Moviegoers wait in line before seeing "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" at the AMC movie theater at the Westfield Century City shopping mall in Los Angeles Thursday Nov. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

In its second week of release the following installment of the the "Twilight" vampire saga, "New Moon" pulled in more than $42.9 million last weekend bringing its total domestic gross to almost $231 million.

The romantic-adventure film, based on the book series by author Stephenie Meyer, didn't have an easy go taking the top spot last weekend.  The Sandra Bullock picture, "The Blind Side" continued to resonate with audiences and earned about $40 million for a total of $100 million in its second week of release.  

"Ninja Assassin" (I didn't get to see it this week) brought in $13 million while "The Road," which was in limited release in about 111 locations, made $1.5 million.

Box office results below are from hollywood.com/boxoffice and AP.

1. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," Summit, $42,870,031, 4,042 locations, $10,606 average, $230,947,696, two weeks.

2. "The Blind Side," Warner Bros., $40,111,364, 3,140 locations, $12,774 average, $100,238,841, two weeks.

3. "2012," Sony, $17,651,729, 3,444 locations, $5,125 average, $138,451,427, three weeks.

4. "Old Dogs," Disney, $16,894,511, 3,425 locations, $4,933 average, $24,228,546, one week.

5. "Disney's a Christmas Carol," Disney, $15,758,273, 3,013 locations, $5,230 average, $104,927,816, four weeks.

6. "Ninja Assassin," Warner Bros., $13,316,158, 2,503 locations, $5,320 average, $21,193,565, one week.

7. "Planet 51," Sony, $10,218,641, 3,035 locations, $3,367 average, $28,487,409, two weeks.

8. "Precious: Based On the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire," Lionsgate, $7,081,032, 663 locations, $10,680 average, $32,433,482, four weeks.

9. "Fantastic Mr. Fox," Fox, $6,965,267, 2,033 locations, $3,426 average, $10,024,072, three weeks.

10. "The Road," Weinstein Co., $1,502,231, 111 locations, $13,534 average, $1,977,453, one week.

11. "The Men Who Stare at Goats," Overture, $1,501,837, 1,119 locations, $1,342 average, $30,521,930, four weeks.

12. "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day," Apparition, $1,301,197, 373 locations, $3,488 average, $5,722,723, five weeks.

13. "Pirate Radio," Focus, $989,260, 478 locations, $2,070 average, $6,830,855, three weeks.

14. "Couples Retreat," Universal, $960,995, 862 locations, $1,115 average, $106,700,205, eight weeks.

15. "An Education," Sony Pictures Classics, $911,388, 265 locations, $3,439 average, $5,563,649, eight weeks.

16. "Michael Jackson's This Is It," Sony, $828,976, 576 locations, $1,439 average, $71,844,424, five weeks.

17. "Law Abiding Citizen," Overture Films, $786,534, 584 locations, $1,347 average, $71,505,530, seven weeks.

18. "The Princess and the Frog," Disney, $786,190, 2 locations, $393,095 average, $1,216,860, one week.

19. "The Fourth Kind," Universal, $618,265, 552 locations, $1,120 average, $24,605,935, four weeks.

20. "De Dana Dan," Eros, $577,381, 69 locations, $8,368 average, $742,377, one week.

By Ryan Riley, Contributor

About a year ago I was lurking around the graphic novel rental section of Pulp Fiction (back when they had one) and I happened upon a little-known Vertigo book called Proposition Player. I glanced at the cover and probably would have put the book right back down if I hadn't come across the words "from the creator of Fables" just below the title.

Anyone that has read my previous columns can tell that I am an unabashed fan of the Vertigo comic Fables written by Bill Willingham. It is one of the finest comics around and one of the few I would heartily recommend to folks that aren't necessarily fans of comics. Fables is that good of a book. So that was endorsement enough for me to give Proposition Player a read, at least through a rental.

I read it and was blown away by both its unique premise and its unapologetically flawed characters. I took the book back and resolved to pick it up for keeps when I got my next paycheck. Unfortunately, the book was no longer in stock when I got paid, and Mike told me that the book had been out of print for a while, so no new copies were due in anytime soon.

A little less than a month ago I was looking through the half-price shelves at Pulp Fiction and found a used copy of Proposition Player. Needless to say, I grabbed as if I were Homer Simpson grabbing the last donut in the break room at the power plant. That is to say, I grabbed it really fast.

Written by Bill Willingham with art by Willingham and Paul Guinan, Proposition Player tells the story of Joey Martin, a semi-professional poker player. Joey works in Las Vegas at the Thunder Road Casino as a proposition player, which is a freelance employee that plays at poker tables in the casino to fill up space in weaker games until more paying customers get dealt in. The hourly wage the casino pays Joey is a pittance, but he gets to keep any money he wins and it helps him hone his poker skills in anticipation of the day that he saves enough cash to enter into a big-stakes poker tournament.

One day Joey and his fellow casino employees are having drinks after work and they ruminate on how miserly and superstitious the casino patrons are. One of them, Earl, remarks that he isn't the slightest bit superstitious, and Joey decides to test that by employing a variation on the Milhouse gambit from "The Simpsons": He offers to buy Earl's soul in exchange for a free beer. Earl decides to take him up on it, as does everyone else in the bar that overhears the offer. Joey's winnings are significantly reduced after this stunt-gone-awry, but that turns out to be the very least of his problems. Shortly afterward he is approached by an agent of Heaven named Bill about the souls he has purchased, which turn out to be very real indeed.

From then on, both Heaven and Hell are putting the full court press on Joey to get their hands on the inadvertently-obtained souls. Bill takes Joey into a bar in the ethereal planes filled with former deity-types like Moloch and Anubis, who ask Joey about his approach for obtaining souls and hatch a scheme to partner with Joey to get back into the game. Hell, for its part, takes a somewhat more subtle approach, sending the seductress demon beauty known as Hell Mary to try and coax Joey into selling them the souls. Then Heaven gets impatient and instructs its agents to kill the people whose souls Joey has in their possession in order to put pressure on him. From there things get really interesting.

Existential story aspects aside, there's just something about this story that comes off as realistic. Willingham gives his protagonist and his human supporting cast all-too-human dialogue and characteristics, and the artwork doesn't shy away from the fact that these people are all pretty average schlubs. You could actually see yourself running into characters like this at a third-tier casino in Las Vegas. The agents of Heaven and Hell and the rest of the miscellaneous deity-types are drawn in larger-than-life fashion, as they are meant to be, and stand out in sharp contrast from the human characters.

Proposition Player is, at its core, a story of a gambler that decides to place the ultimate bet. But the beauty of any well-crafted story is that it has many layers to it, like onions (and ogres). It's a story about subjects that some of us mere mortals take way too seriously, religion and the human soul, but the story itself never does so. In my opinion that is the most beautiful thing about this comic. It also offers a somewhat humorous answer to the question that Joan Osborne (and Dr. Evil) asked in the 1990's: What if God was one of us?

Here's an excerpt from a story the Press-Telegram did on stores that are offering "Black Friday" sales -- two of those below happen to be comic stores a few of us are familiar with.

Metropolis Comics: This Bellflower retailer has 60 percent off all back issues, and 25 percent off many store items, including already discounted products; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; 16509 Bellflower Blvd., Bellflower; 562-263-0277; www.metrohero.com

Pulp Fiction: This Long beach comic book store is offering 40 percent off graphic novels, 30 percent off manga, 25 percent off select figures, toys and collectibles, $1 comics for 50 cents and 25-cent boxes will be 10 for $1; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday; 1742 Clark Ave., Long Beach; 562-496-3343 or www.pulpfictiononline.com

This is a sure sign of age.  I'm actually looking forward to Oscar-season movies now.  I'm not saying all of the holiday movies are better overall or anything, it's just nice to see a slate of pictures that try to have actual characters and not "types."

So don't expect "The Road," based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, to be "The Road Warrior."  I haven't read it but I hear the book is supposed to paint such a dismal picture of a post-apocalyptic world that you may need a hug and some therapy when you finish it.

The film stars Viggo Mortensen ("Lord of The Rings" trilogy) and Charlize Theron ("Hancock").  Mortensen is the Man (that's all he is) who journeys through a destroyed world struggling to survive while protecting his Boy.

The early word from the crits is that the movie directed by John Hillcoat with a screenplay by Joe Penhall isn't far off McCarthy's vision.  Early word from a friend of a friend who saw an early screening is that it's only an OK movie.

I will be pushing the Wife to see "Ninja Assassin" or "The Road" this holiday weekend but I will likely end up seeing one or both on my own.

Did you see CLAIRE'S KISSING EPISODE of "Heroes" about a month ago?  No?  Did you even care to watch?  How about the not-so-stunning return of Dr. Mohinder Suresh and Charlie (a.k.a. Google Girl) to the show?

If not then perhaps you're like several others I know who have opted to pass on the fourth season of "Heroes." This season the NBC drama sports a new toned-down format.  No BIG super hero battles just a bunch of little skirmishes.

I think the biggest set piece of tonight's episode is Claire Bennet having dinner with her separated parents.

There was a small spike in the ratings a month ago (one episode had more than 5.7 million viewers).  Despite that, I have had a tough time staying motivated to watch.  As you know, "Heroes" used to average many more viewers, so I'm not alone.
 
There have been changes to the pace of the show -- changes that I have a few problems with.  In previous seasons, "Heroes" kept the tempo brisk and occasionally staged the characters in splashy sets with some mixed success (Remember time-traveling Hiro's journey to feudal Japan? Or Suresh's mad-scientist lab?)

Anyway, if you haven't been tuning in, recording or watching episodes on the Web, you may be interested in some catch-up.

Here's your late Heroes Watch SPOILER warning, so if you want to go on reading, please do so after the photo of Claire and Gretchen (if you can).


All in 'The Family'

Throughout the season our intrepid heroes have had several encounters with a mysterious group passively referred to as "The Family" who reside in a carnival that appears to be everywhere and nowhere (We discover later that The Family has a time-traveler of their own).

Their leader, SAMUEL SULLIVAN, a quasi-religious, quasi-evil dude with the power to move rocks and soil (earthquakes, opening fissures in the ground) gathers premonitions of other super humans from the constantly shifting tattoos on the body of fellow carnival resident LYDIA.  Samuel reaches out to just about all of the main crew of characters this season and if any refuse to join him, he intercedes in their lives somehow and manages to manipulate them his way.

For example, the moronic Hiro's fixation on his lost love, the formerly dead Charlie Andrews -- who has the power to recall and comprehend almost everything she encounters -- is used against him to bring him into the Family.

What is Samuel's motivation?  One would think the smooth-talking carnival chief is only trying to fill the void left by the death of his brother (Joseph Sullivan), but he is most definitely a murderous baddie. Last Monday's episode "Brother's Keeper" clues us in that Samuel becomes more powerful as more evolved super humans are gathered around him.

From noon to 7 p.m. today Geoffrey's Comics presents the sequel to their 31st anniversary sale.

50 percent off back issues and DVDs, 25 percent off trades and 31 percent off cards.

However, to participate in the savings you have to bring in a packaged toy to donate to Toys For Tots.

There's more info on the flier to the right -- enjoy your day comics fans. 

In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Kristen Stewart, left, and Robert Pattinson are shown in a scene from "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." (AP Photo/Summit Entertainment, Kimberley French)


Even if you're the most fervent "Twilight" hater I figured there are still a few reasons to go see the sequel "New Moon" this weekend based on the book series by author Stephenie Meyer.

Bear with me.

1. It's got an attractive cast.

PRO: It doesn't matter what your cup of tea is, "Twilight" has got a face (or buffed body) that may be to your liking.  AskMen.com says getting to see Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed on the big screen is awesome.  And of course, the perennially shirtless Taylor Lautner and the poster boy for the franchise, Robert Pattinson, is worth the price of admission for a few people. 

CON: One of my co-workers -- we'll call him, THE OPINIONATOR -- says Pattinson is OK "if you're into that whole pale, emaciated-corpse thing."

2. If you're the right age, you can score some points with girls.

PRO: I'm not talking to you guys my age (older than twenty), this nugget of wisdom is for the teens.  If you're catching hell for being a boy and a "Twilight" fan don't fret.  Get your tickets, see your show and when you hear some crappy comments, comfort yourself in the knowledge that you'll be spending the next several months having the rapt attention of dozens of fellow female fans while you discuss the movies and books.

And when you start dating, she has to sit through "Thor" when that comes out in 2011 because she owes you one.

CON: Don't try this if you don't know your stuff.  I asked my 17-year-old niece Rebecka Brown about whether guys would score any points with the girls by taking them to see "New Moon." Becky plans on seeing the flick opening day with about eight people: six girls and two guys.

"Well, that's not going to be a really impressive movie," she said over the phone. (Can someone sound like they're rolling their eyes?)  "I don't think there are any real benefits -- it's just a movie. It's not real."

OK, you're not going to impress my niece by going to see the "Twilight" movies.

3.  There are vampires and werewolves in it.

PRO: It's filling an unconscious need in the country to have fashionable vampires hanging out with us regular folks.  These creatures have captured our imagination for years, long before this recent book and film craze.  This sub-genre of horror goes away every decade and manages to resurface just in time to find its way back to popularity as action-adventure (BLADE), comedy (LOVE AT FIRST BITE) and now, angst-ridden super natural romance. 

And for super hero fans, there are feats of superhuman strength, speed and were-wolfish metamorphosis. 

"It's not really a chick-flick, it's got action and stuff in it," Becky says.   

CON: Women are handing their children over to Pattinson and asking him to bite them.  So besides the jet engine-like sound of hundreds of screaming girls, you have to watch their mothers doing the same thing every time Pattinson utters a word. 

And you regular Modern readers know, I like my vampires scary not glistening in the sunset.

4.  Payback is a 'Mother'

PRO: This one is for the guys and gals my age and older:  There are tons of moms, dads, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers who are taking their teen relative to see this movie and there are going to be some long lines in a couple places.  If you're single, leave the kids in the line, hit the local coffee establishment and talk "Twilight" with that sheriff's deputy you always wanted to say "hi" to or that Courtney Cox look-a-like who always has something to say at the PTA meeting.

Look, early ticket sales are indicating that this movie is likely to sell more advance tickets than any movie in history.  And yeah, everyone who is going to see this film is not going to be in high school.

TEENAGER: "Hey dad, they're seating everyone now!"

YOU: "Save me a seat, honey.  Hey, do you know Ms. Gates from the PTA?"

CON: Is there a con to this?  Heck no!


Related Posts:

Review: Bella mopes through pretentious 'New Moon'


ABOVE RIGHT: Actresses Nikki Reed, left, and Kristen Stewart attend a special screening of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' hosted by the The Cinema Society and D&G on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 in New York. (Evan Agostini/Associated Press).  ABOVE LEFT: Twilight fans wait in line to meet two New Moon actors at Nordstrom's Westfield Southcenter store, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, in Tukwila, Wash. (Jim Bates/The Seattle Times). 

  

DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer

Where would Hollywood be without that old standby, the vampire-werewolf-schoolgirl love triangle?

As every Stephenie Meyer fan knows, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is the one where studly vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) dumps his human girlfriend, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), for her own safety, and she turns to old chum Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) for solace, unaware that he's a werewolf, and therefore Edward's sworn enemy from way back.

What fans are about to find out is that critics, present company included, don't care much for this adaptation of the second in Meyer's "Twilight" series. And those fans won't give a fig what these critics have to say about their beloved Bella and her beastie boy toys.

They will turn out in blockbuster legions, teen girls in roving packs descending on theaters, along with ladies-night-out groups of friends and co-workers, and daughters with their moms (and plenty of grandmothers, no doubt).

With Chris Weitz ("American Pie," ''About a Boy," ''The Golden Compass") taking over as director, the second movie has exactly what those fans want: Big, bouncy boy hair. Sculpted torsos everywhere. Teasing caresses of fingers on fingers, lips on lips. Love so deep and frenzied the smitten would prefer to die than go on without the other. Torsos, did we mention torsos?

Most important, not just one, but two supernatural hunks snarling over the quivering carcass of a breathless, doe-eyed young woman.

Swoon factor times two.

For anyone who has not sworn the blood oath of undying allegiance to all things "Twilight," here's a few issues with "New Moon": It's really two half moons, or two halves of a movie that don't quite fit. Mopey teen Bella has all the luster of, well, a mopey teenager. The real rivalry between the werewolves and vampires is to see which species can behave with greater preposterousness and pretension.

Finally, "New Moon" is boring, eternally so.

"Twilight" screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg returned to adapt the script, and "New Moon" shares its predecessor's brooding, diary-of-a-mad-girl tone.

Bella starts senior year in the worst way as Edward and his adopted family of sensitive new-age vampires pack up and move away.

Fans will rue the relatively scarce screen time for Pattinson, whose Edward still adores Bella but decides he has to break things off so he doesn't complicate their relationship by giving her a fatal hickey.

Months of pining and bad dreams eventually are eased for Bella as she starts hanging out with Jacob, who misses no opportunity to show off his Olympian pecs and abs.

Bella's timing stinks, though, because Jacob's just entering wolfman puberty. Suddenly, he's running with a pack of werewolf brethren in his Native American tribe, and he pushes Bella away just as Edward did -- for her own protection.

What's a girl to do? Mope some more.

Old vampire enemies are still preying on Bella, though, giving Jacob and his boys some bloodsuckers to fight. The visual effects of the guys transforming into wolves are disappointing, over in a flash; "An American Werewolf in London" did a much neater job of it almost 30 years ago.

Then "New Moon" veers back to the Cullens as Bella races to Italy to save Edward, who's become a world-class moper himself.

There, they engage in a showdown with the Volturi, who are sort of the A-listers of the vampire world and as full of themselves as any spoiled Hollywood star.

Chief among them is Aro (Michael Sheen, a werewolf in the "Underworld" franchise, so he swings both ways), whose smarmy little smile and prim bearing sap the menace he's supposed to convey. Dakota Fanning, in a departure from her goodie-goodie persona, has a fleeting role as a Volturi bad girl.

As Edward's soothsaying vampire sister Alice, Ashley Greene provides more snap with a few choice lines than the leading players manage in the entire movie. The rest of the Cullen clan, including Peter Facinelli as patriarch Carlisle, are bit players this time, as are Bella's circle of human friends, though Anna Kendrick has some lively moments as school mate Jessica.

Billy Burke also is back as Bella's police-chief dad, though you have to worry about the townsfolk's safety, given all the scrapes his own daughter gets into under his watch.

The soap-opera melodrama of Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner's performances provides some unintentional laughs that lighten the movie's relentless gloom.

Yet Stewart is on screen almost all the time, and her Bella is just a drag to be around. With her flat speech and listless presence, it's unfathomable how two different sets of monsters could fixate so completely on her.

All three lovers are so joyless, it's hard to imagine why any of them would want to spend eternity together.

They're here for two more movies, though. And that sounds like a real eternity.

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon," a Summit Entertainment release, is rated PG-13 for some violence and action. Running time: 130 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

LONDON (AP) -- Edward Woodward, the star of films including "Breaker Morant" and "The Wicker Man," died Monday. He was 79.

Woodward, who starred at "The Equalizer" on television, died in a hospital in Cornwall after an illness, said Janet Glass of the Eric Glass Ltd. agency in London.

He won an Emmy Award in 1990 for "Remembering World War II" and a Golden Globe in 1987 for "The Equalizer," which ran for 88 episodes from 1985 to 1989 on the U.S. network CBS.

In a career that began in 1946 in a regional production of "A Kiss for Cinderella," Woodward played roles in productions ranging from the popular British soap opera "Eastenders" to productions of Shakespeare, and at least 40 films for theater or television.

His last film appearances were in "Hot Fuzz" in 2007 and "Congregation of Ghosts," now in post-production.

He also recorded several albums including "Love is the Key" in 1977 and "The Jewel that was Ours" in 1994.

"I think I've probably more television than any actor living," Woodward said in a 1987 interview with The Associated Press. "I've done over 2,000, could be 3,000 now, television productions."

"I suppose there is also the feeling that it is the largest medium by far for information, education and above all, entertainment," he added. "And after all, that's what an actor's life is all about. Getting work and entertaining people."

At the time, Woodward was promoting a U.S. television film of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," in which played the wicked slave owner, Simon Legree. He found the role strangely refreshing.

"If you are a British actor, you do lots of Shakespeare and lots of classical work. There is always a great actor who has just played your character," he said.

"Lucky for me, Simon Legree has not been done very often," he added.

Woodward is survived by his second wife, actress Michele Dotrice, their daughter, and two sons and a daughter from his first marriage, which ended in divorce.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.


ABOVE: FILE - In this Tuesday Feb. 13, 2007 file photo British actor Edward Woodward arrives for the world premiere of his latest film , Hot Fuzz, in London's Leicester Square. Woodward, famous for his roles in The Wicker Man and The Equalizer, died Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, aged 79, his agent said. (AP Photo/Max Nash)

A panel from the first chapter of "The Prisoner" online comic.

That may not be a fair assessment in my headline up there. 

I can't write with absolute certainty that this first chapter of an online comic introducing a mysterious woman will impact the AMC re-take of the "The Prisoner," but it may give us some clues about the story.

As you have no doubt heard, the new series will star Ian McKellen as Number Two and Jim Caviezel as Number Six.

If you haven't seen the original series you're not alone, I'm in the same boat.  And I know some devotees of this show are shouting "blasphemy" and muttering how I should be "excommunicated from the blogosphere for posting such heresy!"

I will preempt this damage to my rep by promising to watch all the original episodes I can find as well as the new series which starts Sunday Nov. 15.  I see it this way; If the new creators of "The Prisoner" -- who are no doubt fans of the original -- had written bad scripts for the re-boot, do you think they would have landed McKellen to co-star?

I know he did "X-Men 3"... I'm not counting that.  

What also interests me are the increasing number of television shows that are using sequential storytelling (comics!) to present supplementary material.  

"The Prisoner" comic has some motion in it but there is no accompanying audio track just well-timed Flash sequences and text.  You can check it out once you get past the considerable load time of the interactive.

From wire service reports

I haven't watched the first episode of "Astonishing X-Men: Gifted" yet, but I am curious. 

A lot of my interest is fueled by my affinity for the original comics story by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday and knowing that comics legend Neal Adams has a hand in the animation.

Anyone see this yet?

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jim Carrey's Scrooge collected holiday donations from movie fans with his new take on "A Christmas Carol," which took in $31 million to open as the weekend's top movie.

The Disney animated version of the Charles Dickens classic knocked the King of Pop out of the No. 1 spot as "Michael Jackson's This Is It" slipped to second place with $14 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Sony's "This Is It," presenting rehearsal performances Jackson shot before his death last June, raised its domestic total to $57.9 million. Worldwide, "This Is It" has taken in $186.5 million.

Featuring Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and also as the three holiday ghosts that show Scrooge the error of his miserly ways, "A Christmas Carol" came in on the low end of Disney's expectations for opening weekend.

On the other end of the spectrum, Lionsgate's acclaimed drama "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" had a spectacular start, pulling in $1.8 million in just 18 theaters, averaging $100,000 a cinema. That compares with an $8,418 average for "A Christmas Carol" in 3,683 theaters.

"Precious" had a record average for films opening in 10 or more theaters. Others that have averaged $100,000 or more typically debut in only a few cinemas.

The weekend brought a rush of other new movies, led by George Clooney's comedy "The Men Who Stare at Goats," which finished at No. 3 with $13.3 million. The Overture Films release is a satiric look at U.S. military efforts to create "warrior monks" who can predict the future or walk through walls.

Debuting in fourth place with $12.5 million was Universal's "The Fourth Kind," starring Milla Jovovich as a psychologist studying alien abductions in Alaska.

Cameron Diaz and James Marsden's sci-fi tale "The Box" opened at No. 6 with $7.9 million. The Warner Bros. thriller centers on a couple given a mysterious box that can provide them $1 million, but at the cost of a stranger's life.

With nearly two months of playing time through the holidays, Disney is counting on steady business for "A Christmas Carol," particularly over Thanksgiving weekend and in the buildup to Christmas itself.

"You have to play these things for the long term," said Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution. "You've got to have the patience and you've got to pick the right weekend. For us, the days when the malls turned to Christmas stores is when we wanted to go."

Director Robert Zemeckis shot the movie using the same performance-capture technology used on his 2004 holiday offering "The Polar Express." Carrey and his co-stars acted on a bare soundstage as digital cameras caught their performances, with computer animators later adding costumes, sets, props and other effects.

"A Christmas Carol" came in ahead of "Polar Express," which had an opening weekend of $23.5 million. But it fell well short of the $55.1 million opening for Carrey's previous holiday tale, "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" in 2000.

Holiday-themed films tend to hold up well through the season, among them Disney's "The Santa Clause" comedies. After its modest start, "The Polar Express" went on to become a $160 million hit by the end of its run and has become a holiday perennial in rereleases in huge-screen IMAX theaters.

"A Christmas Carol" did three-fourths of its business in theaters showing 3-D versions. Huge-screen IMAX theaters, which represented only 5 percent of the theater count, accounted for $4.5 million, or 14.5 percent, of the movie's total gross, said Greg Foster, IMAX chairman and president.

"Precious," which won the top awards at last January's Sundance Film Festival, stars newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as a Harlem teen who gradually rises above an upbringing of incest, abuse and illiteracy.

After Sundance, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry signed on as executive producers, helping to spread the word on "Precious," which has earned acclaim from critics and audiences at other film festivals. The film has Academy Awards buzz as a best-picture contender, along with Oscar prospects for Sidibe, co-star Mo'Nique and director Lee Daniels.

The movie started in only four cities -- New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. Lionsgate plans to expand it this Friday to five more -- Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Dallas and Houston, then take it into wide release Nov. 20.

"A lot of movie-goers are not happy with the release plan right now, because it's not in their cities yet," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "That's always a good sign."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "A Christmas Carol," $31 million.

2. "Michael Jackson's This Is It," $14 million.

3. "The Men Who Stare at Goats," $13.3 million.

4. "The Fourth Kind," $12.5 million.

5. "Paranormal Activity," $8.6 million.

6. "The Box," $7.9 million.

7. "Couples Retreat," $6.4 million.

8. "Law Abiding Citizen," $6.2 million.

9. "Where the Wild Things Are," $4.2 million.

10. "Astro Boy," $2.6 million.

In this film publicity image released by Disney, Ebenezer Scrooge, voiced by Jim Carrey, is shown in a scene from "A Christmas Carol." (AP Photo/Disney, ImageMovers Digital LLC)

JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lionel Barrymore. Alastair Sim. Laurence Olivier. Albert Finney. George C. Scott. Bill Murray. Michael Caine. Mr. Magoo. Scrooge McDuck.

Of the many to play Ebenezer Scrooge, Jim Carrey now adds his name, starring in Disney's new 3-D animation version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." The appeal of the part is clear: You get villain and redemptive hero rolled into one, plus you spend most of the movie in your pajamas.

But the allure of Scrooge alone wasn't enough for Carrey. In this latest incarnation of Dickens' Christmas fable, Carrey plays not only the penny-pinching miser, young and old, but also the three ghosts that visit him: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

Carrey's zest for the undertaking comes through clearly enough -- after all, the rubber-faced "Ace Ventura" and "Man on the Moon" actor has always been a contortionist. His Scrooge is exceptionally gaunt, topped by limp white hair, and features a downturned mouth below an Ichabod Crane nose.

When Scrooge breaks into a sudden jig or the Ghost of Christmas Past -- rendered here (faithfully to the book) as a kind of flickering candle -- gives a comic twitch, it's easy to recognize the actor behind the animation.

But on the whole, the film feels suffocated by its design, and the liveliness of Carrey and the rest of the cast (including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Cary Elwes) struggles to shine through.

For a distinctly modern approach, director Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump," ''Cast Away") opted to use performance-capture animation, having the actors movements and expressions transferred from live-action to animation. Zemeckis has previously employed the technique in "The Polar Express" and "Beowulf."

Unfortunately, the characters come across oddly inanimate. Many have vacant, almost ghostly eyes and closer resemble the figures that might be used in an architect's model. It seems a curious decision to go to such lengths to make a thoroughly human story so inhuman.

It's a shame, too, because the architecture of this "Christmas Carol" is at times striking. The mid-19th century London of Dickens' novella is painted with care, animated to be dramatically lit by candlelight. Alan Silvestri's bombastic score is also stirring.

Zemeckis largely hues closely to the text, allowing the audience to soak up Dickens' language, still fresh and familiar and musical.

But too much of the film is geared around 3-D wizardry. Unneeded sequences pop up for purely "wow" baiting, such as an airborne Scrooge shot skyward to the moon, and a gratuitous chase sequence as he runs from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (who has now wrestled up a chariot of black stallions).

Film adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" are nearly annual events. That's not a bad thing, necessarily. Dickens' story is about as sturdy a one as we've got -- it would be nearly impossible to mar what might be the finest ghost story this side of "Hamlet."

But it's unfortunate that this should be the 2009 edition. The time, not just the season, is ripe for "A Christmas Carol." It is, of course, about a greedy industrial capitalist of the 1800s (Scrooge recalls his deceased partner, Jacob Marley, as "a good man of business") who learns to see the value of family and charity.

How ever could such a story be relevant today?

"A Christmas Carol," a Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release, runs 95 minutes. Two humbugs out of four.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Sheldon Dorf, who founded the world famous Comic-Con International comic book convention, has died. He was 76.

A longtime friend, Greg Koudoulian, says the Ocean Beach resident died at a San Diego hospital on Tuesday from kidney failure. He had diabetes and had been hospitalized for about a year.

Dorf, a freelance artist and comic strip letterer, founded Comic-Con in San Diego in 1970 after moving from Detroit.

Today, the convention draws 125,000 fans a year and is a major gathering for comic book fans, artists, writers and movie stars.

Koudoulian says Dorf was friends with comic greats such as Marvel artist Jack Kirby and "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz. He says Dorf was also instrumental in helping budding artists find audiences.

Ivan Dixon, left, and Steven Perry star in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode "The Big Tall Wish."

On what is usually considered a movie night at Geoffrey's Comics in Gardena the regular comics club crew gathered Tuesday to watch a handful of "Twilight Zone" episodes.

Before I made the journey from Long Beach I was asked by a friend which episodes we would watch this evening.  I said I didn't know, but any of the older Zone episodes were a can't-miss when it comes to quality, theme and sheer entertainment value.

We watched the episodes "The Big Tall Wish," "Nick of Time" and "Living Doll."

There were some fine moments in "Nick of Time" starring William Shatner, who plays a seemingly well-adjusted man who becomes obsessed with the future.  And who could ever forget the creepy, classic "Living Doll" starring Telly Savalas?

There's man vs. man, man vs. nature and in "Living Doll" writer Charles Beaumont introduces us to man vs. doll.

"Hi, I'm Talking Tina and you're gonna be sorry," the doll says to Savalas.

Who loves ya, baby?  Apparently not Talking Tina... baby.

My favorite episode was "The Big Tall Wish," which was the first one we watched last night.  Yes, there was some heavy-handed acting and the story is pretty straightforward, but that's just me being silly because Wish is a fine example of what a good episode of "Twilight Zone" can do.  A hard-luck boxer named Bolie Jackson -- played by Ivan Dixon -- gets a little magic through the wishes of a kid named Henry. 

What interested me as a filmmaker is how this episode was composed with such a creative economy of shots (due to budget limitations).  What impressed me as a fan of the "Twilight Zone" is how Rod Serling's science/fantasy/fiction shows never lose sight of the fact that they are about more than the plot.  "The Big Tall Wish" would serve as a fine example to some of the current science fiction television creators who need a reminder of how effective sci fi can be for social commentary.

Watch "The Big Tall Wish" yourself at Veoh.
 

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) -- An auction of rare comics found in the basement of a suburban St. Louis home has brought in nearly $500,000 so far.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the first day of the auction on Sunday in St. Charles included $101,000 for the comic X-Men No. 1. All told, the auction has generated $490,000. It continued on Monday at Ameristar Casino.

About 3,000 comic books were found in the basement of a home in Arnold. The owner collected them as a boy. He died several years ago, and his mother died earlier this year. A cousin who became heir to the estate found the comic books. The heir has remained anonymous.


Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

By Ryan Riley, Contributor

Newcomer Jonathan Hickman has been making quite the splash over at Marvel Comics. He is scripting Secret Warriors, which follows the adventures of Nick Fury and his new group of soldiers following Secret Invasion, and took over the reins of the Fantastic Four comic from Mark Millar based on the strength of his run on the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four mini-series. The new FF arc features Reed Richards being recruited into a multi-dimensional think-tank/support group/task force comprised of alternate versions of himself from every conceivable reality, including a couple where he ended up in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet. The story arc takes the concept of Grant Morrison's Superman Squad (featured in JLA 1,000,000 & All-Star Superman) to the next level, and is turning out to be a fascinating read thus far. But in my opinion, it is the work he did before he got snatched up by Marvel that is truly innovative and brilliant.

Hickman has written four separate mini-series under the Image imprint, three of which have been collected in graphic-novel form. It is those three books that I want to call attention to, as they push the boundaries of how a comic book story can be told and are among the finest books I've had the pleasure to read in quite some time. They are all incisive looks at human society both ancient and modern. More to the point, they point out some major problems with human society from many different angles.

The Nightly News

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Jonathan Hickman

This story was Hickman's breakout hit over at Image. The main character, John Guyton, is a recruiter for a cult whose members have had their lives wrecked by irresponsible and inaccurate journalism. Their main goal? Kill as many journalists as possible. The cult receives its marching orders from a person they know only as "The Voice", who sends them their directives through an audio tape sent via Fed-Ex. The cult's war against journalistic excess takes place on many fronts, both overt (sniper attacks & suicide bombings) and subtle (taking faces of female news reporters, splicing them onto the bodies of porn stars and placing them on the internet). The story takes quite a few twists & turns, but the revelation of the person behind "The Voice" at the end of it all is the real jaw-dropper. Let's just say that bedfellows make for strange politics.

Visually, this book is less of a pure comic book and more of a hybrid of a comic and an art magazine. The artwork is primarily sepia-tone, which is almost ironic since the story deals with many shades of grey. All of the little factoids and statistic graphs that Hickman intersperses throughout the story (some of which he admits are completely fabricated) drive home the notion that the relationship between the political & corporate masters of America and the general public has become extremely dysfunctional. These are rendered in extremely small print, so be sure to have a magnifying glass handy as they add some real depth to what is going on in the story.

Pax Romana

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Jonathan Hickman

This is easily one of the most ambitious stories I have ever read, and I've read a lot of books. In the year 2054, the Catholic Church is on its last legs, having been rendered irrelevant by almost every other religion under the sun. Looking for ways to regain its former prominence, it has been covertly funding scientific research into time travel. When their science team actually finds a way to accomplish it, the Pope and his inner circle decide to recruit the finest military warriors and strategists of their time to travel back to 312 A.D. to aid the Catholic Church of its time in dealing with threats to their superiority, such as the advent of Islam and the barbarian hordes that destroyed the civilization of Rome.

That premise would have been interesting enough on its own, but the story really takes off once the commander of their army, Brigadier General Nicholas Chase, executes the Catholic Cardinal in charge of the mission and decides to do something a little more ambitious: change the very course of human history itself. Chase and his army form an alliance with Constantine and help him ascend the Roman throne a full 12 years earlier than he would have on his own. Chase then uses their knowledge of the future to quell the threats to Roman civilization, whether they be obvious (the aforementioned barbarian hordes) or hidden (like abuse of religious power). But as they successfully execute their plan they encounter unforeseen obstacles, including disagreement on how to deal with Constantine's headstrong son Crispus, and political infighting between Chase and his inner circle that leads to open conflict.

There is really only one thing that could be perceived as a weakness with this book: The sepia-toned artistic style of Pax Romana is strikingly similar to that of The Nightly News, with alternate historical timelines and chat transcripts taking the place of the factoids & statistic charts. To more nitpicky readers, this might almost seem like a creative crutch. Personally, I quite enjoy the way Hickman employs this unique style of storytelling, and I wouldn't mind seeing a lot more of it. If only the text weren't so small...

Transhuman

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: J.M. Ringuet

Welcome to the future, where the post-human body of your dreams is available...for a modest price. This story chronicles the rise of two rival companies, Humonics Inc. and Chimeracorp, who are competing to deliver the next wave of human evolution to the public, each with a different focus. The initial product that Humonics initially offers is based in technology (a prosthetic hand attachment with basic household attachments that has room for better upgrades), while Chimeracorp tinkers with a pharmaceutical concoction that gives its recipient a biological enhancement.

The whole story plays out like a combination of a Michael Moore documentary and a VH1 "Behind The Music" episode. While the main focus of the story is on who comes out on top of the branding battle, the real fun comes from seeing the results of Chimeracorp's experiments. Their first batch of test subjects, a group of chimpanzees, end up with superpowers like telepathy, retractable claws and optic blasts (the X-Chimps!), and end up escaping from their cages. When their human test subjects (the ones that ended up with useful enhancements, anyway) get into superhero costumes and get sent out to recapture the chimp test subjects, it turns out about as well as the canoe trip in the movie "Deliverance".

Of the three graphic novels by Hickman, Transhuman is the one that has the most traditional comic book-style art and layout. Ringuet's artwork is just as gritty as Hickman's in The Nightly News and Pax Romana, but with a little more of a cartoonish bent. The story is a little more tongue-in-cheek than Hickman's other works, but the ending is probably the most subversive and unsettling (yet hilarious) out of all of his books. Be sure to look for the single-panel shout-out to Grant Morrison's WE3 when they show the test subjects from Humonics.