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Max Braden: With those comments in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a bigger DVD rental.

No turkeys on this plate.

Kim Hollis: The two biggest stories of Thanksgiving weekend intersected as The Blind Side came within $2.7 million of beating New Moon over the three-day portion of the weekend, after being a measly $108.7 million behind last weekend. Are you more impressed by The Blind Side being at $100.2 million after ten days or by New Moon being at $230.9 million after ten days?

Josh Spiegel: To me, there's no question here. The Blind Side is a bigger success story, if only because a lot of people figured that New Moon would be ridiculously successful. Frankly, the latter film is performing exactly as big, front-loaded blockbusters do. The Blind Side is performing at a very odd pace, so much so that I would not be at all surprised if it's the number-one film next weekend. This past Saturday night, I went to the local multiplex, and the only movie with any line was for The Blind Side. I'm not sure why this inspirational sports-related movie works where some haven't, but it helps having Sandra Bullock, who's just about the biggest female star this side of Kristen Stewart, as the lead.





Sean Collier: "Fanbase-fueled blockbuster drops big, still has highly impressive second weekend" is not a headline. "Inspirational sports movie jumps up in second-weekend box office, nearly toppling juggernaut" is most certainly shocking. If it weren't for Paranormal Activity, this might be the biggest box-office story of the year. Again, this seems to be succeeding by appealing to every family member - inspirational story for mom, football for dad, broad storyline and wacky brother and sister duo for the kids - and serving as the easy consensus choice when families retreated to the multiplex after their holiday shopping. Still, the overall tally is stunning, and Sandra Bullock has somehow catapulted back to the top of the A-List.

Tom Macy: Both really are nuts. If you had run down the list of what New Moon would accomplish prior to its release I would have balked. But The Blind Side? Holy God, talk about striking a chord. The oddest part is – having not seen it – the critical consensus seems to be that the film is nothing new in the uplifting triumph of the human spirit lexicon. So what is it that makes this one different? Is word-of-mouth really that strong? Did Thanksgiving family values bring it home? How has it managed to be one of the handful of wide releases in recent memory that increased in its second weekend after an already stellar opening? Don't you love my questions substituting as answers? There's another question! Okay, here's an answer: The reason for The Blind Side's success is the box office tractor beam that is Kathy Bates. Afterall, she was in Titanic.

Michael Lynderey: I wouldn't have batted an eyelash if someone told me three weeks ago that New Moon finishes at $300 million or so - it was really the massiveness of the opening weekend that shocked. But The Blind Side possibly reaching $200 million? That's a big wowser, and it's definitely more impressive, because it came out of nowhere. Yes, the trailer was good, and Bullock's maybe the biggest female draw, and so on. But $100 million in 10 days? Inconceivable. In fact, The Blind Side is playing out in that distinctly 2009-era tradition of the feel-good big-star film turned uber-blockbuster - I'm talking about the exploits of Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Gran Torino, Taken, and of course Bullock's own The Proposal. I think we're going to see more of this happening in the two months ahead - to the detriment of a starless and somewhat bleak film like Avatar.

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