I like Ingrid Veninger. I’m probably not supposed to say stuff like that, being all professional and everything, but that’s just how it is. I’ve really enjoyed her movies, “Only” and “Modra” (which opens tomorrow), and because Toronto is a pretty small town, all things considered, we’ve ended up at a few of the same functions. (We were both on the features panel for Canada’s Top Ten in 2009, though we didn’t know it at the time.) You should see her movies. They’re quite good.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, we had a long conversation about filmmaking, and the results were compressed into an interview in this week’s NOW. The online version of said interview is actually twice as long as the one in the paper — so go to it!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a movie with hot girls stalking each other will win the weekend box-office. (And if it isn’t, it ought to be.)

“The Roommate” grossed $15.6 million to take the top spot at the megaplex, despite pulling some fairly skank–tastic reviews. “Sanctum” placed a distant second, even with the enhanced ticket prices of its IMAX 3D engagements, with $9.2 million, while “No Strings Attached” and “The King’s Speech” were jockeying for third with $8.4 million and $8.3 million, respectively. (Final figures will be released today.)

Did you see anything? I can’t imagine you did. This has been a pretty thin season, even once we adjust for how crappy studio pictures usually are between January and March. I do hold out some hope for “Unknown”, though. That looks like it could be fun.

Okay, things aren’t that bleak this weekend– sure, the studio stuff may tend toward the generic this time of year, but there’s some decent activity on the indie front. Well, half-decent, anyway.

“BirdWatchers“: I’m not sure how to describe Marco Bechis’ film about the indigenous Guarani people of Brazil. It’s sort of a public-awareness drama, designed to bring the world’s attention to their status as second-class citizens in their own country, but at the same time it acknowledges the self-destructive behaviour that makes the Guarani complicit in their plight. So let’s call it “provocative”, then.

“Oliver Sherman“: Presumably through the goodness of their hearts, three actors I really like — Donal Logue, Garrett Hedlund and Molly Parker — find themselves trapped in Ryan Redford’s paper-thin domestic drama about survivor guilt and PTSD, or something. One of the weakest Canadian films I saw at TIFF last year, and that’s really saying something.

“The Roommate”: It’s been 19 years since “Single White Female” — why not turn that sucker around for the new generation? “Gossip Girl” star Leighton Meester plays the Jennifer Jason Leigh role, I think; Sony wouldn’t screen it, so I’m going entirely by the poster here.

“Sanctum“: FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JAMES CAMERON comes this decidedly one-dimensional survival adventure about trapped cavers. It’s like the “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” of IMAX 3D adventure movies. Or “The Abyss” without the aliens. Or “The Descent” without the monsters or the psychological acuity. It’s like a lot of things, actually. My review will be online later this afternoon.

“The Time That Remains”: Elia Sulieman’s portmanteau of stories about his family’s life in Palestine — which I reviewed when it played the Toronto Palestine Film Festival last fall — finally scores a commercial release. Susan hits the same notes of “yeah, okay” as I did.

“Turning 32“: Sixteen years after their NFB documentary series “Turning Sixteen”, directors Robbie Hart and Luc Cote catch up to their subjects to see how life has treated them. Not a patch on Michael Apted’s “Up” series, and the decision to produce this as a theatrical feature rather than another TV series makes for a pretty rushed vibe, but it has its moments.

In other big-screeny news, the fifth volume of the Found Footage Festival lands at the Bloor tonight at 9 pm, and we shouldn’t forget “The Robber” and that Chinese remake of “What Women Want“, which opened yesterday. I’ll be seeing the latter this afternoon, and will link to the review when it goes up, because that is what I live to do. UPDATES: Links are live! (For what they’re worth.)

There’s not much going on today, other than a few hangovers from yesterday’s Genie nominations and various weatherfolk making excuses for The Snowstorm That Failed to Eat Toronto. (Seriously, “dry snow“? Just admit you blew the damn thing out of proportion in the first place.)

Oh, but there are a couple of worthy things starting up at the Lightbox: An Ousmane Sembene retrospective that brings the work of the noted African filmmaker to Toronto just in time for Black History Month, and the limited run of “The Robber“, an tersely efficient crime drama from Austria. If “Revanche” was the James M. Cain picture, this one’s the Jim Thompson, with a flinty performance from Andreas Lust as the complicated lead.

Also opening today: A Chinese-language remake of “What Women Want” starring Andy Lau and Gong Li. Yes, they’re remaking Nancy Ephron movies in China now. The world is doomed.

Because my MSN DVD column hasn’t gone up yet, and because I’m still having Twitter debates about what Edgar Wright accomplished with “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” — oh, and because I’ve just listened to Edgar’s latest appearance on the new episode of “Doug Loves Movies“, where I’m pretty sure he can be heard squirming in his seat as someone else fails to identify “That Darn Cat!” during the Leonard Maltin game — I figured I’d pull this out of my back pocket and offer it to you all.

It’s a thorough breakdown of the movie’s invigorating title sequence, courtesy of The Art of the Title, a website you probably should be reading if you have any interest in cinema. Because, like “Scott Pilgrim vs, the World”, it is a great big bucket of awesome sauce just waiting for you to dive in.

“Doug Loves Movies” is pretty great, too.

(Anthony Hopkins + evil) x slow weekend = box-office gold, apparently. “The Rite” topped the charts with a gross of approximately $15 million, despite largely indifferent reviews and a sense that this movie would not break new ground in the Sinister Exorcist genre, what with the silly trailer and the PG-13 rating.

Still, people want what they want, and they wanted this more than “The Mechanic“, which earned  $11.5 million to share third place with “The Green Hornet“. (Last week’s leader, “No Strings Attached“, dropped to second place with $13.7 million.)

The biggest surprise? Seeing “The King’s Speech” nipping at everyone’s heels in fifth place with $11.1 million, thanks to an expansion timed to cash in on all those Oscar nominations. Imagine how much better it might do next week if they cut out the cussing to swap that R rating for a family-friendly PG-13. (No, seriously.)

Hey, if it’s good enough for the Devil, you just know it’s good enough for Harvey Weinstein …

Still growling quietly over who was and wasn’t nominated for an Oscar this year? I have a little list, which I share in my latest MSN Movies gallery this weekend.

I mean, Robert Duvall in “Get Low“. Seriously, how do you overlook Robert Duvall, especially when he’s playing a scary hermit who learns to love?

Okay, I’m oversimplifying the movie a little, but the argument still stands.

(“Get Low” comes to disc on February 22nd. Think they were counting on something?)