On a cloudless January day in 1966, Los Angeles was such a dull small town that children could be alerted to something as small a skywriter at work. My parents must have been watching the Rose Bowl, as they did every New Year's Day. In those days we lived five miles or so away from the arena, on the heights over the Arroyo Seco. They saw the plane on TV buzzing the big game and urged me to go outside and have a look. Up in the sky, the small plane, low enough that you could hear the drone of the engine, spelled out the words in smoke B-A-T-M-A-N I-S C-O-M-I-N-G.

What's the formula for success? Teens, drugs, Ben Kingsley kisses and 90s nostalgia, evidently. Jonathan Levine's The Wackness scored the best per-screen average of the weekend -- $24,166 -- at six theaters in New York and Los Angeles, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo.

On the other hand, French thriller Tell No One packed them in without any of those elements, earning $20,120 per-screen at eight theaters, according to Leonard Klady's estimates at Movie City News. As somebody once said: C'est la vie.

At the one theater in Los Angeles where it opened, the box office went Kabluey for the film with the same name ($7,900 in receipts) while Alex Gibney's entertaining, if schematic, doc, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, made $7,307 per screen at 26 theaters celebrating independence across the nation.

Not as many were interested in Holding Trevor ($3,400 per-screen at 2 theaters) and audiences declined interest in Diminished Capacity ($2,830 per-screen at 4 theaters). You can read more about all these releases in Indie Spotlight, the new column by Eric D. Snider.

Notable holdovers include Trumbo ($4,233 per-screen average, 6 theaters, 2nd week of release); Mongol ($3,490 per-screen, 253 theaters, 5th week); Brick Lane ($3,451 per-screen, 31 theaters, 3rd week); Roman de Gare ($2,400 per-screen, 37 theaters, 11th week), and The Visitor ($2,017 per-screen, 176 theaters, 13th week).

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl broke into the overall top 10, expanding to more than 1,800 theaters and drawing $1,953 per screen -- but that's a very disappointing figure after the gangbusters box office of its very limited first two weeks of release. The film has grossed more than $6.1 million so far.

When is the news of an actor you really like joining the cast of a high-profile new movie bad news? When you wish that actor were doing other things with his time, that's when. In the case of Thomas McCarthy -- whom you may remember from his masterfully detestable performance as weaselly reporter Scott Templeton in the final season of The Wire -- I wish he were writing and directing another film as brilliant and deeply moving as The Visitor, which at this halfway point is my favorite movie of 2008. I'd even settle for something with the wry, quiet charm of his lovely 2003 debut The Station Agent.

Instead -- ::sigh:: -- he's gone and taken a supporting role in Roland Emmerich's disaster flick 2012, playing Amanda Peet's boyfriend. C'mon, Tom: anyone can do that. Only a handful of people have your behind-the-camera chops. Quit messing around.

I'm being mean, and in this Hollywood Reporter piece McCarthy makes a valiant effort at defending the choice in terms of how working with directors who make different kinds of films helps him with his own work. (The article also mentions that McCarthy moonlights as an uncredited studio script doctor, which I didn't know, and which makes perfect sense given the natural, effortless flow of the films he's written.) Okay fine. But direct something else please.

Two new indie releases fared well, while two others struggled. Hailing from Norway, Reprise (Miramax) earned a very good $15,500 per-screen average at three theaters, according to estimates compiled by Leonard Klady at Movie City News. Our own James Rocchi gushed in his review: "Directed by Joachim Trier, Reprise is one of the most brilliant, heartfelt, exciting and exuberant feature film debuts in recent memory."

Mexican film Sangre de mi Sangre (AKA Padre Nuestro) (IFC Films) nestled into the #2 spot, earning $8,500 at one theater in Manhattan. The film follows two teenagers, one honest, one dishonest, trying to reach their disparate goals (reuniting with family, making money). Eric D. Snider noted: "The trouble is that the film is so bleak as to be almost hopeless ... Its grimness is not matched by its excellence."

Cinematical's Erik Davis raved about German director Christian Petzold's Yella (Cinema Guild) when he saw it at the Berlin film festival last year: "Like a drug, Yella slowly creeps on you long after the end credits roll, takes hold of your body and doesn't let go until you're convinced it was one of the best films this year's Berlinale had to offer." Opening at two theaters, the film made $3,450 per screen.

Despite good reviews (82% positive at Rotten Tomatoes), Georgina Garcia Riedel's How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer (Maya Releasing) failed to make an impact, opening at 84 theaters and marshaling just $1,040 per screen, per Mr. Klady's estimate.

Big budget Iron Man racking up big box office? Not a shock. The latest from Harmony Korine (Gummo, Julian Donkey-Boy) topping the indie box office chart? That's a surprise. Mister Lonely (IFC Films) only opened at one theater in Manhattan, but it took in $19,100 for the highest per-screen average among indies this weekend, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Diego Luna plays a Michael Jackson impersonator; Samantha Morton, Denis Levant and filmmaker Werner Herzog also star. Our own Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote: "Though Mister Lonely seems sweeter and more mainstream than Korine's other films, it still has that sense of randomness, of pathetic luck and habit and wisdom all combining to make up a life, or a collision of lives."

David Mamet's Redbelt (Sony Classics) pulled in $11,433 per screen at six locations. Chiwitel Ejiofor stars as the honorable owner of a Jiu-jitsu studio who is drawn into the world of "pay-per-view mixed martial arts," as Cinematical's James Rocchi described it. He did not feel the film matched the writer/director's best work; "still, even minor Mamet can be a source of major satisfaction, especially with an actor as compelling as Ejiofor in the lead."

Son of Rambow (Paramount Vantage) averaged $10,500 each at five theaters. Garth Jennings' delightful kids' adventure follows two boys as they create their own action movie epic featuring John Rambo. James Rocchi called it "a brilliant celebration of the exuberance and thrill of bad storytelling, of making art, of having dreams."

A French master topped an American actress' directorial debut this weekend. Claude Lelouch's Roman de Gare (Samuel Goldwyn) opened at two theaters in Manhattan and grossed $25,500, for a very nice $12,750 per-screen average, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. The French-language thriller scored 73% positive at Rotten Tomatoes, though a number of critics had reservations about its twisty, playful nature.

Helen Hunt's comedy/drama Then She Found Me (ThinkFilm) hauled in $8,266 per-screen at nine locations. Hunt plays a teacher who must deal with an unlikely fiancee (Matthew Broderick), a volatile love interest (Colin Firth), and the unexpected appearance of her mother (Bette Midler). Ryan Stewart felt that the story is "as old as the hills," but that it was "still executed with style."

Standard Operating Procedure (Sony Classics), the latest doc by Errol Morris, has generated controversy not only because of its subject matter -- the story behind the notorious Abu Gharib prison photos -- but because Morris has admitted to paying some of the interviewees. Reviews were mostly positive (79%, according to Rotten Tomatoes). Opening at two theaters in Manhattan, the film averaged $7,450 per screen.

Two holdovers continued to perform well. Tom McCarthy's excellent The Visitor (Overture) expanded into 76 theaters nationwide and averaged $6,684 per screen in its third week of release. Stephen Walker's heartwarming music doc Young @ Heart (Fox Searchlight) expanded from 23 to 56 locations and grossed an average of $4,017 per screen.

College professors rule! Well, at least the one that Richard Jenkins plays so well in Tom McCarthy's The Visitor (Overture Films). The comedy-drama expanded to 18 theaters in its second week of release and averaged $9,055 per-screen to remain in the #1 position, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Check the film's web site to see where it will be opening in the next couple of weeks (click on "in select theaters now").

Debuting indie films did not fare so well, judging strictly by per-screen averages, but it's notable that Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (Rocky Mountain Pictures), opened on more than 1,000 screens and made $2,997 per location for a total of more than $3 million for the weekend. The doc follows Ben Stein as he chases down Ferris Bueller ... oops, wrong movie! This one's about "intelligent design" in the classroom.

Opening on just one screen, Anamorph (IFC Films) grossed $3,000. Willem Dafoe stars as an NYPD detective investigating a serial killer. Critics were not kind: Anamorph scored just 28% positive at Rotten Tomatoes. David Hudson at GreenCine Daily rounds up pertinent quotes.

Two other holdovers did better as they expanded their runs. Young At Heart (Fox Searchlight), the "elderly folk chorus that sings modern rock songs" documentary, increased its theater count to 33 and averaged $4,393 per screen. Hou Hsiao-Hsien's gentle drama The Flight of the Red Balloon (IFC Films) proved its appeal beyond New York City, making $3,572 per-screen at 11 locations.

"A damn fine film with a good heart and some really excellent performances" finished atop the indie weekend box office charts. The quote is from our own Scott Weinberg's review of Tom McCarthy's The Visitor (Overture), and I agree wholeheartedly. The film earned $22,000 per-screen at four theaters, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Richard Jenkins stars as a college professor who strikes up a friendship with an immigrant couple he finds living in his NYC apartment. It's even better -- and deeper -- than that description might sound.

An elderly chorus sings a repertoire of modern pop and rock songs in Stephen Walker's documentary Young @ Heart (Fox Searchlight); audiences responded to the tune of $13,075 per screen at four locations. Cinematical's James Rocchi wrote: "Even for all its flaws and failures it still succeeds in showing us friends who -- through song and art and community and, yes, love -- are doing their best to face it with everything that they've got."

David Ayer's Street Kings (Fox Searchlight) should be included, I suppose, because it's distributed by an studio specialty division known for its indie releases, though not much about the police drama screams "indie." By the per-screen numbers, it finished third, earning an average of $4,864 at each of 2,467 engagements. "As yet another tale of dirty criminals and even dirtier cops," Scott Weinberg opined, "Street Kings works well enough, albeit strictly in a 'been there, seen that' sort of way."

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for the film The Visitor (click on the image for a larger version), which has already played a number of festivals (Toronto, Sundance) and marks the sophomore effort for writer-director Thomas McCarthy, whose Station Agent was all sorts of warm and toasty. In The Visitor, Richard Jenkins stars as a boring economics professor who travels to New York City for a conference. But when he unlocks the door to his seldom-used NYC apartment, he realizes two other people are living there. That's nice. In his review from Sundance, our own Scott Weinberg noted: "The result is a movie with a message, sure, but it works even better as a touching look at a lonely man who finds some warmth, friendship and affection in the most unexpected of places: His own forgotten apartment." The Visitor arrives in theaters (in limited release) on April 11.

We're celebrating the independent spirit (and giving a tip of the hat to our companion site Cinematical Indie), and looking at trailers for films that have gestated outside the studio system. This week it's all about the indies.

The Visitor
A professor who finds himself coasting through the day to day requirements of his job finds a young couple squatting in the New York apartment that he rarely uses. After a tense initial confrontation, the professor finds the two have nowhere else to go and allows them to stay. Just as a friendship is beginning to develop, one of the professor's new tenants is arrested, and as he is not a U.S. citizen, is in danger of deportation. This looks to be an earnest little drama about friendship and rediscovering what's important. This one goes into limited U.S. release on April 11. Scott Weinberg caught the film at Sundance and you can read his review here.

The Hammer
No, this has nothing to do with the pop star with the baggy pants. I really liked Adam Carolla during his stint as co-host of The Man Show, and his voice work as Spanky Ham on Comedy Central's animated series Drawn Together is tastelessly hilarious. I wouldn't have imagined him playing the lead in a film, but he comes off as very appealing here. Carolla plays Jerry Ferro, a middle aged former amateur boxer. By day he works construction and in his spare time he teaches boxing. When he's asked to spar with an up and coming fighter, Ferro manages to clean his opponents clock as they say and he decides to get back into the game. Basically it's the story of a man trying to get his act together before it's too late. There's a few laughs here, and I think the movie will be worth a look.

Everyone else got to see (and adore) Tom McCarthy's The Station Agent well before I had the chance to see the movie -- so by the time I caught it on DVD (and adored it), nobody really needed my half-year-late review of the flick. But I managed to catch a Sundance screening of Mr. McCarthy's second film -- and if it isn't quite as fresh or as strangely moving as The Station Agent, it's still a damn fine film with a good heart and some really excellent performances. Kinda like The Station Agent.

I just love it when a well-admired character actor gets a shot at a big-time starring role. OK, so maybe the lead role in a low-key character study like McCarthy's The Visitor is not exactly "big time" (as far as Hollywood goes, anyway) -- but if you're familiar with the name and the works of Mr. Richard Jenkins, then you'll be thrilled with what the veteran actor has to offer here. (You might not know the name, but you should definitely remember Richard Jenkins from movies like Flirting with Disaster, The Kingdom, The Witches of Eastwick, and a bunch of Coen and Farrelly brothers films.)

Production/distribution company Overture made their first deal at Sundance this year by picking up the rights to Ferris Wheel, a drama produced by and starring Charlize Theron, as Erik Davis wrote. They were also involved in exciting news that came out around Cannes: the reuniting of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro for Righteous Kill. Now Overture has made a splash at Toronto by securing Thomas McCarthy's immigration comedy/drama The Visitor very late Monday night, as reported by Variety's Dade Hays.

Thomas McCarthy is a veteran actor who has found steady work in both television and films. His directorial debut, The Station Agent, won accolades from many after it premiered at Sundance in 2003. Erik Davis was not a fan of the film, as he related when reporting that McCarthy had signed the deal to make The Visitor one year ago. (I haven't seen either film, so I am completely neutral.) Obviously, though, McCarthy has plenty of fans.

The film was touted as a prime acquisition target by columnist Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times before the festival; the bidding "kicked off not long" after The Visitor's gala public screening on Friday night, according to Variety. Blogging about the deal for Variety, Anne Thompson commented: "A lot of people wanted the picture but weren't willing to overpay for it. Overture stepped up for what will surely be a marketing challenge."

The great supporting actor Richard Jenkins stars in The Visitor as a lonely professor who visits his long-unused Manhattan apartment only to find an undocumented couple living there. John Anderson's Variety review says: "A film that is a combination immigrant/resurrection tale, Visitor tilts toward the soulful rather than the political and could be this year's humanistic indie hit."

If you ask me, the only good thing to come out of Thomas McCarthy's The Station Agent was Peter Dinklage's genuine (yet often boring) performance in the lead role. Other than that, well, I only watched the film once ... if you get my drift. However, a lot of people thoroughly enjoyed the flick and I figured it was only a matter of time before McCarthy, an actor-turned-writer/director, would shell another film.

Well folks, that day has finally come: Variety reports McCarthy has just signed a deal to write and direct The Visitor for Groundswell Prods. and Participant Prods., marking his (highly anticipated?) sophomore effort. The dramedy is said to revolve around a widower/economics professor whose "world is turned upside down when he meets two illegal immigrants, one of whom he befriends and tries to help when discovered by U.S. immigration authorities." While McCarthy has consistently found work as an actor before and after The Station Agent, he's been itching to jump back behind the scenes for awhile now. Here's hoping McCarthy's latest tale of unusual friendships (which starts shooting next month in Gotham) manages to keep me from catching up on some much-needed sleep.