JENNIFER LOPEZ IN VOGUE ITALIA

Yes, that's Jennifer Lopez in the May issue of Vogue Italia in fine form as usual.  Lopez recently did a photo shoot with Michaelangelo Di Battista for the magazine and she is currently in the studio recording new tracks for her already completed Island/Def Jam debut Love?.  Although her latest film The Back-Up Plan was a bit of a loss for CBS Films, it is still performing quite consistently at the Box Office sitting in fifth spot this weekend, earning just shy of $30 million in its third week of release. 

(Photo credit: Vogue Italia)

"DRAGON" RESURGES TO THE TOP

Paramount/Disney's How to Train Your Dragon climbs back up to the top after after debuting there five weeks ago - by all means a rare feat. The brilliant animated feature brought in $15 million from 3,600 screens, defeating other some new challengers which had weak openings.

CBS Films' The Back-Up Plan starring Jennifer Lopez debuted in second spot with $12.3 million. The enjoyable romantic-comedy opened on-top preliminarily based on Friday's numbers, but alas got ousted with the onslaught on families venturing out to see How to Train Your Dragon over the weekend. Read my review of it here.

Date Night continues to perform very consistently, slipping only to third spot after hovering near the top for the past three weeks. It earned $10.6 million this weekend.

Warner Bros.' graphic novel adaptation The Losers opened in fourth spot with $9.6 million, and is well on its way to making back its $25 million production budget. Check out my review of it here.

After debuting in number one last weekend, Lionsgate's Kick-Ass slips to fifth spot this weekend with $9.5 million, just surpassing the $35 million mark in earnings. There is lots of positive buzz for the action-hero comedy.

The only other debut in this weekend's Top Ten was Buena Vista's Oceans, which opened in eight spot with $6 million, marking a severe loss for its studio. Disney spent $80 million on its production.

FILM REVIEW: THE BACK-UP PLAN

I admit it, okay? I loved newly-launched CBS Films' The Back-Up Plan and I'm not apologizing for it. After seeing its trailer surface late 2009, I was not intrigued in the least bit by what seemed like The Formulaic, but then again we all need a bit of sugar in our Lattes now and then. After multiple delays in its release and much negative publicity surrounding Jennifer Lopez's album delays, I began to wonder about her bankability as an actress and singer. This romantic comedy however, has Lopez doing what she does best - being herself. It was North Americans that made her a dual number one success with The Wedding Planner and album J-Lo back in 2001. Surely we haven't forgotten all about her already!

Director Alan Poul (Six Feet Under, Big Love) brings out some very charming performances from Lopez and newcomer Alex O'Loughlin who have a wonderful chemistry together as Zoe and Stan, who meet by chance one rainy day in a New York City cab. Of course there is a bit of tension between them, which ignites things off-the-bat. After browsing through a street market one day with her best friend Mona (Michaela Watkins), Zoe encounters Stan at his Cheese Stand once again and although she is not sold completely on him, the romance ensues quickly after a series of "coincidental" run-ins with one another. One thing though - Zoe neglects to tell Stan that just before she met him she had grown so tired of not being able to find "The One" that she decided to start a family on her own with a Sperm Donor. I don't see the issue here at all! She is happy with everything else in her life, after abandoning a cushy corporate job to open a Pet Store.

The Back-Up Plan is sweet. Yes, it depicts completely unrealistic ideals of how people really fall in love, painting a world where people have no other important priorities like uhh, work for one, instead spending all their time and mental budgets on being engaged helplessly in love.