'21' comes up aces

Despite mixed reviews, moviegoers are laying their money down on "21," the new movie about the clandestine MIT blackjack team that beat the Las Vegas casinos. According to studio estimates, the film starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Kevin Spacey was the box-office high roller over the weekend with a $23.7 million take. Inspired by Boston author Ben Mezrich's bestselling book "Bringing Down the House," "21" managed to bump off "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!", which had been No. 1 the previous two weekends. "Horton Hears a Who" slipped to second place with $17.4 million, raising its total to $117.3 million. (It's the first movie this year to pass the $100 million mark.) Partially filmed in Boston, "21" came up aces despite the qualms of critics. "People are going nuts in Hollywood," Mezrich wrote us in an e-mail yesterday. "About 3.5 to 4 million people saw the film this weekend, probably about 7 million will have seen it by the end of next week, and when the DVD comes out this fall, we can expect another 30 million or so people to see it. . . . So almost 40 million people will see it by the end of the year in the US alone." This weekend's other new movies were not so lucky. Debuting at No. 3 with $9.5 million was "Superhero Movie," a spoof of one of Hollywood's favorite action genres, while "Stop-Loss," starring Ryan Phillippe as an Iraq War veteran sent back against his wishes for another tour of duty, opened at No. 8 with $4.5 million. "Friends" costar David Schwimmer's directing debut, "Run Fat Boy Run," did poorly, taking in $2.4 million to finish out of the top 10.

Courtney Love claims the estate of her late husband Kurt Cobain has been bilked of millions of dollars and, as a result, Cobain's mother and sister might lose their homes. Love tells the New York Post that a con man and con woman used Cobain's Social Security number to open up more than 188 credit cards and refinance several homes. "I don't expect in a recession Americans to feel sorry for a person who's lost about $200 million, but this is nuts," said Love, adding that the FBI and Scotland Yard are investigating.

Miley Cyrus was the big winner at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards Saturday. The "Hannah Montana" star won awards for favorite female singer and television actress. The 15-year-old - who also had a No. 1 movie in February - sang her hit "Girls Night Out" during the show, which was broadcast from UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Jessica Alba won favorite movie actress while Cameron Diaz walked off with the Wannabe Award for a celebrity role model. Chris Brown was favorite male singer, the Jonas Brothers the favorite music group, and "American Idol" the favorite reality show.

"He's very into Barack Obama. On his own!" - Actress Sarah Jessica Parker talking about the political preferences of her 5-year-old son, James Wilkie Broderick.

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