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Show Cinema Horror fans find their boxoffice thrill LOS ANGELES — Critical panning,bafflementand resentmentcouldn't scare away audiences from Sony’s demonic Soaring creepfest “Silent Hill,” which earned approximately $20.2 millionin its first weekend out Horrorfans continued to cough up moneyfor “Scary Movie4,” which dropped a whopping 58 percent from last A national tragedy is retold with unerring compassion Cody Clark DAILY HERALD “The Sentinel,” starring Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Douglas and Eva Longoria, opened at t’s not too soon. It couldn't possibly be too soon for “United 93,” a beauti- No. 3 with $14.7 million,followed by the animated “Ice fully crafted film,a film of breath- taking sadness andultimately a film of enormous dignity and grace.In Age2” ($12.8 million) which has already passed the $150 million the light of this transfixing, unblinking remembrance,the better question is why markin its fourth week out. “The Wild”($8.1 million) “Benchwarmers”($7.3 million) did we wait so long? British filmmaker Paul Greengrass has written and directed a movie that argues and “Take the Lead” ($4.3 million) made return appearances powerfully forits own existence by standing as a vivid memorialto the liveslost on Sept. 11, 2001, the day thatterrorists used American passengerjets to stage attacks to the Top 12 before making way forthe tepid “American Dreamz” debut. In its first weekendout, the satire about an “American Idol”type show crossed with a quasi-political on the World Trade Center and Washing- ton, D.C. See this one. Greengrass hewsprecisely to the bestknownfacts with “Inside Man,”a filmthat’s beenoutfor five weeks, with a paltry$3.7 million. tells his story United 93 Zap2it.com erie Director: Paul Greengrass Halfof the ac- Cast: Christian Clemenson, tion unfolds in Khalid Abdalla, Gregg Box Office a series of air Henry, BenSliney board United —_and someintense sequenc- Compiledby Exhibitor Rel Nielsen EDIinc for last Friday-S traffic control Rinnibg time: centers, with Runningtime: 1 hr., 30 the other half ™N. occurring on- Rating: R for language, - a ae ee 757 1. “Silent Hill,” Sony, $20,152, 598, 2,926 locations, $6,887 average, $20,152,598, one week. 2. "Scary Movie 4," Weinstein Co., $16,814,342, 3,673 locations, $4,578 average,$67,478,181, two weeks. 3. “The Sentinel,” $14,367,854, 2,822 locations, $5,091 average, = one week. es of terror and violence Location: OpensFridayin that fatefully theaters everywhere crashedin an empty field near Shanksville, Penn. Withthe story’s outcome knownbefore its first images appear onscreen, “United 93” has a built-in sense of dread, amplified by the faint, ominous first notes of John Powell’s respectfully muted score. As things unfold, essentially in real time, the layerof with any viewing of any film melts away. When I heard a character monitoring the erratic flightpath of American Airlines Flight 11 over Manhattan announce that the plane no longer appeared on radar, I flinched to realize that I already knew what that meant. There are no “name”actorsin “United 33” and only a few who havefamiliar faces. This heightens the sense of unscripted reality, as does the inclusion, incredibly, of a dozen or so non-actors who appear as themselves. (The most notable of these is Ben Sliney, operations managerof the FAA’s ice Age: The Meltdown,” Fox, fiancee 3,540 locations, $3,753 average, $168,348, 135, four weeks. Associated Press/UniversalPictures Aviation operations managerBenSliney, on the phone playing himself, is surrounded “iby airneon controllers in the new film “United 93.” 5. “The Wild,” Disney, $8,332,068, 2,854locations, $2,919 average, $22,240,635, two weeks. $7,256,143, 3,094 locations, $2,345 national air traffic control center.) Especially good performances are givenby Sliney, Christian Clemenson as nger Thomas Burnett, Trish Gates as flight attendant Sandra Bradshaw, and Gregg Henry andPatrick St. Esprit as the military commanders who urgently request “shoot down”authority. Also Jamie Harding, Omar Berdouni, Lewis Alsamari, and Khalid Abdalla. Those four play the Flight 93 hijackers. Greengrass has chosento depict them not as cold-eyed phantoms,but as nervous, troubled menin the grip of an unspedk-' * * able conviction. It’s the right decision and a provocativereflection of his overall approach, which emphasizes aboveall else that these events demanded an extraordinary average, $47,101,418,three weeks. 7. “Takethe Lead," New Line, $4,176,517, 2,413 locations, $1, 731 average, $29,482,613, three weeks. 8. “Inside Man,” Universal, $3,748,955, 2,021 locations, $1,855 response from ordinary people. As frustration mountsin the air traffic control centers, as fear blossoms on Flight 93, as resolvesurges against the cockpit door, thelingering, unforgettable impression 9. “American Dreamz,” Universal, $3,667,420, 1,500 locations, $2,445 $3, 667,420, ‘one week. is of the extremeresiliency of the human spirit. The one wordthat describes the film better than any. other ai sthis: illumi- Pictures Classics, $3,179,025, 991loca tions, $3,208 average, $4,960,765, three ~ nating. average, $81,313,510, five weeks. ndsWith Money, Sony Weeks Cg Pr ee es fe 9002 ‘£2 Judy ‘Aepsinyy ‘presay Ajtegd Sept. 1] and storylinetied in eighth place Review 3 = — oe © sboutthe eventsof week,but sinceit had earned twice as muchas “Silent Hill” in its debut ($40.2 million),it still camein close second with $17 million for second place. The White House thriller |