All the news that's fit to blog

Some Monday morning quarterbacking here:

"Big Momma's House 2" made $28 million this weekend to emerge at the top of the box office pile. Is this a sign that the end-times are upon us? Not really, although I note with some dismay that the subversively bent "Mary Poppins" knock-off "Nanny McPhee" made half that amount for twice the movie. But "BMH2" is painless stuff -- as I said in the review, it's "The Pacifier" with a fat transvestite FBI agent instead of a bald Marine -- and the sort of processed cheese that succeeds only because there's nothing there to actively offend kids, parents, or grandparents. In other words: This is what passes for a family film these days.

Don't look for "Momma" to be shoved off her throne next weekend, either, since the January multiplex blahs are merely giving way to the February glooms. The big films this coming Friday are "The World's Fastest Indian" (Anthony Hopkins as the New Zealand coot who broke the land speed record in 1967), "Imagine Me & You" (British romantic comedy about a bride who falls in love with her wedding florist, also a woman), "A Good Woman" (Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson in a version of Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan" updated to the 1930s), and "Something New," an interracial romance starring Sanaa Lathan. Some of these, even all of these, may be decent movies, but it's safe to say there's not much cultural or marketing momentum behind them. February becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: the dogs and also-rans get slotted there so often that any movie that plays during the month has to be a dog or also-ran. To which I say: Surprise me.

The winners at Sundance: the Mexican-American drama "Quinceanera" won best dramatic film from both the audience and the jury, and "God Grew Tired of Us," about Sudanese boys coming to America, did the same in the documentary category. Figures: I didn't see either of them. Wesley did, though; he says he'll weigh in on them here in a bit. The Bobcat Goldthwait comedy "Stay" got picked up for distribution by Roadside/Goldwyn, and ThinkFilm bought the my-history-teacher-smokes-crack drama "Half Nelson." Look for these two at a theater near you in months to come, along with "The Darwin Awards," which Bauer Martinez snapped up. (That's an especially eerie title given the death of co-star Chris Penn one day before it premiered in Park City).

Speaking of momentum: "Brokeback Mountain" has seemed unstoppable on its decathalon sprint to the Academy Awards, and it was feted yet again this Saturday night when the Directors Guild of America gave the DGA Award to helmer Ang Lee. Then came Sunday night and the Screen Actors Guild banquet -- and "Brokeback" was shut out in favor of Phillip Seymour Hoffman for best actor (over Heath Ledger), Paul Giamatti of "Cinderella Man" for best supporting actor (over Jake Gyllenhaal), and Rachel Weisz of "The Constant Gardener" for best supporting actress (over Michelle Williams). Reese Witherspoon won best actress for "Walk the Line" -- no surprise there. Does this mean the "Brokeback" juggernaut has been slowed? Hardly, but the announcement of the Oscar nominations tomorrow morning will give the full measure of the field.