The hard numbers won’t be in until later today, but right now it appears that the third “Ice Age” and the second “Transformers” are tied for first place at the North American box office, each of them pulling in $42.5 million over the weekend.

When the final tallies are reported, my money’s on “Ice Age” to come out on top — it was the much stronger performer on Wednesday and Thursday (its five-day gross is $67.5 million to the “Revenge of the Fallen” take of $65 million), and its 92-minute running time means considerably more screenings per day than the 149-minute expanse of the “Transformers” sequel.

Meanwhile, “Public Enemies” made $41 million in its first five days — Michael Mann’s best opening ever, according to the Variety piece, and “a testament to Depp’s appeal, proving he can open a pic even when not dressed as a pirate.”

Poor Christian Bale. He’s already over, isn’t he?

Something to entertain you while I’m running around looking for sticky buns, Chex Mix and out-of-print DVDs: My latest Sympatico/MSN movie gallery, which uses Johnny Depp’s John Dillinger in “Public Enemies” as a springboard to look at other stars who’ve gone gangster.

Historical figures only, I’m afraid, which means no Corleones and no Father Hoods. But don’t think I wasn’t tempted.

I’m not sure how it happened, but for some reason I had it fixed in my head that “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” opened today instead of two days ago. I dunno, I’m all messed up with times and dates this week. Sorry about that.

“Empty Nest“: Daniel Burman is becoming the Argentine Woody Allen — but the late-70s, early-80s version, where the thematic repetition and calculated flights of fancy were balanced by engaging dialogue and the occasional flash of human insight, so that’s actually okay.

“Finn on the Fly”: You know that thing were a company dumps a middling title into theaters as a kind of promotional run for the DVD? Yeah, this is one of those; in fact, a review copy of the DVD arrived in my mailbox just one day after E1 announced the theatrical release. Susan took it, and was not terribly impressed.

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs“: Those lovable CG mammals wander into an even more prehistoric world than their own, mostly because kids love dinosaurs and Fox really needs to keep the franchise alive. Variety reports strong opening-day numbers from Wednesday (again, oops), which means it’ll crush “Public Enemies” with ease … and maybe even top the “Transformers” sequel’s second weekend.

“Moon“: Lonely lunar worker Sam Rockwell goes crazy — or does he? — on an isolated base in the not-too-distant future. Why he doesn’t just build a couple of wisecracking robot friends, we’ll never know. That’s totally what I would do, if I knew the first thing about robotics. Hell, I’d probably try anyway.

And that sums up the week. Have you seen “The Girlfriend Experience”, “Summer Hours” or “Tokyo Sonata” yet? Because those are really good.

… well, assuming you stay out of the sun and avoid red meat, anyway.

But if you’re going in that direction, I humbly suggest you pass the time with Cinematheque’s salute to the French New Wave: It nourishes the soul, and you’re sure to pick up some style tips while you’re at it.

Oh, and in the spirit of the season, here’s this month’s contribution to NOW’s Hot Summer Guide. And yes, I’m still holding out hope for “I Love You, Beth Cooper”, even if it is directed by Chris Columbus. The book is so good and so simple; how can he screw that up?

Don’t tell me. Just let me believe.

First and foremost: Happy Canada Day, everybody! Maple leaf forever! Be like Joshua Jackson in “One Week” and drink a Steam Whistle today, wherever in the country you may be; apparently, it’s available everywhere.

Anyway. Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” opens virtually unchallenged today as this year’s big Fourth of July action picture — its only competition for the holiday weekend is the “Ice Age” threequel, and that’s pitched to a very different audience.

Publication schedules being what they are (damn you, Wednesdays!), my NOW review won’t run until tomorrow, so I’ll just say this: In some parallel universe, where Mann’s fetishes and obsessions led him to unlock the secrets of a new digital cinema, this is being hailed as a masterpiece.

The thing is, we don’t live in that universe. And neither does Michael Mann. But he sure thinks he does.

UPDATE: Here’s the review!

I guess it was inevitable: “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” grossed $201.2 million in its first five days of release. That’s an opening second only to the $203.8 million pulled in by “The Dark Knight” last summer.

Brace yourselves, folks. We’re going to get more of these. Lots more.

I don’t know about you, but I’m suddenly very tired.

Worn out by all the Michael Jackson eulogies? Pissed that now you can’t pick up that remastered 25th-anniversary edition of “Thriller” you’d been meaning to buy since last fall without looking like a dick?

Well, I can’t help you with that, but I can offer a distraction — check out my latest Sympatico/MSN movie gallery, which picks up Megatron’s gauntlet to list eight movies in which life on our little blue marble is at risk of being snuffed out forever.

Help us, Bruce Willis, you’re our only hope!

It’s supposed to be a hot, sticky weekend. If you don’t fancy sweating your way through Pride, you’re not interested in the giant robot movie and you’ve already seen “Summer Hours“, here’s what else is opening.

“Cheri”: They were advertising the crap out of this in the London Underground last month. It’s the reunion of Michelle Pfeiffer with her “Dangerous Liaisons” director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Christopher Hampton. That was two decades ago; the North American ads are going out of the way to emphasize the Frears-Hampton connection without quite dragging Pfeiffer into it. That might make her look old, you see. Susan and Jason respect the effort without quite tipping over into endorsing it.

“The Girlfriend Experience“: In which Steven Soderbergh turns porn star Sasha Grey into a respectable actor — or lets us understand she’s been acting all along. Soderbergh’s short, stark and semi-experimental deconstruction of expectations is very good, and you should see it.

“My Sister’s Keeper”: Nick Cassavetes’ new film has something to do with parents who conceive a sibling in the hopes of saving their ailing child. I think. Deirdre says it’s effective, but seems to feel dirty about it.

“Tokyo Sonata”: Kiyoshi Kurosawa started the J-horror movement with his brilliant “Cure”, and spent a decade refining genre filmmaking. Now, he’s put that all aside to tell a simple story of a splintering Japanese family, and it’s a stunner. Andrew and Adam agree.

“Whatever Works“: Woody Allen uses Larry David as a mouthpiece to rant about the stupidity of his fellow humans, the pointlessness of existence and the redemptive power of boinking a worldly older guy — whomever you might be. I think I speak for all of us when I say: Ick.

And speaking of ick: Michael Jackson has died. I expect the sordid stories to start leaking out over the weekend, once his former friends and associates fully understand that libel law no longer applies and start jockeying for bookings on “Larry King Live”.

… yeah, let’s see them put that on the poster.

Charlie Jane Anders reviews “Transformers: Rise of the Fallen” for io9. Perhaps the single best piece of film criticism you will read this year.

My review — nowhere near as good, but the one with my name on it — hasn’t gone up yet. (There seems to be something amiss with NOW’s site.) I’ll put up the link as soon as I can. UPDATE: Here it is!

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” opens today. Please proceed to the nearest shelter and wait for further instructions.

That is all.