Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson proved a strong tandem, leading The Bucket List to box office dominance in its first weekend of wide release. The buddy comedy about a pair of men with terminal cancer who embark on a globe trotting adventure of self discovery garnered lukewarm response from critics (including a one star review from Roger Ebert).  My own anecdotal evidence showed it to be a hit with general audiences though. I suspect that it will have strong legs over the next few weeks. As for my experience? I cannot say that I cared for it all that much, although it does have some good laughs.

Following up the buddy flick is the latest from Ice Cube, First Sunday. I cannot say I expected much based on the advertising. I was pleasantly surprised however to find a film that offered up a positive message while still providing some big laughs. No, it did entirely not work and it did travel in the way of stereotypes, but it was still an enjoyable romp. Tracy Morgan made good use of his highest profile movie role yet, while Katt Williams left a big impression as he stole many of the scenes in which he appeared.

There was one other new entry to the top ten this week, the latest Veggie Tales adventure, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything reached ninth place. It had a lackluster debut, totaling $4.2 million.  Granted, its audience is a bit smaller than the audience for the rest of the top ten. I suspect it will do stronger business once it reaches DVD.

Among the returning films, Juno had the strongest hold, slipping a mere 14% from last week. It is proving to be a genuine powerhouse as it packs houses nationwide. It's $70 million take is climbing and has got to be seen as a huge success for Fox Searchlight. Let's not forget that the film itself is fantastic and deserves all of the attention its getting.