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I got the No One Wants to See My Movie and It's Making Me Cry blues

Kim Hollis: This is the worst box office weekend since the pair of weekends after 9/11. Do we think this is just a fluke or are we blaming football as the boogeyman? If not those reasons, why is box office suffering so badly?

Reagen Sulewski: Can we blame the writer's strike? The summer really petered out fast in terms of quality, leaving some pretty meager scraps for this period.

Max Braden: There's not much to choose from when there's only one new wide release. Meanwhile, September 19th is stuffed with new releases. It might have helped if the planners had coordinated calendars. I mean come on, this could have been My Best Friend's Girl's only chance at being number one, instead of number two.

Pete Kilmer: Due to the writers strike, look for a lot of weekends like this until April of next year. We'll still have some big hits, but the studios are moving them around (Star Trek, Harry Potter) to take advantage of the opening weekends.

Jamie Ruccio: As we've seen it doesn't matter when a film opens, If people want to see it, they will go see it. The reverse is true. I really think it's just a lack of interesting films.

Scott Lumley: I think this is the end result of what has simply been a monstrous summer at the theatres. I myself went to nine different films this year and there were two that I saw more than once. (Kung Fu Panda and the Dark Knight.) The audience is still there, but they're sated and a little fatigued. I think the better question might be when are we going to see a summer this amazing again?

Brandon Scott: I was ready to gladly claim football as the reason being that it grabbed me and everyone I know, but hearing of those horrific numbers makes me think something else is at play. The box office has been lagging for the last month or so in terms of big pics. When Tropic Thunder didn't strike an initial bolt of lightning, I think that was kind of the beginning of the decline to where we are. It's held well in part as a result of no other decent competition. But with the Summer season doing as well as it did as a whole, I don't see any big picture concerns based simply on this weekend. Other issues come into play over the long haul, of course.

Daron Aldridge: It struck me as odd that there was only one new release this week. Aside from studios steering clear of the competition during the summer (a la The Dark Knight), that doesn't really happen outside of January, September or the weekend of the Oscars. It seems that studios simply have no faith in September (or January) to be nothing more than a dumping ground. So each September, we are stuck with what they are just trying to unload from their shelves until the award hopefuls get released.

Sean Collier: People turned up at the multiplex quite a bit this summer despite high gas prices, ticket inflation, and so-so reviews for everything not named The Dark Knight and WALL-E. That kind of boom is just naturally going to be followed by a dip, especially with few releases of any note.

Jason Lee: Without The Dark Knight's phenomenal success, this summer would be WAY behind last summer. Considering this, it's little wonder that we had a (very) bad September weekend, especially when the only studio that wanted to put a new product in the market was little ole Lionsgate.

David Mumpower: This is the first ripple from the writers' strike. There is much less product being stretched out over the next six months. Fewer releases means lower overall revenue for the top 10/12 and it also means there will be the occasional weekends such as this where there is truly nothing worth seeing. Be forewarned: we are only getting started with this problem.

Cowboys to win it all. You heard it here first. Or last. -- Kim Hollis

Kim Hollis: And finally, with the only topic you really care about this week, what are your NFL picks this year?

Reagen Sulewski: San Diego beats New Orleans.

Pete Kilmer: With Brady down for the year...I think it *could* be the Colts year again...though not based on that game against Chicago. Peyton and the team will work out their 'timing' issues quickly and then run roughshod over the division.

Jamie Ruccio: Brady is down. I don't care about football anymore. In fact, I don't care about much anymore. I'm just going to wander out in traffic and let whatever happens, happen.

Sean Collier: Anyone sleeping on the Steelers is invited to get sacked from behind by James Harrison; they're going to the AFC Championship Game, if not farther. The Eagles are pretty interesting as well; with Brady's injury and the Chargers and Colts getting spanked, it could be a much different AFC this year. In the NFC, could we finally have the long-awaited year of Saints dominance, please? Oh, and I handily won my fantasy matchup this week despite my quarterback being one Thomas Brady. Willie Parker and Reggie Bush FTW.

Daron Aldridge: Wow. After that opening day, there is no telling what may happen, with the unexpected wins, losses and injuries. I will predict, though, that Brett Favre will retire in the middle of the season and unretire to be traded to New England and lead the Brady-less Patriots to a Super Bowl victory after barely winning a wild card spot. Okay, maybe not.

Brandon Scott: Since I am a Charger die-hard, I died harder than Bruce Willis this weekend, so it's hard to separate head from heart. Given this, I will go Colts vs. Cowboys and say that the 'Boys get it done, even if that is not what I hope for by any means. I can tell you that the Raiders will be Chokeland again, that we can always count on. Ohhh, that was fun...the Chargers loss doesn't feel as bad now. How cathartic.

Scott Lumley: Sadly, I must pick Dallas. Although if you had asked me this question four hours ago, just before Tom Brady injured himself I would have had an entirely different New England based pick.

David Mumpower: Since my beloved Falcons are still a year (or twenty) away, I see the division champions as: Denver, Tennessee Pittsburgh, New England (despite the devastating loss of Brady), Seattle, New Orleans, Green Bay and the Giants. Just to be different, I'll predict a Tennessee/Green Bay Super Bowl. I'm not crazy about either team's QB, so that's a concern for each. Plus, I'll certainly be rooting for the epic potential of a Jets/Packers match-up for the title, but those are the teams I believe have the best defenses in each league.

Jason Lee: I pick whatever team Michael Phelps is on to win the Super Bowl.

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