A lot of people thought that Secretariat would be a shoo-in for first place this week. There has been Oscar talk for Diane Lane, and Disney was pinning its hopes on having a “Blind Side” type four-quadrant hit film on its hands. Alas, at the end of the day, Secretariat stumbled across the finish line in third place with $12.6M  for the weekend, dashing the dreams of studio executives hoping for a huge hit.

The Social Network came in at the top spot, with $15M.  It dropped about 30% from its opening weekend, and has made $46M to date. Katherine Heigl’s latest rom-com Life As We Know It came in at a respectable $14.6M, good enough for second place this weekend, though it came in on the lower end of expectations.

Holdover Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole won the number four spot. Wes Craven’s latest offering, My Soul To Take, was a disappointment with $6.9M, despite having 3D up charges.  It goes to show that 3D does not ensure big numbers at the box office.

You still have to have a quality product.  The movie wasn’t screened for critics, and feedback from audience members has been dismal.  Cinemascore reports a horrible “D” grade.

Newcomers Buried and It’s Kind of a Funny Story were on limited screens, but their per/screen averages were pretty bleak.  Each only garnered about $2,000 per showing, and neither placed in the top ten. I Spit on Your Grave only made $33,000 over the weekend, a truly frightening total.

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I remember when I saw the trailer for Buried (directed by Rodrigo Cortés and starring Ryan Reynolds), I thought it looked horrifying – though I was curious how the film would play out for it’s 94 minute running time.  While conceptually interesting, Buried is essentially about a man trapped inside a box – material which seems better suited for a short feature.  That conceit - and the fact that the film rests almost entirely on the performance of it’s only on-screen actor – make the fact that the film was completely engaging an even more impressive feat.

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), a truck driver working in Iraq, recovers from unconsciousness to find that he is buried alive inside a wooden coffin with little more than a cell phone, a zippo lighter and a knife.  Paul’s initial reaction to his predicament is to panic – understandably – and the tension is palpable as he frantically tries to escape his claustrophobic surroundings.

He is eventually contacted by his kidnappers – via the planted cell phone he is buried with – who demand a ransom for him to be released alive.  Paul desperately tries to contact his employers and family before finally making a connection with an FBI agent, during which time he is able to vaguely recall the details of an ambush led by insurgents - presumably by those responsible for holding him hostage.

As Paul works within the confines of his surroundings to garner his release from captivity, there is never a moment when you aren’t vividly aware of his time running out.  A cellular battery slowly draining or dropping calls, a lighter running out of fuel to burn, limited oxygen to breathe and a bevy of other obstacles – punctuate the unlikelihood of Paul’s survival.  Yet there are fleeting  moments of hopeful respite here and there, just enough to string you – and Paul – along.

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By Shannon Hood and Jane Almirall

Each day we will provide you with capsule reviews and impressions of the films we see at Fantastic Fest, along with any activities or interviews we attend.  Complete reviews and interviews can be found on the site in upcoming weeks.

Day one of fantastic fest we hit the ground running and went straight from the airport to pick up our press badges.  We managed to cram in three screenings for the day, starting at 4pm.  Not too shabby.

Screening: Stone. Directed by John Curran and starring Edward Norton, Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, and Milla Jovovich.  Summary: A convicted arsonist (Norton) looks to manipulate a parole officer (De Niro) into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife (Jovovich)  in the lawman’s path.

Jane’s thoughts:  This was an unusual experience for me.  I was half expecting this to play out like a thriller-but instead I watched a slow (but evenly paced) meditative, existential character study.

The performances were great, but I can’t say I enjoyed the film (to its credit,we discussed it a great deal afterwards.)

The characters in Stone never quite feel like actual people, rather they represent certain characteristics of humanity.  Their stories slowly unfold to reveal that in the end, we are back at the beginning and haven’t moved an inch.

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Though Green Lantern is prepping to be one of the larger superhero flicks of 2011 (in spite of the possible awesomeness of Thor and Captain America), Ryan Reynolds is still sticking to his word and planning on going back to his role as Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool. In a recent interview with Hero Complex, Reynolds delves into the emotional trauma of the Merc with the Mouth and how much of a mess it will be to get into that character.

Many fans became smitten with him in that role after his performance in the poorly received X-Men Origins: Wolverine last year. Now, Reynolds has wrapped GL, is promoting Buried, and can’t wait to start killing people for money on film.

Here’s what he had to say about Deaadpool:

“It goes in such a different direction than a superhero movie usually goes. It’s a nasty piece of work. It’s just based in so much emotional filth, completely. It’s like ‘Barfly‘ if it were a superhero movie. It sort of treads into the world of an emotionally damaged person.  I always say that Deadpool is a guy in a highly militarized shame spiral…. It’s so different than the superhero movies to date, it departs so far from that.”

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Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Remember that guy who reviewed the Star Wars movies? Well, he’s back and reviewing Star Trek now. Still funny.

• Old Spice spokesman Isaiah Mustafa wants to be Luke Cage so badly that he even did a photo shoot to show to studio executives. We think this needs to happen.

• Like fights? Of course you do. So, here’s five classic action hero fights that need to happen.

• Love Glee? Hate Glee? Seriously don’t give a crap either way? If you’re that first one, here’s a preview of next season. The rest of you go watch something else.

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I have to admit, as we get closer to Fantastic Fest I’m getting more and more excited. It’s a great festival full of an incredible mix of films from around the world that can satisfy even the most demanding critic’s taste for something new, unusual and entertaining.

Previously, we brought you news of the fist films selected for the Fest and more. Now, the Fest’s organizers have announced a new wave of films that will be showcased during the event. Some of these films include the Gala premiere of Buried starring Ryan Reynolds (which was announced last week), the US premiere of the Edward Norton starer Stone, the world premiere of 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, the US premiere of Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 3, the US premiere of Andrew Lau’s  Legend of the Fist and so much more.

With these new films announced, and even more still to come including, I’m sure, a few surprise screenings, the Fest looks to be even more amazing than last year. If you’re a fan of films and a great time, you don’t have an excuse not to be in Austin from September 23-30. For more on the great lineup of films announced today, check out the full press release after the jump.

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Ryan Reynolds is a pretty busy guy. Not only is casting news and general buzz generating for his titular role in DC’s upcoming Green Lantern, but the writers have already been hired for the Deadpool script, which will begin shooting when he’s done donning his emerald ring.

Somewhere in there, he’s had the time to shoot Rodrigo Cortés’ thriller about a U.S. contractor who’s kidnapped by a group of Iraqis and buried alive. The film has already gotten plenty of buzz from Sundance, but may have the same misfortune that The Hurt Locker got at the Golden Globes.

The very first teaser trailer for the film has been released, which almost takes a turn in a viral direction. In the film, Reynolds is stuck underground, in his own would-be tomb, with only a lighter and a cell phone. One can’t imagine that this film cost Transformers money.

Check out the teaser trailer after the jump, and expect to hear more about a U.S. release date as studios bid for distribution rights.

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