film

Horton Hear a Who topped the box office for the second straight weekend, but Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns came in a close second.

Ho-hum: Another Perry film, another twenty-million dollar opening weekend. A decade ago, Perry was living out of his car, struggling to raise enough money to keep his plays up and running on the so-called "chitlin' circuit." Today, he's sitting atop an entertainment empire that spans theater and film, publishing and television. Yet if you aren't in his target demographic - black and middle-class, and maybe with a relative who reminds you just a little bit of Madea, his most memorable creation - then odds are you don't know a thing about him; indeed, your first Perry encounter won't happen come next summer, when he'll play the head of Starfleet Academy in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek revival.

Will Ferrell's latest film, Semi-Pro -- in which he plays the player-owner of a 1970s ABA team -- debuted to middling reviews and disappointing box office this weekend.

According to Hollywood legend, Talledega Nights was pitched to the studios with just six words: Will Ferrell as a Nascar driver. That formula -- drop the inherently hilarious star into a potentially hilarious milieu -- has produced most of Ferrell's biggest hits, from Talledega Nights to Anchorman (Ferrell as a '70s local news anchor) to Blades of Glory (Ferrell as a figure skater). MORE

The 80th Academy Awards looked away from American politics and toward the rest of the world.

This year's Academy Awards were noteworthy for their absences: The broadcast focused on the world abroad rather than domestic accomplishments, and the speeches avoided the tired political diatribes that have lately become Oscar staples.

Most commentators note that the four main performance Oscars (given to an Irishman, a Frenchwoman, a Spaniard, and a Scot) and several technical awards belonged to artists from across the Atlantic.  More telling, however, were the selections for best film, director, and documentary.  Instead of recognizing There Will Be Blood -- the weighty "epic American nightmare" -- the Academy chose the Coens' No Country for Old Men, a nightmare to be sure, but of an America unfamiliar to those of us outside the West Texas psycho-killer demographic.  And in the documentary category, the Academy passed over films on the health-care system and Iraq War, instead embracing Taxi to the Dark Side, a little-seen -- but still better-grossing than Paris Hilton's latest effort, The Hottie and the Nottie -- rumination on torture in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Gharib.

Excepting Jon Stewart's monologue, political commentary was sparse.  Presenters were silent on this year's election, but they appealed repeatedly to "hope."  Although the Vatican claimed that Oscar prized films "with no hope for the future," it seems that Hollywood remains hopeful enough about November's prospects that it chose to keep mum on American politics.  Or perhaps after the last two elections, Hollywood has finally learned that voters care even less about Paris Hilton's political views than about her views on hotties.