Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Nicholas Sparks is box office gold, especially for women.  Remember The Notebook ?  That movie played really well (it made about $115 million) and made Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams movie stars.  Seems like lighting hit again last weekend even with the Super Bowl and the smowmageddon in many states on the east coast. Dear John starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum took in $32.4 million (and had a budget of $25 million according to box office mojo) and pushed Avatar out of the top slot after 8 weeks and making it the top grossing film ever on a Super Bowl weekend.  (PS Titanic was in the top spot for 15 weeks.)  It was a comeback of sorts for director Lasse Hallstrom best known for The Cider House Rules and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape who got his biggest opening yet, who has not had either critical or commercial successes of late.  I like him as a director and would be glad to see him getting back into the game in a bigger way