It's official: we have out first blockbuster of the year. Ice Age: The Meltdown took hold of the box office and charged to the top of the charts. It beat industry projections, which had it pegged for about $50 million. It became the second-biggest March opening, behind 2004's Passion of the Christ. It also posted the biggest opening day of any CG film so far, besting The Incredibles. Despite the fantastic popular reception, I found the story to be a bit lacking. It is not without its fun and charm, but it does not top the original 2002 film.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, in content and reception, is fellow new release and the number 10 finisher, Basic Instinct 2.This film deserves all of the bad press that has swirled around it. It is so unbelievably dull, I had trouble retaining my consciousness. I cannot believe that anyone thought that this was a good idea; furthermore, that I even spent the time and money to go and see it. It pulled up the rear of the list, and will surely die a quick, and well-deserved death. I had figured it would have done a bit better than this, at least for its debut, as I had it pegged to place 5th.

Moving back up the charts brings us to our 3rd new release of the week. Coming in at number 3 is ATL. This did better than I had thought. I had it bet for 7th. Not for nothing, the film is good, better than I had thought that it would be. It is a well-acted coming-of-age story that has a lot of positive things going for it.

Rounding out the new releases for the week, and slipping back down the list is our number 8 finisher, and one that I severely overestimated, Slither. This film is an absolute blast, a near-perfect blend of horror and comedy. It is a shame that it received such a lukewarm response. One thing can be assured; it will do great on DVD. I would still recommend checking this out on the big screen.

Among the holdovers from last week is Inside Man, the Spike Lee helmed heist movie slipped one spot to number 2. It still dropped over 46%. For that matter, none of the top ten survivors fared terribly well, most dropping nearly half of their audience from last week. She's the Man had the best retention, dropping just under 40%.

Four films dropped off of the top ten: Larry the Cable Guy, Health Inspector (11), The Hills Have Eyes (12), Eight Below (14), and 16 Blocks (15).

On the non-top ten side of things, Thank You for Smoking is moving up the charts to number 13. It is a hilarious film that will hopefully see a wider release. The Chronicles of Narnia is being released on DVD, but it is still pulling in some money, placing number 20 on the theatrical charts. The same can be said for the number 32 film, Brokeback Mountain. Further down the list, the lowest ranking film formerly in wide release is Glory Road coming in at number 82.

That about wraps it up for this week.