ($8,071 per screen, 7 theaters, 2nd week of release) and adult thriller Transsiberian ($5,192 per screen, 14 theaters, 4th week) did well.

Three other films expanded notably, with predictably mixed results. Wildly acclaimed doc Man on Wire stretched beyond Manhattan into 59 theaters and earned a healthy $4,576 per screen average. In its third week of release, the slick doc American Teen pushed into 76 theaters but could muster only $1,802 at each location. Its expansion will still continue into the Top 60 markets this Friday, per Variety. Period romantic drama Brideshead Revisited unwound into 349 theaters and made $3,034 per screen, giving it a total of $3.3 million in three weeks.

While The Dark Knight battled The Mummy on the mainstream charts, indie fans enjoyed much cooler movies. In its third week of release, Brad Anderson's Transsiberian continued its strong run, raking in $15,100 per-screen at the two locations where it's playing, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. The film has grossed $125,000 so far. Also set in a cold clime, Frozen River, Courtney Hunt's "single mother smuggles illegal immigrants" drama, took in $10,471 per screen at seven locations on its opening weekend.

Two other debuting indies had decent results: black and white romantic comedy In Search of a Midnight Kiss made $7,300 at the two theaters where it opened and British comedy Sixty-Six scored $5,700 per-screen at its two engagements. No figures were reported to Box Office Mojo for documentary America the Beautiful or for Japanese melodrama Love and Honor.

indieWIRE highlights the success of holdover Man on Wire, James Marsh's completely charming and suspenseful doc, which earned $12,500 per screen at four locations. They also point to the returns of two films in their second week of release: period drama Brideshead Revisited ($5,284 per screen at 94 theaters) and high school doc American Teen ("a rather disappointing" $4,487 per screen at 39 locations). I saw the former on Sunday afternoon (packed, people lined up for the next screening) and the latter on Saturday afternoon (maybe 15-20 people). Different crowds, definitely, but Brideshead Revisited is much more likely to gain as it opens further.

It's around this time every summer that the major blockbusters have done their thing and the multiplexes start to feel stale. Another Mummy movie? A Kevin Costner political comedy? Meh and meh. And that's where the Indie Spotlight comes in! We're here every Friday to tell you what's opening beyond the multiplexes, out in the art houses and fringe theaters, to remind you that there are alternatives to the flicks opening on 3,000 screens.

This week sees the release of five indie films: America the Beautiful, Frozen River, In Search of a Midnight Kiss, Love and Honor, and Sixty Six. The scoop on each of them is below. If they're not opening where you live, make a note to keep an eye out for 'em later.

Frozen River
What it is: A drama set at the border between Quebec and New York, where a woman helps people immigrate illegally.
What they're saying: The film premiered to wide acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and where Cinematical's James Rocchi declared it excellent. At Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of the critics agree with Rocchi.
Where it's playing: New York City (Angelika Film Center, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas) and Los Angeles (The Landmark, Laemmle Sunset 5, Town Center 5 in Encino, Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, Edwards Westpark 8 in Irvine).
Official site: Sony Classics.

For those who live in and around the New York City area, tonight the Sundance Institute launches their very popular series at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), in which they'll screen a whole bunch of films (22 features, 36 shorts) from this year's festival over the course of the next eleven days. Yours truly will be in attendance this evening for American Teen, followed by a prom-themed after party. A doc about teens? The prom? I'm soooo there!

Other films of note that will be screening include Man on Wire, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Choke, Frozen River, Captain Abu Raed, American Son, Anvil! The Story of Anvil and Ballast, among others. This Sunday, Cinematical's Eric Kohn will be on hand for Sundance Shorts Sunday, featuring 12 hours of short film programs, Q&As with filmmakers and more. He'll report back on what he sees, hears, learns, etc.

They're screening some excellent films this year and I believe tickets are still available for most, so definitely swing by the official website and check out the scene. Sundance Institute at BAM runs from May 29 through June 8. (And if you make it down there tonight, do say hello!)

Upstate New York, and the cold is thin and sharp in the weak harsh light of morning. Ray (Melissa Leo) sits in the driveway in her nightgown, having a smoke, barefoot. The company's bringing her family's new double-wide trailer today, and all she needs to do is give them the first payment. But that money's gone, stolen by her husband, taken to the casino, just like before. The company won't drop off her new home without the payment; they head back to the lot. She gets her sons ready for school, digging lunch money out of the few coins she has left, and then she's going to try and find her husband at the bingo parlor on the Mohawk reservation before working her part-time shift at the American Dollar discount store. She can't give up. She's going to get that home delivered before Christmas. But that's going to take money. And getting that much money that fast is going to take everything.

Written and directed by Courtney Hunt, Frozen River began as a short film that bowed at Sundance several years ago; like Half Nelson, that short became a feature film. The Grand Jury Prize winner from the Dramatic Competition at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Frozen River is anchored by strong performances, carefully crafted and shot on DV with an eye on art, not mere economy. Ray's search for her husband brings her to the Mohawk Reservation; she finds her husband's car, but not her husband. When Lila (Misty Upham) drives off in his sedan, Ray follows her to a trailer in the woods. Lila thought the car was abandoned; the keys were inside. And she needs a car with a push-button trunk. ...

Straight dramatic features have not been feeling the love from distributors at Sundance so far, with most of the deal action concentrated on documentaries (American Teen, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired), comedies (Hamlet 2) or comedy/dramas (Choke, Henry Poole is Here). But leave it to Sony Pictures Classics to step up to the plate and acquire the rights to a well-received drama about impoverished single mothers. Variety is reporting that the distributor has purchased US rights to Frozen River "for a low to mid-six figures."

Expanded by debut director Courtney Hunt from her short film of the same title, Frozen River has already received some very warm notices (sorry, couldn't resist). The wonderful, versatile, and extremely busy Melissa Leo plays a woman suddenly abandoned in a desperate state by her gambling husband. Unable to even put a decent meal on the table for her two sons, she forms an unlikely partnership with another struggling mother (Misty Upham) to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States.

Sony Pictures Classics is known as a classy outfit; for example, their Oscar hopefuls this year include Best Animated Film nominee Persepolis and Best Foreign Language Film nominee The Counterfeiters. They were in the running for American Teen, but dropped out a couple of days ago.

Frozen River sounds like the type of small, rural drama that will require tender loving care to make its mark in the cold, cruel world of arthouse exhibition. For the sake of quality independent films dealing with subjects seldom seen, let's hope they succeed.