Filmgoers like dogs it seems as Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua captured the box office crown this weekend.  According to estimates from Box Office Mojo, the film took in an impressive $29,000,000.

Other first-timers include Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist with Kat Dennings and Michael Cera, bowing in the number three slot with $12,000,000. The mean spirited political satire, American Carol, took in just $3,810,000, good for ninth place. Right behind it was Lionsgate’s Religulous which earned $3,500,000. The more limited release of Greg Kinner’s Flash of Genius grabbed just $2,328,000 but had the more impressive per screen average of $2120.

Eagle Eye, despite poor reviews, had a below average sophomore week dip of just 39.3%, earning $17, 700,000 pushing its total to $54,605,000. Warner’s Nights in Rodanthe had a sharper slip of 45.2%, bringing in just $7,355,000.

Appaloosa, going into wide release, earned $5,015,000, totaling $5,570,000.  The buddy western, based on Robert B. Parker’s novel, got reasonable reviews and adapting the sequel is already on the drawing board.

The variety of movies is wider than it has been in months and people seemed to spread across the genres. Comedy seems to be ruling over drama and romance as people seek a distraction from the tumultuous economy and presidential campaign.

Having said that, not every comedy has clicked with audiences.  The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading continues to chug along while Paramount’s Ghost Town hasn’t a ghost of a chance of earning back its $20 million budget through domestic release.  After three weeks, it has earned a paltry.

Another disappointment has to be The Women, the tepid remake of the classic female ensemble film.  It sank to 22nd place, behind The Dark Knight (yes, still in theatres and still raking in the bucks — $525,833,000 and counting), bringing in only $795,000 on over 1000 screens.

In the coming weeks, a flurry of horror films will be opening to capitalize on Halloween while other films, such as The Duchess, go wide.  Oscar contenders will start to turn up as well, beginning with Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies, providing additional depth and distraction.
 

Even scientists like to have fun every now and then.  England’s New Scientist magazine will be exploring the SF world in their November issue and along the way want to get reader input on the best and worst to date.

“We plan to explore this question in a special edition of New Scientist out on 15 November – as well as reviewing the best new science fiction books and talking to some of the world’s leading writers,” they write at the magazine’s website.

To engage readers prior to the issue’s release, they ask for people to vote on their favorite science fiction books and films.  In order to kick start the debate, they polled themselves and named Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the best book. “Hitchhiker’s Guide as the out-and-out best sci-fi book by several dead whales and one bowl of petunias. Anyone who disagrees with me is clearly a crass Golgafrinchan who should be forced to listen to Vogon poetry for as long as it takes," wrote one of their editors.

We applaud their choice of L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics as the worst science fiction novel.

Blade Runner was the clear favorite film among the magazine staff, noting "It’s a great story, emotionally involving and well acted – and still has a mystery. Was Harrison Ford’s cop really a cyborg?"

Steve McQueen’s The Blob took the worst film title. "I saw The Blob when I was about seven years old and haven’t eaten jelly since," said one of the staff.
 

The recent Ultimate Origins mini-series has been delving into the past of the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Now at last, we’ve learned how many of the heroes and super-humans of this reality are related and interconnected. We’ve learned the startling secrets of the creation of the mutant gene and Mutant Zero, we’ve seen the initial transformation of the Hulk and how he was responsible for the deaths of Peter Parker’s parents (although writer Brian Michael Bendis recently denied this at Batlimore Comic-Con, the recent March on Ultimatum one-shot confirms it). We’ve seen the secrets of Nick Fury and learned that he’s been around since World War II.

But most startling about the Ultimate Origins mini is the sub-plot that takes place in the present-day. A Watcher has appeared, a strange device with a single eye that claims to be part of a hive-culture. The first Watcher appeared on Earth when Captain America, the first true post-human of the Ultimate Marvel Universe, recieved his enhanced abilities. Now hundreds of Watchers are appearing all over Earth. Which means that something catastrophic is coming.

They didn’t show up during the coming of Gah Lak Tus. What could be coming now that is worse?

Possibly the end of human civilization. Magneto is back. He’s angry. He has a plan. And he may have already defeated Thor.

The story is Ultimatum, a new mini-series written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by David Finch. The tagline is simple. "For what they’ve done, they will have to pay the ultimate price." Rumors abound how much this will change the Ultimate Universe and alredady some are whispering that characters will die and titles will be cancelled. Be on the look out.

But Ultimatum isn’t the only thing Marvel is throwing at us. It has recently been revealed through a leaked cover image that the New Avengers line-up, following Secret Invasion, is likely to include Wolverine, Spider-Man, Ronin, Luke Cage and the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes). Wonder who’s gonna be on Dark Avengers if they didn’t pick up Wolverine.

And in his most recent Cup o’ Joe on Myspace, Joe Quesada talks about Deadpool, Madelyne Pryor, Secret Invasion and how the Malibu characters are not coming back anytime soon.

We’ve been writing a bit about the Swedish vampire sensation Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In).  We’ve already mentioned how it will finally get some screen time here in the states starting October 24 before coming to DVD in January.  We also told you how Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves will be directing the English language version for the newly revived Hammer Films.

What we didn’t tell you are that director Tomas Alfredson doesn’t think a remake is such a good idea. According to Slash Film, he told MovieZine, “Remakes should be made of movies that aren’t very good, that gives you the chance to fix whatever has gone wrong.

“I’m very proud of my movie and think it’s great, but the Americans might be of another opinion. The saddest thing for me would be to see that beautiful story made into something mainstream.”

Alfredson was drawn to the 2004 novel from writer John Ajvide Lindqvist about a 12-year-old boy and the 200-year-old vampire child, Eli. The dark coming of age tale was a big hit and ripe for screen adaptation.

The film was an international sensation, winning the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, the Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award at Edinburgh Film Festival and first place in the Horror Features category at the 2008 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

 “I don’t like to whine, but of course – if you’d spent years on painting a picture, you’d hate to hear buzz about a copy even before your vernissage!”"

Russell T. Davies suggested to Britain’s Sunday Express that the current Doctor, David Tennant, may remain in the role for quite some time.

“David has brought everything to Doctor Who. I remember exactly where I was when I saw him audition for Casanova, I thought, ‘Here is someone saying the lines exactly as they are written.’ But mainly it was the sense of humor. A lot of straight men don’t handle humor well, but he can do the tragedy, too,” he told the paper.

"David may never leave; he could go on forever… I haven’t talked to him about leaving. Maybe it will never happen. Maybe he’ll be 70 and have to be taken off set."

The outgoing producer of the popular series then discussed the 2008 Christmas special and revealed, “It’s called The Next Doctor’, and there is a major plot twist at the end. We’re even thinking of not having a press screening, because we don’t think anyone will be able to keep it secret. For the first time we have two men together as leads. It’s a small focused idea, a little different.”

The Cybermen arrive to spoil a Victorian era Christmas and will guest star David Morrissey and Dervla Kirwin.