Not to be a snake in everyone's boot, but the all-time opening weekend record is not in the bag for The Dark Knight just yet. The $155.3 million weekend estimate is just that -- a studio estimate -- and when the final numbers come out later this afternoon, Spider-Man 3's $151.1 million may still be on top of the heap. So everyone should chill for a few more hours.

Still -- $150 million! In one weekend! For a movie that's dark and scary and complicated and dead serious! That's pretty amazing, though my hopes for this wonderful film's box office staying power were dampened somewhat when I saw it a second time yesterday and heard the banter of the couple next to me, which consisted of statements like "Do you know what's going on? I don't know what's going on," and "I don't even understand who the bad guy is." (?!??) I guess you can't please everyone.

Anyway. $150 million +. First person to call it a disappointment because it's not the world's first $200 million opening weekend gets a kick in the crotch.

The weekend's counterprogramming saw mixed results. Mamma Mia!'s $27.6 million is an undeniable victory, though I think the market was begging for something not action- or family-oriented. I'm not sure what to say about Space Chimps' $7.4 million, seventh-place bow. I don't think anyone could have expected much more from a movie called Space Chimps.

The Dark Knight did a number on the superhero-themed holdovers, kicking Hellboy II down to the tune of 71%, and Hancock a somewhat gentler 57%. Hancock should see $200 million by the end of the week; Hellboy II probably won't get to $70 million domestic, though it should beat its predecessor's $60 million take.

The full top 10 estimates after the jump.

As Jack Handey put it, "It takes a big man to laugh at himself, but it takes an even bigger man to laugh at that man." Crimewave is about that big kind of man, and his partner: two electrocutioners on a rampage. They prowl the streets in a truck with a hog-sized stuffed rat on top, with red light bulb eyes. The driver is Faron Crush, who looks like Paul Sorvino playing the Incredible Hulk. HIs sniggering partner Arthur (Brion "I'll tell you about my mother" James) wears a jumpsuit, fingerless leather gloves, and a flat leather cap the shape and color of a cow-chip. If you ever had a nightmare about Gallagher, that's what Arthur looks like. The two maniacs carry with them "a shocker," a killing-machine that has three settings: "Rat," "Man" and "Hero". And they have no motivation beside malice and sheer professionalism.

The Golden Globes and the Oscars may be in trouble due to telecasts, strikes, and all of that turmoil, but the other award presentations are trucking on as planned. Variety reports that the Visual Effects Society has picked their nominees for their 6th awards ceremony. Thinking back on the year...who would you pick? The Academy, they picked a pretty solid 13-film shortlist that they have to somehow whittle down into 3 picks -- a list that includes the likes of Rataouille, Beowulf, and Spider-Man 3. This society is pretty in-line with that.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End unsurprisingly leads the pack with six nominations, and they're closely followed by Transformers and I Am Legend -- both of which follow with 5 nominations each. You just can't refuse a screen full of Johnny Depps. Continuing on, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, on the other hand, has to hold court with Spider-Man 3 with three nods each -- and according to Variety, both of them have fallen off the Academy list. Of course, as with the Oscars, animated films are also present with Ratatouille neck and neck in nominations with Surf's Up (both have 4 each).

Who will come away with the big, special prizes? I imagine the leading three will probably have a pretty successful sweep when the awards are held on February 10 in Hollywood. In the meantime, you can check out the full list of nominees for film after the jump.

Tonight when I look across the river at the Empire State Building, it's lights will be yellow. No, it won't represent the U.S. Open (which usually gets "tennis ball yellow") or support for the troops (ala yellow ribbons). The yellow color will be in honor of The Simpsons Movie on DVD from Fox Home Entertainment. In the thirty years that the ESB has featured colored lights, this is the first time the colors have been a movie tie-in. And it's odd, because The Simpsons Movie doesn't really have anything to do with New York City. Nonetheless, Fox and its yellow-skinned family have taken over the city in a marketing blitz titled the "Simpson-izing of Manhattan." In addition to the ESB lights, there will be a Simpsons on Ice show at Bryant Park, yellow-jacketed street teams (handing out fliers for the DVD, I'm sure) and giant inflatable Homers. Unfortunately, there will be no specially designated street vendors selling Khlav Kalash and Crab Juice.

The event in general follows the city-wide stunts and activities planned in the past for Mission:Impossible III and Spider-Man 3, and hopefully won't be too annoying for actual New Yorkers, who should be able to ignore anything relating to movie-making or marketing in Manhattan these days. The only thing I hope for the sake of people working in Midtown is that those yellow-jacketed street teams aren't as aggressively obnoxious as the Spider-Man 3 flier guys (as if walking through Herald Square this time of year isn't trying enough). I also hope that the ESB doesn't make it a regular thing to lease out its lights to Hollywood -- unless the tied-in movie was at least shot in or has something to do with the Big Apple (for the lighting calendar go here).

There's a continuing debate about whether or not computer-animated films should be eligible for visual effects awards. But despite the fine line seen by some, others are quick to point out that many effects artists have the same function on Surf's Up as they do on Spider-Man. To them, it should come as quite a triumph that the Oscar shortlist for the visual effects category includes two animated films, Ratatouille and Beowulf. According to the Hollywood Reporter, they join 13 other effects-heavy movies, including definite front-runners Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-Man 3. The trade points out, however, that this is not the first time animated films have joined the effects race. Back in 1994, The Nightmare Before Christmas was one of the three nominees (against Cliffhanger and obvious winner Jurassic Park).

The animated effect issue is different now, though, then it was 14 years ago. Animated films now have their own Oscar category, and it's fair to say that is the place to recognize Ratatouille and Beowulf (actually Beowulf shouldn't be recognized at all). Typically movies nominated in the visual effects category are popular blockbusters that wouldn't otherwise receive notice from the Academy. Until there's an Oscar for best sci-fi/fantasy or action movie, this is one of the best ways for a little movie like Transformers to be put in the spotlight. Sure, I'm being sarcastic, but nonetheless I like the category being the place for those movies actually seen by the majority of Oscar telecast viewers.

In what seems like a repeat of last year, the 2008 Annie Award nominations include a Pixar movie and a movie about penguins. The top contenders for the 2007 Annies, which recognize the best in animation, were Cars and Happy Feet. The former ended up winning the big award, Best Animated Feature. However, a couple weeks later it was Happy Feet that won the corresponding Oscar, so the Annies can not be looked at to predict the Academy's decision. In 2008, though, the two awards should actually match. The only real contender for both the Annie and the Oscar is Pixar's Ratatouille. There isn't much chance of this year's penguin movie, Surf's Up, winning either award. If there's any minor competition for Pixar, it's from Persepolis. The other two nominees for the Best Animated Feature Annie are Bee Movie and The Simpsons Movie.

Ratatouille was the leader in nominations at 13, while Surf's Up received the second highest amount with 10. In addition to the top award, the two films are competing in the categories for writing (also competing: Simpsons and Persepolis), storyboarding (also competing: TMNT; Meet the Robinsons; Bee Movie), production design (also competing: Beowulf), directing (also competing: Shrek the Third; Simpsons; Persepolis), character design (no other competitors), character animation (no other competitors, but Surf's Up received two mentions here) and animated effects (also competing: Spider-Man 3; Disney short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater; Ratatouille received two mentions here). One category that Bee Movie seriously missed is voice acting, which features three nominations for Ratatouille -- for Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm and Patton Oswalt.

One thing that is interesting about the Annies is how the awards can be distributed to many different movies. Last year, Over the Hedge won the directing, storyboarding and character design categories, Flushed Away won in writing, voice acting, animated effects, character animation and production design categories and Happy Feet took away no awards. Then again, the year before, Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit picked up ten trophies and then went on to pick up the Academy Award. So, the 2008 Annies could go any number of ways.

Every Friday morning, when I'm surfing the new movie reviews and I flip over to Ebert's site, I'm always a little surprised to see a new review for some movie that came out back when he was sidelined by cancer. Atop each of these retro reviews -- which I think I own the copyright on -- he affixes the following simple tag: "Doubling back to pick up some titles I missed while ill." This past Friday, he panned Spider-Man 3, giving it a weak two-star review. He cites his displeasure with the film's lack of a compelling villain and goes into detail about his problems with the symbiote, which he didn't enjoy at all. He also doesn't like Mary Jane anymore.

Children of Men and the Dixie Chicks documentary Shut up and Sing have both been retro-awarded high marks -- I agree with the latter verdict. The Fountain, a movie that was on my top ten list of that year, is mildly panned although what's most interesting about the review is that Ebert spends much of it musing on the concept of a retro review in itself. "Although as a doctoral candidate in English I was advised to be familiar with the existing criticism on a work before venturing to write my own, as a film critic I am usually writing before other reviews have even been published," he writes.

The Lives of Others and Zodiac get four stars -- Ebert's been a little too generous with the four star rating since his return, by the way -- while Grindhouse is panned for being "an attempt to recreate a double feature that never existed for an audience that no longer exists." I haven't pinned down the exact dates that Ebert was absent, so I have no idea how long his retro-reviewing will go on, but it's fun to read.

Spider-Man 3
The many flaws of Spider-Man 3 have been well-documented: The elevated cheese factor, the overabundance of baddies, that absurd 10-minute stretch of song, dance and unsightliness where it suddenly feels like we're watching some strange mash-up of Willard vs. The Mask... But it's not like this is a bad movie. Underwhelming compared to its pair of astonishing predecessors? Sure, but still entertaining enough for a Sunday afternoon slouchfest. Yes, a movie that costs $250 million (or more?) should make our eyes pop and our remaining senses tingle (and possibly even leave us a craving a cigarette and a shower afterward), and Spidey 3 has moments of such bliss. Its single biggest flaw is that when it needs to get really dark, it gets really hokey -- perhaps catering to a younger audience, but losing a whole lot of credibility in the process.

Talk to Me
About a month back we ran a feature speculating (guestimating, too) over early Oscar contenders, and a few of our readers astutely inquired, "Where the f*** is Don Cheadle?" Our bad. Cheadle does indeed deserve to be part of the discussion in the Best Actor race, as crowded a field as it looks this year. Shoot, even Cate Blanchett wants in. Cheadle begins chewing the scenery faster than you can say Chiwetel Ejiofor as Civil Rights-era radio talk show host Ralph "Petey" Greene in this honest and engaging portrayal. Also thoroughly impressive -- and who I wish would also get mentioned in awards chatter -- is Taraji P. Henson. The Hustle & Flow breakout has a vibrancy about her to match Cheadle at every turn, AND she's got a killer Afro to boot. Though unexpectedly conventional at times, the film is a rare treat for folks who appreciate thoughtful yet feel-good, socially relevant entertainment.

With the summer season drawing to a close, movie-wise, I'm noticing a lot of DVD announcements for the flicks that actually kick-started the spectacle parade. Just yesterday we covered all the goodies that you'll find on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 3 DVD, and today we get word (by way of a Sony press release over at SuperheroHype.com) on the Spider-Man 3 DVD specs. Needless to say, multiple options will be available to the consumer once October 30 rolls around.

As is usually the case these days, SM3 will be released in single-disc form as well as a dual-disc mega-set that house all sorts of spider-sized treats. One the solo-disc release you'll find a pair of audio commentaries (one with director Sam Raimi and actors Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace and Bryce Dallas Howard; the other with producers Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad and Grant Curtis; editor Bob Murawski; and FX supervisor Scott Stokdyk), as well as a blooper reel, some photo galleries and a Snow Patrol music video.

Opt for the 2-disc release and you'll get all of the above plus a second disc filled with featurettes called 1) Grains of Sand -- Building Sandman; 2) Re-Imagining the Goblin; 3) Covered in Black -- Creating Venom; 4) Hanging On ... Gwen Stacy and the Collapsing Floor; 5) Fighting, Flying & Driving -- The Stunts; 6) Tangled Web: The Love Triangles of Spider-Man 3; 7) Wall of Water; 8) On Location Cleveland -- The Chase on Euclid Avenue; 9) On Location New York -- From Rooftops to Backstreets; 10) The Science of Sound; and 11) Inside The Editing Room. Sony claims that the dual-disc release has over six hours of supplemental material -- but that includes the two 2-hour commentaries, now doesn't it?

Of course Sony won't be stopping there. In addition to the 1-disc and 2-disc "normal" DVD releases, you'll also be able to pick up the PSP version, a trilogy 3-pack, the Blu-Ray 2-discer OR the Blu-Ray trilogy set. This DVD news would make me a whole lot happier if I didn't think Spider-Man 3 was a pretty big disappointment -- but maybe a second visit will help me warm up to the flick a little more. Obviously I can't NOT buy the DVD ... my trilogy needs to be complete!

Kevin Feige has what most fanboys and fangirls would consider to be a dream job. He gets to play around in the Marvel Comics toybox and bring classic superheroes to life on the bigscreen. It's like having life-sized action figures and a really big backyard to pose them in.

We spoke with him during the Iron Man press event at Comic-Con, and besides wanting his Stark Industries hat, we also asked him a few questions. Click on his picture for the audio, and read the highlight reel below.

• On asked how we could score one of those 'Stark Industries' hats, "Well, you can go back in time, and work really hard on the movie and ... I shouldn't have worn it, I know."
• "It was a challenge to decide which one of his many costumes to go with. The red and gold was a given, but there are a number of incarnations throughout the film."
• The classic red and gold armor in the film is based somewhat on the Adi Granov's artwork from the (really great) Iron Man series 'Extremis.'
• When asked how many of the actors were attached for sequels, he replied. "All of 'em." They're in multi-picture contracts, which seems to be the standard these days.
• "What I love about the Iron Man villains is, yes ... you could call a lot of them goofy these days, but the truth is they're all tech-based villains, just like way Hulk has all gamma-based villains, and Spidey has genetically altered villains. I love the tech aspect to it, and you'll start to see some of that in this film."
  
• "We're working on an animated Iron Man series right now." It even includes Unicorn!
• How different are things at Marvel Studios, now that they are independent? "Well, other than the fact that we're signing the checks now, things aren't that different."
• "There's only been a handful of times where I would have done something different [on the films] ... Elektra." He says this one in a deep voice, and I have to agree with him on that one.
  
• They currently have scripts in development for Captain America, Thor, Ant Man, Dr. Strange, Submariner and more.
• When asked about the negative fan reaction to Spider-Man 3, he said, "It was the biggest movie of the summer, I'm pretty pleased with it ... my favorite thing was watching people react to that birth of Sandman sequence." Granted, that sequence was cool. But did he see the rest of the movie?!