Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland has stunned the industry by opening as a full-fledged blockbuster. It posted the greatest three day opening for a 3-D movie ever. The film has taken in an astonishing $115 million opening weekend in North America- and is doing blockbuster business in the international market, despite mixed reviews. Ironically, as Deadline Hollywood Daily reports, the film is the brainchild of Disney executives who were replaced before the movie opened. Burton's film reputedly went far over budget, but these initial grosses seem to indicate that the investment proved to be a wise one. In other grosses, the Richard Gere cop movie Brooklyn's Finest opened soft with $14 million. The Bruce Willis starrer Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith, opened last week to dreadful reviews and seems to be petering out with $32 million in the till so far. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

Last year, I had a pretty good track record in predicting Oscar winners. Here's my predictions for this year's winners:

• BEST PICTURE: THE HURT LOCKER
• DIRECTOR: KATHRYN BIGELOW, THE HURT LOCKER
• ACTOR: JEFF BRIDGES, CRAZY HEART
• ACTRESS: GABOUREY SIDIBE, PRECIOUS
• SUPPORTING ACTOR: CHRISTOPH WALTZ, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
• SUPPORTING ACTRESS: MO'NIQUE, PRECIOUS
• ANIMATED FILM: UP
• ART DIRECTION: AVATAR
• CINEMATOGRAPHY: AVATAR
• COSTUMES: THE YOUNG VICTORIA
• EDITING: THE HURT LOCKER
• MAKEUP: STAR TREK
• MUSIC: AVATAR
• SONG: THE WEARY KIND (FROM CRAZY HEART)
• SOUND MIXING: AVATAR
• VISUAL EFFECTS: AVATAR
• SCREENPLAY ADAPTATION: UP IN THE AIR
• SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL): THE HURT LOCKER

As of right now, millions of people in the New York metropolitan area will not be able to see the Oscar broadcast because of the on-going financial dispute between Disney's ABC network and the Cablevision cable TV group. Unless one side blinks, it will be a dismal night for many movie fans - unless they know someone with satellite who will act as a humanitarian and invite them over.

Sir Roger Moore will produce and appear in a new film about the making of John Ford's 1952 classic The Quiet Man. The new film will be shot in the same location, the beautiful, quaint village of Cong in County Mayo. Click here to watch a news video.

Cinema Retro's Movie Magic Tour 2010, which celebrates British film history, will be attending the London Film Museum's Fan Fest, which will honor the legacy of great spy and science fiction movies with an astonishing line-up of celebrity guests. Among them:

• George Lazenby
• Maud Adams
• Honor Blackman
• Richard Kiel
• Shirley Eaton
• Martine Beswick
• Madeline Smith
• Caroline Munro
• Margaret Nolan
• Tania Mallet
• Maryam d'Abo
• Burt Kwouk
• Eunice Gayson
• and many more

There will be autograph sessions and a large array of original props from classic movies. For more, click here for the official Fan Fest web site.

The Movie Magic Tour 2010 is shaping up to be a terrific event, with movie lovers from around the world meeting in London to embark on the trip of a lifetime. The tour runs from April 23- May 1 and is hosted by Cinema Retro publishers Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall. Click here for more information.

By Christopher Gullo

The late Robert Quarry was one of the last remaining horror “stars” – a category of actor that has seemed to disappear in modern cinema. Quarry’s career stretched back to the 1940s with bit parts in films before he formed a theatrical group when joining the army. Following World War II, Quarry won a contract with RKO, and then later with MGM. He appeared in a number of films at MGM including “A Kiss Before Dying” (1956) and “Crime of Passion” (1957).  Quarry’s claim to fame was not to come with MGM but later in his career when he took on the role of a modern day vampire in “Count Yorga, Vampire” (1970). Originally intended as a soft-core porn flick, Quarry convinced the producers to shoot the film as a straight horror film which became a great success. The film was a breakthrough in updated the classic vampire genre, something Hammer Studios would later catch on with “Dracula A.D. 1972”. Quarry brought his own version to the title role – a manipulative, cunning, and deadly vampire count. American International Pictures distributed the film and recognized Quarry as a new leading face in the horror genre.