Last week’s blockbuster, “Fast Five” still had a strong showing in second place with $32,519,000.00

And another new movie “Jumping the Broom” came in at the third spot with $13,700,000.00

“Something Borrowed” in fourth place had receipts just under that with $13,155,000.00

And “Rio” was in the fifth place position bringing in $8,200,000.00

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“Scream 4” the much bally-hooed sequel number 4 from the popular franchise brought up the second place spot with $19,279,000.00

The number 1 movie from the past two weeks, “Hop” remained strong in third place with a finish of $11,167,000.00

“Soul Surfer” was fourth with totals of $7,400,000.00 and just barely below that was the fifth place finisher “Hanna” with total receipts of $7,327,000.00

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And from the same people who brought us “Ice Age” is “Rio”, a comedy adventure about taking a walk on the wild side. Blu is a domesticated Macaw who never learned how to fly. He lives with his owner Linda and they believe that he is the last of his kind, however, when they learn of another like him they take a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to find his female counterpart. Adventure and danger ensues and it turns out that Blu will have to find the courage to learn how to fly. Animated Adventure. Rated G.

“The Conspirator”, reviewed here earlier this week. From director Robert Redford, starring Robin Wright as Mary Surratt, a 42 year old female owner of a boardinghouse who was the only woman charged with conspiracy in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. Mary must rely on her newly-minted and reluctant lawyer to defend her in a military tribunal. Drama. Rated PG-13.

“The Princess of Montpensier” set in France in 1562. Classic love story, girl from aristocratic societ falls in love with a man below her even while her hand is promised to the Prince of Montpensier. Love story. Not yet rated.

“The Imperialists Are Still Alive” a successful visual artist works in post 9-11 Manhatten and watches the situation in the Middle East on TV. She learns that a childhood friend is the purported victim of a CIA abduction. Conspiracy theories abound. Not yet rated.

“Dumbstruck” the story of five professional ventriloquists of all different levels of abilities, talents and fame. Rated PG.

“Footprints” chronicles a young woman’s journey of discovery in one day from sunrise to sunset. Not yet rated.

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“The Conspirator” stars Robin Wright, whom I fondly remember as “Jenny” from “Forrest Gump”, as Mary Surratt, a female owner of a Washington boardinghouse who was accused of being a co-conspirator in John Wilkes Booth’s plot to assassinate President Lincoln.

“The Conspirator” is directed by veteran actor and director, Robert Redford.

What makes the movie and the story compelling is the story within the story. All of us in the United States and especially those from the Southern Confederacy states have learned about and we think we know many of the stories of the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves, however, there are stories that have yet to be told.

Mary Surratt, played by Robin Wright, is accused of a terrible crime and Frederick Aiken, played by James McAvoy, is her reluctant lawyer. Mary was the lone woman charged along with seven men. She owned the boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met to plan the attacks on the President. Her young lawyer, a Union war hero who just recently became a lawyer, agrees to defend Mary against the military tribunal. As the trial unfolds, it becomes apparent that Mary may just be innocent and she may be being used as a bait and hostage to capture one of the true conspirators, who is her own son.

In recent interviews, Redford has mentioned the contemporary relevance of the military tribunal with Guantanamo and other tribunals in the news today. Also, the similarities that whenever there is chaos there is ambiguity and when there is ambiguity there is fear. And fear gets manipulated.

That does sound similar to many things that are happening today in the political landscape.

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Neeson had spent time filming some scenes for the movie in a role as a tattoo artist in the Bangkok based sequel but his short appearance was lost in the editing process. The film’s director Todd Phillips was compelled to do reshoots and by that time Liam Neeson was no longer available for the shooting of the film due to scheduling conflicts.

So the small part was taken up by a handsome gray haired man, who no one will likely recognize, Nick Cassavetes, the director of “The Notebook”.

In an interesting side note, the role of the tattoo artist and cameo appearance has now been cast three times as originally it was supposed to go to veteran actor, Mel Gibson.

However, Mel Gibson has created a great deal of controversy in the past few years and apparently there was an uproar on the set and among the other actors about his possible involvement in the film and therefore Mel Gibson was released and Liam Neeson was chosen for the part.

Todd Phillips, the director for “The Hangover Part II” never divulged who among the cast complained r who wanted Mel Gibson to be released but in a comedy podcast from funnyman Zach Galifianakis indicated that he was having a “deep protest right now with a movie I’m working on, up in arms about something” So rumor has it that he may have been the one with the issue, or maybe even more members of the cast had an issue.

But not matter. Now Gibson is out. Neeson is out. And Nick Cassavetes is in.

“The Hangover Part II” brings back the cast from the first movie, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha. It is scheduled for release on May 16, 2011.

And of course, “The Hangover” was a great success but one must wonder how a sequel will work out. After all everyone loved the first “Speed” movie too.

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The new remake, new movie “Arthur” with Russell Brand as the title character came in at second place with a showing of $12,605,000.00

And “Hanna”, a movie about a 16 year old girl who is trained to become a master assassin came in at third place, showing just under the number 2 receipts with $12,323,000.00

“Soul Surfer”, the inspiring true story of Bethany Hamilton, the 13 year old surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack, brought in $11,100,000.00 for a fourth place finish for its opening weekend.

And “Insidious” rounded out the top five with receipts of $9,740,000.00

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In the second place spot, making less than half of the money of “Hop” was “Source Code” the new thriller with Jake Gyllenhaal. It brought in $15,053,000.00

Another new movie “Insidious” was in the third place spot bringing in a total of $13,496,000.00

Last week’s number one hit “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules” brought in $10,200,000.00 in fourth place and down 57.1% from last weeks totals.

“Limitless” took the fifth spot with $9,402,000.00, down 37.6% from last week.

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Disney has cast the role of Miss Marple, the aging spinster crime sleuth from the Agatha Christie novels however this time she will not be old but she will still be unmarried. The role will be as Jane Marple in her 30′s and 40′s, supposedly getting started on her crime-solving career.

Jennifer Garner has been chosen to play the part. Jennifer solved crimes previously in her role as Sydney Bristow in the television series “Alias”. She has also played in various other movies, including “Juno” and “The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”. She is married to fellow actor Ben Affleck and they have two young daughters.

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Actors have often had to take up additional roles to play their parts. Reese Witherspoon did her own singing in “Walk the Line” and she won an Oscar for it. Other actresses who have sang in the movies include Nicole Kidman in “Moulin Rouge” and Gwyneth Paltrow in “Duets” and again in her recent movie “Country Strong”.

Actors have also gained weight, lost weight, changed the color of their hair and even more. And sometimes an actor will do their own stunts and sometimes they will have a body double.

Well this week, coincidentally coinciding with the video release of “Black Swan”, Sarah Lane, the ballerina who was the body double for Natalie Portman in the movie has claimed that only 5% of the dancing was actually performed by Natalie with her doing the rest.

Maybe so. Or not.

But Natalie Portman’s fiance, Benjamin Millepied, who also happens to be a dancer has come to her defense and he claims that more than 85% of the dancing was actually performed by Natalie. The director of the movie, Darren Aronofsky, has also defended Natalie and her dancing and he claims that the majority of the dancing performances were Natalie herself. Mila Kunis, Natalie’s co-star has also come forward to say how hard Natalie worked for the movie and how most of the dancing, excepting only the things that were not possible for a “non-dancer” were performed by Natalie.

The ballet community is concerned that people may not recognize that most ballerina’s have to work for years and years and that it is not really possible to become an accomplished ballerina in just a year.

So did Natalie dance or not? Does it really matter for the performance? After all, Natalie Portman is an actress. She is not a prima ballerina.

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But no more. Utah governor Gary Herbert, recently signed a new law that provides a 25% tax rebate for Hollywood production, which puts the state on equal footing with New Mexico. The scenery in both states is desert-like and beautiful, but Utah does offer the red rocks and more National parks than New Mexico.

The Salt Lake Tribune has an article about the new law. See Motion Picture Tax Incentive

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